Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 2 - Oceania - E potx

Catholic missionaries arrived in 1863, be-ginning a small though continuous Europeanpresencetothis day.Withintenyears, all surviving Easter Islanders were con-verted to Roman Catholicism

Easter Island 53

ETHNONYMS:Isla de Pascua, Pito-O-Te Henua, Rapa Nui

Orientation

Identification Easter Island, the easternmost island in

Polynesia,was sonamedby Jacob Roggeveenwhocame upon

it onEasterSundayin1722.Easter Islandersevidentlynever

had a name of their own for the island 'RapaNui" (also

Rapa-nui,Rapanui) came into use inthe 1800sand

eventu-ally became thepreferrednameforEasterIslandthroughout

Polynesia The originofRapa Nui isunclearbut thename

wasevidentlygiven by people fromanotherisland, perhaps

Rapa In 1862 and 1863 EasterIslandexperienceda severe

depopulation that ledtothedestructionofmuch ofits

tradi-tional culture Subsequent contactwithChile, which took

possession ofEaster Islandin 1888, hasproducedaculture

containing many elements borrowed from South America

EasterIsland is currently a dependencyof Chile

Location EasterIslandislocatedat27°8' Sand 190°25'

W,about 4,200 kilometersoff thecoastofChileand 1,760

kilometers east ofPitcairn Island, the nearest inhabited

is-land.Itis atriangular-shapevolcanichigh island withatotal

areaof 180squarekilometers Themostprominentphysical

features arethethreevolcanicpeaks,eachlocatedat one

cor-nerofthe island The landiseither barrenrock orcoveredby

grass or shrubs, althoughparts were heavily forestedin the

past.Only flocks ofseabirds and thePolynesianrat were

in-digenousto theisland,withchickens,dogs,pigs,sheep, and

cattleintroduced by peoplefromotherislandsorEuropeans

The climateistropical.Waterwasobtainedfromspringsand

by collectingrainwater.

Demography Population estimates by European

explor-ers intheeighteenth and earlynineteenth centuries ranged

from600to3,000,althoughnone canbeconsideredreliable

There are indicationsthatthe precontactpopulation could

havebeenasmuchas10,000people From 1862to1871

se-vere depopulation resulted from the kidnapping of about

1,000menby Peruvianslavers,asmallpox epidemic, and

re-location toMangareva and Tahiti In1872 reliable

mission-aryreports indicatedonly 175 peopleonEasterIsland The

population continued to decline until the late 1880s and

then slowly increased to 456in 1934 In 1981, there were

about 1,900EasterIslandersonEasterIslandandothers

liv-ing inChile, Tahiti, andthe United States.EasterIslanders

make upabout two-thirds of the islandpopulation, with the

others being mainly Chilean military personnel or

govern-mentemployees

Linguistic Affiliation Easter Islanders speak Rapa Nui

(Pascuense), aPolynesianlanguagethathas beendescribed

ascloselyrelatedtothelanguages spokenonTahiti,

Mangar-eva,and by theMaoriinNew Zealand Sincecontact,words

from French, English, andSpanishhave beenaddedto the

lexicon Because of the Chilean presence, many Easter

Is-landers also speak Spanish There is debate overwhether

symbols found carvedinwoodboards calledrongorongo are a

precontact writtenlanguage,pictographs, symbolic

ornamen-tation, or copiesofSpanishdocuments leftbyearly explorers

History and Cultural Relations

Thesettlementof EasterIslandhasbeen a topic of consider-ableconjecture and debate ThorHeyerdahl'sKon-Tiki

expe-dition showed thatthe island could havebeensettled from South America, although linguistic and archaeological evi-dence suggestssettlement fromotherPolynesian islands

per-hapsasearly asA.D.400 Wherever the first Easter Islanders

migratedfrom, it is likelythat, given the remotelocationof the island, they wererelatively isolated from other

Polynesi-ans First contact with Europeans was with the Dutch

ex-plorer Jacob Roggeveenin1722 There is some evidence that because of deforestation and wars between subtribes, the

populationwasalready decliningandthe culture

disintegrat-ing at this time The islandwassubsequentlyvisited,usually

infrequentlyand briefly,byasuccession of Spanish, English, French,American, and Russian explorers, traders, and whal-ers The firstmajor and the most significant contact occurred

in 1862 when Peruvian slavers raided the island and

kid-nappedabout 1,000 men to the guano islands off the Peru-vian coast There the Easter Islanders were forced to mine guano for oneyearduringwhich time 900 died Facing an

in-ternational scandal, the Peruvian government sent the re-maining 100 menhome,althoughonly 15 survived the trip

