A turtle turned on the sand in the Kei Islands; Society’s shares and values

On a bright night, when the beach is lit by a full moon, a villager, usually alone, lies in wait for a turtle1 to emerge from the sea and dig a hole in the sand to lay its eggs. Once the eggs have been buried, the turtle lies on top of them and rests. The man looks on silently, and when the turtle has stopped moving, he approaches and turns it over on its back. The animal is trapped. On Tanebar-Evav island,2 turtle eggs are usually laid on the southern or western nesting beaches, a good distance from the village which is situated on the northern coast. Since it is forbidden to carry through the gardens a turtle which has not yet been cut up and ritually offered, the turtle is transported around the island to the shore before the