Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 2 - Oceania - D potx

The broad floor of the Grand Valley, at 1,500 meters,has about 50,000 people,orabouthalf of the entire estimated Dani population.. The half-dozen languages and dia-lects of the Great Dan

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pacification and developmentintheGrandValley.This has been continued and intensified by the Indonesian

govern-ment since 1962

ETHNONYMS:Akhuni, Konda, Ndani, Pesegem

Orientation

Identification Dani is ageneralterm usedby outsiders for

peoples speakingdoselyrelated Papuan(Non-Austronesian)

languages inthe central highlands of IrianJaya, Indonesia

(formerly Netherlands NewGuinea,WestNewGuinea, Irian

Barat)

Location ThevariousDanigroupsliveinandaround the

Balim River,approximately4° S, 138°to1390 E.Thegreatest

concentrationof Daniis intheGrandValleyoftheBalim To

thenorth andwestoftheGrandValley,intheupperBalim

andadjacent drainage areas, livethe WesternDani.This is

generally a rugged, mountainous country, with a temperate

climate. Because of the high altitude and the sheltering

ranges, theDani area is temperate andunaffected by

mon-sooncycles In the Grand Valley,themean rangeof

tempera-ture isfrom 26° C to 15° C Rainfallinthe Grand Vaileyis

about 208centimeters per year,butwetanddryperiodsoccur

irregularly Forallpracticalpurposes,theGrandValley Dani

donot recognize anyyearly seasonal cycles,nordothey shape

theirbehavior around them

Demograhy The broad floor of the Grand Valley, at

1,500 meters,has about 50,000 people,orabouthalf of the

entire estimated Dani population It is densely populated,

one of severalsuch broad valleys found across the central

rangesof theisland.The otherDaniarescatteredacrossthe

rough mountain terrain from about 900 meters to about

1,800 meters above sea level The major concentration of

non-Daniinthearea is inWamena, the Indonesian

adminis-trative center, a townofsome 5,000peopleatthesouthern

end of the Grand Valley

linguisticAffliation The half-dozen languages and

dia-lects of the Great Dani Family are related to other

Non-Austronesian language families of the Irian Jaya Highlands

Stock, which belongs totheTrans-NewGuineaPhylum

History and Cultural Relations

The western halfof the island ofNew Guinea, where the

Danilive,was partofthe Netherlands East Indies until 1949

With the independence of therestofIndonesia, theDutch

heldon toNetherlands New Guineauntilit wastransferred

toIndonesiain1963via aUnitedNationsTemporary

Execu-tive Authority It is now the Indonesian province of Irian

Jaya.Even astheJavanese component of thepopulation is

being increasedthrough theresettlementprogram

(Transmi-grasi),asmallFreePapuamovement continues todemand

in-dependencefromIndonesia Butneitherthenewsettlements

northeinsurgentshavehadanydirect effectonthe Dani No

archaeology has been done in the Dani area. Some Dani

groups werecontactedbriefly by expeditionspriortoWorld

WarII,but the firstpermanentoutsidesettlementswere

es-tablished byWesternChristianmissionaries inthe 1950s.By

1960,the Dutchgovernment was carrying out its program of

Settlements

Danicompoundsarescatteredacrossthe floorof theGrand Valley The basic compound is one round men's house, a

smaller round women's house, arectangularcommon cook

house, anda rectangular pig sty Thelargest compoundsmay

haveup tohalfadozenmorewomen's houses Thestructures arelinkedtogether by fences andopen onto a common

court-yard Behind the houses, and enclosed byan outerfence,are

casualhousehold gardens The housesarebuilt ofwoodand thatchedwith grass. Compounds vary greatly in size. They

may contain just asingle nuclear familyor manyfamilies and assorted others.Acompoundmaystand by itselfor it maybe physically attached to several other compounds The

com-pounditselfis asocialunit, atleastin termsofintensityof

so-cialinteraction.Theselargest compound dustersmayhouse wellover100people,but they donotform socialunits.The population of the compound is fairly unstable, as people oftenmoveabout from oneplacetoanother,usually inthe

samegeneral area, fora variety ofreasons. Although a few Daninowliveatthegovernment centers inhouses with

sawn-lumber walls andcorrugated-zinc roofs, mostsettlementsin theGrandValleyhave changed littleinfortyyears.

Economy

Subsistence and Co amercialActivities About 90 per-centof the Dani dietis sweet potatoes.Theyare grown inthe complex, ditched fieldsystemssurrounding the compounds Themen preparethefields withfire-hardened digging sticks, andwomendomostofthe planting, weeding,andharvesting Theditchsystems capture streamsandrunthewaterthrough thegarden beds Inwetperiods, the ditches drain offexcess

water. These gardens usuallygo throughafallowcycle, and whentheyare againcleared, the richditch mudisplastered

onthegarden beds.Danilivingneartheedges of the Grand Valleymay alsopractice slashand burn horticulture onthe flankingslopes Because of the absence of markedgrowing

seasons, the sweet potatoes are harvested daily throughout theyear. In addition to sweet potatoes, Grand ValleyDani

growsmallamountsoftaro, yams, sugar cane, bananas,

cu-cumbers, a thicksucculentgrass, ginger, and tobacco Pan-danus, both the kind with brownnutsandthe kind withred fruit,isharvestedinthehigh forests, andnowthetrees are

in-creasingly planted around the valley floor compounds Al-though theWestern DanihadadoptedmanyWesternfruits and vegetables, especially maize,before actual contact, the Grand Valley Dani are more conservative andevenby the 1980s only minor amounts ofa few Western foods were grownthere.Domesticpigs are an important partoftheDani diet, as well asbeing major items intheexchanges at every ceremony.Thepigsliveonhouseholdgarbage, and foragein

forestsand fallow gardens.Pigsare tempting targetsfor theft andso are a major causeofserioussocialconflict.TheGrand Valleyitselfis sodenselypopulatedthatlittlesignificant wild-lifeisavailable for hunting.A fewmenwholiveontheedge of the Valleykeepdogs andhuntfortreekangaroosand the like

