By the very fact that Ko’a during its ceremonial cycle of 1985-1988 was acting as a host to its allies, these were placed, at least for the duration of the final sacrifice, in a subordinate position.^[21] In terms of categorical asymmetry this signified that Ko’a temporarily became male with respect to all of its guests. However, the crucial question was whether Ko’a could maintain precedence beyond the day of sacrifice. If Ko’a indeed remained male with respect to both of its allies, it would be in the position to rally their support against Nitu and reclaim the lost territory. A victory against Nitu then would doubtlessly reconfirm the precedence of Ko’a. Table 3 indicates the instances of temporary categorical inversion in the relative positions among the “Domains of the Three Hearth Stones” brought into effect by the sacrifice.

Events such as the “conquering” of the ceremonial courtyards by the guest of honour indicate, however, that the relation between guest and host is not one of unconditional temporary submission but that strong tendencies to maintain a position of superordination are involved.^[22] In the course of this mock battle between guests and hosts men on both sides act out a display of aggression by scaling and defending the fortifications of the village, shouting loudly and shooting peas and seeds at each other by means of blowpipes or carved wooden toy guns. According to accounts of Ko’a elders, this “conquest” was not always playful. Until the district government prohibited it, weapons were used to kill the ally’s livestock and physical fights resulting in bodily harm were frequent. In order to curtail physical violence agreements were reached between the priest leaders of the “domains of water buffalo blood” that in case of an injury the conquering domain would immediately return home without consuming any of the food prepared by the host.

In December 1985 Ko’a decided to initiate a water buffalo sacrificing cycle. On two occasions in previous years water buffalo had been purchased and both times the animals had died shortly after their arrival in Ko’a. For the upcoming purchase resources were scarce and there was great concern in the domain as to whether this time everything would go well. The death of a third purchased buffalo might entail such a loss of prestige for Ko’a that it might have to resign itself in the future to the sacrifice of pigs.

Initially the purchase was very successful even though some of the Houses of the “younger brothers” of the main Ko’a priest leader had not contributed the amount traditionally expected of them. Representatives of the priest leaders of Cawalo and Tomu, as well as a large number of followers from those domains had accompanied the purchasing party and the animals had been safely brought back to Ko’a. Things began to go wrong when one of the “younger brothers” of the main priest leader died just as the ceremonial dances were about to begin. As is customary in such cases the dances were not interrupted. There was general relief about the fact that this “younger brother” who had not contributed to the purchase and who had not accompanied the party had died instead of the new buffalo. This reasoning is based on the notion that the sacrificial animal is closely in touch with the ancestors as well as with the Supreme Being. At the opening and at the end of the ceremonial cycle any conflicts between the Houses of the “father people” of a domain must be solved lest the sacrifice be negatively affected. If solutions are not sought, offenders are either directly punished by the ancestors, as was seen to be the case here, or punishment is indirectly inflicted through the water buffalo who can maim or even kill a culprit.^[23] However, in some cases the animal can die in place of an offender, thereby bringing the ceremonial cycle to a halt and effectively forcing the “father people” to seek a solution to the conflict.

On the second day of the dances following the death of the “younger brother” the water buffalo of the main ceremonial courtyard broke loose and in a desperate search for water ran all the way up to the volcano where it eventually collapsed. That night, the main Ko’a priest leader called a meeting of all the domain in which he voiced his discontent about the lack of support given to the opening of the sacrificial cycle. The following morning the animal was found dead beneath the “large sitting platform”. Divination was conducted to determine the reason for this death and it became apparent that the same “younger brother” of the main priest leader who had once accepted the ivory tusk from Cawalo, had in the past committed incest with his classificatory sister. According to customary law he and his sister were to be put to death.^[24] However, in order to stay within the confines of modern Indonesian law his sentence was converted into an obligation to purchase a water buffalo that was to be put to death in their place at a ceremonial courtyard located at the top of the mountain.

Even though at this point there were few resources left to stage another purchase the party travelled back to Flores to purchase two more animals. The second purchase was carried out according to the prescribed ways and Ko’a finally managed to open its cycle in the presence of all of its allies.

