sanguma/maio

[Lise M. Dobrin]

Dear Mihalic list,

Bryant reminds us that sorcery in the Torricelli area traditionally 
works at a distance, and his sources suggest that the currently vogue 
form of sanguma is a more recent import. I can add two points, based 
on my experience in the coastal/mountain Arapesh westcoast region.

One is that sanguma sorcerers would naturally have modern tools at 
their disposal, so that one very commonly feared version of what 
happens to a sanguma victim is that he/she is injected with battery 
acid via a syringe. Nevertheless, the quite elaborate schemas for 
what goes on in sanguma seem to combine new elements with old. So the 
expert sorcerers are still said to reside inland, where they are 
believed to go to the haus tamberan to learn the relevant magic, 
e.g., to turn human bone into the kambang-like powder they use to 
stun people in the forest.

The other point is that the Arapesh word for sorcery/sorcerer strikes 
me as borrowed: [maio]. Does anyone else know this term?

Lise Dobrin