inthe flanking highforests.Inthe GrandValley, therewere

nofish untiltheDutchbegantointroducetheminthe1960s

Dai

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44 Dani

The only water creatures which the Daniate were crayfish

fromthelargerstreams

Industrial Arts Until the 1960s, when metal toolswere

introducedbyoutsiders,theGrandValleyDanitoolswereof

stone,bone,pigtusk, wood,and bamboo Groundaxand adz

stones weretradedinfrom quarriesintheWestern Dani

re-gion,and theJale,or EasternDani, gottheirstonesfromeven

furthereast Other toolswere made locally. Theymadeno

potteryorbarkcloth Gourdswereused forwater containers

andalsoforpeniscovers.Stringrolled from theinnerbarkof

local busheswasusedextensivelytomakecarryingnets,

wom-en'sskirts,andornaments.Rattantorso armorfor protection

againstarrows wasmadebyWestern Dani but the Grand

Val-leyDanineither made it nortradedforit.Spears and bows

and arrows were the weapons ofwar The arrows were

un-fletched, with notched, barbed, and dirtied (but not

poi-soned) tips By the 1980s, cloth, metal axes, knives, and

shovels, as well asthe detritus ofmodemlife-cast-offtin

cans and plasticbottles-had partially replacedtraditional

Danicrafts

Trade Even before contact, various seashell types had

been traded upfrom the coastsof the islandintothe entire

Dani area Axstonesandflatslateceremonial stones, bird of

paradisefeathers, cassowary-featherwhisks,and spear woods

weretradedinto the GrandValleyinexchangefor pigs and

salt produced fromlocal brinepools

Division ofLabor Gender and ageare the majorbases

for division of labor.Therearenofull-time specialists;but

there is some spare-time specialization A few people are

knownasexpertarrowmakersor curers.Generally, mendo

theheavy work liketilling gardensorbuildinghouses,while

womendothe tediouswork likeplanting, weeding,

harvest-ing, and carrying thatch grass Menweave the tight shell

bands used in ceremonies,womenmakecarryingnets, and

both make string Because of the very relaxed atmosphere

between men and women, thereislittleactivitytotally

hid-den from eithersex

Land Tenure Quiteinformal usagerightsarethe rule

Al-though thereislittleor nopopulationpressureintheGrand

Valley, theextensivelyditchedsweet potatogardenson the

broadvalleyfloordo represent quiteaconsiderable labor

in-vestment, but even so, rights are casually and informally

transferred Largegardenareas areusuallyfarmedbymenofa

single sib or asingleneighborhood Fieldsare controlledby

men, notwomen

Kinship

KinGroupsandDescent The GrandValley Dani have

exogamous patrilineal moieties and exogamous patrilineal

sibs Somesibnames canbefound alsoingroups outside the

GrandValley and there are hints, perhaps remnants, of a

moiety systeminWesternDani Inthe GrandValley, people

areborn into thesib of theirfather, but atbirth all Grand

Valley Daniareconsideredtobeof thewidamoiety Before

marriage, those whose fathersare of the warya moiety

'be-come waiya," theboys throughan initiation ceremony, the

girls without ceremony The chief function of themoieties is

toregulate marriage Sibsareassociated withone orthe other

moiety, neverboth There are sib-specific bird totems and

food taboos Local segments of sibskeeptheir sacredobjects

incommon, store them inthe men's house ofthe most im-portant man,andhold renewalceremoniesfor theseobjects Grand Valley Dani are not much concerned with tracing ge-nealogy.Common sibmembership is assumed to mean com-mon ancestry, butpeople rarely know their ancestors more thanacouple of generationsback

Kinship Terminology The Dani have Omaha-type kin-ship terminology

Marrage and Family

Marriage Weddings take place only at the time of the great pigfeast, which isheld in an alliance area every four to sixyears Moiety exogamy is invariably observed Marriages tendtotakeplacebetween neighbors, if not within a neigh-borhood at least within a confederation Some marriages are arranged by the families, while others are love matches ar-ranged by the individuals Marriage begins a series of rela-tively equal exchanges between the two families, which con-tinues for a generation, through the initiation and marriage of theresultingchildren Theseexchanges consist of pigs, cow-rieshell bands, and sacredslate stones Immediate postmar-ital residence is patrilocal, although within a few years the couple is likely to be living neolocally within the neighbor-hood or confederation where both sets of parents live Di-vorce isfairly easy, but long-term separation is more common

Atearly stages of tension, the wife, or the junior wife, moves out toanotherrelative'scompound for a time Nearly halfthe men areinvolvedinpolygynous marriages The Grand Valley Danihave remarkablylittle interest in sexuality A postpar-tumsexual abstinenceperiod of around five years is generally observedbyboth parents of achild The minority of men who areinvolvedinpolygynousmarriages mayhavesexual access

toanotherwife, but for most menand all women there are no alternative outletsnorany apparentincreased level of stress for those subject tothe abstinence Ritual homosexuality is absent This extraordinarily long postpartum sexual absti-nence has not beenreported among the Western Dani

DomesticUnit It iseasytoidentify both nuclear families andextendedfamilies,but these units areusually less impor-tant than the compound group as awhole

Inheritance. Thereislittlereal property toinherit As boys growup they join with their fathers in maintaining the sacred objects held by the local patrilineal sib segment In a more general sense, sons-and to some extentdaughters-of the wealthierand morepowerful men benefit from their father's

position.

Socialization Child rearing is very permissive Toilet trainingiscasual.Childrenarerarely, if everphysically

disci-plined and even verbal admonishment is rare There is almost

no overt instruction.Children learn by participating but not

by asking questions Since the late 1960s, government-sponsored schools, usually run by missionaries, have been teaching more and more Dani children to read and write in Indonesian

Sociopolitical Organization SocialOrganization Inthe Grand Valley the largestterrn

torialsociopolitical unit is the alliance, with several thousand people Warfare and the great pig feast are organized at the

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alliancelevel.Each allianceiscomposedof several

