Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 2 - Oceania - M potx

Housesareallmuchthesame sizeand areexternallysimilarbut,whereasawoman's house usually shelters one wife, her unwed daughters, herinfant sons, several pigs, and family valuables, the aver

148 Loyalty Islands

ETHNONYMS:Dehu, laai, Nengone, West Ouvean

Therearefourmajorresident groupsintheLoyaltyIslands of

Melanesia: Dehu, also known as De'u, Drehu, Lifou, Lifu,

and Min; laai, also known as lai and Yai; Nengone, also

knownasMareand Iwatenu;and WestOuvean,whichisalso

knownasFaga-Uviaand Ouvean In1982thepopulationof

the islands was approximately 22,100 The Loyalty Islands

arelocatedinthe southwesternPacific,justnortheast ofNew

Caledonia, which they were affiliated with in an areawide

tradingnetwork Dehu,laai,Nengone,andtheirvarious

dia-lectsareclassifiedintheNewCaledonianGroupof the

Aus-tronesianLanguageFamily.West Ouveananditsvariants are

classified in the Polynesian Group of Austronesian

languages

SeealsoAjie

Bibliography

Faivre,jeanPaul(1955).LanouvelleCalldonie:giographieet

histoire, economic, dimographie, ethnologie. Paris: Nouvelles

Editions Latines

Guiart,jean (1963).Structure delachefferieenMilanisie du

sud Paris: L'Institut d'Ethnologie, Universiti de Paris

ETHNONYMS:Western Central Enga

Orientation

lIentification The Mae form a cultural and geographicalsubdivision of the Enga, who comprise mostof the inhabi-tantsof Enga Provinceinthe centralhighlands ofPapua NewGuinea The Melpatothe east first calledthem Enga, a namethatEuropean explorers and later thepeoplethemselves haveadopted

Location Wabag, the administrativecenterofEnga ince, issituated at about 5°30' S and 143°45'E Maeexploitrivervalleys and mountainslopesbetween about 1,820 and2,700 metersabove sealevel Forested high ridges are unin-habited Mean annualrainfallisabout300centimeters, vary-ingbetween 228and 320 centimeters Rainfalls about 265days a year,but there is a summer wet season (November toApril) and a winter dry season (May to October) Winterdroughts may occur, and at altitudes above 2,500 meters,winter frosts are common; both may cause food shortages.Demography In 1960 the then Wabag Subdistrict ofabout 8,710 squarekilometerssupported an indigenous pop-ulation estimated at 115,000, ofwhom about 30,000 wereMae.Central Engapopulation densities ranged from about

Prov-19to115 persons per squarekilometer By the mid-1980s thepopulation of Enga Province exceeded 175,000, including atleast 45,000 Mae, and population densities were generallyhigher

linguisticAffiliation Maespeak adialect of Enga, one oftheWest-Central Family of theCentral HighlandsStock ofPapuan languages of Papua New Guinea

History and Cultural Relations

Archaeological research in the central highlands indicates

that horticulturalists were active in the Enga area at least2,000 yearsago, and probably earlier Thesepre-lpomean cul-tivators werepresumably ancestral to present-day Enga, buttheir placeof origin is unknown Enga, including Mae, havefor centuries maintained with non-Enga neighbors socialcontacts such asmarriage, sharing of rituals, economic ex-changes, and raiding In 1930 Enga first encountered Euro-peangold prospectorsandin 1938 fieldofficersofthe Aus-tralian colonial administration By 1948 Wabag Subdistrictheadquarters was established and the government permittedminersand Christian missionaries to enter the area Between

1963 and 1973 the administration set up six elected localgovernmentcouncils, representatives of which in 1973 com-prised a district-wide Area Authority In 1964 Enga, likeotherresidents ofthe then Territory of Papua New Guinea,electedrepresentatives to the new House of Assembly, which

in1975 became theNational Parliament after the country cured political independence from Australia In 1974 EngaProvince was proclaimed and in 1978 Enga elected aprovin-

se-cial assembly and government

Mae Enga 149

Settlements

Maedonot live incompactvillages.Menand women occupy

separate housesdispersed among thegardensand groves in

the territoryheldby eachclan parish, whosepopulation of

clansmen,theirin-married wives,and their children averages

about400persons andexploitsabout 5.2 square kilometers

ofirregularterrain.One-story dwellings hugthegroundand

are built with double-planked walls and thickly thatched

roofstokeepoutcold andrain Housesareallmuchthesame

sizeand areexternallysimilarbut,whereasawoman's house

usually shelters one wife, her unwed daughters, herinfant

sons, several pigs, and family valuables, the average men's

housecontainsaboutsixor sevencloselyrelatedagnates,

in-cluding boys,and theirequipment.Wabag townshipis now a

public service andcommercialcenterof between 2,000 and

3,000residents (including100 or morenon-Enga and

Euro-peans) and has paved streets, Australian-style wooden

houses, electricity, and piped water.All-weather roads link

Wabag withadministrativeposts and mission stationswithin

Enga and withneighboringprovincialcenters

Economy

Subistnce and CommercialAcdvities Mae were and

mostremainsubsistence gardeners.They employanintensive

and productive system of long-fallow swidden cultivation,

which utilizes familylabor, simpletools, and effective

tech-niques ofcompostingand#rainingtogrow thestaplesweet

potatoes, supplemented by taro, bananas, sugarcane,

pan-danus nuts,beans, and variousleafgreens,aswell as

intro-ducedpotatoes, maize,andpeanuts Sincethe1960scoffee,

pyrethrum, potatoes, and,, mist recently, orchids have

be-come the maincommercialproductsofthe cultivators

Do-mestic pig raising, important in thehorticultural cycle, not

onlyprovides most ofthemeat inthedailydietbutalsothe

porkandlivepigs thatfigureinpublicdistributions

ofvalua-bles to mark marriages, illnesses, deaths, and homicides

Small herds of introduced cattle, waterbuffalo, sheep, and

goats are kept but have little commercialsignificance

IndustrialArtsandTrade TraditionallyMaetradedash

saltandoccasionallypigs andpandanusnutswith

neighbor-ingsocietiesinreturn for regionalspecialties, including

cos-metic tree oil, stone axe blades, palm andforest woods to

make weapons and drums, plumes, and marine shells At

home these and othervaluablessuch aspigs and cassowaries

circulated freely through the Teceremonialexchange cycle

and the prestations associated withbirths,deaths,and

mar-riages. Local crafts were (and still are) limited mainly to

men'sconstructionofhousesand bridgesandproductionof

weapons,implements, andpersonalornaments,whilewomen

made net carrying bags and men's aprons Artisans

compe-tent in Western trades are scarce inEngarandmost ofthese,

especiallymechanics, carpenters, andbuilders, workfor the

National Works Authority based in Wabag Also located

there are the fewbankbranches and general stores that serve

theMae Scatteredthroughthe clan territories are scores of

tiny andunprofitabletrade stores that sell cannedfoods,

ker-osene, soap, cigarettes, etc., aswell as anumberofall-night

dance halls where beer is sold and a few bushgarages and

car-pentryworkshops.Manywomensell small quantities

ofvege-tables at local markets that have sprung upin Wabag and

near missions and schools Some women with sewing chines makesimple clothes for the market

ma-Division of labor Division of labor by sex is markedamong Mae Men undertake the initial concentrated andheavy work of clearing,fencing, ditching, and deeptilling ofgardens and coffeeplots, after which their wives and daugh-terssustainthe constant round of planting,weeding, repair-ingfences, anddailyharvestingof foodplants, plus picking

and processing coffee in season Women also tend familypigs, carefor infants, prepare and cook food, and carry fire-woodand water Men build all houses, while women gathergrass for thatch andprovide food for the workers Inshort,

women's work provisions Mae domestic economy and ports male andpoliticalandceremonial activities

sup-Land Tenure Within the 520 or so square kilometerscomprisingthe Maedistrict, sharply localized patriclans tra-

ditionallyclaimedrights to all the arable lands and other highforests and marshlands whose resources they could exploit;andneighboring clansfrequentlyengagedinbitter warfare todefend or toextend their territories Since the1960sthe com-bination of arapidly increasingpopulationandthe diversion

ofarable areas from food growing to coffee and cattle

produc-tion hasexacerbated interclan conflicts over access to landand other economicassets, as well as topolitical office Thenumbers of Maeemigrating to otherprovincesto seek urban

orruralemployment have not been so great as to amelioratethe situation

Kinship

KinGroups andDescent AU Mae are members of mentary agnatic descentstructures, within which residentialand cultivation rights to land aresuccessively divided Thelargest agnatic descent group, with as many as 6,000 mem-

seg-bers,isthe eponymouslynamed andnonexogamousphratry,each of whichcomprises a cluster ofcontiguousclans (aver-age about eight, range four to twenty) whose eponymousfounders arethoughtto be sons of thephratryfounder Themean size of theexogamousand localizedpatriciansis about

400members,with a range from about 100 to 1,500 A clancontains from two to eight namedsubclans generatedby theputative sons ofthe clan founder Thesubclaninturnis di-vided into from two tofour named patrilineages established

by sons of thesubclan founder Patrilineages contain twenty

or moreelementary (monogamous) and composite nous) families whose heads are usually held to be great-grandsons of the lineage founder

(polygy-Kinship Terminology The Iroquois bifurcate-merging

system of kinterms, which the Mae system resembles, guishesgenerationlevels but notsenioritywithin generations.Mae alsorecognize terminologically four wider categories ofkin: agnates, other patrilateral cognates, matrilateral cog-

distin-nates, and affines

Marriage and Family

Marriage Until the 1960s polygynywas an indicator ofsocial andeconomic worth, and about 15 percent of marriedmenhad two or more wives; nowadaysmonogamyisbecom-ing more common Thelevirate is the only marriageprescrip-

tion, and most of the numerousprohibitionsare phrased interms ofagnatic descent-groupaffiliation The mostimpor-

150 Mae Enga

tant arethat a manshouldnotwed within hisownpatrician

orwithinthesubclans of his motherorhiscurrent wives

Par-ents, especially fathers, generallychoose the spouses when

theirchildren firstmarry Postmaritalresidenceideallyis

pa-trivirilocal Because marriageunites the clans of both bride

and groominvaluedlong-term exchange relations,divorceis

difficult to achieve,evenbyhusbands.Adulteryisdeplored,

and the fewerringwives arebrutally punished. AU of these

norms and constraints have erodednoticeablyoflatedueto

the influence of secular education and Christian missions,

wage earning and mobilityofyoungadults,and thegrowing

consumption ofalcohol

Domestic Unit Becausemenregardfemale sexual

charac-teristics, especially menstruation, as potentially dangerous,

women may never enter men's houses and men, although

theyvisit theirwives' houses to discussfamilymatters,donot

sleepthere Nevertheless,theelementaryfamilyofhusband,

wife,andunwedchildrenconstitutes the basic unit of

domes-ticproductionand reproduction.Apolygynous mandirects

the pigtendingand cultivation doneseparately byhiswives in

their individualhouseholds,and he coordinates their

activi-ties to meet the public demands of his clan or its component

segments

inheritance Menbequeath rights to socially significant

property suchasland,trees, crops, houses, pigs, and

casso-wariesmore or lessequallytotheir sons as these sonsmarry

Daughtersatmarriage receive domestic equipment from their

mothers

Socialization Women train their daughters in domestic

and gardening skills from infancy until adolescence, when

theymarryandjoin their husbands' clanparishes.At about

age6or7,boysenterthe men's house of their father and his

closeagnates, all ofwhom share in theboys'economic,

politi-cal, andritualeducation

Sociopolitical Organization

Since 1975, Mae have been citizens of theNation-state of

Papua New Guinea, a member of the BritishCommonwealth

ofNations with a Westminster system of government

Social Orgpnization. Traditional Mae society was

rela-tively egalitarian and economically homogeneous and

re-mainslargely so inthe 1980sdespitethe effects of

interna-tional commerce The 120 or so patricians are still significant

landholding units, andthey and their componentsegments

arecorporatelyinvolved inawidevariety of events A clan

en-gages in warfare andpeacemaking;initiatespayments of pigs

and, today, moneyashomicidecompensation for slain

ene-mies andallies;organizeslarge-scaledistributions ofpigs and

valuables in the elaborate interclan ceremonial exchange

cycle; and participates inirregularlyheld rituals topropitiate

clan ancestors No hereditaryorformallyelectedclan chiefs

directtheseactivities; theyarecoordinatedbyable and

influ-ential men who, through their past managerial successes,

have acquired "big names." The arable landofa clanis

di-vided among its subclans, which hold funeral feasts for their

dead,exchangeporkand other valuables withmatrilateralkin

ofthe deceased, and also compensate thematrikinof

mem-bers who have been insulted, injured, or ill Bachelors usually

organize theirpurificatoryrituals on asubclanbasis.Subclan

land is in turn divided among component patrilineages,

whosemembers contribute valuables tobride-priceor to turngifts as their juniors wed those oflineages in other clans.Lineagemembers alsohelp each other in house building and

re-inclearinggarden land Today clansolidarity,as well asclan hostility,importantly determines who individual voterssupport in national, provincial, and local council elections.All of these Australian-inspired governmentalentities pro-vide the extraclan public services, such as schools, clinics,

inter-courts, constabulary, postoffices, and roads, on which Mae

nowdepend heavily

Social Control and Conflict Within the clansocial trol isstilllargelyexercised through publicopinion, includingridicule, implicit threats by agnates to withdraw the economicsupportand laboronwhichall families rely,andthe pervasiveinfluence of prominentbig-men in informal moots The ulti-mate sanction, even within the household, is physical vio-lence.Formerly clans within aphratryorneighborhoodcouldresort to similar courts jointly steered bytheir big-men toreach reluctant compromises; but such negotiations, espe-cially overland or pigs, frequently erupted inbloodshed TheAustraliancolonialadministration supplemented courts withmore formal and fairly effective Courts for Native Affairs,which after independence were replaced by Village Courtswith electedlocal magistrates.Nevertheless, clans in conflict,whether over land encroachment or homicides, still turn

con-quicklytowarfare tosettle matters despite attempts by armedmobilesquads ofnationalpolice to deter them

Religion and Expressive Culture

ReligionBeliefs The traditional system of Mae

magical-religious beliefs and practices, hle those of other CentralEnga, are strongly clan-based, and many animist assumptionsstillorientpopular ideology and socialbehavior, despite theapparent impact of Christian mission proselytizing since

1948 Mae believe the sun and the moon, 'the father andmotherof us all," have procreated many generations of im-mortal skypeople who resemble Enga in being organized in

anagnaticsegmentarysociety ofwarlike cultivators Each lestialphratry sent arepresentative toearth to colonize thehithertoempty land The now mortalfounderof each terres-trialphratry married, had children, and allocatedlands and

ce-propertyto his sons as they wed daughters of otherphratry

founders Thus were originated the named fraternal clans,

each ofwhich todayrightfullyoccupies thedefinedterritoryinherited patrilineallyfromthe founder Eachclan stillpos-

sesses some of the fertility stones carried to earth by the

phratry founder Buriedinthe clan's sacred grove, they arethe locusof the spirits of all the clan ancestors, includingghosts of deceased grandfathers A man therefore has therightto exploit a tract of land because, through his father, he

is alegitimate member of that clan, shares in thetotalityofclanpatrilinealspirit, and is intimately linked with theloca-

lizedclan ancestors In addition to thecontinuing,oftenrious interventions intohuman affairs of recent ghosts and ofancestral spirits, Mae also assert the existence of aggressive

inju-anthropophagous demons and of huge pythons, both ofwhich defend their mountain and forest domains fromhumanintrusions

Ceremonies Although lethal sorcery is uncommon,many men privately use magic to enhance their personal

Mafulu 151

well-being, to acquirevaluablesand pigs, and to ensure

mili-tary success Clan bachelors regularlyseclude themselvesin

groupstoremovebymagicandby washingthedangerous

ef-fectsofeveninadvertentcontactswithwomen, after which

the whole dan feasts its neighbors to celebratethe young

men's return to secular life Women employ magic to

cleanse themselvesafter menstruation andparturition and

occasionallytoprotect theirgardencrops Followinga

fam-ily illness ordeath,afemalemedium conducts a seance or a

male diviner bespells and cooks pork to identify the

ag-grieved ghost.Thefamily head thenkills pigs andritually

of-fers cooked pork to placate that ghost Occurrences of

clanwide disasterssuchasmilitarydefeats,cropfailures,

epi-demic illnesses, ordeaths ofpeopleorpigs stimulate clan

leaders to arrange large-scale offerings ofpork and game

whilehiredritualexperts decorate thefertilitystonesto

mol-lify thepunitive clan ancestors

Arts The mainexpression ofvisual art is atclan festivals

and rituals when dancing and singing men lavishly adorn

themselves, and oftentheir daughters, with plumes, shells,

paints, and unguents Musical forms and instruments are

simple,but poeticandoratoricalexpressioniselaborate

For-merly,paintingandsculpturewereuncommon, butsincethe

1970s a small school of Enga painters has flourished in

Wabag

Medicine Local experts traditionally resorted tosimples

for minor complaints, bespelled foods for 'magically

in-duced'illnesses, andperformed crude andoftenfatalsurgery

for serious arrow wounds.Nowadays, people usuallyvisit

gov-ernment and mission clinics for treatment

Death andAfterlife Death, whetherviolentorfrom

ill-ness, isusually attributedtoghostly malevolence,less often

tohuman sorcery or todemons' attacks.It isalwaysa

signifi-cant political event, entailing simple burial ceremonies,

lengthydomesticmourning, and elaboratefunerary feasting

andexchanges of pigsand valuables Theangryghostof the

deceasedisexpectedtokillafamilymemberinretaliationbe

forejoining the corpus of clanancestral spirits in the clan

stones

Seealso Melpa

Bibliography

Carrad, B., D Lea, and K.Talyaga(1982).Enga: Foundations

for Development Armidale, N.S.W.: Universityof New

En-glandPress

Gordon,R.J.,andA.J Meggitt(1985).Lawand Orderinthe

New Guinea Highlands Hanover,N.H.: University Press of

NewEngland

Meggitt, M 1 (1965).TheLineageSystem oftheMaeEngaof

NewGuinea Edinburgh: Oliver& Boyd

Meggitt, M 1 (1974) Studies in Enga History Oceania

Monograph no 20 Sydney: Oceania Publications

Meggitt, M J. (1977) Blood Is Their Argument: Warfare

among the Mae Enga PaloAlto, Calif.: Mayfield

Waddell, E.1. (1972) TheMound Builders Seattle: sity of Washington Press

speak-ple living in the Chirima Valley Mafuluwhohave moved toPortMoresby sinceWorld War 11 areoftenidentified, together

with the Tauade fromthe neighboring valleys, asGoilala

Location The Mafulu inhabit the Goilala Subdistrict in

the CentralProvince of Papua New Guinea, at about 8°30' Sand 1470 E.Communitiesarelocated in the sparsely popu-latedAuga, Vanapa, Dilava, and Chirima river valleys, inland

fromYuleIsland,north of Port Moresby, andsouthof MountAlbert Edward in the Wharton Range of the centralcordil-

lera. Although they are separated from the coast by steepgorges, the high (1,000-meter) mountainous foothills in

which theylive have moregentle ridges, broadforested leys,and occasional expanses of kunai grass.Temperaturesin

val-theGoilalaSubdistrict range between 7° C and 24° C Theaverage rainfall for theSubdistrict is262centimeters per year.The dry season runsfrom June through October and earlyNovember The rainy season begins in late November or De-cember andlastsuntil May, with theheaviest rains inJanu-

ary, February, and March

Demography There are no reliable earlypopulation mates According to the 1966 census, there are approxi-mately 14,000 Mafulu in the GoilalaSubdistrict

esti-linguisticAffiliation. Fuyuge, the language spoken by theMafulu, isthelargest member of the Goilalan Family of theTrans-New Guinea Phylum of Papuan(Non-Austronesian)languages Fuyugehas appeared in the linguisticliteratureasFuyughi and Fujuge, Asiba, Chirima, Gomali, Kambisa,