Because of previous unsuccessful attempts by Ko’a, it was decided to shorten the period of raising the buffalo to two years and so, in December 1987, preparations began for the sacrifice to take place in the following January. The two preceding harvests had been plentiful and the amount of goods brought back by seasonal migrants of the domain had exceeded all expectations. Even sons who had been working in Malaysia for many years for the first time had sent money back home and a group of about ten of them had returned to the island to witness the sacrifice. The prospects were judged to be favourable and some of the elders thought that this time, even though the population of Ko’a was smaller than that of Cawalo, Ko’a might maintain precedence beyond the sacrifice and become conceptually male in respect to both of its allies.^[25]

About a week before the Ko’a sacrifice, there were indications that some of the “father people” of Cawalo were feeling threatened. Quite out of keeping with the ceremonial schedule, the Cawalo main priest leader purchased a young water buffalo from Flores. This was declared to be a preliminary sacrifice. At the sacrifice a letter in Indonesian was read out at the main Cawalo ceremonial courtyard. During the previous year this Cawalo priest leader had been chosen by the regency’s Department of Education and Culture to represent the “domains of water buffalo blood” at a cultural meeting in Jakarta. As a reward for having provided information on the ceremonial cycle, the government had endowed him with a letter stating that Cawalo was to be the centre of the new “Organization of the Sun and Moon” (“Organisasi Era-Wula”). The ceremonial cycles of all of the “domains of water buffalo blood” were to be united into this one cultural organization under the leadership of Cawalo. In the future, the central government would pay for the costs of the ceremonies through its Cawalo chairman. Of course the allied priest leaders thought little of this proposal which went against the very nature of their system of alliance. Nevertheless, Cawalo had made its point and had reasserted its “maleness”.

As the day approached when Cawalo was expected to be coming to Ko’a to attend the ceremonial dances rumours were heard that its main priest leader refused to come if Ko’a also invited Tomu. Upon hearing this, the main priest leader of Ko’a stated publicly that he did not care if Cawalo did not come and reconfirmed that Tomu had been chosen as the guest of honour of this cycle. When his position became known, the people of Ko’a pleaded with the same “younger brother” of the main priest leader who had earlier been found guilty of incest to negotiate with the Cawalo priest leader. This choice had doubtlessly been influenced by the fact that he had been the person who in the past had received the ivory tusk from the main Cawalo priest leader.

Against the will of his “elder brother”, the “younger brother” together with the lesser priest leader went to Cawalo to talk. The outcome of the talk was that the priest leaders of the “Domains of the Three Hearth Stones”, Ko’a, Cawalo and Tomu, were to hold a meeting in Ko’a in order to clear the air. The meeting took place the next day. At it very little of relevance was said. However, one point the Cawalo priest leader kept making to the large audience was that they should all stop following the orders of the two old priest leaders and that this was a new age and a time for the young. Since these statements were not made in ritual speech, the priest leaders from Ko’a and Tomu simply ignored them. But the very fact that the meeting had taken place in Ko’a strongly supported Ko’a’s attempt to gain precedence over its allies. In the evening the dances were attended by the people of Cawalo, although its main priest leader did not come. The next day Ko’a was to go to Tomu to invite its main guest. Tomu was expecting large numbers of people from Ko’a and had been preparing food since the early morning. As the Ko’a mock war party was about to traverse the territory of Cawalo, they were met by envoys of the Cawalo priest leader who warned that any Ko’a trespassers would be harmed. Once again the main Ko’a priest leader refused to negotiate. However, his “younger brother”, who by now had not only redeemed himself in the eyes of the people of Ko’a but had gained a reputation as a mediator, went to negotiate with the Cawalo priest leader. After a few hours he returned and announced that Cawalo had granted passage, but only after he had agreed to pay a specific amount of goods to Cawalo. Apparently the Cawalo priest leader had demanded these goods as a collective fine for all the real and imaginary transgressions Ko’a had committed against Cawalo in the past. By giving in Ko’a had clearly lost its claim to precedence over Cawalo.

Two days later the actual sacrifice proceeded without any further complications. Everyone hailed it as an outstanding success. Tomu had been invited and had in turn come to Ko’a and conquered its ceremonial courtyards. Even the Cawalo priest leader and his people had attended. The water buffalo had “danced” well, large crowds had been amply fed, the palm-gin had flowed freely and prestations had been reciprocated in a satisfactory way. It is significant, however, that at the closure of the cycle no offerings were set along the controversial boundary between Ko’a and its longstanding enemy Nitu. Because Ko’a had not been able to assume precedence over both its allies, a war with Nitu, which might have been triggered by such offerings, would probably have had to be fought without the support of Cawalo. The main priest leader of Ko’a must have recognized that such a confrontation could not be risked and so he had cancelled the offerings. Finally, now that his “younger brother” had gained so much popularity with the people of Ko’a at the expense of his own authority it would have been doubtful if at this point his “child people” would have supported him in such a venture.

Table 4 summarizes the order of precedence between the domains of the three hearth stones after the closing of the Ko’a ceremonial cycle. The individual positions are indicated with reference to the situation preceding the sacrifice. As it turned out, the Ko’a sacrifice of 1988 changed very little in the order of precedence among the “Domains of the Three Hearth Stones”. The only lasting change in position was that Tomu recognized its femaleness with respect to Ko’a.