confedera-tions, which are alsoterritorialunitscontaining from several

hundred up to athousand people Confederationsare usually

named for the two sibs with the strongest representation

Many ceremonies, and the individual battles that constitute

warfare, areorganizedon a confederation level, initiatedby

the confederation-level leaders Within the confederation

territory there are usually recognizable neighborhoods, but

theseare not true, functioning social units Contiguous

clus-ters ofcompounds, alsomakingupphysical units, are not

so-cial units Each individualcompound, although lacking

for-mal organization, is the venue of the most intense social

interaction Moietiesandsibsarenonterritorial,unilinear

de-scent groups which crosscut the territorial units The two

moieties, being exogamous, are represented inevery

com-pound A couple ofdozensibs may berepresented in a

con-federation,eventhoughit isdominatedbymembersofonlya

few sibs In Dani areas outside the GrandValley,the

confed-eration is thelargest unitand alliances areabsent

PoliticalOrganization. Dani leadership is relatively

infor-mal, vested in nonhereditary"big-men" (thatterm isusedin

Dani) The leaders of the confederationand the alliance are

well known, but they are notmarkedby special attire or other

artifacts They are men ofinfluence, not power, and they

emerge as leaders through consensus Leaderstake

responsi-bilityfor major ceremonies andforinitiating particular

bat-tles.Theleader of theallianceannouncesthe great pig feast

and directsthe final alliance-wide memorial ritual Leaders

are believed to haveunusually strongsupernatural powers

SocialControL GrandValley Danihave no formaljudicial

institutions, but leaders, using their influence, can resolve

disputesup to the confederationlevel, assessing

compensa-tionfor pig theft and thelike.Butbeyondtheconfederation,

even within a singlealliance,disputesoftengo unresolved

be-cause rarely does anyone's influence extend across

confedera-donboundaries.Norms were notexpressed in explicit formal

statements Now the Indonesian police and army have taken

over disputesettlement

Conflict Untilthe early 1960s, interalliancewarfare was

endemic in the GrandValley. Each alliancewas at warwith

one or more of its neighbors Wars broke out when the

accu-mutation of unresolved disputes became too great A war

could last for a decade Then, astheoriginal grievances began

to be forgotten, fighting wouldslackoff Atthatpoint an

alli-ancethat hadbuilt upunresolved interconfederation

griev-ances could split apart, resulting inre-formationof alliances

and ties, whether of war or of peace, between alliances The

confederation itself remained relatively stable, but alliance

groupingsshifted.Itwastheritualphaseofwar thatlastedfor

years Once begun, it wasfueled bythebeliefthatghosts of

the killeddemanded revenge Since both sides were Dani,

with virtually the same culture, and the same ghost beliefs,

thekillingwent on, back and forth In the ritual phase of war,

formal battles alternated with surprise raids and ambushes at

the rate of about one incident every couple of weeks Battles

might bring 1,000 armed men together for a few hours on a

battleground A raid might be carried out by a handful of men

slipping across no-man's-land hoping tokillan unsuspecting

enemy But a war would begin with a brief, secular outburst

that had no connection with unplacated ghosts Some

con-federations in analliancewould turn against their supposed

allies and make a surprise attack on villages, killing men, women,and childrenindiscriminately.Thealliancewould be broken apart, and both sides wouldwithdraw from a kilo-meter-wide area, whichwouldbecomeafallow no-man's-land

onwhichtheperiodicbattles of the ritualphaseofwarwould

befought.Bythemid-1960s,the Dutch andthen the

Indo-nesians wereabletoabolish formalbattles of the ritualphase

of war,butsporadicraids andskirmishescontinue inisolated partsof the GrandValley.

Religion and Expressive Culture ReligiousBeliefs The GrandValleyDaniexplainmostof theirritualasplacatingthe restlessghostsoftheirownrecent dead.Theseghostsarepotentiallydangerousandcause

mis-fortune, illness,anddeath.Thus,attemptsaremadetokeep them far offinthe forest Dani also believeinlocal land and

waterspirits Inthe 1950s, the Western Dani region experi-encednativisticcargocult-likemovementsthat sweptahead

of the Christian missionary advance But these movements hadnoeffecton themore conservativeGrandValleyDani Now, in the 1990s, many Dani-Grand Valley as well as others-are practicing Christians Islam, the majority reli-gionof thelargernation,was notabletocope with Dani pigs andhas had littlesuccessthere

Religious Practitioners Variouspeople, mainlymen, are known for theirmagicalcuring powers.Ritualaswell as secu-lar poweriscombinedinthe leadersat variouslevels.Leaders

of alliancesseemoftentohaveexceptionallystrongandeven unique powers

Ceremonies Duringthetimeof war,ceremonies were fre-quent Battles themselves could be seen as ceremonies di-rected at placating the ghosts Therewere also ceremonies

celebratingthe death ofanenemyorfunerals for people killed

bythe enemy At thecremationceremonyforsomeonekilled

inbattle,one or twofingersofseveralgirlswould bechopped offassacrificestothe ghostof thedead person Menmight

occasionally chopoff theirownfingersor cutoff the tipsof their ears, but these actions weresigns ofpersonalsacrifice and mourning Funeralceremonies aswell aswedding cere-moniescontinuedatintervals after themain event.Both were concludedinthe great pigfeast held every fourto sixyears,in which the entireallianceparticipated

Ars The Grand Valley Dani havepracticallyno art

be-yonddecorationson arrowpointsandpersonal ornaments of

furs, feathers,andshells Formal oratorywas notimportant, but casual storytellingwasa well-developedskill

Medicine TheGrandValleyDanihavenointernal

medi-cine,buttheydorubroughleaves on theforehead to relieve headaches For seriousbattlewounds, they draw blood from chest and arms.Untilthe recentintroduction of malaria and venereal diseases theywerequitehealthy

Deathand Afterlife The GrandValley Dani conceive of a soullike substance, edai-egen or "seedsofsinging,"which is

seenthrobbingbelow thesternum. Itisconsideredtobefully

developed by about two years of age Serious sickness or woundscancauseitto retreattowards thebackbone, whence

it isrecalledbyheat andbycuring ceremonies Atdeath, this featurebecomesamogat,orghost,andit mustbe induced to

gooffintothe forestwhereitcannotharmthe living Death itselfisconsideredtobecausedby magic orwitchcraftbut,

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46 Dani

although witches are known, there is noparticular fear of

themintheGrandValley.Similar patterns of witchcraft

be-liefoccur among the Western Dard, but there witches are

lynched

Bibliography Broekhuijse,J.Th (1967).DeWiligiman-Dani Tilburgh:H

Gianotten

Gardner,Robert (1963) DeadBirds Film Producedbythe

FilmStudy Center,HarvardUniversity NewYork Phoenix

Films

Heider, KarlG (1990). GrandValleyDani:Peaceful

Warn-ors 2nd ed NewYork: Holt, Rinehart&Winston

Larson, Gordon Frederick (1987). 'The Structure and

De-mographyof theCycleofWarfare among the IlagaDaniof

IrianJaya."Ph.D dissertation,DepartmentofAnthropology,

University ofMichiganAnnArbor

vations Except where broken by gardening and second growth, the area is coveredby tall, midmontane rain forest andisdrainedby theTuaRiver,a maintributary ofthe Pur-ari.Mostrainfall occursduring the season of the South Asian monsoon (November-April);therestofthe yearisdrier, and overnight temperatures inJune areoften quite chilly Demography Althoughtheearliest census figuresare un-reliable, it would berealistic to estimate an increasefrom be-tween 3,000 and 4,000 Daribi at the time ofpacification (1961-1962) to morethan 6,000 at present This increase waslargelytheresult ofthe suppression of malaria, which was endemic to the region before that time

linguistic Affiliation The Daribi language is classified as

a member of the Teberan stock-level Family of languages, which includes only oneother language, Polopa, spokenby a neighboring people to the southwest The Teberanis afamily

of theTeberan-PawaianSuper-Stock, whichincludes as well the Pawaianlanguage, alarge numberofwhose speakersalso resideatKarimui MostPawaianspeakers at Karimui are bi-lingual with Daribi; however, very few Daribi speak Pawaian Matthiessen, Peter (1962) Under the Mountain Wall: a

ChronicleofTwoSeasonsin the StoneAge.New York.Viking.