Karukaru, Korona, Mafulu, Mambule, Neneba, Ononge

(Onunge), Sikube, Sirima, Tauada, and Vovoi Fuyuge isquitedivergentfrom the othertwomembersofthelanguagefamily, sharing only 27 percent of itsvocabulary with Tauadeand 28 percent with Kunimaipa Thedialects of Fuyuge differconsiderably from valley to valley Somevernacular-language

religious materials were produced by the Sacred HeartMission

15 VXUI IALI4

History and Cultural Relations

Before European contact, the Mafulumaintained trade and

exchange relations with theneighboring Tauade and

Kuni-maipa and with the moredistant Mekeo Earlycontact

be-tween theMafuluand theSacredHeartMissionand the

gov-ernment inthe late 1880swascharacterizedbyopen conflict

In1905, the Sacred Heart MissionwasestablishedatPopoli

Ethnographic research has been limited to R W

William-son'sresearch in 1910, whichremainsthe basis formost

eth-nographicdata onthe Mafuluandisthetimeofreference for

this summary Additional materialwas written (and some

published) by members of the Sacred HeartMissionand

re-flectspre-WorldWarIIMafUlusociety.Mafulucommunities

were notdirectly affected by combat duringWorld War II

Followingthe war, many youngmenleft thearea toworkas

laborersonplantationsalongthecoastandatKokoda.More

recently,others havemovedtothePortMoresbyareafor

em-ployment The region itself hasremained relativelyisolated

because themountainousterrainhas hinderedthe

develop-mentof roads.Theregion isservicedbyasmall,localairstrip

Settlements

Communities arecomposed of severalvillages (fromtwoto

eight) Villages are usually identified with particular clans

and maintain closer ties tovillages of thesameclan within

the community.Thenumberofhouses ineachvillagevaries

considerablyfrom sixoreighttothirty.Traditionallyvillages,

situatedalongthe crests ofridges,weresurroundedby

stock-adesfordefense.Houses werebuiltin twoparallelrowswith

anopen mall between therows.Theernoneor'men'shouse"

sat between the two rowsofhousesat oneend.Special

danc-ing villages, which brought togetherpeople from other

vil-lagesinthecommunity,werebuilt forlargefeastsheld about

every ten to twelve years

Economy

SubsistenceandCommercialActivities TheMafulu are

swiddenhorticulturalists, whose main crops are sweet

pota-toes, taro, yams, and bananas.Sugarcane,beans, pumpkins,

cucumbers, and pandanus are also cultivated They breed

pigs, andtheyhuntwildpigs,cassowaries,wallabies,and

ban-dicoots withthe assistance of domesticateddogs.The

house-holdisthe basic unit of production andconsumption Most

foodiseitherroastedorsteamed insectionsofbamboo,while

pig and other meat may be cooked in earth ovens

IndustrialArts Items produced include bark cloth (tapa),

used forbark-clothcapes, widows' vests,dancingaprons, and

loindoths.Netting is used for stringbags,hunting nets, and

hammocks Smoking pipes are made from bamboo Stone

adzes, used in the past to cut down trees and clear gardens,

have givenway to steel bush knives and axes Spears, stone

clubs, bows, andbamboo-tipped arrows are usedinwarfare

and hunting The Mafulu also make various musical

instruments

Trade Trade consists primarily of pigs, feathers,

dogs'-teeth necklaces, and stone tools The Mafulu trade stone

toolsand pigs to the Tauade and others inneighboring

val-leys, wholackthe appropriate stone or skills, in exchange for

feathers, dogs'-teeth necklaces, and other valuables They

alsotrade valuablestopeoplesonthecoastforclaypotsandmagic

Division of Labor Women are responsible forplanting

sweetpotatoes and taro,clearing the gardens of weeds, lecting foodfrom thegardensand cooking it, andgatheringfirewood.Theyalsocarefor the pigs Men's workconsistspri-marily of planting yams, bananas, and sugarcane, cuttingdown large trees, building, and hunting They also help

col-womenwith theirwork

Land Tenure Members ofaclanhold therightstolandwhichareexercisedbyresident clan members.Villagelandis

ownedby a particularclan, though individualshave privateusufructuary rights to the land and ownership of the housesthey build there for the period their houses stand The neigh-

boringbushisalso ownedjointlybythe clan Individual deners control access tocleared land until it returns to uncul-tivatedbush, at which pointjurisdictionreverts to the clan.Huntingland is property of the clan land, with access con-trolledby, though not restricted to, clan members No indi-vidualhas the right ofdisposal over clan land

gar-Kinship

Kin Group and Descent Kinship ideology ispatrilineal

Inpractice,however,anindividualmaymove to the village ofcollateral relatives and assume membership in the clan of thatvillagewithout losing affiliation with the clan of his or herprevious residence Clan membership is based on commondescent and coresidence Clans are unnamed nontotemicgroupsthat areidentified by the names oftheir chiefs Thechief is the embodiment of the 'prototype'(omate)given by amythological ancestor

KinshipTerminology There is insufficient data on kinterms to determine theterminological system It is probablysimilar to that of thelinguistically related Tauade (Goilala)

Marriage and Family

Marriage Polygamous marriages are common, larly among men with prestige Clans and villages areexoga-

particu-mous.There does notappeartobe anypatternof riage amongcommunities Normally, amarriage proposal ismadeby a boy through one of the girl's close female relatives.However, marriages by elopementand childhoodbetrothalare alsopracticed.Agiftofa pig andotherbride-wealthlegiti-mize amarriage.Postmaritalresidence ispatrilocal.Divorce isnotuncommon A wife usually initiates divorce by leaving her

intermar-husband's house and moving intothe home ofherparents,

her brothers, or a new husband Although there may beclaimsforareturn of bride-wealth following divorce, they are

usually ineffective

DomesticUnit Thehouseholdiscomposed of a husband,his wife (orwives), and their children Othermembersof the

extended family may alsojoin the household The cowives

and their female and youngmalechildrensleeptogether in asingle house, while the husband and hisadolescent sonsusu-allysleep in thevillage men's house

Inheritance Inheritance ispatrilineal Personal, movable

propertyis dividedamong sons or other male kin at the death

of an owner Women only inheritpersonal,movable propertyand have no effectiveclaims toland

152

Mafulu 153

Socialization Children participateinmanyday-to-day

ac-tivitieswithadults, such asgardeningand aspects of hunting

Games ofteninvolvetakingthe roles ofadults Children

at-tend primaryschools administered and staffedbythedistrict

departmentof education

Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganization Thelargesteffective social groupis

the community,composed ofseveralvillages Villages ofthe

community(particularlythose of thesameclan)cooperatein

feasting, ceremonies, protection, and occasionally hunting

andfishing.Thenumberofvillagesofthesameclan withina

community varies as they divide and recombine over the

course of several years Villages of the same clan within a

communityhave acommonchief(amidi)whonormally

suc-ceeds to his positionbyprimogeniture Thechief's

ceremo-nial emone, the men's houseinthevillage wherehelives,is

thesiteof feasts Clansare notnamed, nordotheysharea

common totemic emblem Instead, peopleidentify their

so-cial affiliationbyusing the nameoftheiramidi

PoliticalOrganization. The communityisthe largest

po-liticalunit Eachclan within the community hasachief who

has ahouse in eachvillage of his clan His basicresidence,

however, isinthesamevillageashisceremonial men's house

The amidi's onlyauthority isasthehereditary leader of his

clan withinacommunity Therearealso clanleadersfor

war-fare, division of pigs, and otherpolitical activities Decision

making within communities is done cooperatively by the

amidi of the clans inthecommunityand otherleaders

Social Control The amidi onlyexertscontrolwithina

vil-lage in his role asthe seniormember of a clan Inmost

in-stances ofhomicide,seduction etc.,members of theaggrieved

clan orvillage take retributionthemselvesontheoffenders if

they arefromoutsidethecommunity Gossipand the threats

of shame andretribution inducedby self-mutilation or

sui-cide also control open disagreement and violence in the

community

Conflict Even after European contact, raids between

communities continued The most frequent causes of

dis-putes werethe seduction ofwivesand theftof pigs The

war-fare andsorcery thatoften followedwaswagedbetween

com-munities Retributioncouldbetakenonanymember ofthe

opposingclanorcommunity Earlymissionary sources state

thatcannibalismwas notpracticed,but this report isdisputed

by ethnographic and later missionaryaccounts

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs According to Mafulu legend, Tsidibe,

the hero of Mafulumythology,crossed the mountains from

the north and introduced the prototypeorornateofhumans,

crops, animals, and social activities to theregion.Tsidibe's

passage ismarkedby stones andodd-shapedrocks The

cur-rent amidi is theembodiment of theomate,without which

women, animals, and the cropsof theclan couldnot

repro-duce TheMafulufear spirits of thedead,particularly those of

the amidi,whichareoften heldresponsiblefor illnessand

ac-cident After 1905 the Sacred Heart MissionChristianized

most of the Mafulu,establishedatrainingcenterfor local

cat-echists at Popoli, and produced vernacular-language

reli-gious materials

Religious Practitioners Magicians or sorcerers had erstocauseand cureillness anddeath They were also able to

pow-divine the progressofanillness.The power to cause illness

wasonly tobe exercised as retribution against people fromother villages.Following the introduction ofChristianityandtheestablishment of a religious training school, the regionhas produced Roman Catholic catechists

Ceremonies The principle ceremony is thegabW, a largeintertribal feast, which draws many guests from numerousdistant communities Gab6 are spaced about ten to twelveyears aparttoenable the hosts to develop large gardens andlitters of pigsneeded for the feast In addition to the social di-mension,this feastinvolves the washing and final disposal ofthebones ofadeadamidi During the feast, thebones that

hadbeenhunginthe emone arebrought out,splashedwithblood from the pigskilled for the feast, and then redistributed

tothe amidi's closerelatives Rites of passage for boys andgirls can be performed concurrently with the gabe, thoughseparate pigs arerequired for each ceremony Traditionally,there were particular ceremonies for the birth of the chief'sfirst child Other ceremonies performed for all childrenin-cludedadmitting both boys and girls to the emone (thoughonly boys could sleep there) The assumption of a perinealband, which was preceded by a lengthy seclusion, was per-formed prior toadolescence Ceremonies were also held when

boys'andgirls' nosesand ears werepierced, when boys weregivendrums and songs, and when people were married Deathand mourning ceremonies forchiefs differed from those ofothers

Arts Plasticartsconsistprimarily ofpainting tapa dancingaprons,burning or cutting abstract designs onsmoking pipes,and constructing featherheaddresses for dances Musical in-struments consist ofkundu-styledrums that are used to ac-companydancing atfeasts,Jew'sharps, and flutes

Medicine Some traditional herbal medicines (unidenti.fied) wereingested for stomach ailments and applied topi.cally to wounds

Death and Afterlife Peopleare believed to have aghostlyspiritthat inhabits thebodyduring life and leaves at death.Ghostly spirits becomemalevolent and are held responsiblefor illness and misfortune After death and mourning ritualsarecomplete, ghosts retreat tolive in the mountains wherethey may take the forms of various plants and animals

SeealsoMekeo, Tauade

Dutton, T (1973) A Checklist of Languages andPresent-Day

Villages of Central and South-East Mainland Papua PacificLinguistics, Series B, no.24, Canberra: Australian NationalUniversity

Haddon, A C (1946)."Smoking and Tobacco Pipes in New

154 Mafulu

Guinea."RoyalSociety ofLondonPhilosophical Transactions,

SeriesB, no 232, pp 1-278 London

Hallpike,C (1977).Bloodshed andVengeanceinthePapuan

Mountains: TheGenerationof ConflictinTauadeSociety

Ox-ford:Oxford University Press

Williamnson, R.W (1912) The Mafiu: MountainPeopleof

British New Guinea London: Macmillan

WILLLAM H MCKELLIN

Mailu

ETHNONY: Magi

OrientationIdenffication TheMailu are a Papuo-Melanesianpeople

of the southerncoastofeasternPapua NewGuineaandits

adjacentislands In additionto serving as a generic termfor

thepeopleas awhole, who alsoat timesrefertothemselvesas

Magi,thename'Mailu" also referstothemost important

vil-lageofthe area, onMailu Island

Location Mailu territoryextendsalongthesouthern

Pap-uan coastfromCapeRodneyintheeast toOrangerie Bayin

thewest,and thereareseveralvillagesonthelarger oftheoff

shore islandsalongthisportionofthecoast.Rainfallis quite

heavy here, during both the 'dry' season of the southeast

trade winds(MaytoNovember) andtheeven wetter season

of the northwestmonsoons January toMarch) The climate

is tropical, supporting a rain-forest vegetation throughout

much of the territory; the topography changes to flatter

swamplands inthewestern reaches ofthe region. Mailu

Is-land, aloneintheregion,hasample claysuitableforpottery;

ithasnoswampland,however,andthereforeitsinhabitants

aredependentuponthe mainland foraccess to sago.

UnguiutcAffSiaton Magiis oneofthelanguagesinthe

Mailuan Family

Demography In 1980, thepopulationof Mailuspeakers

was estimated at6,000.

History and Cultural Relations

Archaeologicalevidenceattests tothepresenceofa

pottery-usingpeopleintheMailuarea-bothalongthecoastandon

someofthe islands-as farbackas2,000years ago.The

peo-pleof whatis nowknownvariouslyasMailuIslandorToulon

Island appear tohaveestablished dominance inthe region

veryearlyon;because of their monopolyofbothpottery

mak-ingandoceangoing canoes theywereableto assume

ascen-dancyindirect tradeaswellas serving asdistributors who

en-abled trade between othercommunities.Thisascendancywas

reinforcedbyraids carriedout againstcoastalvillages, which

had the effectofdrivingthepopulation backfrom thecoast

to moreeasilydefensiblehilltop villages.FirstEuropean tactoccurred in 1606, when Torres anchored off Mailu Is-

con-land;thisbriefencounter was not apleasantone,for themen

of theshipkilled manyof thevillagersandkidnapped

four-teenchildren Nearly300 yearslater,inthe late 1800s, thisregion was made part of the Protectorate of British New

Guinea,bringingtheinfluenceofmissionaries and

adminis-trators and introducing Europeangoods to the local omy.Mailumenbeganworkingfor Europeans, particularlyinmaritimeindustries,veryearlyoninthis period, with theef-

econ-fect ofintroducingnewforms of wealth and new ways to

ac-quireit The London MissionarySocietyestablished a sion on MailuIsland in 1894 Government and missionary

mis-intervention brought an end to traditional raiding and its

consequenthead-hunting, therebycontributingtothe end ofmale initiatorypracticesthat centered onthe acquisition ofheadsin war In 1914, Bronislaw Malinowski arrived intheMailu territory todo his firstfieldwork

Settlements

Mailuvillagesarelaid out in twofacingrows offamilyhouses,builtonstilts, separated byabroad road Prior to Europeancontact,men'shouses (dubu)werebuilt in the center of thisroad, runningperpendicular to thedwelling houses.Housesweretwo-storied affairs, theupperfloorconsistingof a single,

windowlessroomendosedonall sides by the heavy thatch ofthe roof and enteredbymeansofaladder and trapdoor ar-rangement from below The lower floor is open on allsides,

but pandanus or woven reed mats are used as temporary,movable screens when needed The ridgepoles of the build-ings are elaborately carved, and pig jaws and fish tails arehung on thesupports at the front ofthebuildingsas decora-

tion.Thereisnospecializationoffunctionsfor theliving

ar-easofthehouses, andnospecifically men's or women's areas,

although men tend to congregate at the roadside end andwomentoward the back of the buildings Fenced gardens arebuiltbehind thehouses

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities On Mailu

Is-land, while some cultivation is done, the gardens are of farlesser significance than in mainland communities Rather,theislandeconomy centersaround potterymaking,fishing,andseagoingtrade Fishingisdone withspearsand nets, by

individuals as well as in groupsof two or three Pottery ismade of coiled ropes ofclay.Gardens are of the swiddentype,

withlongfallowperiodsbetween cropcultivation Amongtheproduce grown arebananas, taro,yams,andsugarcane Co-conutandbetel palms areplantednearthevillage but not inthefencedgardens Sago palms are cut down and processedfor their starch Europeans have introduced papaws andpumpkins to thegardening repertoire.Pigs are raised in thevillage, but only sows arekept-these arepermittedto range

intotheforest and mate with wild boars Hunting is an portantcomponentofthemainlandsubsistenceeconomy-game customarily sought includes wallabies and wild pigs,which are driven into nets and speared, and avarietyof birdsthatarecaughtintraps Alongthe coastalreefs, shellfishare

im-gathered

Mailu 155

IndustrialArts Mailumanufacture, beyondthe

construc-tion oftheirhouses, includes thebuildingof fences for the

gardens,the weaving ofmatsfrompandanusleaves andreeds,

basket weaving,themakingofarmshells,and theforgingof

stoneimplements.OnMailuIsland,the two mostsignificant

items ofmanufacture arethecoiledclaypotsand, of course,

the canoesupon which the island economy is based

Trade TheMailuIslanders,with theirbig,oceangoing

ca-noes, participate in a wide-ranging trade networkthat

ex-tendsbeyond theirownterritory.Tradeis aseasonal

occupa-tion: fromJuly throughAugust, Mailutravelwestward with

locallymanufacturedpottery in order totradeforbetel nuts

with the Aroma On thereturn voyagetheywill stop tofish

for shellswith which to make the shell armbands that are

usedthroughoutthe region as trade items FromSeptember

through Octobertheysail westagain,carryingacargo of

sur-plussago to trade for pigs anddogs During November and

December, theyvoyage eastwardwith the pigsand dogs to

trade for armshells,ebonycarvings,baskets,and(priorto the

introduction of steelaxes) polished-stoneaxeblades

Tradi-tionally, Mailu also traded boar tusks, shell disks, and

im-ported netted stringbags.This tradewas notonlythe

center-piece of theislander'ssubsistenceeconomy,italsoprovided

thenecessarywealthtosupportthebig feasts(maduna) held

by thevillage clans everyyear

DivisionofLabor Potterymakingisdoneonly bywomen;

armshellmanufacture, seagoingtrade, canoebuilding, house

construction,andhuntingareall doneonlybymen.Garden

clearing and the construction ofgarden fences are men's

tasks, while allweedingis donebywomen Womendo all the

day-to-day cooking. Except for limited night fishing with

torches, women donotfish Pigtendingisprimarilya

wom-an'stask.Menmaketheirowntoolsortrade for them Child

careis the province ofwomen

LandTenure Ownership of garden lands and canoes is

vested in the local clan section, under the direction of the

headman Dwelling houses belong to the household head,

andownershippasses fromhimtohis eldestson, whileinthe

past the men's houses were held corporately by the clan

Rights to individual coconut and betel palms are held

individually

KinshipKinGroups and Descent Mailuclansarepatrilineal, dis-

persed over severalvillages Local (village-level) clan

"sec-tions"are named,exogamous, andagnaticallyrecruited An

in-marrying womanexchangesher clanmembershipforthat

of herhusband,andherchildren, thoughinitiallyheldto

be-long to her brother(thustoherfather'slineage),arenormally

claimed at somepoint by herhusband through thegiftof a

pig Itis notunusual,however, forachildless man toadopt

one of his sister's sons

Kinship Terminology Mailuemployasystem of

classifi-catory terms for all relatives of previous generations (i.e.,

grandparents, parents, uncles, and aunts) in order to get

around the taboo of usingpersonalnames whenspeakingof

ordirectly addressing these relatives Thesetermsmarknot

only one's genealogical position but also differentiate

be-tween elder and younger members ofa single generation

However, while several different relations may bedesignated

byasingle term (e.g., a man'selderbrother, hisfather's elder

brother'sson,and his mother's sister's elder son may all be re.ferred to by the termuiniegi), otherterms orqualifiers areused tomarkmore specificallytheactualrelationship of therelative whennecessary