Infectedwith smallpox, theyspread thedisease to those on theisland,furtherreducing thepopulation to perhaps 25 per-centof what it had been in 1862 The depopulation, disease,

fear of outsiders, anddeathofmany leaders ledtocultural

disintegration and a loss of much of the traditional culture within a decade Catholic missionaries arrived in 1863, be-ginning a small though continuous Europeanpresencetothis day.Withintenyears, all surviving Easter Islanders were con-verted to Roman Catholicism, with many of theeconomic

andsocial practices taught by the priests replacing traditional culture practices In 1888 Chileannexed the island and

sub-sequentlyleased 160 squarekilometersto theWilliamsonand Balfour Company, which established sheep ranching for wool Theremaining 20 squarekilometerswere set aside for useby the Easter Islanders In 1954 governance of theisland

and thesheep-ranchingbusiness was turned over to the

Chil-eannavy,andin1965, in response toislander complaints, the islandwas put under civilian control Easter Island is

cur-rentlyadependency of Chile and Easter Islanders are Chil-ean citizens

Settlements

Since 1862 the EasterIslanders have lived in or around the village ofHangoroa in the southwest comer of the island

European-style stoneandwood houses have completely re-placed the traditional forms Before 1862, villages were

lo-catedalong the coast, leaving theinterior mostly uninhab-ited Dwellings included thatched huts, semisubterranean

houses, andcaves Wealthier Easter Islanders evidentlylived

inlarger houses, often with stone foundations In addition to dwellings, villages often contained cooking shelters,

under-ground ovens, stone chicken coops, turtlewatchtowers, and

stone-walledgardens

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities Prior to 1862, Easter Islanders subsisted mainly on cultivated crops, with

sweetpotatoesbeing the most important Taro, yams,

sugar-cane, bananas, gourds, turmeric, and arrowroot were also

grown while berries and seabird eggs weregathered.Fish

pro-videdsomeprotein, although fishingwas never amajor

sub-sistence activity EasterIslanderscontinue tofarmsmallplots

today, althoughmaize is nowthemajor crop and Chilean

cui-sine hasreplacedthenative diet.Since the introduction of

sheepranching, sheepandcattleonthe island have been the

primary sources of meat Most material goods are now

ob-tainedfrom thestore ontheisland and fromtheChilean

gov-ernment Inadditiontofarmingandfishing,EasterIslanders

nowwork for the government, in afew smallbusinesses,and

inthe touristindustry

Industrial Arts EasterIslanders werehighlyskilled

stone-cutters and stone-carvers, masons, woodcutters, and canoe

makers.Today, some carve wood images for the tourist trade

The stone-carving tradition hadalready been abandoned at

the time of contact, thoughthe large stone statues survived

anddrew theattentionofvisitors tothe island Easter

Island-ers also madevarious utensils, implements, and tools from

stone andwood, baskets, nets, mats,cordage, tapa (acloth

made frombark), andbody ornaments

Trade Because of their isolation, Easter Islanders

evi-dendy did nottradewith othergroups inPolynesia There has

been conjecture that some culture elements developed

throughcontact with South America, mostnotablythe facial

images on the stone monuments These ideas remain

unproven

Division ofLabor Men wereresponsibleforplantingthe

gardens, fishing, and buildingthestone structures Women

harvested crops and handled most domestic chores There

wasalso aweil-defined occupational hierarchy, with expert

reciters of genealogies and folklore, stone-carvers,

wood-carvers, and fishermen paid fortheir services withproduce

Stone-carvers were aprivilegedgroup with the role and status

passed from fatherto son

Land Tenure In traditional times, land was owned by

lineages with dwelling and farm plots alloted to families

Since 1888 Chile has maintainedownershipofall of Easter

Island and has restricted the EasterIslanderstoland in and

around Hangoroa Newlyweds are given a few acres of land for

their use bythe Chilean government

Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent The population of Easter