O'Brien, Denise, and AntonPloeg (1964) "Acculturation

Movementsamong theWestern Dani." American

Anthropolo-gist, 66 no 4, pt. 2:281-292

Stap, P A M van der (1966) OutlineofDaniMorphology

Verhandelingen van het Koninklijk Instituut voor Taal-,

Land- en Volkenkunde, vol 48 The Hague: Martinus

Nijhoff

KARL G HEIDER

Daribi

ETHNONYMS:Dadibi, Kafimui, Mikaru

Orientation Identification 'Daribi" isthenameforapeopleofPapua

New Guineawho speakasingle languagewithlittleor no

dia-lect differentiation Among themselvesthey make a

distinc-tionbetween the Daribi ofMount Karimui (Migaruor

Ko-robo) and those of Mount Suaru The Karimui Daribi

distinguishbetween the kuaibidi,inhabitants of the volcanic

plateau, and theburn are bidi, limestone-country people

Locaion Daribi occupy the volcanic plateausof Mount

KarimuiandMountSuaru and theareaoflimestoneridgesto

the west of Karimui in the south of the Simbu (Chimbu)

Province,adjacenttothe Gulf and SouthernHighlands

prov-inces atabout6° 30'Sand 144° 30'to 144° 45' E Human

habitationaveragesbetween900 and 1,050meters above sea

level,withsomesubsistence activity athigherand lower

ele-History and Cultural Relations

According to their ownethnohistorical tradition, the Daribi livedoriginallynearMountlalibu, in the southern highlands, andthen moved eastward, inhabiting the deepvalley of the TuaRiver to the west of Mount Karimui During this time their staple food was sago, and they took advantage of the largelimestone caverns there for shelter They intermarried with the Pawaian peoplelivingatthe base of Mount Karimui, eventually moving up onto the plateau Many of the Daribi phratries trace their origins to Daribi-Pawaian marriages made at that time.ThosePawaian groups that were not as-similatedby the Daribi weredriven eastward ahead of the ex-panding population to the valleys of the Sena and Pio rivers, where they now reside The Darbiseem tohavebeen "pur-sued"by intermarrying Wirupeoples from the southern high-lands inthe same fashion as they drove the Pawaians, for sev-eral Wiru clans took up residenceinthe extremewest of the settled region at Karimui, andweredriven backtothe Wiru area late in the nineteenth century after a period of sorcery accusations andinternecinewarfare These movements, and certainly the ability to settle inland, away from the rivers, seem to have beeninvolved with the introduction of sweet potatoes as a staple crop Daribi had their first non-Melanesian contacts with theexplorers Leahy and Dwyer in

1930 and Champion in 1936, and they were pacified in 1961-1962, when anairstrip, patrol post, and Lutheran mis-sion station were built atKarimui Daribi were incorporated

in the newly formedChimbu District (Simbu Province) in 1966

Settlements

Traditionally a small extended family, polygynous or based on

agroup of brothers, occupied a single-story longhouse in the centerof a cleared swidden The housewasdivided front-to-backinto respective men'sand women's quarters Other, re-lated families occupied similar quarters nearby In times of warfare oruncertaintyanumber of such families or a lineage

orsmall clan of up tosixtypeople would occupy a two-story longhouse (sigibe'), with the men's quarters in the upper story

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for defensive advantage and the women's quarters below.

