Notes on Ceram taken from Oom Manu Souisa:

and the children of the mauengs.  They were holders of the traditions of
the ancestral-worship religion, and performed all the rites and rituals of
the kakehan.

Before a headhunting expedition,a meeting was held.  To take part in this
meeting was to "kakehani."  The great maueng announced and opened the
meeting.  They met to "ruta sou."  One had to "tika sou" (open the
meeting).  The object of the meeting was to plot how they would "risa"
(attack) a place.  The women, especially the young, competed to showtheir
ability in artfully preparing the provisions (sinai, or kakisinai).  The
raiding party is called the "kakerisa."  Ane tupa sou=We held a meeting.
Souisa is from "I sou isa i," meaning, "We reached an agreement."  Now
someone has spoken outside (sou hoka), and our secret has been made known
to the enemy.  The leader of the raiding party is the Latu.  The defenders
seek him out especially.  "Risa e wone?"="Where is the enemy?"  Wati=Here.
 Mena=Forward.  These became family names.

The "teun" is the progenitor of a family.  "Ruta sou" (many speak).  "Ehe
m sou hoka,"="Don't speak outside."  Latuperisa=The-king-who-raids.

Men took gravestones to put at their houses to guard the house, or at the
baileos.  Ancestors were used as intermediaries to contact the spirits.
The "cakalele" was born when a raiding party returned successful, and the
people from the village went out to meet them and make merry.  The
"cakalele" is a male war dance.

We don't know exactly what went on in the kakehan, for it was very secret.
 The great maueng came with his aids, who played on different instruments.
 One was the Tahuri, a bored conch shell.  Another was made of a section
of bamboo.  These were blown until the people were frightened.  Then the
great maueng chanted his incantations while his assistants made the music,
and shouted "silou," and "mese," in agreement.  Brought on by this ritual
was the trance, when the mauengs lost their minds completely to the powers
of darkness.  It was during this time that they tatooed the young men.
They made a mark similar to a chicken track, and rubbed sap into it.  When
they came too from the trance, they all did different things under the
influence of the power that motivated them.  Some leaped higher than they
normally could.  Others found the strength to root up saplings.  Still
others did the cakalele.  At the end of the ritual, the men went on to the
village, where the young men paraded their new "soul-essence" before the
women till the women had to push them off(?)  Then they went to bed for a
couple of days to recover from their physical exhaustion.  Then they sat
about in groups discussing what had happened.  No one really remembered,
and so it was that all manner of untrue stories have been spread about the
kakehan.

When a young man proposed marriage, he was asked how many heads he had
taken.  The more heads he had taken, the more "soul-essence" he had, and
so the better able to take care of a family.  His "soul-essence" would
keep his people safe from curses, disease, etc., which would otherwise
harm them.

Originally the "saniri" of an area had a headquarters in the forest
called "the navel of the land."  In Haruku, it was Hatuhaha.  On Leitimur,
it was Sirimau.  On Hitu, it was Salahutu.  Nusa Laut also had one.  As
civilization advanced, these locations were forgotten as district shrines,
and the emphasis was placed more upon the village.  The "tuan tanah" has
become the "tuan negeri," or even the "tuan rumah," at the rumah tuah.
People went to these places to tattle on one another to the god or
ancestor.  Even tombstones were used.  "Gadihu" plants were grown around
the ancient "pemali" stones.  (A "gadihu" bush is what is known in Hawaii
as a "beefstake hedge" bush).