Several men brought their pearl shells to the Senkere ceremonial ground, one January morning in 1978, to display them against the long wall of one of the festival houses. There were one hundred and twenty pearl shells, five “twenty-fours”; their public unveiling was meant to demonstrate Suolol's readiness to hold its Pig Festival. But the sky was overcast, and it soon began to drizzle. Before the rains came and cut discussion off, the big-man who had organized the event made a short speech. He said that rain during a shell display is a bad sign. It means that we will not kill our pigs properly. Some of us will kill pigs on one day and others on another day. We will not kill pigs, all of Suolol, together, he asserted. A man from Kuma, the northern Suolol place, assured everyone that people at Senkere and at Kuma would talk tomorrow and set a date when they would all kill their pigs. He reminded them that Suolol's enemies at Egari and at Kundaga would be killing pigs together and that therefore all of Suolol had to kill pigs together as well.

In the background, Kiluwa walked back and forth, his head wrapped in a bandage. “Why are we displaying our pearl shells today?” he asked the people standing nearby. “They are for our wives’ families, but our wives don't want our shells. […]