Marriage and Family

Marriage Mailu marriages are arranged through

be-trothal, often when the girlis still quite young but usuallywhen she hasreached hermid-teens The boy'sfamily pro-

videsaseriesofgiftsofincreasingvalue overtime,and both

families participate in roughly equivalent food exchanges.Uponbetrothal,boththeboyandgirlareexpectedto remaincelibate-anaffairbyeither one issufficienttonullifythe be-trothal Bride-wealth ispaidinpigs, tobacco, and other items

oflocally recognized wealth Since pigs can only be givenaway at feasts, at some pointprior to the actual marriage thecontracting parents of thebetrothed pair will usethe occa-sion of a maduna to make this gift Marriage itself is notmarkedby elaborate ceremony: thebride prepares a meal forher betrothed in hisfather's house, then returns to her ownfor an interval of aboutaweek After that time, themarriagemay beconsummated, and thebrideleaves herfamily home

tolive inher father-in-law'shouse,assumingmembership inhis clan With marriage, a manenters into avoidance rela-tionswith certain of his wife'skin,most particularlywith herolder sister.Polygynyispermittedbutrarelypracticed,due tothe great expense ofpig-basedbride-wealthentailed by mar-riage.Adulteryisconsideredagrievousoffenseforboth menand women, but thepunishmentofanadulterouswife-ase-

vere beating,even death-is far more onerous than the publiccensure and gossip that serves as punishment for a man's

adultery Divorceappearstobepossible butrare

Inheritance Personal ornaments and wealth areinherited

by a man's 'real," asopposedtohisclassificatory,brothers.His coconutpalms arepassed tohisbrothers andhissons.Theownership of a house passesto the eldest surviving son.Women do nothold or inherit property, except in cases where

a woman's fatherdies without sons

Socialization During theirearly years, Mailu children arecared forby their mothers and other femalemembersof thehousehold Children enjoy agreat degree of independence,

rarelybeing corrected orchastised and generally being left

free to indulgein games and sport Boys are given miniature

boats, similarindesigntothose usedby theirelders on theseas, and they are alsoprovidedwith small versionsofhunt-

ingandfishingnetsandspears Forbothboys andgirls, earlytraining in theiradultroles is acquiredbyobservingtheireld-

ers at theirdaily tasks and by helping out when they possesssufficientskilland interest, thisparticipation is allowed to de-velop at its own pace Both boys and girls have their ears(and, formerly, the nasalseptum) pierced shortly after birth

At about the age of 4, girls begin to undergo thelong process

of bodytattooing, which culminates when they have attainedmarriageable age with the tattooing of their faces-done inconjunction with women-onlyfeasts Maleinitiation, whichonce was animportant ritual event and required theacquisi-

tion of human headsduring araid,isnolongerpracticed fanticide ispracticed whentwinsareborn-theyounger twin

In-156 Mailu

iskilled-orwhen the motherdiesin childbirth, aswellasin

the case of an illegitimate birth

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. Traditionally, Mailu households

were under the ostensible direction of the eldest male, though

since each adult male had his own gardens his self-sufficiency

ensured a certain degree of independence Enterprises

requir-ing the cooperation of large numbers ofpeople (trading

voy-ages, garden clearing, the giving of major feasts) drew their

personnel from beyond a single household's membership,

and leadership in such cases was sought from influential

indi-viduals (headmen) in whom theparticipantshad confidence

Clan affiliation determined the men's house to which one

be-longed, when men's houses were still being built, and it also

servedas the organizing principle for contributions of wealth

in the pig feasts

Political Organization. There is no traditionally

recog-nized central authority among the Mailu, although elders

generally provided leadership by dint of their prestige and

rep-utation for sound judgment Once Mailu territory came

under colonial rule, individuals were pickedby the

adminis-trationtoactas go-betweens, but thisimposedleadership has

no validation in traditional practice

Social Control Within the village, elders-and

particu-larly headmen-might be called upon to mediate disputes

and settle grievances Major offenses such as the adultery of a

woman or the killing ofkin are sanctioned by death, but for

lesser offenses the force of public opinion serves to punish

of-fenders Sorcerers within the village were usually appeased

rather thanpunished

Conflict Warfare between villages was common prior to

the arrival ofmissionariesand Western administrators, and it

was conducted primarily for the purpose ofcollectingheads,

which were of ritual importance in male initiation rites Wars

were fought with spears and clubs Intervillage hostilities

might arise over the suspicion of sorcery or in retribution for

earlier raids

Religion and Expressive Culture

Relig Belief Mailu indigenous beliefs hold that a

culture hero, called Tau or Samadulele, sailed with his

motherfrom out of the West, bringing with him the pigs,

sago, coconut, and betel nuts that form the core ofMailu

economy and ceremonial life However, outside of the chants

performed during the 'Govi Maduna," the largest ceremony

performed by Mailu, the importance of thismythological

per-sonage is unclear Of more direct, day-to-day importance in

Mailuritual life are twoclasses ofspiritual beings.The first,

spiritsof the ancestors, are benevolent, and they are often

consulted for protection and advice They are held to reside

in the skulls of the deceased, which are kept in the houses of

their descendants The second class of spirits are malevolent

femalebeings whotakepossession of living persons, causing

their unwittinghoststo commit murder or destroy property

Religious Practitioners All adult males possess some

magical knowledge involving the use of herbs, incantations,

and special taboos This magic is used to protect one's

gar-den, bringgoodluckinthebuildingofacanoeorthemaking

oftools, ensure agoodcrop, or other such individual cerns.Suchknowledgeisprivatelyheld,taughtbya father tohis sons, and a man willas arule initiate his wife into thisknowledge as well Magic intendedto secure protection forcommunally important enterprises such as atradingexpedi-

con-tionor abigfeast isperformed bythe more important bers of thecommunity.Sorcerershaveprivatemagical knowl-

mem-edge of a more destructive nature, but theyarenotthoughtto

be anything other than mortaL Theirmagic permitsthem totravel unseen at night, duringwhichthey trytocause injury

and even death to theirrivals Sorcery isbelieved to be spread within Mailu society

wide-Ceremonies The central ceremonial occasion of Mailulife is the GoviMaduna, agreatannualpigfeastheldafter thelast of the year's tradingvoyages The maduna is hosted by

the entirevillage, although its initial sponsors may be drawnfrom only some oftheclansrepresentedtherein.Because pigscan be exchanged only during themaduna,anumberof otherritually important events are encompassedby it, such asthe

paymentof pigsby the family of a prospective groom to thebride's kin and the assumption of paternal rights to a child.Each of thevillage'sclansisrepresentedby itslocalheadman,

who supervises his portion of the feast preparations, solicitscontributionsoffood from his kin,andmakes speechesdur-ing the festivities Prior to the big feast, there is a series of

lesser feasts of shorter duration andnarrowerscope-thebigfeast brings together people fromagreat manyvillages, while

the lesser ones involve people from a smallerradius During

the course of thesmaller feasts, promises ofcontributions to

the upcomingmaduna aresolicited, andthroughout this iod wealth is collected to be used in a trading voyage toAroma territory to get the pigs that will be slaughtered byeach clan during the feast

per-Arts Mailu visual arts consist of decorative carvings onhouse posts, canoes, and a variety ofutensils The designsemployed in thedecorative arts are similar to thoseused bythe Southern Massim and appear to have originated withthem Songs and dances performed in theMailu feasts alsoappear to have originated elsewhere-with the Southern

Massim as well aswith otherneighboring groups Manyof thedances involvemimickingthemovements of birds oranimals,

while others involve the pantomiming ofimportant

day-to-dayactivities,suchaspreparingagardenorbuildingacanoe

Medicine Illness, always attributed to sorcery, is treated

byincantations,massage, andthesuckingout offoreignter (insertedmagically bysorcerers) from the body of thepa-tient.Medicalpractitioners are almost always male, and they

mat-charge highfees-payable inarmbands andotherlocal forms

of wealth-for their services

Death and Afterlife Death is assumedto be causedmately by theactionof asorcerer Upon death, two spiritsaresaid to survive the corpse One spirit departs the body and

ulti-travels tothesouthwest wherealadder permitshis orher scent into Biula, a subterranean underworld The secondspirit is thought toreside intheskullof thedeceased, andit isthis spirit with which aperson'ssurvivorscommunicate whenseeking adviceorassistance Initially, thespouseandclassifi-

de-catory siblings of the deceased shave their heads, blacken

theirskinwith burnedcoconutfiber, put onspecialarnibands

Maisin 157

andotheradornments,and assumemourning dressthat

con-ceals theentirebodyand face.Immediatelyupondiscoveryof

adeath, these close kin set up awailinglamentation, while

less closerelativesofthedeceasedbringcoconutsfor

distri-bution throughout the village As soon as possible after a

death, thebodyiswashed anddecoratedandachantis

per-formed over the corpseinanefforttodeterminethesorcerer

responsible (the corpse isthought to reactviolently at the

naming ofthe sorcerer's village) As soon asmay be after

thesepreparations, thebodyisburied either underthehouse

of the deceasedor in hisgardens Ifthe latterburial is

per-formed,asmallmortuary hutisbuilt overthegrave.Aseries

of small feasts areheldduringthe ensuingperiodof

moum-ing, and after about two to three monthsthebodyisdugupto

retrieve thehead,whichthereafter iskeptinasmall basketin

thehouseofthesurvivingmembersof the deceased's

house-hold A final, large-scalemortuaryfeastisheld between six

monthsto ayear after thedeath,oftenaspart of themaduna,

where oneofthenearestkin(thoughneverthe fatherorthe

widow ofthedeceased)performs a dance with thedeceased's

head.Atthistimethemortuary hut isdestroyed,andthe

per-iod of public mourning comes to an end

BibliographyAbbi,B L(1975).TraditionalGroupings and ModernAssoci-

ations: AStudy ofChanging Local GroupsinPapua andNew

Guinea Simla: IndianInstitute ofAdvanced Study

Malinowski, Bronislaw (1967).ADiary in the Strict Senseof

the Term London: Roudedge&Kegan Paul

Malinowski, Bronislaw (1988) Malinowskiamong theMagi:

"The Natives ofMailu.' Edited with an introduction by

MichaelW Young London: Routledge& Kegan Paul

NANCY GRATTON

Maisin

ETHNONYMS: Kosirau,Kosirava, Maisina

Orientation

Identification Maisin-speaking people liveinPapua New

Guinea All but the remote Kosirau people referto

them-selvesasMaisin.Westernerscalled thesegroupsKosiravaand

Maisinainearly reports.

Location. Maisinspeakersoccupythreeareas inTufi

Sub-district ofOro ProvinceinPapuaNewGuinea The Kosirau

liveinsmall isolated settlementswithin thevast swampsof

the Musa River basin A second group of Maisin speakers

shares the village ofUwewithKorafespeakersonthe

north-east coastofCapeNelson.Thelargestportionof the

popula-tion lives in eight villages along the southern shores of

CollingwoodBay.Behind the coastalvillages stretchesa vast

areaofunpopulated forest, swamp, and mountains The gion isvery isolated from the rest of Papua New Guinea.There are noroads Theonlyaccess isby boat or small planeintograss airstrips There are twodistinct seasons.The north-west monsoons are accompanied by heavy rainfall betweenNovember and April Around May, the winds switch to thesouthwestand the weather becomes dry, cooler, and breezy.Demography The 1980 National Census suggested atotal Maisinpopulation around 2,000 Of thatnumber, ap-

re-proximately 1,400 lived in the ruralvillageswhiletherest hadmigrated to the cities.Thepopulation density along thecoastwasabout 10 persons per square kilometer

LinguisticAffiliation There are twodialects: Maisin and

Kosirava Maisinattracted scholarly attention froman earlydate as arareexampleof alanguagethat combines grammati-calfeatures from both Austronesian and Non-Austronesiansources; thus Maisin has beenvariously classed as"mixed"or

as"Non-Austronesian."

History and Cultural Relations

There is archaeological evidence of human occupation ofsouthwesternCollingwood Bay going back 1,000 years, withtradinglinkstoGoodenoughIslandand the much more dis-tant Trobriand Islands to the east The Maisin relate that

theyarerelativenewcomers to the coast who have displacedthe original inhabitants Elders say that their ancestorsemerged from underground about seven generations beforethe 1980s at asite on the western edge of theMusaBasin.Those who remained behind became the Kosirau; othersmade their wayalong coastal and interior routes to their pres-entlocations At the time of European contact in 1890, theMaisinhad awidespread reputation as ferocious warriors, em-ployinghugecanoes to sweep down upon theirneighbors In

1900,the administration of British New Guinea established astationat Tufi on Cape Nelson and, within ayear, forciblybrought intertribal raiding inthe area to a halt The followingyear, theAnglicanNewGuinea Mission opened achurchandschool in the largestMaisinvillage of Uiaku Over the next

thirty years,theMaisingraduallybecame integrated into theemerging colonial society: most young people converted to

Christianity andyoung menroutinelysigned up to work ondistantplantations andinmines.Although CollingwoodBaylayoutside thesphere of the Japanese invasion in 1942, all

able-bodiedMaisin men served as laborers with thelian forces Following thewar, thepaceofnational integra-tion quickened Many Maisin young people attended newsecondary and tertiary schools and entered the professionallaborforce Those who remained behind experimented with anumber of cashcrops, most of which failed

popula-lages and town A fewvillages are composed of a singlekin

group, but most are multinucleatedsettlements of patricianhamlets, strung out along the coast Most hamlets are ar-ranged in tworoughly parallel linesfollowing the edge of theshore A few hamlets, homes of the higher-ranking clans,

158 Maisin

have housesarranged in aroughcircle around abare earth

plaza, traditionally used for feasting and dancing. Where

hamlets are not contiguous, paths connect them to other

partsofthesettlementandtothegardensand other

settle-ments The three largest villages possess simple churches,

schoolbuildings(includinghouses forteachers),medicalaid

posts, andcommunitytradestores Prior tocontact, Maisin

constructed theirdwellingsonmangrove posts,3to4meters

above ground Aplatform onthe bottom level served asa

cookingareaandshelterduringtheday,whileanupperlevel

room,entered by means of aladder,servedassleeping

quar-ters Since the 1920s, the Maisin have built rectangular

houses withwindowsandverandahs, alongthelines ofhouse

styles introduced bythe colonialadministrationinthe 1920s

The houses arestillonposts and constructedmostlyof bush

materials Inthemid-1980s, somevillagers,withfunds

pro-vided byworking relatives, began to construct houses with

metal roofs

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities.,,The Maisin

practice slash-and-burn horticulture, shifting their gardens

everytwotothree years.Staplesincludetaro,sweetpotatoes,

plantains, andsagosupplemented by coconuts, papayas,

su-garcane,watermelons, squash,andsweetbananas The usual

gardening tools are digging sticks and machetes Villagers

enjoy fish andshellfish,whichthey gather by hand,line,net,

andspear Theyalso hunt wild pigs, cassowaries, wallabies,

and birds inthedense forests that surround thevillagesusing

spears and shotguns They supplement this local diet with

white rice and tinned meats and fish purchased in local trade

stores Domestic animals includechickens, dogs, and cats

The LocalGovernment Council banned village pigs in the

mid-1960s.There is a tiny commercial marketforcopra anda

somewhatlargerone fortapa.Villagersreceivemostoftheir

cash andcommoditiesasgiftsfromrelativesworkingin the

towns

Industrial Arts Maisin villagers continue to produce

much oftheirmaterialculture:stringbags,tapa,houses,and

outrigger canoes.They purchasesomeitems, likeclay

cook-ing pots, from neighboring peoples Many items, such as

clothing, fishing nets, andcookingutensils,arequickly being

replacedby factory products

Trade Into early colonial times, Maisin traded tapa, stone

axe blades, and foodforshell and obsidian with peoplesto

the east on Cape VogelandGoodenoughIsland.They

con-tinue to trade occasionallywith interior tribes for netbags,

dogs, and feathers and with Wanigela people for cooking

pots Sometimes they exchange tapa for these things, but

moreoften they pay money.Smalltradestores, often

opera-ting out ofvillage houses,sell tobacco andafew tinned items

Somevillageshold weekly marketswhere women sell or

ex-change garden produce andtapa

Division ofLabor There is amarkeddivision oflabor in

most areas of life Men clear and burn off gardenland,erect

fences against bush pigs, and help womenplantcrops Men

alsohunt,fish, and build housesand canoes Womenplant,

weed, and harvest gardens andgather wild foods from the

bush, rivers, and mangrove swamps.Theycarryproduceand

firewood fromthe gardenstothevillagesandcook themeals

Women also weave string bags and beat tapa Men and

womenboth prepare sago, oftentogether.

Land Tenure Low population density and a relatively

moderate climate provide the Maisin of southern

Colling-wood Baywitharichfood base Land passes downthrough

the maleline, although villagers frequentlymakegardenson

the lands oftheiraffinesandmatrilinealrelations Patriciansalso claimlargeareasof forest and grassland andoccasionallystretches of coast

Kinship

Kin Groupsand Descent Patriclans occupying hamlets

within thevillageform the most stable kin groups Theyvary

greatlyincomposition.Thesmallest comprise singlelineages,

while the largest are composed of smaller named subclans,each occupyingdifferentareas of thehamlet orseparate ham-

lets.PatricIans occupyingland in different hamlets or villagesoften have close historical associations with eachother Patri-clan identities are indicated byland claims and by emblems,

includingtapadesigns, ritual customs, types of magic, spatula designs,bodydecorations, and planttokens They arealso affirmed-and disputed-in migration stories Maisin

lime-distinguish two ranks ofpatrician: the kawo and the sabu.Thehigher-ranked kawoclansenjoy certain ritual preroga-

tives, including the right to host feasts anddances in theirhamletplazasandtowearcertainornamentssuch aschickenfeathers Whatever importance these ranks had inthe past

when warfare and intertribal feasting were common, theyhave little practical or political influence today The patri-

clans are rarelysignificant in theday-to-day affairs of the

vil-lages.Villagersgenerally call uponclose cognatickinand fines to form work groups and to host or participate in

af-ceremonialsand formalexchanges Activekingroups, then,vary greatly fromoccasion to occasion Descentis formally

patrilineal, butasin muchof Melanesia, there are many ceptions to therule

ex-Kinship Terminology Iroquois-type terms are used andrelative age is distinguished

Marriage and Family

Marriage Until therecent exodustothetowns, the vast

majorityofMaisinmarried close to home,althoughalmost ways outsideof their ownpatrician Sister exchange was the

al-preferred formofmarriage since it required no bride-wealthpayments Many such arrangements, however, broke downandinthe past,astoday,youngpeopleexercised considerablechoice in their marriagepartners Premarital intercourse iscommon Manyindividualswilltemporarilylive with a seriesofpartnersbeforesettling with theirpermanent spouse,oftenafterchildren are born.Husbandsareexpectedtoraise bride-wealth and thecoupleshould alsoarrangeformalprestations

to thewife's kin to mark the birth and maturation of theirfirstborn Many villagers complain, however, that couplestodaydelay andoftennever meettheirexchangeobligations.Some couples are initiallymarried in thechurch, but mostwait, often untilthey havechildren, beforeseekingapriest's

blessing of their union Upon marriage, mostcouples settleinitially with oneof the husband's clansmen before building

Maisin 159

theirownhousein thepatrician's hamlet.Thechurchfrowns

ondivorce, butit is commonandinformal.Monogamy is the

norm,butafewpolygamousmarriagesoccur in mostvillages.

