Malaveyoyo

Goodenough (Kalauna) · mortal · Goodenough (Kalauna) traditional religion; continuing · mortal

Malaveyoyo is remembered in Kalauna oral history as a fearsome warrior and cannibal leader of the Lulauvile clan, active in the generations before sustained European contact. Tradition casts him as a tyrant whose greed and violence coincided with a devastating famine: he hoarded and commanded food, terrorised neighbouring hamlets, and consumed the flesh of his victims. His story supplies a charter for the ritual authority of Lulauvile, the guardians of prosperity, whose food magic is held to keep hunger anchored and abundance in place. Michael Young recounts his career as a meditation on the Kalauna equation of leadership with the control of food and the perpetual threat of scarcity.

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