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The New Ireland Mermaid butchering of the animals and had eaten their flesh. They Roy Wagner found that the ri were well known long commented that ri have "a great deal of blood, like a before the arrival of Europeans and that, like all species — human being, and their body fat is yellow". When Wagner of animal that co-exist with them, they hold a special asked whether there were vestigial leg bones in the lower place in the cultures of these islanders, who have stories extremity of the body, they replied that the skeletal hat explain the creatures’ origin. structure of the tail consisted only of an elongation of the The Nakela clan of the eastern coast of New Ireland spine. An old female ri that had been caught in a net and regard the ri as sacred animals or tadak, tutelary spirits, | thrown into the back of a truck "uttered an almost human and whenever one is killed or found dead, the Nakela cry of pain". This individual and others were butchered old a mortuary feast for it in their "men's house". In and the meat was sold at the Namatanai markets. heir creation stories, the ri came into existence when a In volume two (1983) of Cryptozoology, a field report Nakela troupe was performing a dance at the mourning _ entitled "Further Investigations into the Biological and east of Kaba. The percussionists made a serious Cultural Affinities of the Ri" by Roy Wagner et al.’ blunder, bringing irreparable shame describes a scientific expedition upon the clan. To wipe out the between mid-June and mid-July 1983 umiliation, the ones responsible A Idf | . ed by Wagner back to New Ireland in committed mass suicide by jumping no emale r an attempt to determine whether the ri over a high sea-cliff. Their souls turned that had been really was an unclassified marine into the ri. . mammal. They returned to Namatanai Roy Wagner was shown a ri caught In a net and o obtain further information on the ri swimming in Ramat Bay on the eastern thrown into the hat had been butchered and eaten, coast of New Ireland, though all that he and they located a western-trained could see was a long, dark body back of a truck medical orderly who had witnessed the swimming horizontally at the surface "uttered an almost event and stated emphatically that the several hundred metres away. His animal was definitely not a dugong. informants told him that after it human cry of His description matched the previous inished fishing, it would display its ‘ott reports but with the additional ead and hands to those on shore pain ° information that the arms were "to show that it, too, was human". This individual and closed in or "fused" to the sides of Previously, an adolescent female ri he body, which was otherwise ad been accidentally caught in a others were uman-like with smooth skin net and hauled to the back of the butchered and the below (no scales) and light brown in colour. The head of the Nakela clan in e village of Pire related to the eam that a mother ri had been illed 40 to 50 years ago and that its infant had been kept alive for a short period before it died. Other at while fishing out at sea he villagers talked of ri entering the ad observed a ri rise to the rivers at night to fish in very surface and look at him from only about six metres away. shallow water. After exploring Ramat Bay without s face reminded him of the face of a monkey, photos of success, the team was informed that ri were being sighted which he had seen when he worked as a policeman in almost daily at the village of Nokon, 50 miles (80.5 Rabaul. He claimed that he had also once observed a ilometres) to the south. male and a female ri mating in the surf. Wagner was told The Susurunga people at Nokon use the name ilkai for at the ri can be kept alive out of water and that one was his same animal and described it as having a human-like eld in captivity in a "men's house" for several weeks. A upper torso and head, with the eyes set to the front of the 0-year-old boy described to Wagner how he had once ead. The mouth was said to be protruding and peculiar. observed a line of male, female and juvenile riswimming The arms were "fused" to the sides of the body, and the up into a freshwater stream by moonlight. Furthermore, pseudo-hands served as flippers. The legs were fused, e explained that it was a common sport for schoolboys, — one across the other, terminating as flippers instead of during the December-—January vacation, to dive offshore eet, which provided aquatic propulsion. Several villagers with glass face-masks in order to catch glimpses of ri. conceded that the ilkai is really "not man" but "like man". Wagner found that people living on the islands of Lihir At dawn on 5 July 1983, members of the team were able and Siar occasionally killed ri for food, and he interviewed 0 view the ilkai as it apparently hunted fish in shallow quite a number of men who had witnessed the — water 100 feet (~30.5 metres) from the shore. For 20 beach. The fisherman went to get e plantation manager and left wo boys to guard it, but they were 00 frightened to grab it when it broke loose and crawled back into e water. A village magistrate told Wagner meat was sold at the Namatanai markets. caught in a net and thrown into the human cry of pain". This individual and others were markets. JUNE - JULY 2010 NEXUS ¢ 57 An old female ri that had been back of a truck "uttered an almost butchered and the meat was sold at the Namatanai www.nexusmagazine.com