DomesticUnit Ahousehold, usuallywith a nuclear

fam-ilyat itscore,makesup the basicworkingunit:gardening and

consuming together Parents, grandparents, adult siblings,

auntsandunclesand other kin oftenenlargethehousehold

As older relations lose theirability forphysical labor, their

children build small satellite houses where they live in

semiseclusion

Inheritance Most ritual property is bestowed upon the

eldest, particularlyif it is aboy.Sonsinherit land equallyand

daughtersareallowedtogardentheir fathers' land afterthey

marry.Theymay not, however, pass thisrighttotheir own

children

Socialiation. Infants andchildrenareraisedbytheirpar,

ents, close kin, and siblings Older children provide much

childcareforyoungersiblingsandcousins.Adultsteach

chil-drento berespectfuland cooperativebyexampleandby

chid-ing,rarelybypunishment.Fromage 6or7,childrenspenda

considerable amountof their time in school Formerly, all

males underwentshortinitiationsintotheir patricians.Much

largerceremonies werestagedforfirstbornchildren,male and

female, andthese occasionally stilltake place MostMaisin

girls still have their faces tattooedduringpuberty As more

childrenhaveentered distanthighschools andas more

villag-ershave left forjobs inthe towns, traditionalpuberty

prac-dceshavedeclined

Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrgnization. The Maisin livein arelatively

egali-tarian society Kinship obligations, markedby steady

infor-mal and forinfor-mal exchanges, tend to level outdifferences in

wealth andpower andtoprovidesupportfor theweak and

elderly in the communities Maisin frown upon those who

showtoomuch independenceorwhoputthemselves above

others However, some categories ofpeopleexercise more

in-fluence and expect to betreatedwith deference: parents over

children, elders overyounger persons, kawoclansover sabu

clans,wife givers over wife takers, andmen over women

Political Organization. Maisin divide political activities

intothree domains: the"villageside,"the 'missionside,"and

the"governmentside.""Villageside" affairsincludelife-cycle

ceremonies,exchanges,and landandsorcerydisputes.These

are mattershandled between kinorkingroups,inwhich

pa-triclanelders playadominant role "Missionside" affairs

in-dudetheefforts of the churchcouncilsand Mothers'Unions

toprovidemoralandmonetary supportforclergyand

teach-ers."Governmentside" affairs embracetheworkoftheLocal

Government Council and village business groupstopromote

developmentprojects andlocallyorganize forprovincialand

nationalelections Frequentlythe samemenbecome leaders

inall threedomains, largely through strengthofpersonality,

education andexperience outside of the rural areas Senior

women have an indirect butimportantinfluence, especially

in "mission side" and "village side' affairs However, men

dominatepublic politics

Social Control Informalsanctions, suchasgossiping and

strongly internalized values of respect andequivalence,

pro-videthe chiefsourcesofsocial control.Fearofsorceryis

an-other important sanction Miscreants whoare not brought

intolineinformallymayfaceafullvillagemeeting or, inous cases, be taken to court at the subdistrict governmentstation

seri-Conflict Warfareandraidingwere common untilaround

1910 Maisin elders speak with some nostalgia of the greatwarriors inthepast, but the only major conflict living Maisinhave witnessedwasthat betweentheJapaneseand Alliesdur-ingWorldWarII.Most conflictstoday occur over land or sor-cery accusation andrarelyinvolve violence

Religion and Expressive Culture Religou Beliefs Most Maisin believe that the spirits of

the recent dead exercise a considerable influence, both for

goodandbad,over theliving.Encounters with bush spirits cancause serious illness, particularlytowomenandchildren De-

spite manyattempts to get rid of sorcery, Maisinbelievethatvariouskindscontinuetobepracticedbyvillagers and by out-siders andthey attribute most deathstothis cause God andJesus are very distant deities, sometimes encountered indreams Faith in them, it is said, canovercomethe evilcaused

by sorcerers and spirits With ahandfulof exceptions,Maisin

areChristians Mostofthecoastalpeopleare second- orgeneration Anglicans while the Kosirau converted to the

third-Seventh-Day Adventistchurch inthe 1950s Villagers acceptthis version ofChristian teachingandliturgy,buttheyalsoen-

counter localbush spirits, ghosts, and sorcerers and most tice garden magic and make use of indigenous healing tech-niques and practitioners There is considerable diversity inreligious belief,dependinginlargepart upon anindividual's

prac-education and experience outside of the villages

Religious Practitioners Six Maisin men have been

or-dained as priests, and many more have served as deacons,members ofreligious orders, teacher-evangelists, layreaders,

andmissionmedicalworkers.TheAnglican Churchhasbeen

almostentirelylocalized and,since1962,an indigenouspriesthas seed the Maisin Healers can alsobe found in mostvillages-menand women who possess superior knowledge of

indigenous medicines, bush spirits, andthe interactions tweenhuman souls and the spiritworld (including God).Ceremonies Atthe time ofEuropean contact, funerals,mourning rites, initiations offirstborn children, and inter-

be-tribal feasts were the main ceremonial occasions All were

markedby large exchangesoffood,shell valuables, and tapa

cloth Initiationsand intertribalfeasts were also occasions fordays, sometimes weeks, of dancing The chief ceremonies

today are Christmas, Easter, and patronal feast days Huge

feasts are often held on such days, along with traditionaldances by troops in indigenous costume Life-cycle cere-monies-particularly firstborn puberty celebrations and mor-tuaryrituals-are the other chiefoccasions forceremonies

Arts Maisin women are famed throughout Papua New

Guinea for their exquisitely designed tapa (bark cloth)

Pri-marlyserving as thetraditionalclothing for men and women,tapa today is amajor item oflocalexchange and a source ofcash It is soldvia church and government intermediaries toartifact shops in the cities Most women receive elaborate fa-cial tattoos in lateadolescence, with the curvilinear designscovering theentire face that are unique to the region

Medicine Masinattribute illnessesto'germs'ortospirit

attacks and sorcerers,dependinguponwhethertheyrespond

to Westernmedicine Villagersmakeuseof localmedical aid

posts andaregionalhospital, aswellas homeremediesand

the servicesofvillage healers

Death andAfterlife Traditionally, Maisin believed that

spiritsof thedead inhabited themountainsbehind their

vil-lages,frequentlyreturning toaidor topunishkin Villagers

still encounter the recent dead in dreams and

visions-attributingbothgoodluckandmisfortunetothem-butthey

nowsay that the deceased resideinHeaven.Although they

havebeengreatlymodifiedby Christianity,mortuary

ceremo-nies continue topresentthemost"traditional" face ofMaisin

society.Villagersmournadeathcollectivelyfor threedays

fol-lowing the burial,duringwhichtimethey avoid loud noises

andworkinthegarden,lesttheyoffendthe soul of the dead

personoritslivingrelatives Bereavedspousesand parents go

intosemiseclusion for periodslastingfromafewdaysto

sev-eral years.They arebroughtoutofmourningbytheiraffines,

whowashthem, trim theirhair,anddress themincleantapa

and ornaments in a ceremonythatisalmostidenticaltothe

pubertyrites for firstborn children

See alsoGoodenough Island

Bibliography

Barker,John (1985) 'MaisinChristianity:AnEthnography

ofthe ContemporaryReligionofaSeaboardMelanesian

Peo-ple." Ph.D.dissertation, University of BritishColumbia

Barker,John(1989)."WesternMedicine andtheContinuity

ofBelief:The MaisinofCollingwoodBay, OroProvince."In

AContinuing Trial of Treatment: Medical PluralisminPapua

New Guinea,editedby Stephen Frankel and Gilbert Lewis,

69-93 Dordrecht: Kiuwer

Ross,Malcolm (1984) "Maisin:APreliminary Sketch."

Pa-pers in NewGuinea Linguistics 23:1-82 Pacific Linguistics,

SeriesA, no.69.Canberra: AustralianNationalUniversity

Tietjen,AnneMarie,andLawrenceJ.Walker(1985).'Moral

Reasoning and Leadership among Men in a Papua New

GuineaSociety." DevelopmentalPsychology 21:982-992

JOHN BARKER

Malaita

ETHNoNYMS: 'Arelare, Fataleka, Kwaio, Kwara'ae,

Langa-langa, Lau, Sa'a, To'aba'ita

Orientation

Identification Malaita is one of sixlarge islands in the

double chain that formsthe Solomon Islands, formerly the

BritishSolomon Islands Protectorate As themostpopulous

islandin the Solomons, Malaita has long beena source of

plantation labor,andinearlierdecadesitspeoplewerefamedand fearedfor their violent resistance toEuropeaninvasion

The island remains noteworthy for its strong cultural

conservatism

Location Running northwest to southeast and being

about 160kilometers long and up to 40kilometerswide,

Ma-laitalies at 9° S and 161° E The island is mountainous ing to 1,540 meters) and comprised of rain forest, with la-goons along parts of both coastlines The island ofMaramasike is separated from Malaita proper by a narrowchannel

(ris-Demography Malaita hadapopulationin 1986of about80,000,with some 20,000moreMalaitanslivingelsewhereinthe Solomons

inguistic Affiliation Malaita languages fall into theMalaita-San Cristobal Group of the Southeast Solomonic

(Oceanic Austronesian) languages Southeast Solomonicmayturn out to fall withinasubgroup of Eastern Oceaniclanguages, along withNorth-central New Hebridean, Fijian,Polynesian, and Nuclear Micronesian languages; but so farthe evidence isinconclusive, clouded by the shared retention

in all theselanguages of many Proto-Oceanic features laita is divided into a series oflanguages or dialects (mainlyrunninginstripes across theisland) although their precise re-lationship is not yet established The most recent sub-grouping establishes a subgroup of Northern Malaita lan-guages,consisting of a northern dialect cluster (To'aba'ita,Baelelea, Baegu, Lau, Fataleka), Kwara'ae (with 18,000speakers, the largest language group), Langalanga, andKwaio (There is some evidence that the latter two, alongwith twosmaller language groups, form a separate CentralMalaitaGroup.) 'Are'are and Sa'a (spoken on Maramasike)seem to form a subgroup with the Makira (San Cristobal)languages, although on cultural and other grounds a closer af-

Ma-finityof 'Are'are with the Malaita peoples to the northwest

(Kwaio, etc.) seemslikely

History and Cultural Relations

Malaitawaslargelyavoidedintheearlywhalingandtrading

period (pre-1860) because of its inhospitable coastline andinhabitants About 1870, Malaitans began to be kidnapped(and werelater indentured) in the labor trade to Queensland,Fiji,Samoa, and New Caledonia plantations, a process nota-ble forviolent confrontations and heavy loss of life Missionenclaves were established at the turn of the century Pacifica-tion ofMalaita began in 1909 but was notcompleted until

1927, after the assassination of a district officer by Kwaiowarriors Malaita was mostly spared the direct ravages ofWorld War II, but laborers working with American troopswerecentral in a postwar anticolonial resistance movement,Maasina ("Marching") Rule,focused on recognition ofcus-tomary law and thecodification of custom, indigenous repre-sentation inthe processofadministration, improved pay, dig-

nity,and workingconditions, and communal reorganizationalong militarylines The Solomon Islands gained indepen-dence in 1978, and today Malaitans play many importantroles innational life

Malaita 161

Settlements

Verysharpcontrasts inecological adaptationdistinguishthe

'bush' peoples of the Malaitainteriorfromthoseofthe

la-goons of thenortheastcoast (Lau speakers,who alsohavea

colonyon Maramasike) andthelagoonsof thecentralwest

coast(Langalanga speakers).Theformer, livingonislets and

oncoralplatformsdredgedfromthelagoon floor,specialize

infishing (inthe lagoon andtheopensea)andinbartering

fish andother marineproductsforrootvegetablesand forest

products offered by peoples of theadjacentmountains.The

Langalangaspeakers may earlier have hadasimilar

adapta-tion, but inrecent centuries theirfishinghas been

comple-mentedandovershadowed bythespecializedproductionand

export orbarterofshell valuables.What follows deals

primar-ilywith thenumerically preponderant 'bush" peoples,but it

alsobrieflyexaminesthe'saltwater' variantsoncommon

cul-turalthemes (thecontrast between tolo or 'bush' andasior

sea iswidelydrawn in Malaitalanguages) Inbushareas,

settlementswerescatteredhomesteadsortinyhamlets,

clus-tered close enough for collective defense and frequently

moved because ofpollution violations orgardening cycles

Each settlementmappedout acosmologicalpatterninwhich

the men's house above andthe menstrualhutbelowbecame

symbolic mirror images, with domestic houses in between

During thecolonialperiod,missions,laborrecruiters,and the

governmentencouraged movements tothe coast; and these

movements were accelerated by the postwar Maasina Rule

anticolonialmovement.Nowadays,theMalaitapopulationis

mainly concentratedalongthe coast in substantialvillages,

except in remaining pagan areas(notablytheeastKwaio

inte-rior) where old patterns still prevail; large Malaita

popula-tionshave alsoresettledaroundHoniara, withpockets

else-where in theSolomons

Economy

Subsistenceand Commercial Activities Inbushareasof

Malaita, taro was the primary subsistence crop, grownin a

continuouscycle in forest swiddens Yamswereasecondary

subsistencecrop, butbecause theyweregrowninanannual

cycle,they were accorded ritualimportance.Plantainsanda

range of othercultigensandforestproductsaugmented these

starchy staples (Thetaroplantsweredevastatedbyviral and

fungal blights after World War II, and sweet

potatoes-culturally disvalued but convenient-have become the

domi-nant staple.) Animal protein came from fish, grubs, birds,

cuscus, opossums, andothergame, aswellasdomesticpigs

The latter (and their theft anddefense) wereafocus of

cul-tural attention;the pigswereusedmainlyinsacrifices,

mortu-aryfeasts,bride-wealth,andcompensation payments.Strung

shell beads and dolphin teeth served as mediums of

ex-change, used in bride-wealth, homicidepayments,

compensa-tion, andmortuary feasts Red-shell discs producedin

Langa-langa (especially the ten-stringed tafuli'ae of northern

Malaita) were widely used, but Kwaio produce their own

white-shell beads, which in standardlengths and

combina-tions (denominations) serveas anall-purposemediumof

ex-change For 120 years, Malaitans have been lockedinto a

sys-tem of circulating male plantation labor (originally to

Queensland, Fiji, Samoa, andNewCaledonia, and,in this

century, to internalplantations).Inthe last20years, this

ad-aptation has increasingly given way (except for the diehard

pagans)topeasantproduction ofcopra, cocoa, andlivestock,

to petty entrepreneurship, and to wagelabor inurban set.tings Today, Malaitans occupyevery rung of adeveloping

class system, ranging from prosperous businesspeople andparliamentarians to a marginalized and violently predatoryurbanunderclass

Industrial Arts Traditionally, chippedchert adzes werethe primary felling and cutting tools Other elements ofearlyMalaita technology included pouches and bags wovenfrombush fibers, river fish and bird nets, intricatefishhooks,

and large composite seagoing canoes with caulked planks

and high prow and stem In contrast to the relative

elaborateness oftheir weaponry and some aspects of theirmaritimetechnology, Malaita bush peoples specialized in akind ofthrowaway tool technology: crudelychipped chertadzebladeswereused in place ofolderground basalt blades;giant bamboo was used for water, cooking, and construc-tion; today, digging sticks are not even fire-hardened (atleast among the Kwaio) Withhighlyuneven accessto edu-cation and Westernization onMalaita duringthe last fortyyears,Malaitans now span atechnological range from engi-neers, doctors, and pilots to subsistence cultivators usingmagic and digging sticks

Trade Precolonial trade systems included the far-flungLangalanga networks, through which shell valuables weretraded for pigs, produce, and other items, and the well-organized markets (especially on the northeastern coast)where Lau bartered fish and marine products for taro, yams,Canariumalmonds,andforest productswithinterior popula-

tions (Baegu, Baelelea, Fataleka, To'aba'ita) Chert for adzeblades and other scarce materials seem also to have beentraded

Division of Labor Menand women hadcomplementary

roles in the division of labor, with women doing the bulk

of everyday garden work, foraging, domestic labor, andchild care and men fellingtrees, fencing land, fishing, andfighting

Land Tenure Primary rights to land are obtained throughtracingpatrifiliation, but secondaryrightsarealso granted tothose with maternal links to ancestors

Kinship

KinGroups and Descent Throughout the Malaita

inte-rior, descent-based local groups having primaryinterests inestates in landand primaryconnectionstoancestors are the

most important sociopolitical units Everywhere, the idealpattern is forvirilocal residence andpatrifiliation,with chil-drengrowing up in their father's place and developing a pri

maryattachment there to lands and ancestors Ideally, then,members of the group should all be connected to the found-ing ancestors through patrifilial chains (and those who are,are distinguished as "agnates") However, throughout Ma-

laita, connections with maternal relatives (and, through

them, to lands andancestors) areregarded as very importantandcomplementary to connections toand through paternalrelatives "Nonagnates" are recognized ashaving secondaryrights of residence and land use Such ties are extendedthrough father's mother, mother's mother, and more distant6n; and ancestors related through such links were commonly

162 Malaita

propitiated.Lifecircumstances-uxorilocalresidence,

paren-taldivorce,orwidowhood-canleadchildrentogrow up with

maternal kin Whentheydo, theyareaccorded de factorights

of residence and land rights as though they were agnates:

whatmatters is commitmenttolands,ancestors, and Idn and

intimate knowledge of a place and its rituals and taboos

Giventhe ideological emphasisonagnation (atleastinsome

contexts) andcountervailingideologiesof symmetric

bilater-ality,and given the varying statistical composition of groups,

it isnowonderthatethnographershavedifferedin

character-izingMalaitasocialstructure.Among theLauspeakersof the

lagoons, densely concentrated in large villages, descent

groupsarequitesquarely agnatic Insomeparts ofMalaita,

segmentary ritual andpolitical relationshipsabove the level

oflocaldescent-basedgroupswereaccorded importance In

the north, eightclusters ofdescent groupswererecognized,

with the politically dominant and ritually senior 'stem"

groupsof eachclusterconnectedto oneanotherbyputative

agnaticlinks (butwithsomeother groups withineach cluster

connected to the 'stem" group by nonagnatic links) In

Kwaio, suchhigher-levellinkagesoperateonlythroughritual

linksbetween shrines and their priests

KinshipTerminology Kinship terminologyranges froma

symmetric Iroquois-type pattern in Kwara'ae (systematically

distinguishingcrossfromparallelkininthemiddlethree

gen-erationsaccordingtorelativesexof the last connectinglinks)

to abasicallyHawaiian-type patterninKwaio(broken only by

aself-reciprocal mother's brother/sister's childcategory)

In-termediate are systems (such as To'aba'ita) with a partial

Omaha-like skewing inwhich the mother's brother/sister's

child category is incorporated into the grandparent/

grandchild category (which occurs in all the Malaita

terminologies)