Is-landwasdividedinto tensubtribesorclans (mata),each of

which evidently occupied a distinct territory in precontact

times By historic times, subtribe members were more widely

dispersed as a result of exogamous marriage, adoption, and

captureduringwar.The tenclansformedtwolarger divisions,

with one controlling the western half and the other the

east-ern half of the island

Kinship Terminology Traditional kin term usage

fol-lowed the Hawaiian system, which has been modified over

time to reflect changesin familyorganization

Marriage and Family

Marriage In traditional times, most marriages were

mo-nogamous, though some wealthy men had more than one

wife Marriages weregenerallyarranged, with infant betrothal notuncommon Today, marriage is by free choice, although thefathers of both the groom and bride are involved in ap-proving and making arrangements for the marriage Mar-riages are marked by three ceremonies-a civil ceremony, church ceremony, and a large feast hosted by the groom's father-reflecting the survival of a traditional practice Upon marriage, the couple generally live with one family or the other until materials can be obtained to build their own home In the past, many marriages endedin divorce, which could beinitiated by either party for virtually any reason The RomanCatholic church has madedivorce more difficult and less frequent

DomesticUnit In thepast, the basic family and residen-tial unitwas the laterally extended family composed ofbroth-ers, their wives,and their children Today, the nudear family

is the norm, although other relatives such as grandparents and brothers might also be present In the past and today, the father was the authority figure, although today the wife's fa-ther has more power than the husband's fafa-ther and a

son-in-law will often seek hisfather-in-law'sapproval for educational

and careerdecisions Under Chilean influence, the role of godparent (compadre) has developed, and godparents often play a role in child rearing

Inheritance In the past and today, both men and women could inherit and both men and women could leave property Socialization Puberty in traditional times wasmarkedfor boys and girls by secluding them on an island for some monthsand then holding large separate feasts at the end of the seclusionperiod These rites disappeared long ago, and puberty is no longermarkedby ritual The Chilean

govern-ment provides a school for elegovern-mentary education and some Easter Islanders attend high school in Chile

Social and Political Organization

Social Organization. In addition to social distinctions based on kinship, Easter Island traditionally had four distinct social classes: noblemen (anki); priests (ivi-atua); warriors (matatoa); and servants and farmers (kio).The ruler was the main high chief (ariki-mau) who traced his status to descent from Hotu-matua, the founder of the island In reality, ariki were invested with considerable mana and were subject to nu-merous taboos, although they had little actual power Little is

knownabout the activities of priests, as the role had disap-peared by the time missionaries arrived Kio were war captives who worked for others or paid tribute in the form of

percent-age of their crops

PoliticalOrganizato. As noted above, the nominal rul-ers came from theariki class,with succession to the position

of high chief going to the oldest son at the time of his

mar-riage However, since this marriage was often delayed many years beyond that of most Easter Islanders, chiefs often held their position for some years At the time of sustained con-tact, warriors were the actual political leaders, reflecting a long history of fighting among the subtribes and the almost continuous fighting that followed the kidnapping of men in

1862 Today, the Easter Islanders are governed by Chile, with

a Chilean governor, civil service, and police force providing services Easter Islander representation is through the mayor

of Hangoroa

Eipo 55

Social Control Mostearly observers described theft as a

commonoccurrence,withitemsstolen bothfromEuropeans

andfrom other Easter Islanders Revenge was the major form

ofsocialcontrol (actuallyitoften ledtowarfare rather than

peace) in earlyhistoric times Taboos on theking, nobles,

variousfoods, places, crops,death, and so on were a major

as-pect ofeverydaylife andwererigorouslyenforced Taboo

vio-lators weresubjecttobeatingsandevendeath.Although

tra-ditional tabooshave nowdisappeared,theywerestillastrong

infuence inthe1860s.Today,the laws of Chileareenforced

bytheChilean police andgovernment officialsonthe island

Conflict Wars wereevidentlycommonbetween the

sub-tribes and especiallybetween the eastern and western

fac-tions Wars wereoften forrevenge and involved ambushes,

burning andlootingvillages,andthetakingofcaptives, some

ofwhomwere tortured War with Europeanswasshort-lived,

and afterthekidnappingin 1862manyEasterIslandersfled

toinlandcavesupon the arrival ofEuropeanships.