Sinceadministrative controlwasestablished,residencein

nu-cleated villages or hamlets has been the norm Small

ex-tended or nuclear families occupy single-story longhouses

facingthe roadinparallelrows,usuallywith asmallyardor

garden areasurroundingeachone

Economy

Subsistenceand Commercial Activities Intraditionalas

in present times, mostsignificantproduction and

consump-tion iscenteredonthefamily,withitssexual division oflabor

Subsistence isbased on bushfallowing, orswidden

horticul-ture,withsweetpotatoesasthestaplecrop.Sagoisgrownto

supplement this in low-lying regions, and otherimportant

cropsincludebananas,pandanus, maize, yams,dry taro,

pit-pit,sugarcane, and sweet manioc Tobacco is grown forhome

consumption aswellastrade,butitsearlierimportanceasa

cash crop has beensupplantedbycardamoms,grown

exten-sively forcommercialexport Pigs are raised forpurposes of

exchange,nurturedbywomenwhen smallandthen

permit-tedtoforage forthemselvesinthe bush Somechickensare

also kept,aswell ascattleto alimitedextent Huntingand

foraging remain substantial contributors to general

subsis-tence; the favored quarry is wild pigs and marsupials, and

bush-fowleggs,sagogrubs, andawidevariety ofmushrooms

aremajor forageitems Limited amounts of fish andcrayfish

are obtainedbydammingstreams

Industrial Arts Dugout canoes, wooden bowls, body

shields,andbows were producedfromhewnwood, whereas

fences, rafts, houses, cane bridges, and arrows were

con-structed from rawforest materials Traditional industryalso

included the crafting of bamboo pipes and musical

instru-ments from bamboo and theproduction of bark cloth

Trade Tobaccoisgrown, cured over the domesticfiresof

thelonghouse, andtwistedintolarge, spindle-shaped packets

to be used as theprincipal tradeitem It istradedfor

decora-tivebirdplumage withpeopleslivinginmoreheavilyforested

areas Beforecontacttobaccoandplumageweretraded,

to-getherwithextracted pandanusoil,forsalt, axblades, and,

later,pearlshellswith SouthChimbupeoples.Presentlythe

feathers are exchanged for cash Prior to extensive contact

withHighlandpeoples,Daribi traded with thePolopaofthe

Erave Riverand the Wiru of Pangia

Division ofLabor The basic divisionoflabor is sexual

and orientational: menworkwith vegetation aboveground

level, includingthefelling andcutting of trees,plantingand

tending tree crops, and construction ofhouses,fences,other

externalstructures, and tools Men alsohunt,supervise

ani-mal husbandry, slaughter, butcher, and prepare meats

Womenworkwithvegetation at or below groundlevel,clear

brushwood, plant, weed, and harvestgroundcrops

Land Tenure Named tracts of land, bounded in most

cases by watercourses or other naturalfeatures,are

tradition-allyheldincommonby members of a clan or exogamous

line-agegroup Male members and theirwives arepermitted to use

whatever land they wish within a tract forgardening,

dwell-ing,or other productive purposes, providedonlythatit is not

being used by someone else Plantsor treecrops,however,

re-gardless ofwhere theymay belocated,belongexclusivelyto

theperson who has plantedthem

Kinship

KinGroups and Descent A Daribi child should, as a matter ofmoral principle, be recruited to its father's clan through payments (pagehaie, or, colloquially, 'head" pay-ments) made to a representative of its mother's line, usually the maternal uncle (pagebidi) Should the payments not be given, the maternal line has the right (notnecessarily exer-cised) of claiming the child The clan, which holds in com-monthewealththrough which these payments are made, is thusideallypatrilineal.Clans are composedofzibi,minimally thesibling set that 'becomes a group of brothers after the sis-tersmarry out." Clans aregrouped intophratries, tracing de-scent from a named male ancestor

KinshipTerminology Aterminology of the Iroquoistype

is usedwith respect to consanguineals in one's own and as-cendinggenerations,whereasaHawaiian-typeterminology is used with respect tothose in descending generations

Marriage and Family

Marriage Daribi traditionally betrothed girls from an earlyage, often infancy, and tried to betroththemtowealthy

orprestigiousmenifpossible The peoplewere traditionally highlypolygynous; women were married at puberty, whereas men, who had to assemble a bride-price, normally married about ten years afterward This imbalance in age permitted most men to bepolygynous at middle age, and marriage to sis-ters orother closerelatives of an earlier wife was encouraged Daribi state summarily that they marry among those with whomthey donot'eatmeat"or sharewealth Thismakesthe clan, whichlikewiseshares in contributing meat and wealth

torecruitment of its members, something of a 'holding com-pany" for wives A woman'sclose relatives in her natal clan arecalledherpagebidi, and,as inthecase ofheroffspring,her membership must be redeemed from them In statistical terms,fullyhalfofall marriages at any given time are the re-sult of atransferenceof thebetrothed or married woman to someoneother than theoriginally intended spouse Divorce ofteninvolvesnothing more than atransferenceamong men

ina woman's clan of marriage; thistransference isalso the most commonconsequence of widowhood Postmarital resi-dence isvirilocal by normative preference, though there are exceptions

Domestic Unit The domestic unit, or household, is deter-mined more stronglyby division of laborthanbymarriage, though a marital household is the norm For example, a sepa-ratehousehold was often formed (with its own building) of all theunmarried youths and widows past childbearing age in

acommunity, so they might cooperate in gardening Inheritance Since a person's pigs and wealth, including money, are mostoftendispersedinkinpaymentsatdeath, in-heritance frequentlycomes down to the right to share in clan lands andwealth Thegarden of adeceasedpersongoesto thesurviving spouse or gardening partner, rights in bearing trees are inheritedpatrilineally

Socialization Achildis notpunishedfor its actsbeforeit

is felt to berational, that is, before it "hasasoul" and can speak Male children are socialized by peers and by participa-tion inmaleactivities, female childrenthroughtheir involve-ment inwomen's gardening and child-rearing work

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48 Daribi

Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganization. Collective activities, meetings and

arbitration,workgroups, and warfare andvengeance

under-takingshave in thepastservedas activefoci forlineal,

fac-tional,andcoresidentialgroupings.Often,butnot

necessar-ily, such task groupings coincide with the clan or even a

coresidential clustering of clans Before the institution of

centralized administrative control, cooperative parties of

menorganizedthemselves in this way to clearlargetractsof

land forgardening orformilitary action Influential men,

often theeldest of a group ofbrothers, takethe initiative in

planning and supervisingcollective tasks, more through the

exhorting of others than actual direction Kinrelationshipis

oftenthe strongest or most consistentsinglefactor in the

galvanizingoftheseactivities,thoughit isbyno means the

onlyone

Political Organization A coresidential grouping of the

dimensions ofa clan orvillage predictably divides, at any

giventime,intotwoopposedfactions, roughly alongthelines

ofkin affiliation or affinity. The men of a faction are the

hana, followers and supporters of a big-man or significant

leader(genuaibidi) Such leaders would often bid for the

pa-tronage of younger menby transferring betrothalstothem or

by feeding them with the surplus meals received each day

from theirpluralities ofwives

SocialControl Body-substancesorcery (animani) and

se-cret murderthrough sorcery assassination (keberebidi) were

often resorted to for vengeance; perhapsthe threat of these

actions helped to ensure social compliance Certainly the

mosteffective instrumentof social controlis"talk," that is,

public approvalanddisapproval,anorgan ofconsensual

en-forcement that has been amplified by the village-court

system

Conflict Boutsofhysterical publicanger, often

escalat-ing into factional confrontations, mark the stresses and

strains ofordinary villagelife Ifaggravatedover along

per-iod they may lead to residential splitting along factional

lines."Thirdparties,"either leadersoradjacentgroups, will

often tryto mediate these fights Traditionalwarfare took

theform ofambushes, skirmishesalong boundaries,sieges,

and occasional massacres by organized groupings of clans

actingin concert

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs Whether or not theybelieve inthem,

and incidental toanyprofession ofa religious faith, Daribi

fear thedispleasure, attack, or possession ofghosts (izibidi)

and,perhapslessfrequently,of"placespirits"-localbeings

dwelling beneath theground,inravines, or in trees Ghosts,

mostlikely those of friendsorrelatives, are thoughtto take

action against those who betray them, and place spirits

against those who violate their habitations

ReligiousPractitioners Traditional Daribireligious

prac-titioners include spiritmediums,definedas"ill"becausethey

have aninsecure relation to possessing ghosts, and shamans

(sogoyezibidi),who have"died"and attainedacomplete

rap-port with their spirits Sincemostforms ofmentaland

physi-cal illnesstraditionallywereconsideredtobe effects of spirit

possession, shamans functioned as effective curers and chargedfortheirservices even inprecontact times The large majority of both kinds ofpractitioners are women