Marriage and Family

Marriage Marriage isgenerally serially monogamous,

al-thoughpolygyny ispossible in someplaces Bride-wealthis

universal Prohibitions on marriage generally arebilaterally

based, with marriagebetweenclose cousins normatively

pro-hibited Asnotedpreviously, postmarital residence was

ini-tiallyvirilocal, althoughin someareaslaterflexibilityin

resi-dential attachment was possible Divorce was possible but

difficult because ofbride-wealth

Domestic Unit Domestic family groups (prototypically

nuclear families but often augmented bywidows, bachelors,

spinsters, and fosterchildren) arethe primaryunitsof

pro-duction and consumption

Inheritance Inheritance assigns rights tothosewho

cre-ate propertyand transmits these rightstoand through

chil-dren Normatively, although sons and daughters inherit

rights, sons transmit primary rights to their children and

daughters transmitsecondaryrights.Asteward, ideally a

sen-ior agnate, acts as aspokesperson forcollectively held land

and other property

Socialization Childrenarehighly valued and caringly

nur-tured, with women having the primary responsibilities for

earlychild care and training Sexualpolarizationearly

sepa-ratesboys' andgirls' life experiences(thoughthereare no

for-malinitiations),withboys beingmuchmorefreetohuntand

play and girls beginning early a regimen of hard labor and

childcare.Boys spend progressivelymoretimewith men, stay

inmen's houses, and participate inritual

Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganization. In bush areas,afierceegalitarianismbased on achievement rather than rank traditionally pre-vailed However, in somecoastal areas (e.g., Lauand Mara-masike) ideas ofhereditary rank had some currency.Political Orgnization ApervasiveideologyonMalaita

distinguishes three leadership roles: that of 'priest," whoacts as the religious officiant of the descent group (seebelow); that of'warrior-leader' (ngwane ramo), abounty

hunter andfightingleader, andthatof a secular leader (inthe Northern Malaita dialect, ngwane inoto/inito'o) Char-acterizations of the latter range from a hereditary chief(araha in Maramasike) to a smallish big-man in the most

politicallyfragmentedbush areas, suchasKwaioand western'Are'are Otherareascombined an ideologythat thesenior agnate of adescent group acted asitssecular leaderwith a recognition ofde facto leadership achieved throughentrepreneurial success In Lau and southeastern 'Are'are,hereditary leaders commanded prestige and had consider-able authority in peacemaking and other intergroup rela-tions The colonial government appointed headmen asagentsofadministrativecontrol.Partlyin countertothis,in

north-the MaasinaRule movement Malaitans put up a hierarchy

ofchiefs to lead them in an anticolonial struggle The ers wereimprisoned in 1947, then released and incorporatedintothe process ofgradual, indigenous-ledparticipation ingovernment,culminatinginnational independence in 1978

lead-Today, Malaita (including Polynesian outliers) forms theProvince ofSolomon Islands, with a premier and aProvin-cialAssembly Interest in"custom'remains strong, even inrelatively Westernized areas, and "paramount chiefs" arebeing givenlegitimate status, even in bush areas where vari-antbig-man systems prevailed

SocialControlandConflict Bloodfeuding was endemic

onMalaita, with larger-scale warfare infrequent but dramaticand culturally celebrated in epic chants of ancestral deeds.Using bows and arrows, clubs, and spears, warriors chal-lenged one another in direct combat or sometimes launchedattacks in force against an enemy group in a fortified refuge,led by ashield-bearing fight leader More often, killings werestealthy executions to gain vengeance,often on behalf ofan-

othergroup, to collect abountyofvaluables and pigs

Canni-balism was apparently practiced at least sporadically where on Malaita; it seems not to have been primarilymotivated by a quest for spiritual power, or even for protein,but rather represented a relegation to animal status of ene-mies or of social offenders (such as adulterers) whose con-duct tookthem out of the bounds of human society In north-ern Malaita, sorcery accusations were a common cause ofkillings; in central Malaita, sorcery was a less-central theme,and seductions were the most common cause ofkillings (apuritanical sexual code enjoined the execution of adulterersand often led to thekilling by their ownkin of young womenwhose sexuality had been invaded, even by a proposition).Curses andother insults also triggered brawls and killings.Principles of collective accountability in blood feuding oftenled to thekillingofasubstitute victim, a close or sometimes

every-Malaita 163

distantrelative,if the seducer or sorcerercouldnotbekilled

himself.Aculturaldistinctionwasmade(atleast among the

Kwaio and'Are'are) between powersofproductivity (and

as-sociated magic and ritual) andpowers of destruction

(war-fare, theft,vandalism): akindof uneasytension existed

be-tween groupswhose primarycommitments were to stability

andprosperity (andwhosesafety layintheir capacitytoput

upbloodmoneyagainsttransgressors) andgroups whose

an-cestors incited andsupported killing, theft,anddestruction

(andwhoselivingwasconsequentlytoounstabletoallow

sus-tainedproductivity)

Religion and Expressive Culture

ReligiousBeliefs Theprecolonial religioussystem on

Ma-laitacenteredonthepropitiation ofancestralspirits (akalo,

agalo,adalo) through theconsecrationandsacrifice of pigs

Each descent grouphadone ormorefocalshrines where

reli-gious officiants sacrificed; hierarchiesofshrines and

priest-hoods marked higher levels of segmentary connection

be-tween groups and bonds to common ancient ancestors In

communities with maritime orientations (Lau, Langalanga,

Maramasike), sharkswere seen asspirits andwereaccordingly

propitiated Some Malaita peoples, particularlythose inthe

north and southwithmaritimeorientations, hadextensively

elaborated cosmologies positing multiple levels of creation

and elaborated bodies ofmyth Cosmologiesandmythwere

less developed inbush areas, especially incentral Malaita

Divination, dreams, and omensprovided daily

communica-tionwiththe spirits Whendispleasedwiththeirdescendants,

theancestralshadesvisitedsicknessand deathontheliving;

whenpleased, they supported andprotectedthem from

ma-levolent "wild" spirits and empowered their efforts (in

pro-duction and violent deeds) by 'mana-izing" them [In

Malaita languages, cognatesofmana were usedmainly

ver-bally: 'be effective, be potent, be true, be realized" and

(speakingof ortoancestors) 'support, empower."Theywere

also used as verbal nouns, such as 'mana-ness,"

'mana-ization," or 'truth."1 The sacred (abu) men's houses and

shrines where mensymbolicallygavebirthtospiritsthrough

mortuary riteswere a mirror image of the dangerous (abu)

menstrual huts and childbirthareaswherewomengavebirth

to infants, acosmological scheme thatwas mapped in the

spatiallayoutof settlements Thetraditional religioussystem

functionsstillinpocketsof pagansettlement,particularlythe

mountainous Kwaioand'Are'areinteriors.Elsewhereon

Ma-laita, Christianity (principally the South Sea Evangelical,

Catholic, Anglican, and Adventist churches) holds sway

Fundamentalist Christians, in particular, seethemselves as

being in continuous struggle with the ancestors that are

viewedas manifestations of Satan

Religious Practitioners Traditionally kin groups had

'priests" (in North Malaita,fataabu) whotook primary

re-sponsibility for conducting sacrifices and other rites and

maintainingrelations with thespirits.Divinitorypowers were

believed to be quite commonlydistributed,but certain

per-sons were thought to have extraordinary powers and were

widelysought

Ceremonies The deathof an important or sacred person

plungeda descent group into an intenseanddangerous

com-munication with the dead This liminal separation from other

living peoplewasgradually ended byrites ofdesacralizationandaneventualmortuary feast(north Malaitamaorna, Kwaio

omea), which was also an occasionfor largessand

competi-tioninvolving large-scale exchanges of prestations larly shell valuables and pigs) in thefulfillment of kinshipobligation

(particu-Arts The most notable artistic achievement on Malaitaconsisted ofpanpipe music, with orchestras of eight or moremusiciansplayingmatched sets ofscaled pipes The contra-puntal structures of this music are beautiful and complex,using as many as seven oreightmelodicvoices Insomegen-

res,thepanpipers accompanied formations ofdancers, andtheythemselves performed intricate movements while piping

Anothernoteworthymusicalgenreisepicchanting,inwhich

deeds ofancestors arerecounted withharmonized

accompa-niments.Other musical forms include stampingtubes,Jew's

harps,and otherflutevarieties.Themoststriking graphicarts

tookthe form ofbodilyornaments-women's heirloom

jew-elry (chest pendants,nose sticks, earrings,necklaces),

intri-cately plated ornamental combs wornby men, arm shells,chest pendants, belts, and bandoliers Weapons, batons,betel mortars,bowls, andotheritems were carved and/or dec-orated with nautilus inlay

Medicine Magic was highly elaborated, and it followed

the sharp cultural separation between productive and structive powers Gardening, feast giving, fishing, fighting,andstealingallcalled forelaborate magic

de-Death andAfterlife Throughout Malaita,thesouls of thedead were believed totraveltothe land of the dead (associ-atedwith a smallislandoff thenorthwesterntipof Malaita),while theirshadeshovered about the community,propitiated

by theconsecration ofpigs andplacated by purificatory

sacri-fice.The shades ofthe deadmonitored the strictpollution

ta-boos that compartmentalized menstruation and childbirth

andsharplyseparated men's and women'srealms, and they

alsosupervised the strict observanceofritualprocedures.Seealso Guadalcanal, OntongJava, SanCristobal

Bibliography

Hogbin, H Ian (1936) Experiments inCivilitation London:

Routledge&Kegan Paul

Ivens, WalterJ. (1927) Melanesians of theSouth-East mons London: Kegan Paul

Solo-Ivens,WalterJ.(1930).TheIsland Builders of the Pacific don: Seeley & Service

Lon-Keesing, Roger M (1982) Kwaio Religion NewYork:

Co-lumbia University Press

Keesing, Roger M (1983) 'Elota'sStory:The Lifeand Times

of a SolomonIslands Big Man NewYork: Holt, Rinehart &Winston

Ross, Harold (1972) Baegu:Socialand Ecological

Organiza-tion on Malaita Urbana, Ill.: University of Illinois Press

ROGER M KEESING

164 Malekula

Malekula

ETHNONYMS: Laus, Mewun, Seniang, SmallNambas

OrientationIdentification ThissummaryfocusesonSouth WestBay,

thehome ofseveralculturallysimilarethnic groups,including

the Laus (orSmallNambas), Mewun,andSeniang

Location. TheislandofMalekula,at1670 Eand 165°Sis

thesecond-largestinVanuatu.About 88kilometerslongand

48 kilometers at its widest, Malekula has few mineral

re-sourcesaside fromitsfertile volcanicsoil.Althoughthere are

no activevolcanoesontheisland, earthquakes are common.

The southwesternpartofMalekulais quite mountainousand

covered with rain-forestvegetation. The climate provides a

year-roundgrowing season,dividedinto wet anddry periods,

withmostrainfalloccurringbetween November and March,

whiledrier, cooler weatherdominates theregion fromApril

through October Hurricanes are likely in January and

February

Demography A detailed census ofMewun in 1974

re-corded482people; the populationofSeniangwasabout the

same, while thatofLauswasestimatedat 125 Inallthree

groupsthereis a surplusofbachelors,whichseems to occur

spontaneously but which has had an impact on social

organization.

Linguistic Affiliation All three groups speak

Austrone-sianlanguages of the Malekula CoastalSubgroup.The

lan-guages (referred to locally as Ninde [Mewun], Nahava

[Seniangl,andMbotegate [Lausi)are notmutually

intelligi-ble,but someresidents arebi- or eventrilingual.

History and Cultural Relations

ThefirstsustainedcontactbetweenSouthWestBay

inhabi-tantsand Europeans beganin1896whenaPresbyterian

mis-sionarysettled there.As themissionary'spowerandfollowing

grew,the incidenceofinterethnicandintervillage

warfare-previously an integral part of local life-declined, and by

1960,all people fromMewun andSenianghadmovedinto

missionvillages Laushas remained, forthe most part,

un-converted, although a few people from this region have

movedintoMewunandSeniang villagesonthebayinthelast

decade or so. Colonization followed missionization as

reli-gious representativesinspired political interest inthe region

and the islandsbecame theAnglo-FrenchCondominium of

theNewHebridesin1906 Forseventy-fouryearsthecountry

had two colonial governments and three official languages

(English, French, and Melanesian Pidgin) There alsowere

dualorparallelsystems innearlyeverydomain-judicial,

ed-ucational, monetary, and medical This political

arrange-ment, sometimescalled the"Pandemonium,"oftenoperated

roughlyor ineptly,thereby leavinglocalpeoplemuch

auton-omy.In1980, afterelectinga government, thecondominium

became the nationofVanuatu

SettlementsPrior tothetwentieth centurymostpeoplelivedinthe foot,hills surrounding South West Bay, but missionizationwasthe

main catalyst for resettlement along the shores of the kilometer-long harbor Today the Mewun live on the north,ern half of thebay, theSeniang live to the south, and theunmissionized people of Laus remainfarther inland in a num-ber of small settlements Traditionally all three groups lived

9.6-in small settlements of fewer thanfiftypeople, with separateresidences for men and women arranged around a centralclearing where dances and other ceremoniescould take place.Childreninitially lived with theirmothers, with boys movinginto the men's housewhen they reached the age of 5or 6.Sincemissionization, the Mewun and Seniang have settled inlarger villages of 100-300 residents Missionized villagerswere required to have twohouses, one for sleeping and theother for cooking, because it was consideredunhealthy for

residentstosleepinsmokyareas.Althoughmenand womenwereexpected to live andsleep together, many Mewun usedtheir two houses to preserve theirtraditionalcustom ofsleep-ing apart; while women and children slept in the officialsleeping houses, their husbands often slept in the familykitchens Thisseparation of the sexes has remained common

up tothe present Traditional housestyleswith walls of blackpalm and thatched roofs made of tangura palm have givenwayinmissionvillages to walls and elevated floors of wovenbamboo; nowadays, some families prefer corrugated tin roofsbecause they last longer and can be used to catch supplies ofrain water

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities Swidden culture providesthe subsistence base, and either yams, taro,cassava, bananas, or sweet potatoes are usually eaten daily.Yams are probably the preferred form of carbohydrates, butthey can be harvested only in the dry season Yams store wellfor several months butthe local supply is usually exhaustedhalfway through the rainy season The traditional food re-mains thelaplap or'pudding." This is made of one of the sta-plefoodsflavoredwith coconut cream and either protein orlocal greens The protein supply is varied, including pork,

horti-fish,shellfish, turtle, chicken, or tinned meat or fish, but it is

oflimited quantity Boiled rice is an increasingly commoncomponent ofthe diet Cash crops include copra, cocoa, and

asmallcoffee crop There islittle else in terms of commercialactivity, but a localbakery operation and the sale ofhandi-

crafts to acooperative in the capital city are two small prises that have endured

enter-Industrial Arts Women weave mats and baskets of nut andpandanus leaves Nowadays men make canoes, butthis is a new art.When the first missionary arrived, local peo-ple were stillusing rafts for ocean travel, but through missioninfluence they soon learned to carve outrigger canoes.Trade Tradeamong the three ethnic groups has rarely fo-cused onessential items In early colonial days, Mewun andSeniang people would hold markets' toexchange yams withoneanother Culturalartifacts, including special dances andunintelligible songs in foreign languages, are still tradedwithin and between the groups

coco-Malekula 165

Division of Labor Traditionally-and still among the

Laus-house buildingwas amale task,however, in mission

villagesit is acooperative taskinvolvingbothsexes.So,too,

yam gardens are nowtheexclusive province of men only in

Laus; in Mewun andSeniangtoday,women workinyam

gar-dens unless they are menstruating Men and women share

otheragricultural tasks,and,whileonlymenhunt,both men

and women fishand gather shellfish Althoughboth sexes

canbe involvedincooking, ceremonialcooking for feasts,

fu-nerals, etc., isusually supervised bymen

Land Tenure Land is inherited patrilineally. Married

women retainusufructrightstotheir brothers' coconut land

and maygatherthe nuts without asking permission In the

past fewdecades,some menhave found themselves withfew

heirsbutmuch land.Toprevent encroachmentby

Europe-ans, somemen inthis situationhave givenparcelsof landto

their sisters' sons However, this newpractice has led to a

plethoraof court cases, so men reportedly are moving away

from this innovationinlandinheritance Althoughwomen

do notusually holdorinheritland,thereare instanceswhere

womenare the sole heirs of a patrimony, and these women

sometimes hold and control family land until their sons

mature

Kinship

KinGroups andDescent Inallthree groups the

commu-nity is divided intoanumber oflocalized,patrilineal,

exoga-mous descent groups called 'clans" by their first

ethnog-rapher, A B Deacon Each clan membercantrace descent

fromavillage orlocality. Place membershipappearstobea

strongerfactorinunitythan clanmembershipperse

Chil-dren belong to the place of their father, but they can be

adopted intootherplaceson occasion.Membersofaclanor

place shareaspecific totemand asacredplacewheregroup

rituals were performed in precontact times The descent

group is the landholding unit, and food and other valued

items are frequently sharedby members

KinshipTerminology Allthree ethnicgroupsuse

Crow-type kinshiptermsinapatrilineal descentsystem This

com-binationisunusual,found inonlytwoother Oceanic ethnic

groups

Marriage and Family

Marriage Polygynyisstill foundinLausandwascommon

in Mewun andSeniang beforetheywerecompletely

mission-ized.Polyandryalso occurred intraditional timesamong the

Mewun Members of the three groups occasionally

inter-marry.Substantial bride-wealthisrequired;in all threegroups

this can consistofacombinationofpigsandcash,thougha

Laus price is likely to include more pigs than

bride-prices in Mewun andSeniang With thecurrent surplusof

bachelors, older married men seek to control younger

bache-lors through their control of marriage choices for young

women In order to marry, mostyoungmen mustobtain the

approval of older men anduseeither bride-wealthor sister

ex-change to contract engagements Postmarital residenceis

pa-trilocal.Although women movetotheirhusbands' land when

theymarry, a widowed womanisalmost alwaysrequiredto

re-turn to herpatrilocality, leavingher children behind with her

deceasedspouse's relatives This move,however,maynot

al-ways involve a change in villages for her Since mission

vil-lages in Mewun and Seniang arecomposed of several entpatrilines, she may simply relocate to a different quadrant

differ-of thevillage andbegin to farm theland of her patrilineal atives Divorce is illegal and almost absent inSouth WestBay The fewpeople who have separated from their spouses

rel-haveleft the bay for either Port Vila or Luganville (Vanuatu'sonly two cities) where they can form liaisons with new

spouses.