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Belief The traditional pantheon included at

least ninety different namedgodsandspiritsdividedinto the

two categories ofhigh godsand lessergods High gods

in-cludedthecreator, the raingod,and thesuperiorgod

(Make-make) Lessergodsincluded gods with morerestricted

pow-ers, nature spirits, demons, and ancestor spirits Religious

ritual included offerings of food andtapa, communication

throughpriests, andchanting.Traditionalbeliefs have now

beencompletelyreplaced byRoman Catholicism

Religious Practitioners Priests, who could be men or

women, were evidentlydrawn from the noble class Little is

knownof the role and status ofpriests otherthan the fact

that theyacted as healers and communicatedwiththe

super-natural world throughpossession trance Priests could also

place cursesthatwere consideredespecially harmful There

were also sorcerers whose skills were used to influence or

cause harm to others

Ceremonies Ceremonies were heldtobringrain, sanctify

newhouses, and to ensure a rich harvestaswellas tomarkall

major lifecycle events The annual feast of the bird cult

(tangata-manu) andthe feast of the Bird-Man were the most

important ceremonies

Arts Thebest-known of the traditional artscentered on

stoneworking andstonecarving Themostdramatic

expres-sions ofthis tradition are the 600large (from 20 to 60feet

high) carvedstonestatuesmountedon stoneplatforms called

ahu The statues are most likely portraits of ancestors and

chiefs Statue carving had ceased bythe time of European

contact, with some 150 statues sitting unfinished in the

quarry and many toppled over Petroglyphs have been found

onthe island, and some interior stone walls of houses are

dec-orated withpaintings.Traditionally,variousbodyornaments

were carved and both men and women wore bodytattoos

Thecarving of wooden images, which was a common activity

inearly times, has evolved into a tourist-based economic

ac-tivity with humanimages much in demand

Medicine Healing was done by the priests who used

steaming, massage, binding, a limited pharmacopoeia, and

contact with spirits Today, Easter Islanders use Western

medical care provided by Chile

Death and Afterlife Inthe past, the body of the deceased

wasplacedonthe ahuplatformand left to decompose The boneswerethen buriedinthe ahu vault Muchbehavior that would normallyoccur in the vicinity of the ahu was taboo

during the time the bodywas displayed The funeral

cere-monyinvolvedalargefeast with singing and dancing Today, RomanCatholic practiceshave replaced thetraditional ones, although the latter survived into the twentieth century, far

longerthan many othercultural traits Thebody is now dis-played inthehome, followed by the church rite and burial in

acoffin inthechurch cemetery Interment is marked by hys-terical grief Inthe evening there is a feast with food taboos forthe family ofthe deceased

Bibliography Barthel, Thomas (1978) The Eighth Land: The Polynesian

DiscoveryandSettlement of Easter Island Honolulu:

Univer-sityofHawaii Press

Cooke,Melinda W (1984) 'Easter Island." In Oceania: A Regional Study, edited byFrederica M Burge and Melinda W Cooke, 371-375 Washington, D.C.: U.S Government

PrintingOffice

Femdon, Edwin N., Jr (1957) 'Notes on the Present-Day

Easter Islanders." Southwestern Journal of Anthropology

13:223-238

Metraux,Alfred (1940).Ethnology ofEaster Island Bernice P

Bishop Museum Bulletin no 160 Honolulu

Eipo

ETHNONYMS: Eipodumanang, Goliath, Kimyal, Mek

Orientation Identification The Eipo and theirneighbors live in the

DaerahJayawijayaof theIndonesianProvince of IrianJaya.

The Eipo usually refer to themselves as 'Eipodumanang," whichmeans 'the ones living on the banks of the EipoRiver,"

but the term"Eipo" is sometimes extended to include the in-habitants of adjacent valleys The term "Mek" (meaning water, or river) has beenintroducedbylinguists and anthro-pologists to designate the fairlyuniformlanguages and cul-tural traditions in this area

Location The Eipo inhabit approximately 150 square kilometers of land in the southernmost (upper) section of the Eipomek Valley, at approximately 4°25'-4°27' S, 140°00'-140°05' E.Settlements are found atelevations be-tween 1,600 and 2,100 meters, but surrounding mountain ranges reach 4,600 meters The terrain is forthe mostpart

steeply incised.Anthropogenic grassland isfound in a wide circle around thevillages Rainforest exists between the

gar-denareasandcoversthe mountainsabove about2,400

me-ters up to the tree line at3,500 meters Annual rainfall in

1975-1976 was 590 centimeters, with rain mostly falling

daily in the afternoons and evenings. Temperatures range

from about11-13° to21-25°C.Little seasonalchangeis to

be observed, butthe time offlowering ofa particular tree

(Eodia sp.)is takenbytheEipoas amarker ofcertainfeasts

and other activities. In 1976 two severe earthquakes

de-stroyed largeareasofgardenland andsomevillages;itislikely

thatsimilar catastrophes have occurredinthepast.

