Whoa, better get that mind's eye of yours in shape there, @Purplelibraryguy; it's so obvious...
...lol, yeah, not really! The braided strands they beat on the ground look a lot like the tails of feral pigs you find down here in the forests and wetlands of the Gulf Coast, so maybe that's why they're called that, but this is just a guess of mine.
Way impressed by the translations of the chants, both to convey the meaning and the extra work to make the rhyme and meter match. Really well done, and very much appreciated. Really helped bring the island tradition to life in my mind while reading