DomesticUnit Thebasicdomesticunit iscomposed ofrelatives who share food andeat from a common fire.Thismay or may not coincide with a dwelling unit or household.Inheritance Inheritance is patrilineal Daughters aregivenpieces of their fathers' territoryto use before marriage

and after they becomewidows However, this is usually notinheritedby their sons

Socialization Childrenareraisedtointeractwith one otherpeaceably, so it is extremely rare to see children fighting

an-or aparent striking a child The threat of shameis often ployed to ensurecorrect behavior Most Mewun and Seniangchildren go toschool until the thirdgrade While a large per-centage finish primary school, only a few progress to secon-

em-daryschool.Thedistrictschools wereestablishedin theearly

1900sby theresident Presbyterian missionary Before pendence, a few children from Mewun and a larger group

inde-from Seniangwenttoa Frenchboardingschoolin

southeast-ernMalekula Lauschildren, for the most part, are not mally educated, although a few attend the mission schools inMewun

for-Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganization. Thebasic organizing principle is that

of a common"place." Ancestral "place" commonly coincideswithpatrilineality, but there is plenty of room for ascriptionwhen suitable Rights to 'place" can be gained by adoptionand long-term contiguity andcommensaliy.Mission villages

in Mewun andSeniang usually include residents from several

"places."Members of a'place"areexogamous and cooperate

on work teams; they also pool their resources forbride-wealth

and funerary contributions Members of a "place" will alsoshare rights to unique artistic creations (dances, artifacts,songs, etc.), saidto be given to members as gifts from thespirit world These cultural artifacts can be bought and soldbetween "places." The emphasis on"place" seen in South

WestBayapparentlyissignificant throughout Vanuatu; not

only is itnoted byanthropologistsinother parts of the pelago, but the newly invented (postindependence) pidginword for 'citizen" ismanpies (orwomanples)."

archi-Political Organization. The traditional political systemoperated through a combination of personal and positionalpower A men's graded society developed in all three SouthWest Bay ethnic groups By earning his way up the ladder ofritual position (each position involving payments and be-stowing ritual privileges on the aspirant), a man could reachthe topgrade, at which point he became a spiritually powerfuland feared person.High-rankingmen werelikely to have sev-

eralwives, oftenobtained from different ethnicgroups, and

great wealth in pigs Laus men still have a graded society, ornimangi A shadow graded society also exists for Laus womenand was described for Mewun and Seniang in traditional

166 Malekula

times Since missionization ofSeniangandMewun, official

political power in the form ofchiefdoms hasbeen rotated

every yearor two amongvarious members of each 'place."

Prior toindependence,MewunandSeniangwereeach

repre-sentedbyanassessor,whoofficiatedatthe trials of small

of-fenses but called inthe British orFrench district agents in

casesofmajordisputesor crimes.Outsidethe officialrealm,

power is heldbybig-men whoareempowered bytheirability

to control large networks of kin and affines and by their

speaking talents.Ingeneral,postcontact powerismuchmore

diffused among socially prominent citizens, political

repre-sentatives,and church officialsthanitreportedlywas in

ear-liertimes

Social ControL The most frequent causesof intragroup

conflictare landdisputesandadultery.InMewun and Seni

ang, suchdisagreementsaresettledby longdiscussions

moni-tored and guidedby elected chiefs Adultery is frequently

punishedbyfines,leviedonbothparties,orby publicservice,

such as caring for communal grounds or repairing public

property.InLaus,disputesarestill settledbybig-men,just as

theywere in MewunandSeniang prior to missionization

Condict Until the arrival ofEuropeans, warfare was an

in-tegralpart of lifeinSouth WestBay.Membersof a descent

groupusually remainedatpeace with oneanother, but war

could breakoutbetweendifferentkingroups within Mewun,

Seniang, or Laus Aggression between members of these

cul-tural groups was also common before missionization Dis

putes between groups nowadays are most commonly over

adultery orland Whe-n these disagreements do occur, the

casesaretriedbychiefs from theinvolvedcommunities.Very

severecrimes, suchasassaultandbattery,aretriedbythe

na-tionalcourtsystem andguiltyparties mayserveprison terms

Whenever possible, disputes are settled by reciprocal

ex-changesofgoodsor services.The objectof all locallytried

court cases is the reduction of ill will between the parties, so

allcourtproceedingstendtoinvolveagreat deal of

negotia-tion rather thanarbitrary legalsanctions

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs Although people of Seniang and

MewunconsiderthemselvesgoodPresbyterians, they

never-theless share certainbeliefswith theunmissionizedpeople of

Laus.Essentially, all three groups believe the world is

inhab-itedby spirits, some of whomtakeonhuman form

temporar-ilyuntil thedeath ofa person sets the spiritlooseagain

ReligiousPractitioners Certain men arereputed to be

es-pecially clever in magic Theirservices aresoughtto resolve

human problems orpunish grievances Traditionally, there

was said to be one shaman for each patrilocality Some

women also are said to have great powers to dream and

thereby enter the spirit world wheretheycanfind ways to cure

human illnesses and otherproblems

Ceremonies Ceremonialdances,usuallyaccompanied by

giant slit gongs or drums located invillagedance areas, are

frequently held in Laus Forexample, funerary dances,

per-formed with puppets made fromcobwebs andclay,arepart of

the rituals for the dead Prior to missionization, all three

groups had nimangi grading systems Advancementalongthe

ladder of grades alwaysinvolved ceremonies, including

spe-cial dances and pig slaughters, for each level attained One ofthe most famous Mewun ceremonies, apparently defunctsincemissionization, was known as the'Makingof Men" cer-emony, or "NoghoTilabwe." Performedperiodically, itwasbelieved to increase fertility and preserve the health and

strength of the Mewunpopulation A South WestBay contactceremonythathas been reworked into local Presby-

pre-terianritualis ayam harvestfestival, followedby exchangeofyams in memory ofthe dead.When thefirst yams are har-vested, families decorate them with colorful flowers andleavesbefore takingthemtothelocalchurch where they areblessed After the ceremony, each yam is given to someonewho isunrelated to the dead person commemorated by thatyam Since independence, when most missionaries left,

Mewun and Seniang people have revived a number of old

dances andceremonies, which theyresearched among localelderswith anthropological zeal andprecision

Arts Southern Malekulahasbeenpraised as a center for

exceptionallyfine art Mostfamous are therhamberamb, orlife-sizedfunerarystatues ofthe dead, which are prized by mu-seumcollectors While the people of Laus have continuallycreatedthese and other art objects for ceremonial use, therehas also been a renaissance of traditional art objects inSeniang and Mewun since Independence

DeathandAfterlife Al threeethnic groups believe thatthe spiritsof thedeadare dangerous influences on the livingfor a year after thedeceased's funeral Mewun mourn fortwelve hours following a death and then take pains not toanger the deceased's troublesome spirit presence Afterayear haspassed,spiritspassto the landofthe dead,whichisunder the surface of the earth and referred to as 'darkParadise."

Seealso Pentecost

BibliographyDeacon, A Bernard(1934).Malekula:AVanishingPeopleinthe NewHebrides London: Routledge & KeganPaul

Larcom,JoanC (1980).'Placeand the Politics ofMarriage:TheMewun of Malekula, NewHebrides."Ph.D.dissertation,StanfordUniversity

MacClancy, Jeremy(1981).To Kill aBird with Two Stones: AShortHistory ofVanuatu PortVila,Vanuatu: VanuatuCul-

turalCentre Publications

Sope, Barak (1976) Land and Politics in the New Hebrides.Suva, Fiji: South Pacific SocialSciences Association.Weightman, Barry, et al (1981) Vanuatu: Twenti Wan Ting-ting LongTaem blong Independens Port Vila,Vanuatu:Insti-tute ofPacific Studies

JOAN C LARCOM

Manam 167

Manam

ETHNoNYM: Vulkan Islanders

OrientationIdentification Manam Island, formerly called Vulkan-

InselorHansa-VulkaninselbytheGermans, anditsoutlier,

the smallisland of Boesa (Aris-Insel) 6.5 kilometerstothe

northwest, are part of the Schouten Island archipelago, a

chainofsmallvolcanicislands that stretchesalongthe

north-east coast ofPapua New Guinea Near the mouths ofthe

Ramuand Sepikrivers,Manamis partof thenorthcoastand

Sepik Rivercultureareas.

Location Situatedjustsouth of theequator at4°5'S and

145°3' E and within the Pacific Ring ofFire, Manam is a

smallcone-shaped islandabout 13 kilometersacross and40

kilometersincircumference Astill-active volcanowith

cra-tersthat reachaheightof1,350meters, itcontinuouslyspews

forth ash andoccasionally erupts molten lava In 1957 the

entirepopulationwasevacuatedtothe mainland fora year, at

the endof thattime returning totheremainsofash-covered

villagesonthe island.Manamis16kilometers from the

main-landdistrict station ofBogia, nearHansa Bay inMadang

Province.Thereare no rivers or permanent streams onthe

is-land Northwest monsoon winds bringa rainy season that

lasts fromNovembertoApril, traditionallya timeforcanoe

building and thestagingof feasts andceremonies.From May

toOctober,southeast tradewindsbringadryseasonthatwas

alwaysa timeofscarcitybefore theadvent of tradestores.

Demography In1982thepopulationofManamwas

esti-matedtobe6,400,withanother420 peopleonBoesaIsland

Despitethe fact thatmany youngerManam havechosento

live permanentlyonthe mainland because of the limitation

on available land onthe island, the Manamare concerned

aboutarapidlyincreasingpopulation.Thevillage population

is predominantly indigenous Manam Islanders, withonly a

small number ofin-marrying spouses from mainland Papua

NewGuinea

Linguistic Affllaion Manam, with Wogeo, is classified

intheSiassiFamilyofAustronesianlanguages.TheManam

referto their language as 'Manampile" (Manam speechor

language) Although thesamelanguageisspokenthroughout

theisland, it isundergoing a sound shiftandtwoformsare

currently spoken on different halves of the island Most

Manam also speak Tok Pisin (Melanesian Pidgin) and

some-mostlyyoungereducatedpeople-also speak English

History and Cultural Relations

AustronesianspeakersarrivedinNewGuinealaterthan

Pap-uanspeakers, bringing with themitemssuchasthe

domesti-cated pig, outrigger canoes, and navigational skills The

Proto-Austronesian Lapitaculture,centeredinthe Bismarck

Archipelago since atleast 1,600B.c., isbelievedtobe

ances-tral to the Manam The Manam themselves say that they

camefrom thewest prior tosettlingonManam.Earlywritten

referencestoManamarefound from the sixteenthcentury on

in theships' logs ofEuropeanswho noted the island's

vol-cano. RegularcontactwithEuropeansbeganwhen the

Ger-mans claimed sovereignty over northeast New Guinea in

1884 There haveneverbeennonindigenouscoconut

planta-tions onManam;however,overthe years manyManam haveworkedascontractlaborers on coastal plantations and in thegoldfields of Wau and Bulolo Since its establishment on theisland in1925, theSociety of Divine Word Catholic missionhas been the most significant Western influence DuringWorld War 11 the Japanese occupation ofthe mainlandcaused the Manam to abandon theirvillages to live in the

junglefor the duration of thewar.The end ofthewaropened

thewayto considerablechange, including muchinterest in

the cargo cult and protonationalistactivitiesofthe Rai CoastleaderYali, native production of copra for sale, and the devel-opment of other commercial activities These enterprises,combinedwith increasingeducational and job opportunities

on the mainland, have led toacontinuing dependence on

cash andaconsumereconomy The Manamhaveallymaintainedexchange relations withhereditary trade part-

tradition-ners(taoa)onthe mainland.There is little or no contact withotherSchouten Islanders Trade most frequently occurs withthe Momboan villages on the coast directly across fromManamand with Kaian, Boroi, Watam, and Marangis villagesnearthe Ramu River

Settlements

There are fourteen villages on Manam and two on Boesarangingin sizefrom around 115to 1,000people, with the av-erage being about 500 Villages are scattered settlementsrangingfrom the beach up themountainside into the jungle.Gardensareusually located on the mountainside beyond thesettled area Houses are built of wood with roofs of coconut-frond thatch and walls of woven bamboo or coconut-frondsiding Eachvillage has acentralcleared ceremonial groundand a largemen'sceremonial house (in Tok Pisin, haus tam-

baran) prohibited to women Other settlements include asmall volcanology observatory, a government subdistrictheadquarters,andtwoCatholic missions, each with a churchandgovernment-runschool A dirt road partially circles theisland, butvehicles are few and travel between villages is pri-marily byfoot, boat, or canoe

Economy

Subsistence andCommercial Activities The Manam arefishers and subsistence gardeners who practice slash-and-

bumhorticulture Because of the relatively poor soil and lack

ofgroundwater, alimited variety of crops is grown Most portant amongthem are taro, sweet potatoes, cassava, andbananas Yams,prevalent on the mainland, do not grow well

im-on Manam Tree crops, such as breadfruit, coconuts, andCanatiumalmonds, supplement the vegetable diet Fishing isseasonal, the monsoons hindering fishing on the south side

of the island Pigsare anoccasionalsource of protein but aremost importantaswealth items used in both local and exter-nal trade.Otherdomesticated animals include chickens anddogs.The latter,primarily raised for hunting andprotection,

aresometimes eaten Copra, sold either locally to distributors

ordirectly to the Copra Marketing Board in Madang, is theonly cashcrop Coffee and cacao, important mainland cashcrops, are not viableon Manam.Atpresent, cash from copra

is used to buy rice, tinned meat, fish, and other importedfoodspurchased attrade stores on the island

168 lViULultLII

IndustrialArts Incomparisonwithmanymainland

peo-pie, the Manam practice relatively fewindustrial arts They

produce no pottery, carved slit drums, dyed grass skirts,

wovenbaskets,or netbags;instead, theyobtaintheseitems

frommainlandtradepartners Theirmostimportantcraft,in

the past and to alesserextentatpresent,isthe construction

ofoutriggercanoes Whilemenusedto saillargecanoes on

trading expeditions to the mainland, canoes are nowused

only for travel betweenvillagesand tocarry passengers and

cargo onandoffboatsgoingtoandfrom themainland

Carv-ingismen's work Inadditiontocanoes,otheritemscarved

includemasks,combs,betel-nut mortars, coconut-shell

con-tainers,headrests, and canoe paddles Women used to make

their ownpandanus-fiber skirts, whilemenmade theirown

barkbelts.Commercialclothinghasreplacedthese items

al-though they are still worn for special dances and ritual

performances

Trade Inthe past men visited theirmainland trade

part-ners(taoa)toexchangepigs,Canariumalmonds,betel nuts,

and tobacco for sago, ritual paraphernalia, and dogs'-teeth

andboars'-tuikvaluables.Theinstitutionofhereditarytrade

partnersstill functions, although trips to the mainland are

now made by motorized canoes and boats There are also

small markets, a Westerninnovation,atthe mainland and at

the mission stations on Manam where women sell produce

and betelnuts,tobacco, Canavium almonds,etc

Division of Labor The primary division of labor is

be-tween men and women Men are the main participants inall

activitiesassociated with the sea: the construction and use of

canoes,fishing,and overseastrading expeditions Whileboth

menandwomenworkinthegardens,thebulkof the routine

labor ofplanting, weeding, and harvesting is performed by

women Men help with the heavylaborassociated with the

in-itial clearing of new gardens andconstructionoffences,and

somehusbands alsohelptheirwiveswithplantingand

weed-ing Only men, however,climb largetreestoharvest

bread-fruit, Canarium almonds, coconuts, etc Both men and

women tend pigs, but only menslaughterthemand distribute

themeat Only women cookfood,chopand gatherfirewood,

and fetch water Both sexes are involved with the production

and saleofcopra

Land Tenure Landiscommunallycontrolledbykinship

groups,whileotherproductiveresourcessuchas trees are

in-dividuallycontrolled Both men and women can inherit land

and other productive resourcesfromboth paternal and

ma-temal relatives However, men inheritmoreresourcesthan do

women and aslandbecomes a scarce resource fewerclaimsof

access to land through maternal relatives are permitted by

matrilateral kin

Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent Individualsbelong to named

localized exogamous clan groups called bagi or ungguma

whose membershipis based onpatrilineal descent Villages

arecomposedof betweentwoandtenbagi Matrilineal kin,

especially the mother's brother, are also important

Home-steads are extended family compounds situated on

clan-owned land

Kinship Terminology Hawaiian-type cousin terms are

used, and siblings are distinguished by relative age and sex

Marriage and Family

Marriage Although most marriages are monogamous,

po-lygamyisstill practiced.Villagechiefs in particular have morethan one wife All marriages used to be arranged, but nowyoungpeople usually decide whothey will marry Thegroom'sfamilygivesbride-wealth to thebride's relatives With the ex-ception ofvillage chiefs, marriage tends to be endogamouswithin avillage and residence patrilocal A marriage is notconsidered final until the birth of a couple's first child Prior

to that divorce is relatively easy and frequent among youngcouples

DomesticUnit Thenuclearfamilyisthe basicfamilyunit

althoughextendedfamilyhouseholdsare common In amoushouseholdseach wife hasher own hearth and gardens

polyg-and cooks for herhusband andchildren Parents desire at

leastone child of each sex and adoption of children is a monpracticebetweensiblings.Firstbornchildren,especially

com-male, receive special attention and have special rights and

intheresponsibilityofraising younger children Sex tionand socializationintogender roles begins atayoungage.Shame is adominantconcept used to shape conformitytoculturally appropriate behavior

segrega-Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganizati. Unlike most New Guinea societieswhichareegalitarian,Manam ishierarchically organizedintotwohereditarysocial groups: anelite (tanepoa) andcommon-

ers(gadagada) Membershipisbased onpatrilinealdescent.Political Organization. In precontact times Manam vil-lages were politically autonomous Each village was ruled by a

hereditarychiefcalled tanepoa labaLaba,aposition basedon

primogeniture Each clanhad a leader (bagi sema) whose sition was also based on primogeniture Although theManam nowelect a village councillor to represent them onthe island's Local Government Council, in effect tanepoa la-balaba arestill thevillage leaders The Manam also elect na-tional andprovincial representatives

po-SocialControl In the past thetanepoaused thethreat of

sorcery and physical violence to exert social control At enttanepoa and villagecouncillorsadjudicate local civil cases

pres-ofadultery, divorce, theft, etc., or they refer offenders to thedistrict officer and court

Conflict In the past incidental fighting and formal fare, both between villages and between the Manam andmainlandgroups, were endemic Conflicts were settled by ne-gotiation of the payment of pigs and valuables At present, al-

war-though physical violence still erupts, payment ofmonetarycompensationorjailare the mainsanctionsagainst conflict

Mandak 169

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religiotu Beliefs The majorityof the Manamare

nomi-nallyCatholic,butvariousindigenousbeliefsand practices

basedonsupernatural spirits and powersarestill

meaning-ful.Masalai(Tok Pisin), whichareculture herosand

ances-tors, are important supernatural beings Masalai easily

change from humanto animalor inanimate form.Masalai

snakes areparticularlyimportant astheyareassociated with

the origin of the Manampeople The most important

cul-turehero is Zaria, afemalebelievedtoinhabitthe volcano

and to be thesourceofitsfire Since the end of WorldWar

II interest in various millenarian movements has

periodi-cally surfaced At present, in addition to Catholicism,

Seventh-Day Adventists and several evangelical sects also

have a smallnumberoffollowers

ReligiousPractitioners Thereare noformalreligious

po-sitions, but someindividualsinheritsupernaturalpower(ma

rou) fromtheirancestorsthatenablesthemtoperformcanoe

magic,influencethewinds,ensure anabundance oftobacco,

etc.A tanepoalabalabainparticularisthoughttohavethe

power to ensurethe fertilityof crops and thewellbeingof his

villagers Throughtrances,aenoaineor sleepwomen"are

be-lieved to be able to mediate between thelivingand the dead

todetermine the causeof illness

Ceremonies Individual life-cycleeventssuchasbirth,

pu-berty, marriage, and death are markedwith special rituals

Each villageholdsanannualNewYear's celebrationknown

as "Barasi" in May orJune The most frequent intervillage

ceremony isatype ofdance and pigexchangecalledabuleka

Christian holidays such as Christmas and Easter are also

observed

Arts Musicand singing are the dominantarts Inaddition

totheiraesthetic role,they have importantpoliticaland

eco-nomicfunctions Dance, withmen asthe primaryperformers,

is also a major artand new dance complexes are important

trade items Carving, an artform with a traditional

icono-graphy, isofminorimportance

Medicine TheManamfollow bothindigenous and

West-ern medical practices Belief that pollution from blood,

semen,and certain foods can be the cause ofillnessis

gradu-ally disappearing, but illness and deatharestillnotbelieved

to occurnaturally To the Manamthey indicateamoral

im-balance in thesocialworld of the individual.Indigenous

med-ical practices include the performance of curing ceremonies

to reveal the social conflict causingan individual's illness

Most Manam also use the services of the

government-sponsoredclinic runby the Catholic sisters

Deathand Afterlife Immediatelyupondeath individuals

gather towail,sing mourning songs, and "giveface" atthe

home of the deceased People sleep outside the deceased's

home until after the funeral feast has been held,

approxi-mately fivedays later.Asecondfuneralriteshouldoccur

sev-eral yearslater when the deceased's relatives hold a special

feast to commemorate the dead The dead are believed to

continueto exist asspirits whocommunicatethroughdreams

and influence events intheworldof the living

See also Wogeo

BibliographyBoehm, Karl (1983) The Life of Some Island People of New

Guinea Berlin: ReimerVerlag.