Demography TheEiponumbereddoseto800peoplein

1980; indications arethat thepopulationis growing.

linguisticAffiliation Eipo,of which therearethree

dia-lects, is a memberof the MekFamilyof Non-Austronesian

languages, clearlyseparatefrom the Oklanguagestotheeast,

theYali andDanilanguagestothewest,andlanguages

spo-ken tothenorth and south.Local people traditionally

under-stand-and,to alesserextent,speak-oneor twodialectsor

languagesother than theirown.Childrenusuallylearn their

speech fromtheir mothers (who,due to rules ofexogamy,

oftencomefromdifferentvalleys)and often donotadoptthe

dialectspoken bythemajority in aparticular village.Bahasa

Indonesia, unknown before the 1970s, is slowly gaining

ground as alingua franca

History and Cultural Relations

Noarchaeologicaldataareavailable for the Mekregion,and

ethnohistoricsurveys are missing as well.Itisprobable,

how-ever,thatpartsofthe Mekareahave beeninhabitedfor many

thousandsofyears.Linguisticand historicalresearchonthe

introduction and diffusion oftobacco shows that the Mek

(and their Ok neighborstotheeast)mayhave beencentralin

this process, and comparative studies on religious beliefs

provethatimportant concepts (e.g.,that ofamythical

ances-tral creator) have traveled fromeast to west While it is

un-knownas yet atwhattimethesweet potato(lpomoea batatas)

wasintroduced, one can conclude from thesignificance of

taro(Colocasia esculenta) inallceremonialreligiouscontexts

that this latter food plant was of vital importance in

pre-Ipomoean times The firstknowncontactbyoutsiders with

Mek peopleswasmade bya teamof Dutchsurveyorsearlyin

thiscentury;theymet a groupofpeoplenearMountGoliath

inthe south of theareaandreportedthefirstrecorded words

of a Mek language Some other groups were contacted in

1959inthecourseofaFrenchexpeditionacrossWest New

Guinea.Its leader,PierreGaisseau,later returnedwithafilm

teamandIndonesianmilitary personnelin1969, parachuting

intothesouthern Eipo Valleywherethey conductedasmall

but soundsurvey ontheareaandthe people Members ofan

interdisciplinary German research teamconducted research

intheEipo Valleyandsomeadjacentareasbetween1974 and

1980

Settlements The villages oftheEipoand theirneighborsinthe Mekarea

have30-250inhabitants andareusuallybuilton spotsthat

facilitate defense.Oneor morecircular men's houses(which

often havesacredfunctions) occupyconspicuousplaces,

ei-ther in the center or atthe end of thevillage The much

smaller and less well-built family houses, also of circular

shape but sometimeswithrectangular roofs, are the locations for family-centered activities Women stay in seclusion

houses,usuallysituatedattheperipheryofthevillage, during

menstruation, childbirth, and puerperium, and sometimes during serious illnessesandfor sanctuary Allmen's houses and most family houses haveelevated floors and a central

fireplace Protectionagainst the coldof the nightisnot very adequate Due to missioninfluence, which chiefly employs Danievangelistsandteachers, Dani house styles are becom-ing fashionable

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities The Eipo and theMek in general are skillful horticulturalists and make their

gardensin various places: sometimesonsteep self-draining mountain slopes, but also in flat, wet areas where ditching andbuildingmounds areparticularlyimportantfor the main

staple crop, sweet potatoes Mulching iswidespread Fallow

periods are fifteen years or more; sufficient regeneration of thesoilisjudged by the size of a tree (Trema tomentosa) that soon starts togrow inoldgardens.Numerous varieties of taro, some ofwhich reach considerablesize and weight, are also cultivated.They are reserved for ceremonies, especially feasts for guests Othercultigensincludeleafygreens (which con tribute most of the vegetable protein, especially for men),

ba-nanas, sugarcane, edible pitpit, native asparagus (Setaria palmifolia), variouspandanus species, and other wild foods Beans, cheyote (Secchium edule), cucumbers, maize, cassava, and peanuts have been introduced and successfully

culti-vated The fewdomesticated pigs do not contribute much to the diet, only about one gram per day person;theyare care-fully raised and usually used only in ceremonial contexts Small marsupials are snaredorhunted, often with the help of dogs, but hunting is done more to satisfy emotional needs than to providemeat Women and girls obtain valuable ani-mal protein in theform of frogs, tadpoles, lizards, snakes, spi-ders, and otherinsects aswell as the eggs and larvae of these animals Traditionand religious taboos reserve these foods as wellasmostof the bird species for infants, girls, and women