Ceremonies Themajor traditional rite is the habu, per-formed to"bringback to thehouse" theghost of someone whohasdiedunmourned in thebush In the habu, young men are"possessed"by thealienated ghost and spend weeks

in the foresthunting animals and smoking the meat When theyreturn to thehouse theybringthe ghost"ontheirskins," and itmustbedislodged by wrestlingwith the"house peo-ple," after which the meat isblamed for the ghost'shostility

and consumedasamortuary feast.Otherrites include those

ofmarriage,initiation, and the pig feast, introduced from the highlands

Arts Depictive incision on arrow shafts and other imple-ments ispracticed Daribiexpressthemselvesmusically with theflute,theJew'sharp, andmourninglaments.Storytelling (namu pusabo) is the best-developed artistic medium, along withlyricpoetry

Medicine In addition to shamanic curers, traditional medicine included herbal remediesand a surgical practitioner (bidi egabo bidi)who removed arrows through askilled knowl-edge of bodymovements

DeathandAfterlife Traditional Daribi admitted human mortalitybutdenied death through natural causes The dead arebelieved tosurvive as ghosts who communicate with the living throughspiritmediumsandshamans and who travel, usually at night, along watercourses They live together at an ill-defined place to the west, possibly in a lake

See alsoAranda

Bibliography Elkin, A. P "The Social Organization of SouthAustralian

Tribes." Oceania 2:44-73

Radcliffe-Brown, A.R (1930) "The SocialOrganizationof

AustralianTribes, PartI." Oceania 1:34-63

Radcliffe-Brown, A R (1930) "The SocialOrganization of

AustralianTribes, Part II." Oceania 1:322-341

Dobu

ETHNONYM: Edugaura

Orientation

Identification Dobu (Goulvain Island on the earliest maps) is a small island (3.2by 4.8kilometers),an extinct vol-cano It is also the name of the language of itsinhabitants and, more generally, of those speakers of the same language

in neighboring areas The anthropologist Bronislaw Mali-nowski described Dobuansasa"tribe,"implying alinguistic, cultural, and even political entity, but this wider sense of

"Dobuan" waslargely aconstructof the first missionaries Location Dobu Island issituated in Dawson Strait (9.45°

Sand 150.50° E), whichseparates the large mountainous is-lands of Fergusson and Normanbyin the D'Entrecasteaux Archipelago of Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea Dobu speakers occupy southeastern Fergusson, northern Normanby, and the offshore islands of Dobu, Sanaroa, and Tewara The natural vegetation is lowland rain forest, though much ofthesettled area iscoveredwith secondary forest or grassland The region is tropical with two main seasons: the southeasterlywinds dominate the year (May toNovember), while the northwest monsoon (December to April) brings heavy squalls Average annualrainfallis about 254 centime-ters, butdroughts are notinfrequent

Denography. At the lastcensus (1980)there wereabout 10,000people in theDobu-speakingarea They arecentered

on the island of Dobu with a population today of about 900 (though missionary William Bromilow estimated there were 2,000 in 1891) The tinyisland of Tewara, to the north of Dobu, hadapopulation ofonly40whenanthropologistReo Fortuneworked there in1928 At that time the Dobuan pop-ulation(along with many others in the Massim) had been re-ducedby a half

lUnuistic Affiliation The Dobu language, comprising numerous local dialects, is one of forty or more Austronesian languages belonging to the so-called Milne Bay Family of the Massim Dobu's closest affiliations are with other languages

of theD'Entrecasteaux TheEdugauradialect of DobuIsland was adopted as a lingua franca by the Wesleyan Mission and

isspoken throughout the central Massim and beyond

History and Cultural Relations

In the late nineteenthcentury,Dobuans (Edugauransin par-ticular) were reputed to befierce warriors and notorious can-nibalswhoterrorized manyof their neighbors Their trading relations with the islands of Fergusson,Amphletts,and Tro-briands to the north, and with the peoples of Duau (Nor-manby Island) and Tubetube to the south, were conducted in parallel with local raiding enterprises Contact history began

in the mid-nineteenth century with briefvisits by whalers and pearlers, and later, in 1884, by'blackbirders" who forcibly re-cruited a number of men and killed others Dobu was visited

in 1888 by Administrator Sir William MacGregor on his first official tour of the newlyproclaimedBritish New Guinea,and

in 1890 by the Reverend George Brown, secretary general of theAustralasian Methodistchurch, who was seeking a

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head-50 Dobu

quarters for his mission By this date copra traders had

al-readysettled in the area, steeltoolsand trade tobaccowere in

circulation, andEuropean-introducedepidemicdiseaseswere

beginning todepletethepopulation.Thearrivalon 13June

1891 of William Bromilow and his missionary party of

sixty-three (which included thirty Polynesian evangelists) was

probably the most consequential event of local history

Within a few years Bromilow claimed to havepacifiedthe

dis-trict, thoughitwas more thanfortyyears before the whole

Dobu-speaking area was Christianized

Settlements

The'district"of Dobu Island contained about twelve

'locali-ties" or village clusters, each of which was constituted ofa

number ofsmall, dispersedvillageswith an average

popula-tionof about twenty-five persons Atypical villagecontains a

circle ofhouses that face inward to acentral,stone-covered

gravemound, inwhich matriclanmembers of thevillageare

buried Paths skirt thevillagerather thanpassingthroughit,

and thevillage issurroundedby coconut, betel nut, and other

fruit trees Houses arerectangular, traditionallywith asteeply

pitchedroof, they are built on piles with a small front

veran-dah Walls and roof are made ofsago-leafthatch

Economy

Subsistence and CommercialActivities Swidden

horti-culture is "the supreme occupation."The maincrop isthe

yam and itscultivation dominates the Dobu calendar.People

without their ownyam strains are"beggars"and findithard

to marry Otherindigenouscropsarebananas,taro, sago, and

sugarcane Sweet potatoes, manioc, pumpkins, maize, and

othercrops were introduced morerecently Fishingis an

im-portant subsistence activity, andinforestedareas menhunt

wildpigs,birds,cuscus,andother small game.Pigs,dogs,and

chickens are kept fordomesticuse aswell asforexchange

Since the earliest missiondays,Dobuans have earned cashby

making copra, but migrantlaboronplantationsandingold

mines was the most important source of moneyduringthe

co-lonialera,and itbecameanessential rite ofpassage for young

men.Today Dobuans abroadare tobefoundasclerks, public

servants, businesspeople, physicians, andlawyers The rural

population continues toengage insubsistence horticulture

with somecashcropping(mainlycopra andcocoa).Thearea

is served byseveralwharfs and twosmall airstrips

IndutrialArts Traditionaltechnologywasneolithic and

typicalofMelanesia Obsidian andstoneaxbladeswere

im-ported, but mostothertoolsandweapons (bamboo knives,

black-palm spears, wooden fishhooks, digging sticks, etc.)

