The headman said Yes. Our poachers.

And at this sacred fire, the spirit of our ancestors speak through the headman and advise us where to get water, where to get grazings, and where to go and hunt.

In Hearn s novel, Gohē, a village headman who lives atop a hill in his village, notices an approaching tsunami wave when he sees seawater being drawn out rapidly from the shore. In order to warn his fellow villagers, who are busy with festival preparations, Gohē uses a torch to set fire to his recently cut sheaves of rice.