Inthe pastdecade, the Eipo have become dependent on mis-sion stations as sources of modem tools, clothing, tinned food, and other goods, which are purchased withmoney re-ceived from selling services or products to the mission

Industrial Arts The material culture is poor, even

com-pared to other highlands groups, and when research was begun in 1974, the Eipo and many of their neighbors were still using stone, bone, and wooden tools Their worldly

be-longings includestringbags,bows, arrows, stoneadzes, stone knives and scrapers, wooden diggingsticks, boars' tusks and marsupial teeth used as carving tools, bone daggers andawls,

lianas for startingfires by friction, bamboo or calabash

con-tainers for water,penis gourds for the men, and grassskirtsfor girls and women The Mekcook inhot ashes, bamboo con-tainers overthe open fire,or inearth ovensfor larger groups

of people, especially guests

Trade The Eipo and other Mek groups may seem self-sufficient now, but traditionally they relied on various goods

from the outside Unpolished stone adze blades were pro-duced by specialists in the Heime Valley and exchanged

mainlyfor stringbagsand garden products Other items that

Eipo 57

had to be imported included black-palm wood for bows,

feathers of birds of paradise and cassowaries, and various

highly valued shells

Division of Labor Traditionally, theonly specialistswere

producers of stone adzeblades;all otherwork activitieswere

carriedout, sometimesinsex-specificways,byeveryone The

clearingofvirgin forest(rarelydonetraditionally),thefelling

oflarger trees, and thebuilding ofhouses orlog andcane

bridges are allmaletasks Thephysicallydemanding workof

clearingsecondaryvegetationfornewgardensisdonejointly

bymenandwomen, asare various activities inthegardens,

such as preparing theground, planting,weeding, and

harvest-ing.Withregardtothe latter,thewomenhaveaheavier

work-load than do men and are known tocarry their ownbody

weight (about40kilograms) forseveralkilometersata time

Hunting and snaring,aswellaskillingdomesticated pigs,is

doneby the men Womenmakemostofthehandicrafts,

es-peciallystringbagsof various sizes

LandTenure Allland,withthepossibleexception of that

inthe veryhigh mountains, belongsto individuals (mostly

men) or clans In thelattercasethecorrespondingrightsare

usually exercised bythe clans' most influential male

mem-bers Someclans, namelythose whoaresaidtohave"always"

lived in a certain area, may own much moreland thanothers;

in a few cases"latecomers" may not have anylandproperty at

all Still,enough gardenland is madeavailabletoeveryone in

aprocessof formaldistribution Amongthe Eipoitispossible

to gain userightstolandthatonehasmadeinto agardenifit

has beenunusedorunclaimed foracertainperiodoftime

In-dividually owned or clan-owned garden land is marked by

specially planted Cordyline shrubs, the connectinglines of

which designate the sacrosanct borders Despite this,

dis-putes over land are quite common and can lead to armed

fights

Kinship

Kin Groups andDescent Descent isreckoned

patriline-ally Clan origins are datedbacktomythicaltimes.Animals,

thesun, and themoonareconsidered the respective

forefa-thers ofclans and areworshippedastotems Patriciansand

patrlineages areexogamous, a rule that isquite strictly

ad-hered to, evenwhen choosing premaritalorextramarital

lov-ers Even children knowsurprisinglywellthe details of the

in-tricate kinship network

KinshipTerminology Kinshiptermsfollow the

conven-tionsoftheOmahatype of system.Additionalclassification

principles include the specification that mother's brother,

mother's father'sbrother's son, andmother's brother's son

are all called by the same term

Marriage and Family

Marriage The Eipo term kasignifiesamarriageableclan,

lineage, orpartner;Jaibmeans to secure amarriageable

part-ner and is the term forarrangingamarriage This form is seen

as ideal, but in reality it doesnotoccur too often because

both the bride andgroom have therighttorejectthe

arrange-ment and because love affairsarequitecommon The latter

may lead eitherdirectlytomarriageor tothe man'sabducting

the consenting woman from herhusband, to whom she is often married as asecond wife Rather than a payment of bride-pricethereis a system of mutualexchange of gifts:the groom'sside and that of the bride hand over substantial

valu-ables,shelland featherdecorations, tools, etc With a few ex-ceptions,particularlyinyoungcouples,virilocalityistherule