were madelocally,as weretheseagoingcanoesused on

trad-ing and raidtrad-ing expeditions Claypots wereimported from

theAmphletts (more recentlyfrom Tubetubeinthe southern

Massim), butcoconut-leaf baskets, pandanus-leafmats, and

skirts were made byeach householder Craft specialization

was rare, unless in canoe carving,netmaking,and the

manu-facture of arm shells The mostcrucial specializations were

magical

Trade Thetraditionalceremonialkulaexchange (kunein

Dobu), for which the Massim is ethnographically famous,

continues todaywith manymodifications Doburemains an

important node in thisvastinterislandnetwork ofexchange

partnersthroughwhosehandsarmshells (rnwali)circulate to the south and shell necklaces (bagi) to the north Today, most kune voyaging is done by chartered motor launch in-stead ofby canoe This streamlines activities and obviates muchof thetraditional ritual; it also enables women to par-ticipate Subsidiary, "utilitarian" trade is now negligible, though traditionally kune involved (in addition to shell orna-ments) stone blades, obsidian, pottery, wooden bowls, pigs, sago, yams,betelnuts, facepaint, lime gourds and spatulas, canoe hulls, and even humanbeings.Live captives could be redeemed by the payment of shell valuables, or they could be adopted by their captors to replace dead kin Kune was thus intimately connected to warfare, marriage exchanges, and mortuary observances

Division of Labor The most crucial specializations were magical, and these had significanteconomic implications

as, for instance, in the control of rain and the growth of crops and pigs, in maintaining the abundance of fish, and in curing diseases A husband and wife cooperate ingardening buttheir separate inheritances of seed yams requireseparate plots Gardens are cleared and planted communally, but after the village magicians have performed their rituals, the gardens are the private domains of men and their wives Bush clearing is done by menand women together, the men cutting the heavier timber Men fire the debris and later wield the digging stick; women insert and cover the yam seeds Women weed and mound the plants as they grow; men cut stakes and train the yam vines to climb them Women dig the harvest; men plant and tend banana patches Both sexes fish andmakesago; men cook on cere-monial occasions Traditionally, only men traveled on kune expeditions,yet only old women were thought to possessthe magic to control the winds

LandTenure The use ofgardens and village lands is

gov-ernedby matrilineagemembership.A man inherits landfrom his mother or mother's brother A father may give some gar-denland (never village land) to his son, though after his fa-ther's death the son is prohibited from eating the produce of thisland Nowadays there is atendency for fathers to trans-mit land bearing cash crops (especially coconuts) to their sons

Kinship

Kin Groups and Decent The most important unit of Dobusocial organization is thethree-generation matrilineage (susu,"breastmilk").Each susu claims descent in thefemale linefrom one of several mythical bird ancestors of which the commonest are Green Parrot, White Pigeon, Sea Eagle, and Crow The susu of a villageputatively belong to a single mat-riclan, descendants of the same totemic bird Thematriclans

of alocality are randomly associated and dispersed through-outthe Dobu-speaking area

KinshipTerminology Iroquois-type cousin terminology

is used while a father is alive,but after his death, Crow-type cousin terms are used (since a sister's son succeeds to his mother's brother'skinship status), and the dead man's son calls his father's sister's son 'father."

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Marriage and Family

Marriage Marriage isforbidden betweentheowning susu

ofa village and between cross cousins; thus villages are

exogamous, though localities tend to beendogamous

Pre-marital sex is permitted and adolescent promiscuity is the

norm, thoughtheanthropologistReoFortunecharacterized

Dobuans as prudish in speech and public behavior A

be-trothedcouplework hard for ayear for their respective

in-laws Marriage ismarked byaseriesofexchangesofcooked

anduncooked food,pork, fish, andgame between the

con-tractingvillages and byagiftofarmshells from thegroom'sto

the bride'sgroup Intervillage exchangesalsooccurannually

in the name of each married couple. Ideally, marriage

ex-changes balance in thelong run Monogamywasthenorm

and polygyny was practiced by only a few wealthy men

(esa'esa) Dobu is renowned for the practice of biocal

resi-dence in which acouplelivealternately,forayearat atime,in

thevillageofeach spouseinturn.Affines show great respect

tovillageowners, but friction between the owningsusuand

incomingspouses gives risetoquarreling, village 'incest,"and

attempted suicide Fortune regarded the practice of bilocal

residenceas acompromise between the demands of thesusu

and those of theconjugalunit,thoughhejudgedit more

de-structive ofthe latter Divorce is very frequent in Dobu

Bromilow listed twenty-two reasons for divorce (including

"filthy language"), but Fortune accounted the commonest

cause to be "cut-and-runadultery"withavillage"sister" or

'brother." Affinesare fearedas ikelywitches andsorcerers

Intherevised edition of his bookFortuneofferedanother

in-terpretation ofbilocal residence, stating thatitisassociated

withanannual exchangeof yamsforarmshells between

resi-dent susu wivesand their nonresident husbands' sisters

DomesticUnit Thehousehold normallycomprisesa

mar-ried couple andtheir young children Adolescentgirlsremain

with theirparents until marriage, butatpubertyboys go to

sleepelsewhere,usuallywiththegirlsofneighboringvillages.

After a man's death his children areprohibited fromentering

hisvillage

Inheritance Village land, fruit trees, and most garden

lands are inherited matrilineally The corpse andskull ofa

person belongto the susu, as do personal names Canoes,

fishing nets, stone blades, ornamental valuables, and other

personalproperty alsodescendwithinthesusu.Magic,

how-ever, can passfroma father to one of his sons(aswellas tohis

rightful heir), apractice that Fortune regarded as

"subver-sive" ofthesusu

Socialization Both parents rear young children, and they

areusually strict Childrenavoidharsh treatmentbytaking

refuge with their mother's sister and her husband, who are

in-dulgent Between ages 5 and 8, a boy has his earlobes and

nasal septum piercedbyhisfatherormother'sbrother, and

about this time he is given a smallgarden plot ofhis own, and

he may even be taught fragments of magic.Atage 10 heis no

longer struck for punishment, lest he (imitating his father)

break hismother'scookingpots or(imitatinghismother)

be-havecruellytohisfather'sdog Boysof thisage learntothrow

and dodge spears, and by the time they are 14 they have

begun to learn love magicandtosleepwithgirls.Fortunesays

little about the socializationofyounggirls

Sociopolitical Organization

Social and PoliticalOraniation The village (asa) com-prises between four andadozensusuandisthemost impor-tantsocial unit for the organization of marriage andmortuary exchanges Between four and twentyvillagesform a named

locality,whichtraditionallyappears to have had a headman, probably one who had inherited much magic and was promi-nent inkune The localitiesof a district (such as Dobu Is-land) were normally hostile to one another, though they sometimescombined for war making(andkuneexpeditions) under the leadership of a strong "war chiefand standard bearer." Such was Bromilow's "friend" Guganumore, who had talliedeighty-sixcaptives and whose position was reified

in 1892by his appointment as a government chief Dobu so-cietyisessentiallyegalitarian,anditlacksthe ideology of he-reditary rank found in Kiriwina to the north In 1961 the Dobu Local Government Council wasproclaimed,andtoday theDobu area forms the constituency of an elected member

of the provincial government A number of Dobuans have alsostoodfornational parliament, andtheirkiunenetworks haveproved effective in electioneering