Lawrence, Peter (1964) Road Belong Cargo Melbourne:

Melbourne University Press

Lutkehaus,Nancy(1985) "TheFlutesof the Tanepoa:

Hier-archy and Equivalence in Manam Society." Unpublished

Ph.D dissertation, ColumbiaUniversity.

Maburau,Anthony(1985)."lrakau of Manam." In New giousMovements in Melanesia, edited by C Loeliger and G

Reli-Trompf,2-17 Suva,Fiji,and PortMoresby:Universityofthe

South Pacific andUniversity of Papua New Guinea.Wedgwood, Camilla (1934) "Reporton ResearchinManam

Island, Mandated Territory of New Guinea." Oceania4:373-403

NANCY CHRISTINE LUTKEHAUS

MandakETHNONYM:Madak

Orientation

Identification Mandak is alinguistic-culturaldesignationforpeoplelivingincentral New Ireland, Papua New Guinea

"Mandak" means"boy" or"male" and is used by New

Ire-landers to refer to thosespeaking the various dialects of

Man-dak.Furthersociocultural distinctionsaremadeby reference

to particularMandak villages

Location TheMandaklivein central New Ireland on theeastand west coasts and in the interior on Lelet Plateau, be-tween3°6' and 3°20' Sand 151 °47' and 152°8' E This tropi-calareahasawet seasondominatedbythe northwestmon-

soon winds from December to May and a dry season withprevailing southeast trade winds from May to October, di-vided bytransitional calmer, more humid weather Rainfallvaries considerably according to local topographic condi-

tions, with periodic drought a potential problem in somecoastal areas Mean monthly temperatures range from thehigh 20s to about 32° C

Demography TheMandak numbered about 3,324 in the1960s, of which some 500 resided in the interior Lelet region.Fromabout 1920to 1950,NewIreland experienced depopu-lation due to Westerncontact By the late 1950s, the popula-tionhad stabilized and began to increase in some areas Be-causeofthe loss of allcensus data for New Ireland duringWorld War 11, government records are available only from

1949 to present A census of eastcoastvillagesmadebyE W

170 Mandak

P.Chinneryin1929showslargervillage populationsthan the

1949 governmentcensus

Linguistic Affliadon Mandak, with five dialects, is an

Austronesianlanguage,classified with Lavatbura-Lamusong

inthe Madak Family.Linguisticvariation isalsofoundatthe

subdialectlevel fromvillagetovillage.

History and Cultural Relations

Little isknown aboutthe Mandakbefore Western contact

Presentcoastalpopulationsinclude,eitherby villageor

inter-mingledwithin avillage,peoplewhoclaimtohaveoriginated

in theirpresentlocationsand those whorelocatedfromin,

landsettlements at theurging of German and Australian

co-lonial governments inthe early twentiethcentury.Duringthe

seventeenth andeighteenth centuries, NewIrelandwas

vis-ited by Dutch, English, and French explorers and

blackbirders Germany claimed NewIrelandasacolony,

re-named Neu Mecklenburg, between 1884 and 1914 In the

early 1900s,Germanand Englishcolonistsplantedcoconut

plantations on landtakenfrom the localpeople forminimal

recompense Duringthisperiod,the Germanadministration

used local labor to builda roadalongthe east coast for almost

200miles from Kavieng inthe northto Namatanaiinsouth

centralNewIreland At the outbreakofWorldWar1,

Aus-tralia took overNew Ireland, administering it aspart of a

mandate from the League ofNations from 1921 to 1942,

whentheJapaneseinvadedandoccupied New Ireland

Aus-tralia again resumedcontrolin 1945, withNewIreland

be-coming apart of the Territory of Papua New Guinea in 1949,

administered byAustralia undertheUnitedNations In the

1950s, the Mandakbeganplantingtheir own coconut

planta-tions for thecopramarket,addingcacao treesadecadeorso

later as a second cashcrop.TheMandakhavebeenpart of

in-dependent Papua New Guinea since 1975 Christian

mis-sions have exerted a strong influence among the Mandak

Methodistmissionaryworkin NewIreland beganin the late

nineteenthcentury,followed byRomanCatholicsinthe

sec-onddecade of the twentiethcentury

Settlements

Atfirstcontact, theMandakwerelivingininterrelated

ham-lets grouped together into villages Today, villages range in

size from about 50 to 230people.Some retaintheolder

set-tlementpattern ofdiscrete, dispersed hamlets, while others,

particularlythesmallerresettledinland settlements, displaya

morecentralized appearance Hamlets range in size from 1 to

40peoplelivinginone to tennuclearfamilyhouses Amen's

house, surrounded by a low stone wall, is found in most

hamlets

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities The Mandak

combine subsistence agriculture with raising andselling

coco-nuts and cacao beans Mainsubsistence crops includetaro,

sweet potatoes,andyams, varying in significance regionally

Gardens are located from 1 to 3 miles inlandfromcoastal

set-tlements.Alsogrown arebananas,papayas,beans,leafy green

vegetables, melons, breadfruit, pineapples, and avariety of

nut and fruittrees In earliertimes, sago served as a famine

foodand is stilloccasionally processedtoday. Incoastal

ar-eas,fishingprovidesvaryingamounts of fishseasonally,alongwith shellfishandoccasional sea turtles TheMandakraisepigsandchickens, theformer for ceremonial exchanges, thelatter for smallscale special occasions Men occasionallyhunt feral pigs forless-important social events Marketingco-

conuts and cacao beansprovides theMandakwith areliable,though fluctuating, income A few individuals in eachvillage

operate small tradestores, sellingcanned meat, coffee, tea,sugar, kerosene,and other items

Industrial Arts Itemsproduced locallyfrom coconut and

pandanus leaves and otherplant fibers include: large

food-carrying baskets for women, smaller baskets for men andwomen, lime pouches, sitting mats, and rain covers Alsocrafted are small bamboo andlarge hollow-log slit gongs, fish-ingnets, single-outrigger canoes, and log rafts Canoes andfishing nets are nolonger made in some areas Polished-shellbead strands used in ceremonialexchanges,shellpendants,andarm bracelets areproduced in some areas Production of

white-shell beadstrands ceased afterWorldWar II, after alocal leaderforbade their use inexchanges in preference tored-shell strandsproduced elsewhere

Trade Beforeislandsettlements moved to the coast in thefirstdecadesofthetwentiethcentury, coastal womentradedfish forvegetable foods withinland women Items traded be-tweenindividuals in differentvillages,within or beyond lan-guage areas, include: shellvaluables (red-shell beadstrands),shell bracelets, pigs, rituals and ritualparaphernalia, song-

dances, andmagicspells

Division of Labor Labor cooperation varies contextuallyfromsmallnetworks ofindividuals sharinganenclosed gar-den, to largergroupscultivating gardens for aspecial mortu-aryfeast,to an entirevillagecooperating in fishing and cere,monial feastpreparations Genderdemarcates the division of

labor men clear secondary-growth areas for gardens andfence them against pigs, while women plant, tend, and har-vestthe root crops; men fish, while women gather shellfish Inbuilding houses, men perform the heavierworkwhile womenprepare thepalm-frond roofs Women do the daily cooking,generally in individualhouseholdearthovens, while for feaststheycutandpeelrootcropstobecookedinlargeearthovens

constructedby men Both sexes cooperate in harvesting nuts and preparingthem for market and in collecting cacaobeans Men take thecopra to market in trucks, usually rented,withmale drivers

coco-LandTenure Land isgenerally owned by lineages, but it

is used forsubsistence gardens in flexiblearrangementswithaffines and offspring of male lineage or clan members Off-spring may gain permanent rights to portions of their father'sland at hisdeath by making certain exchanges to members ofhislineageorclanathis mortuaryfeast Insituationswhere alineage or clan has few members and no heirs (clan or pater-naloffspring), someone with other ties to the clan may estab-lish claims to clan land bymaking contributions to mortuaryfeasts of the lastremaining clan members In some areas, aman or womanmay claim landrightsfromhisor her mother's

or father'spaternal kin atthelatter'sdeath, bymakinganchange at a mortuary feast to the deceased's lineage Landtransfers werecomplicated by colonial laws that required cashpayments for landleavingtheclan

ex-Mandak 171

Kinship

KinGroups and Descent Mandak individualsbelongat

birth to thelineage,clan,andmoiety of their mother There

are no knownrelationshipsbetweenclans ofthesamemoiety,

norgenerallybetweenlineagesofaclan Moietiesare

exoga-mous.Kinshiprelationsareexpressedinvaryingreferencesto

sharedorexchangednurturance,between individualsand

be-tween groups Therelationshipof a manand hislineage,clan,

ormoietytohisoffspringisexpressedas oneofnurturance

At anindividual's death-ifaman, hisoffspringandspouse;

if awoman, herspouse-give wealthtothedeceased'sclan

for nurturance received fromthedeceasedandhisorherclan

Kinship Terminology Kinship terminologyisavariantof

the Iroquoistype

Marriage and Family

Marriage Before extensive missioninfluence,both

poly-gynyandpolyandrywereacceptedforms ofmarriage among

theMandakc,althoughit issaid thatonlyafew men hadmore

than one wife and thatpolyandryalsowas notcommon

Moi-ety and clan exogamy are stressed Villages are not

exoga-mousandthereis somepreferenceformarryingwithin the

vil-lage A bride-price is givenbythe husband'slineage to the

wife'slineage.Nosingleoption is stated as apreferredform of

postmaritalresidence Usually, acouplemovesseveral times

during their married life For the oldest male of a sibling

group,preferred residenceisinhislineage hamletDivorce is

allowed, with young children usually staying with their

mother

Domestic Unit Basic domestic units include separate

households forsingle adultwomen(divorced, widowed,

un-married), for nuclear families,andsometimesforsinglemen,

whousually, however, live in a men's house

Inheritance Inheritance isideallymatrilinealfor landand

certain forms ofmagic, althoughanindividual, maleor

fe-male,mayinheritsomelandandreceivemagicspells fromhis

or her father

Socialization. Bothparents disciplinetheirchildren,

gen-erallyverbally, with anoccasional switching. Oldersiblings

also exertsomecontrolovertheir youngersiblings.Adoption

of childreniscommon, usuallybetween closelyrelated kin

Male youths,from about age 12 into theirearly20s, have

con-siderable freedom of movement,withlittlesocial

responsibil-ity.Mostchildrengo tolocal schoolsup to aboutage 12, with

somegoing on to secondary (usuallyboarding) schools and

then college ortechnicalschool

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. The dynamics of the social system

arecharacterizedbyoppositions elicitedindifferentcontexts

At the broadestlevel, thematrilineal,exogamous moieties are

contrasted ascomplementaryunits, giving or receiving

nur-turance from oneanotherthroughmen's work in the

procrea-tion and nurturance of their offspring The same contrast

may be evoked in relating clans, lineages, or individuals

Same-unit membership (ofmoiety, clan, lineage) entails a

focus onshared nurturance.The hamletisownedand

identi-fied with alineage,ideallywiththe social unit's oldest male in

control of its men's house Hamlets may include members of

differentclans, through affinal, paternal, and otherties tothe

owninglineage.Socialunits arenotlocalized,andthusthey

may be spread over a number ofvillages, while the socialunit'sidentityislocalized in one hamlet and its men'shouse

inwhose adjacent yardlineage members are buried.Political Organization Political power adheres inthe ac-

tivitiesofbig-men.Allmiddle-agedandoldermenare

recog-nized ashaving the capacity for political influence The oldestmanofthelineage is regarded as therepresentativeofthat so-cial unit,for purposes of landarbitrations,feastsponsorship,

and in certain formal feastexchanges One or more men ofeachvillage may be recognized as having particular'strength"

and'power."Such menare moreactivethanothers in

spon-soringsocialeventsandingainingvillageconsensus in

large-scalevillagecooperative action Suchmen's reputations tendbeyondtheir own community to othervillages.A variety

ex-of appointed(during early colonial decades) and thenelected

(since the 1960s) officials at the village, regional, and (since

1975) nationallevel are involved in Mandakpoliticalties At timesthebig-mansystem works partlywithinthese

activi-institutionalized authority positions, while atother times itcoexistsseparately

Social Control Inprecontact times, therewas no lized social control at thevillagelevel.Usually, conflictswere

forma-handledeitherby fightingorclandestinesorcery Fearofcery attack or retaliation continues to serve as a powerful

sor-means ofsocial control Today, minor social disputes arehandled at the village level in weekly meetings,establishedbyGerman and Australian colonialgovernments, with variousfinesallotted bydiscussions led bybig-men Major problemsarehandled byformal courts atthe regional leveL

Conflict Up tothe 1920s, beforepacificationby colonial

forces, sporadic warfare occurred both within and between

villages

Religion and Expressive Culture Religious Belief Christian missionswere establishedinthe Mandak area in the latenineteenth and early twentiethcenturies Today, mostofthe Mandakare nominally mem-bers of a Christian sect,Methodists and Roman Catholics

predominating In addition,many people adhere invarying

degrees to views of a world inhabited by avariety ofhumanspirits, most ofwhicharedangeroustohumanswhocome into contactwith them Each clan has one or morepowerfulspirits orpower embodied in an animal form, in sea

non-life,or in alandscape feature on clan land.Spiritsof the dead,

particularlythose of individuals who died aviolent death, can

be a source ofdanger tohumans whoencounter them seenpower orenergyisthought tobe asourceofvariedforms

Un-of control by humans who know how to direct it throughmagicspells.The use of magic, for both positive and negativepurposes,is acommonsubjectof concern inMandak lives

Religious Practitioners Mostadult men andwomenare

thought to possess some magic spells, although only somemen arecapable ofperforming stronger forms ofsorcery,rit-ual empowerment, and such specialized forms ofmagic asused in sharkcatching, seabecalming, andweathercontrol.Villagechurch leaders are usually from among the local malepopulation

172 Mandak

Ceremonies Ceremoniallife focuses onmortuaryfeasts,

ofwhich there arevariousforms,including:the burial ofa

de-ceased individual; later mortuary feasts relevant toa single

deceasedindividual;andlarge-scaleclan-sponsoredmortuary

ceremonies involving dances and distribution ofpigs, taro,

and sweet potatoes.Malagan ceremonies occur inthisarea,

althoughunevenlysincethe1950s.Malaganreferstobotha

material object-carved wood or woven; mask, figure, or

frieze-and its attendantrituals, usually as partofa

large-scalemortuary ceremony

Arts The major artisticfocus here involvesmalagan

pro-ductions Men's orwomen'ssongsandaccompanying dances

areimportant featuresoffinal mortuaryceremonies

Death and Afterlife TheMandak subscribeto avarietyof

beliefs concerning death andafterlife, from Christian

doc-tines topre-Christianbeliefs.Inregardtothelatter,an

indi-vidual's spirit becomes either arestless,roaming spirit if the

individual died a violent death (as from sorcery, accident,

murder) or a morepeacefulspirit, believedformerlyto go to

smallnearbyislands Either type of spiritcan serve asanaid

tothelivingin variousforms ofmagic and ritual or asasource

of new ritual orsong-dance

See also Lesu

highof8,000 at the time of first contact to a low of 1,275 in

1824 In recentyears, as onmanysmaller Polynesian islands,there has beenanotableout-migrationtolargerislandssuch

asTahiti and urban centers.Mangarevan is an Austronesianlanguagecloselyrelated to the languages spoken on the Mar-quesas Islands In the past and today, Mangarevans subsist

on acombination offishingandhorticulture,withbreadfruit,

coconuts, taro, bananas, andsugarcane the most importantcrops

SeealsoRaroia

Brouwer, Elizabeth (1980) 'A MalagantoCover theGrave:

Funerary Ceremonies in Mandak."Ph.D dissertation,

Uni-versity ofQueensland

Chinnery,E.W Pearson(1929).StudiesoftheNative

Popula-tionof the East CoastofNewIreland.Territory of New Guinea

Anthropological Report no.6 Canberra: H.J. Green,

Gov-ernment Printer

Clay,BrendaJ.(1977).Pinikindu:MaternalNurture, Paternal

Substance Chicago, Ill.: University ofChicago Press

Clay,BrendaJ. (1986).Mandak Realities: Person and Powerin

Central New Ireland New BrunswicL Rutgers University

Press

Kramer, Augustin (1925) Die Malanggane von Tombara

Munich: Georg Muller

BRENDA JOHNSON CLAY

Mangareva

Mangareva, also knownasthe GambierIslands, consists of

foursmall volcanic islandslocated southeast of the Tuamotu

ArchipelagoinFrenchPolynesiaat22°S and1280 W.The

is-lands havealandareaofabout 29squarekilometers In1987,

1,600speakersofMangarevanwerereportedlivingonthe

is-lands Estimates of the populationinthepast rangefroma

ETHNONYMS: noneManihiki is separated by40 kilometers of open sea from itstwin atoll of Rakahanga It consists oftwo large islets and

many smaller ones in the northernCook Archipelago There

were 905 residentsofthe atolls in 1966.The languages are

classifiedin the Eastern Polynesian GroupofAustronesianlanguages Prior to 1852the people of Manihiki and Raka-

hanga would regularly migrate en masse from one atoll to theother, to allow natural regeneration of the abandoned atoll.Missionaries ended these cyclical movements and there arenowpermanent populations on both atolls The senior line ormoiety is supposed toreside on the lagoon side of theislets,

while the junior line resideson the ocean side

Theprimary staples are coconuts and swamp taro, in

ad-ditionto seafoods There were no pigs,dogs, orchickensonthe atolls whenEuropeans arrived Important kin groups aremoieties, bilateraldescent groups, and lineages Descent isbi-

lateral, with a patrilineal emphasis All land is divided

be-tweenthe moieties and then allocated to descent groups ranged marriages are common and residence tends to be

Ar-patrilocal Polygyny waspermitted for the chiefs, although allmarriages are now monogamous The core of a household is asinglenuclear family (puna) Membership in a household isflexible,however, and many combinations of relatives can befound The people ofManihiki andRakahangaareorganizedintomoieties(one senior and one junior), both of whichfis-

sionedsometime in the past to create four submoieties or scent groups Out of these lineages twenty-five householdshavebeen established The entire population is evidentlyde-scendedfrom asingle family,and so itconstitutes one greatbilateralkingroup Before the moietieswere established thepeoplewere led by one chief or ariki When the communitysplit sodid the office ofariki,with hisritualpowers and re-

de-Manus 173

sponsibilities goingtotheseniorline and hiseconomicpow

ersgoing to the junior line Each of the fourlineagesalsohave

leaders, whocollectivelymakeup thechiefly council

AUof thepeopleare nowChristian, althoughthe

con-cept oftapu, 'sacredness," wasimportantinthepast There

are two ceremonial stone platforms (marae), one for each

moiety Thenativepriestsweretheguardiansofthegods,to

whomthey offered sacrifices atthe marae

SeealsoCookIslands, Pukapuka

Bibliography

Buck, Peter (1932) Ethnology ofManihiki and Rakahanga.

