The preparations for the nhiok female naming ritual begin on the day preceding the return of the men from their collective hunt.

The berarubu (manioc cakes baked in a stone oven) are prepared by the mothers (nã) and the mothers’ sisters (nã kaok) of the female name-recipients. The fathers make the artefacts that will be used during the ceremony, that is the krokroktire (large feathered headdress with one row of red macaw feathers and another of harpy eagle feathers) and the pre (large belt made of cotton beads).

The female name-recipients are painted in their houses by their mothers with the kuo ku ã ok design, this painting being carried out entirely with a palm-rib stylet both on the body and the face. In the afternoon, the men gather in the men’s house in the middle of the plaza (ngob) and start singing the three first verses of the nhiok chant. After repeating this for a long time, they start to move outwards towards the female name-recipient’s house, dancing and singing.