In the1970s 12 percent of the men lived in polygynous mar-riages,allwith twowives, exceptforoneman whohadthree

Becauseof the facultativepolygynyandtheimbalanced sex ratio (133for allage groups, a result ofpreferential female in-fanticide, which is one of the mechanisms controlling

popu-lationsize), approximately5 percent of all men must live

per-manently without a spouse, whereas virtually all sexually

active and/orphysically healthywomenare married In one case, a woman was 'officially" living with two brothers

Whethersuch polyandrous settings areinstitutionalized mar-riages or ad-hoc solutions is unknown Premarital sexual in-tercourse is allowed Fidelity is expected of married persons but not alwaysobserved Separation, divorce, and remarriage

occurfrequently.

Domestic Uni. A family houseis usually occupied by a woman, her husband (who may at times, however, eat and sleep in the men's house), her daughters, her sons younger

thanabout 13 yearsold,and unmarried or elderly relatives The confined space is often also shared with a dog or a smaller pig or two Husband and wife mayworktogether, and thegardens and adjacent areas are preferred places for sexual intercourse

Inheritance Inheritance is through the patriline Tools, bodydecorations, and thelikemay also be given to other

per-sons, especiallyif thedeceasedwasunmarried

Socialization. Infants grow up in anemotionally protective environment with much body contact, especially with their mothers,andare breast-fed on demand.Birth intervals are at leastthreeyears, but child spacing will probably decrease in the course of acculturation Infants receive avarietyof social,

emotional,andintellectual stimuliastheyfrequentlyinteract with various persons of different ages and sexes The principle

of granting all of a child's wishes isgradually replaced by edu-cationaland economicdemands.Morethanactualcorporeal punishment, the threatof it keepschildren fairlywell

disci-plined.Girls helpwith variousdomesticduties earlierthando

boys Beyond the age ofabout 3 years, socialization takes

place more and more in peer groups In the last one or two decades mission schools have introducedhitherto-unknown

formaleducation,and they aretakingover part of the sociali-zationprocess

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organzaton. In order of increasing complexity anddecreasing consanguineality, thefollowing social levels exist: extended families, coresident groups, lineages and clans, men's house communities, villages, and political alli-ances of anumber of villages Among members of the same lineage orclan,loyaltyis usually high Men's-house commu-nities, led by specific clans, play an importantrole as work groups and inpoliticaldecision making

PoliticalOrganization On the basis oftheirintellectual, oratorical, social, and physical power,sisinang(big-men) lead