Social Control In the absence ofadjudicating authorities, dispute settlement and theredress ofwrongs were matters for self-help Sanctions weresocial (shame, ridicule, admonish-ment), supernatural (especially witchcraft and sorcery), or based on reciprocal response (revenge killing, sorcery feud, attempted suicide) The threat ofsorcery was an effective means ofenforcing economicobligations Public harangues

bythevillageheadmanwereeffective inshamingdelinquents Fruit trees were protected from theft by charms (tabu) be-lieved to causedisease or disfigurement Many of these sanc tons stilloperate, somewhat modified by Christian ethics ModemDobu is served by amagistrate's court, though it is one of the local government councillor'stasks to settle dis putes at thevillage level

Conflict Fortune represented Dobu as a society perme-ated byjealousy and suspicion At itstroubled heart was the syndrome of susu solidarity, maritalantagonism,biocal resi-dence, and the ubiquitous fear of witchcraft and sorcery Warfarewasendemic in the nineteenth century, and the

lo-cality was the war-making unit Furtive raids rather than pitched battles were the norm Intermarriage between ene-mies wasrare, thoughcaptives were sometimes adopted

Religion and Expressive Culture Religo Belief As the site ofintensive missionary

activ-itysince 1891, the Dobu area is now thoroughly Christian-ized and village churches (runbylocallay preachers) are an important focus of community life.Sundays and holy days of the Christian calendar are observed, and commemorative dates of the Dobu mission arecelebrated (notably the anni-versary ofBromilow'sarrival), when gifts of money are made

to the church.ManyDobuans havebecomeministers and are found in communities throughout the Massim Elements of the traditionalreligion survive, however, and beliefs in magic, witchcraft, and sorcery remain pervasive Yam gardening is still accompanied by rituals, taboos, and magical

incanta-tions; the dogma persists that yams are"persons"and must be treatedproperly lestthey abandon their owner's garden for another Everywoman is a potential witch (werebana) and

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52 Dobu

every mana potentialsorcerer (barau); assuchtheir spirits

are most active during sleep Immortal spirit beings,

com-memoratedinmyth,validatemagicalsystemsand explainthe

Dobuworldof'contendingmagicalforces." Themost

impor-tant areKasabwaibwaileta (thehero ofkuneorkula);Tauhau

(creatorof theWhiteman,hisgoods,andhis epidemicdis

eases);Yarata (thenorthwestwind);and Bunelala (thefirst

woman to plant yams) Others are less anthropomorphic,

such asNuakiekepaki, the moving rock-manwhosinks

ca-noes.Manysupernaturalsareexemplars whosesecretnames

are invoked in the incantations used to control them

Yabowaine was another supernatural who 'watched over"

war,cannibalism,and kune Hewasbelievedtoform the

fin-gersand toesofunbornchildren,andonaccountof this

cre-ativefunction the firstmissionariesappropriatedhisnamefor

"God,"thereby immeasurably inflating his traditional role

Religious Pracidoners. Althoughthereareritual

special-ists aswell as renowneddiviners, most menand women use

magicoftheirowninheritance Theusesofmagic in

garden-ing, inlove,and in kune arehighlycompetitive: 'The ladder

of social ambitionisthat of successfulmagic,"Fortunewrote

Thesocial distributionof magicthuscoincides with the

dis-tribution ofwealth and power

Ceremonies Themostimportant ceremoniesareperiodic

exchanges andfeasts associated withmarriage and death

Arts A rich mythology containsmanylegends that

vali-datemagicalspells.Decorativeartofthepleasingcurvilinear

style typical of theMassimwaslargelyconfined to housesand

canoes.Thebambooflute andJew's harpwereusedin

court-ship, and dancing to hand drums accompanied feasting

Manyof thedancesongstranslated byFortune are

remark-able fortheir pathos andpoeticbeauty

Medicine Illnessisalmost invariablyattributed to sorcery,

witchcraft, or thebreachoftaboo;curinginvolves the

settle-mentofgrievances.Gingeristhemostcommonmagical

pro-phylacticandcuringagent.Manyotherplantsand herbsare

used, but theirpharmacologicalefficacyis doubtfuL

Deathand Aftlife Death and mourning continue the

cycleofaffinalexchangesandfeasts.The survivingspouse's

village gives yams,armshells,andapig(previously,ahuman

captive) to thevillageofthedeadspouse,whoisburiedbyhis

orherownsusu.Afterayear thelatter release the widowor

widower from mourning, andfollowingthisritehe orshe may

never again enterthe village of the deceased Large feasts

(sagali) areheldperiodicallyinhonorofthecollective dead

ofavillage,atwhichpigsand yamsaredistributedtoother

lo-calities.The spirits ofthe deadwent toBwebweso,anextinct

volcano on Normanby Island ("Bwebweso' means

"extin-guished").ItsportalswereguardedbySinebomatu (Woman

ofthe NortheastWind)who exactedapayment ofbetel nuts

fromeachnewarrival.Thediseased and the deformedwere

consignedto aswampatthe footof Bwebweso.Thespirits of

those slainin waralsohada separateafterword

SeealsoGoodenough Island, Trobriand Islands

Bibliography Bromilow,W E (1910) Some MannersandCustoms ofthe

Dobuans ofS.E Papua Brisbane: Australasian Association

for the Advancement ofScience

Bromilow, W E (1929) Twenty Years amongPrinitive Papu-ans London: Hodder & Stoughton

Fortune, Reo F (1932) Sorcerers of Dobu London: George Routledge&Sons.Rev ed 1963 New York: E P.Dutton Young, Michael W (1980) "A Tropology of the Dobu Mis-sion." Canberra Anthropology 3:86-104

MICHAEL W YOUNG

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