Pig-diarrhea ritual; a sacrificial ritual performed for the cure of diarrhea of a young pig.
Arrow-grass canes, bilāu and taro stalks, lā'at, are first placed on the pigs' feeding trough as Wīgan did, as indicated below. Following this, a ritualist, mumbā'i, sits and recites a story in which Wīgan, a folk hero who represents the head of the family whose pigs are afflicted, goes to consult various spirits about the sickness of his pigs. He is told by holholday spirits to take two arrow-grass canes, sharpen them and pierce two short taro stalks, placing them on the canes. These he is to prop on the pigs' feeding trough while he prays to the holholday spirits to cure the sickness. Following this he is to place the canes and stalks on the side of his house in the direction of the pigs' feeding trough. This Wīgan did and his pigs became healthy and multiplied. The prayer ends by imputing these events and the resulting cure to the family for which the prayer is being made. The canes and stalks are then taken and placed on the house as the story says Wīgan did.