village communities as persons who take initiative, pursue

plans,andrespect rules andtraditions, thoughtheyalso use

them totheiradvantage.Inthisprotomeritocracy, leadership

isdependent on the actual power of theleader.Persons who

showsigns of losingtheircapacities lose theirpositions, too

Inheritanceofbig-man status from fathertoson isnot

insti-tutionalized, but it sometimes occurs de facto

SocialControl Big-menexercise a certain amount of

so-cial control, but moreimportant is the process of enforcing

social normsthrough public opinion This process, intum,is

effected through gossip,discussion ofdisputed issues, and

the use of extrahumanpowers in black magicallegedly

per-formedby female ormale witches Theinfliction ofillness

thus functions aspunishment for social wrongdoing

Conflict Despite the fact that the Eipo areusually friendly

andcontrolled, the potentialforaggressive actsisquitehigh

and doesnotneedmuchtriggering Untilrecently,inboth

in-traalliance fights and interalliance warfare, approximately

3-4persons per 1,000 inhabitants died of violence per year

Verbalquarrels and physical attacks withsticks,stoneadzes,

and arrows was theusual sequence of escalation leading to

fightsin thevillage.Neighbors inadjacentvalleyssometimes

werehereditary enemies who fought wars that were less

ritua-lized (and therefore less controlled) than the intraalliance

fights;inthe past these conflictsoccasionallyledto

cannibal-ism.Formalpeaceceremoniesendedthese wars forperiodsof

months or years.Warfare against ideologically defined and

dehumanized"others" increasedone's own senseofidentity

and strengthenedbonds within thegroup

Religion and Expressive Culture

ReligiousBelief The visible worldisconsideredto be

in-habitedbynumerous,usuallymonstrous,beings: soulsof the

deceased, zoomorphic spirits ofthe forests and rivers, and

powerful shapersof nature andbringersofculturewho,since

mythical times, have influenced the life ofpeople.Yaleenye (a

namethat means 'the one coming from theeast")isthe most

prominentsuchculture hero.Mythicalpowers,symbolized by

holy relics,weretraditionally housedandhonoredinsacred

men'shouses.Various ceremonies thatpervadedeveryday life

wereperformed to ensure the well-being of humans,domestic

animals, and food plants. FundamentalistChristianity has

replaced-sometimesradically-traditionalpractices and, to

a lesser extent, beliefs Syncretic ideas and ceremonies are

quite common and cargo-cult concepts exist

ReligiousPractitioners Seers aretheonlyoneswho can

communicate directly with the extrahuman sphere and its

agents They may also act as sorcerers, inflictingharm,

dis-ease, and death onothers Malecultleaders, who were

some-times alsobig-men, wereresponsibleinthepast forreligious

ceremonies.Thesmall group ofspecialistsinreligious matters

included healers

Ceremonies Untilrecently,thefirst andmostimportant

initiation of boys between about 4 and 15 years of age was a

major event that involved participants from other valleys It

washeld atintervals ofabout 10years, dependingon how

manyboys were availablefor thiscostly ceremony

Coiniti-ateskeptalifelongbond.Secondand third stagesinvolved,

respectively, thebestowal of the canewaistband and penis

gourd,and thepresentation of the mum, a back decoration thathungdown fromthe head Large and costly ceremonial dance feasts for visitors strengthened ties with trade and marriage partners from other valleys Warfare and alliance formation involved ceremonies,andthe killing ofany enemy was celebratedtriumphantly More rarely, great ceremonies, bringing together inhabitants from distant, sometimes inim-icalvalleys, were held to ensure the fertility of the soil Arts TheEipo make very few carved or painted objects SomeMekgroups have sacred boards and largesacredshields that were not used in war Drums are known only in some ar-eas,but theJew'sharp is found everywhere.Thetexts of pro-fane songs and sacredchantsconvincingly usepowerful met-aphors and are highly sophisticated examples of artistic expression

Medicine Compared to other areas of New Guinea, sur-prisingly few plant medicines are used Leaves of the stinging nettle are applied ascounterirritants Other traditional (psy-chosomatic)treatments, carried out by healers who were usu-allymales,involved sacred pig's fat and chants toinvoke the help ofextrahuman powers Healers usually were not paid for their services In recent years modem medicines have been administered at some mission stations

DeathandAfterlife Thedeath of a person leads to

emo-tionaldistressamong others and is spontaneously and cere-moniallylamented, sometimes for months The corpse tradi-tionally was placed in a tree and protected against rainfall

withbark and leaves After mummification the body was put under the roof of a gardenhouse Later, in a third ceremony, the bones were placed under rock shelters The complete cycle ofceremonies was not performed in all cases, and today through mission influence the dead are buried The souls of the deceased are thought toleave the body, as they do during fainting spells or severe illness, and it is hoped that they will

quicklyproceed to the mythicalancestralvillage of their re-spective clanshigh up in the mountains The spirits of the dead are thought to be basically angry andjealous of the joys

onearth, andpeople think theycan comeback to harmor, less frequently, to help the living

Bibliography

Eibl-Eibesfeldt, I., W Schiefenh5vel, and V Heeschen (1989) Kommunikationbei den Eipo: Einehumanethologische BestandsaufnahmeimzentralenBergland von IrianJaya (West-Neuguinea), Indonesien Mensch, Kultur, und Umwelt im

zentralen Bergland von West-Neuguinea, no 19 Berlin: D Reimer

Heeschen, V.,and W Schiefenh6vel (1983) Wo-rterbuch der

Eipo-Sprache: Eipo-Deutsch-English Mensch, Kultur, und Umwelt im zentralen Bergland von West-Neuguinea, no 6 Berlin: D Reimer

Koch, G (1984) Malingdam: Ethnographische Notizen iiber einen Siedlungsbereich im oberen Eipomek-Tal, zentralen

Bergland von Irian Jaya (West-Neuguinea), Indonesien Mensch, Kultur, und Umwelt im zentralen Bergland von

WestNeuguinea, no 15 Berlin: D Reimer