Bernice P Bishop Museum Bulletin no 99 Honolulu

Wiens,Harold (1962).Atoll Environment andEcology. New

Haven:Yale UniversityPress

Manus

ETHNONYM:Manusian

Orientation

Identification The terms 'Manus" and 'Manusian"

de-notepeople native to ManusProvince, PapuaNewGuinea

Manus alsodenotes theTitan-speakingpeople ofthecoast

andoffshoreislands of the southeasternpartoftheprovince,

who had themost intenseearlycontactwithWhite colonists

Peoplecan refertoeach otherbytheirlanguage, village, or

localarea names, often the same. Also, theycan use terms

that denote othersignificant differences Examples include

electoraldistrictnames, termsdenoting 'islanders"

(histori-callyfishing and trading people) or"mainlanders'

(histori-cally agriculturalists) andtermsdenoting residentsorthose

who have migratedelsewhere

Location Manus Province consists of a mainland (the

mainisland of Manus and thebarelyseparatedisland ofLos

Negros) and offshore islands, mostly to the southeast and

north Italsoincludes several islandstothe farwest,

inhab-itedbya setofethnically distinct peoplenotdiscussed here

Manusis intheAdmiraltyIslandsatabout 2°Sand 147°E

Themainlandisabout96kilometerslong and 24 kilometers

wide, about 272 kilometers north-northeast ofthe Madang

coast onthemainislandofNewGuinea.Itandsomelarger,

volcanic islandsarerelatively fertile, butmanysmaller islands

areinfertile sandcays The seasons arethose of the southeast

trade winds (April toOctober) and the northwestern

mon-soon(OctobertoApril) Themonsoonhashighertidelevels,

greatercloudiness, and frequentstorms,butthe wholeyear is

hot andweL

Demography In 1980, there were about 26,000 Manus

people, of whomabout6,000livedelsewhereinPapua New

Guinea Thisis morethantwicethepopulation reportedin

the first reliableestimates, earlyin the twentiethcentury.

Linguistic Affiliation. Manus languages are a distinct

familyofAustronesianlanguages,withfoursubfamilies:

East-ern Mainland Manus (the largest), Western MainlandManus,NorthernIslands,andSoutheastern Islands Thereislittleagreementontheoriginofthelanguages.Estimatesoftheir number range from eighteen to forty, and they share

some grammatical and vocabulary elements Many peoplefrom small, linguistically unique villages may understand

threeorfourdifferentlanguages;almostallspeakMelanesianPidgin; mostspeaksome English.

History and Cultural Relations

Earliest EuropeancontactwiththeManus mainlandwas inthe sixteenth century,but firstsubstantialcontact was inthenineteenth century,withpearlers,whalers,andbiche-de-mer

fishermen.Germanyannexed Manus with therestof German

NewGuineain 1884andwasreplaced byAustraliain1915

Colonial administration was based on appointed village

headmen Resistancetocolonizationwasfiercein some areas:

controlwas notcompleteuntil about 1920.Afewcopratations wereestablishedby 1910 andmissionactivitybegan

plan-shortlyafter.However, relativelylittlelandwasalienatedfor

plantations ByWorldWar11,mostManuswere

Christian-primarily Catholic, Seventh-Day Adventist, or

Lutheran-butChristianity supplementedrather thandisplaced

indige-nous beliefs After World War II, there was agitation for

social,economic, andpoliticalimprovement Partly as asukt, education provision increased, village officials wereelected ratherthanappointed,andtherewasencouragement

re-ofvillagecooperatives Publicservicesexpanded throughthe

early 1980s, when government financial difficulties led toslightcontraction Shortly after theindependence ofPapua

New Guinea in 1975, the province acquired an elected

assembly.

Settlements

Villages rarelyhavemorethan 400residents Theyfrequentlyare madeofhamlets, sets of houses built around a central

clearing, often with an associated patrician's men's house.

Hamlets andvillagesections areconnectedby paths.Thesehamlet clearings and the areas around houses are cleanedcarefully.Households often maintain a dwelling house with aseparate house for cooking Houses may be built on the

groundor onposts (uptoabout6feet) and maybeofoneor two stories.Thehouseholdusuallyisanuclear family,though

amarried child maybuild ahouseadjacent totheparents'dwelling. Manushastwourbanareas. Lorengau, the provin-cialcapital andmarket center, is aharbortown withabout4,000 people. Lombrum, a Defense Force naval base, has

about 1,500 people bothwerebuilt during Australian

con-trol withcommercialhousingmaterials

Economy

SubsistenceandCommercial Activities Thehousehold

isthebasic economic unit The subsistence base for rural

vil-lagersisarboricultureandswidden agriculture (traditional formainlandvillagers) orfishing(traditional for islanders) Ag-riculturalists harvest sagopalms and various tree fruits andnuts, andtheygrow taro,sweetpotatoes,leafygreens, andba-nanas. Fishing people catch many varieties of reef fish and

174 Manus

somepelagic species, aswellas theoccasional shark or sea

turtle Almostallvillagesmaintain coconutpalms:coconut is

animportant food and sourceofcooking oil;many

house-holdsuse it toproducecopra for occasional sale andinsome

areas it is an importantcommercial crop Cocoaisalsoan

im-portantcommercial crop in a fewareas. Many households

grow small quantities ofleafy greens,squash,sugarcane, and

bananas,and areca (betel) nuts, and betel peppers Porkis

important forfeasts, and so in mostvillages a few pigsare

reared Indigenous food sources are supplemented by

im-ported items, especiallyrice, tinned fish and meat,biscuits,

tea, coffee, sugar, beer, cigarettes, andtwisttobacco These

areavailable insmallvillage shopsandingreater varietymore

cheaply in Lorengau andLombrum

IndusrialArt& Before colonization, people produced a

range ofmanufactured items By the mid-1900s, imported

substitutesdisplaced most indigenous manufacture,though

most houses and canoes are still made of local materials

Handicraft productionis revivingin some areas, for saleto

tourists

Trade Manus originally had a complex system of trade

thatreflectedvillage ecological differences, primarilybetween

mainlandagricultural villagesand islandfishing villages.This

fish-for-starch trade weakened after World War II as

main-landvillagers,and insome instancesislanders,movedtothe

coast and took up both agriculture and fishing However,

there remain many marketsbetweenpairsofislandand

main-land villages,butby about 1970thesegenerally hadbecome

cash-only rather thanbarter markets.Inaddition,many

vil-lageshadaccesstospecialnaturalresources:clayfor pots,

ob-sidian for knives and spear points, beds of shell for shell

money, etc Byabout 1970, imported manufactures replaced

theseitemsandtradefor themlargely disappeared.Some

vil-lages carry fish and agricultural produce to Lorengau and

Lombrumforsaleinthemarketplaces,and they buy and sell

there from each otheras well

Division of Labor The sexual division of labor is

pro-nounced, though weaker thanithad been Men make

hous-ing (including village buildings like aid posts, schools, and

churches),canoes, andsails, tendcoconutand sago palms,

anddo some preparation ofgardeningland Women do much

other agricultural work, including pounding and washing

sago, splitting and scraping coconuts, and preparing oil

Womenalsocleanthehouseand itsnearby area and village

paths In fishing villages, bothmenandwomenfish innearby

waters, but usually only men fish outside the surrounding

reef In some villages,differentfishing techniques are clearly

restricted to men or women.Although menclaimformal

con-trol, in many villages womenexertstronginformalinfluence

on much ceremonial activity Villagewide cooperation for

communal projectsis difficult, asthevillagewide structures

thatcould be activatedtoinduce cooperation arerelatively

recent and weak An important division of labor for many

vil-lagers is between migrants and residents Migrants remit

money, important for theeconomicwell-beingofresidents

In return, residentsperformritualand social activities

neces-sary for the socialandspiritualwell-being of migrants (e.g.,

life-crisisand healing rituals).

Land Tenure. Land rights are inherited and thereis

al-most noland sale Parcelsof landbelongtoagnatic groups,

withsectionsof such parcels controlled by the group berswhogardenorbuildonthem Infishingcommunities,agnatic groups commonly hold marinerights, but thecom-plexity ofthe system oftenurevaries Usually, areas of the

mem-surrounding reefandsea areclaimedbyagnatic groups, butspecific parcels are notcontrolledby individuals in the wayland is In somevillages there is ownership of fishing tech-niquesof different sorts and of theright to catch certain spe-

cies of fish In the past theserights may have been of

eco-nomicsignificance, butpresently theyareoflittlesignificanceamongsubsistence fishing people In principle, land in urbanareas canbe bought and sold by individuals as privateprop-erty.However, somevillage groups claim to be ancestral own-

ersofurbanland and they have tried to assert that ownership

Kinship

KinGroups and Descent The politically dominant kingroups arevillage-based, patrilineal descent groups that canloosely be called patricians, internally differentiated into line-ages.These groups are concerned primarily with land and seatenure, but they also participate in exchange People inheritgroup membership fromtheirfathers; in some areas womenadopt their husband's on marriage There are also province-wide matriclans that do not have complex internal differenti-ation,though their importance varies around Manus Thesematriclans are concerned mainly with health: treating pollu-tioncaused by contact with forbidden items, purification atstages of the life cycle In addition there are local cognaticstocks (with patrilateral biases), one descending from eachmarried couple in the past and present These relationshipsareactivated primarilyduring ceremonial exchanges, and asexchanges are frequent and important economically, these

stocksareimportant Villagers inherit all the stock

member-ships of both parents

Kinship Terminology Terminology varies, but it monly stresses the relationship between the descendants ofbrothers and of sisters Generational skewing of the Crowtype occurs

com-Marriage and Family

Marriage Village endogamy andpatriclanexogamy seem

to have been enduring marriage preferences (matriclans arenot significant here) In addition, other patterns have ap-peared at different times and places, shaped by political andeconomic interests Notable among these is cross-cousinmarriage and intervillage marriage (especially among elitefamilies) Since conversion to Christianity, patterns havebeenshaped by church rules as well Marriage entails pay-mentofbride-price, which in the past made it susceptible tothemanipulationofentrepreneurial big-men and in the pres-ent makes it an important conduit through which moneypasses from migrantstoresidents Patrivirilocal residenceis

commonly preferred Acceptability of divorce and macyvary widely, shaped in part by religious affiliation

illegiti-DomesticUnit The domestic unit is the married coupleand their unmarried children Husband and older sons are nolonger expected to sleep routinely in the patricIan's men'shouse, but they may dosooccasionally

Manus 175

Inheritance The righttomakedecisions about real

prop-erty isinheritedpatrilineally.Personalpropertycanpass from

parents tochildrenorfromsibling tosibling.

Socialization The main institutions that socialize children

are parents, schools, and churches (the last two at times

being the same) Aswell, certain classes of relatives often

have specialresponsibilityfor the child's welfare.Parentsand

otherrelatives,schools, andchurches frequentlyare seen to

have distinct spheresofcompetence: traditional andvillage

skills, urbanand Western skills, and Christian morality,

re-spectively Physical punishment ofchildren isexpected only

in restricted circumstances While some socialization may

haveoccurredduringinitiationproceduresinthepast, these

rites nolongerexist

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. Villages are organized around the

structure ofpatricians, which shape rightsin real property,

and the structure of cognaticstocks,whichshape

participa-tion in exchange (Matriclans are relatively unimportant

here.) Patriciansandstocks arelocalizedand donotfacilitate

intervillage relationships. Patricians are small (at times no

morethan five or six residentadults),andlineagesare even

smaller.Thus, theycommonly recruitnonmembers for

pro-ductive and ceremonial activities, typically from cognatic

stocks descended from out-marrying patrician (or lineage)

women of earlier generations This is oftendescribedas a

dis-tinction between the line (descendants) of the man (the

brother) andthelineofthewoman(theout-marryingsister).

A distinction between a line of the man and alineof the

woman first appears at marriage, between the line of the

groomandof thebride.Forthe children of themarriage, the

distinction is between the line of the father and of the

mother.Insubsequentgenerations,it istheline of theman

and ofthe woman Villagers also distinguish residents and

migrants, though this is reflected in practices rather than

structures Manyceremonialexchangesareorganizedto

ac-commodatetheschedules and wishes ofimportant migrants,

and the rules andpracticesofcontribution anddistribution

help assurethat migrants' contributionsremain inthehands

ofresidents

Politcal Organization. Village political organization

re-volves aroundpatriciansandvillagefactions Hereditary

pa-triclanleadersaresupposedtoleadpatricianactivitiesand

in-fluencepatricianpolitical decisions, thoughwithin ageneral

framework of consensus Often, different village patricians

were responsible for villagewide activities, such as making

war, making peace, and village governance Patricians and

their leaders are morepowerful inthose villageswhereclan

land is of prime economic significance, not overshadowed by

introduced economic resourcesthatarebeyondthe control of

villages (especiallywagelabor) Villagefactionsoften reflect

patrician differences, but also reflect different orientations to

contemporary conditions and issues Most common are

dif-ferent orientations to modernization, tradition, and

Chris-tianity Villages have formal governments, including an

elected village leader and assistant, elected magistrates and

constable, andusuallyanelected representative tothelocal

subprovincial governingbody Electoral districts for

provin-cial and nationalparliamentsincludemorethanonevillage,

andelections for thesebodiesoftenunite villagers in supportfor the candidate from their village Provincial party alle-giance is weakand people oftensay that representatives are

swayed by giftsand favors

Social Control Ideally,relations within thepatrician are

amicable Thisisless true ofrelations betweenpatricians and

villages, which may be tense and even violent Behavior iscontrolled in three ways One is the sanction of agnatic an-cestors, who monitor the acts oftheir living descendants and

in casesofunresolved grievance mayinflictillness, which can

be fatal Someone suspecting an ancestralillnesswill call ameeting of relatives, where all are to confess their hiddengrievances and resolve them As ancestors monitor migrants

aswell asresidents, this helps tie migrants to their natallage.Second isthe powerof specificclassesof ego'skin(espe-

vil-cially classificatory father's sister, father'ssister's daughter,and father's sister'sson) Thesehave the power to bless orcurse,and can use their power to ensure ego's properbehav-

ior.Third is thevillagecourt system Cases ofslanderandpetty theft, as well as more serious matters, are routinelyheardby village magistrates Higher-level courts are seldom

used

Conflict Prior tocolonial control, raiding and open fare between villages were common Conflict was commonwhen mainland or island groups moved to coastal land, and

war-so ithelped maintain the ecological division of villages andthe related trade system Intravillage, interclan fighting oc-

curred,but suchconflicts seem to have been unusual and

in-formal, though sorcery attacks among villagers did occur.

Such fighting could lead to village fission Modemlage conflict is not common, occurring mainly when residents

intervil-of one village use the land or seas intervil-of other villages There isconflict between villages and government over the imposition

oftaxes and, morerecently,over provincial government cies Such conflicts reflect a recurring regional division be-tween southern and northern Manus

poli-Religion and Expressive Culture

ReligiousBelief Indigenous religion revolves around thedead rather than gods Ancestors monitor the acts oftheirag-

natic descendants and punish wrongdoing bytakingthe

sub-stance of anindividual's soul Arecentlydead ancestor could

beadopted ashouseholdpatron and protector There are also

malevolentspirits, which can be controlled by sorcerers MostManus are Christian, and denominational beliefs have beenmodified in different ways by their mixture with indigenouscosmology

Religious Practdoners. Divining in various ways is mon, and many villages have two or three practitioners, who

com-are not distinguished by special title or ritual Some peopleare thought to control malevolent spirits, but few admit tothis activity Many people have entered the service of thechurch as catechists and lay officials, and some have beenordained

Ceremonies Dancingandfeasting are performed only aspart of other activities, especially men's-house raising, mar-riage and bride-price exchange, visits by important govern-ment and church officials, major provincial occasions, andimportant sporting events Exchanges are frequent and are al-ways accompanied by a degree of ceremonial activity, espe-

cially speech makingandfeasting Church services are well

attended

Arts Everyday objects, houses, and canoes could be

carved andpaintedin the past,thoughthis is less common in

thepresent Woven mats andbaskets,limegourds,and lime

sticks frequently aredecorated Indigenous valuables (shell

moneyanddogs' teeth) wereandare treated as decorative as

wellasvaluable.Theyaremountedonbeadworkbelts made

withbright designs Peoplealso make decorative

beadwork-and-shell bracelets and necklaces

Medicine Before colonization there was extensive use of

plantmatter asmedicine,andsome isstill used Much illness

isthoughttobecausedbyancestorsand much medical

prac-ticeinvolveslocatingandresolvingthesourceof suchillness

Illness causedbycontact with matriclantotems, potentially

fatal,isusuallynot worrisome as it is treatedeasily bythe

in-vocationof matriclan ancestorsby matriclan women.With

colonization,church andgovernment health servicesspread;

nowtheyareoftenthetreatmentof firstresort,thoughfailure

of nurses or physicians to diagnose and treat a complaint

quicklycanbetaken to meanthatanancestral illnessexists.

Death and Afterlife Almostalldeaths,evenof thevery

old,arelaidtoancestral illnessor sorcery.The humanspirit

reluctantly leavesthebodyafterdeath, usuallybefore burial

Spiritsexist in aparallel, invisible world, wheretheycontinue

to act asnormalpeople.Asalready described, theymonitor

the behavior of theiragnaticdescents,punishing where

nec-essary.Inaddition, theymay take revenge on someof the

liv-ing toredressoldcomplaintsortheirowndeath.Themost

re-cent dead are the most active, and after three or four

generationsthespirit nolongeraffects theliving.Thissetof

beliefs overlays ChristianbeliefsinHeaven andHell, angels

being the spiritsofthe dead

Bibliography

Carrier,James,and Achsah Carrier(1989) Wage, Trade,and

ExchangeinMelanesia:A ManusSociety intheModem State

Berkeley: University of CaliforniaPress

Fortune, Reo (1935) Manus Religion Philadelphia, Pa.:

American PhilosophicalSociety

Mead,Margaret (1934) 'KinshipintheAdmiralty Islands."

American Museumof NaturalHistoryAnthropological Papers

34:189-358

Mead, Margaret (1930) Growing UpinNew Guinea New

York:WilliamMorrow.Reprint 1963 Harmondsworth,

En-gland: Penguin

Schwartz,Theodore (1963) "Systemsof Areal Integration:

Some Considerations Based on the Admiralty Islands of

Northern Melanesia." Anthropological Forum 1:56-97

Schwartz,Theodore (1962) "ThePaliau Movement in the

Admiralty Islands."AmericanMuseumofNaturalHistory

An-thropological Papers49:211-421

JAMES G CARRIER

ETHNONYM:TeMaori

OrientationIdentification The Maoriare theindigenousinhabitants

of New Zealand Culturally, they are Polynesians, most

closely relatedto easternPolynesians Aftercontactwith

Eu-ropeans,the peoplenowknownasthe Maoribeganusingthe

term tangata maori, meaning "usual orordinary people," to

refer tothemselves

Location The Maori were originally settled primarily in

thenorthernpartsof NorthIsland,NewZealand South

Is-land wasmuchmoresparsely settled

Demography When Captain CookvisitedNewZealand

in 1769 the indigenous population was probably between200,000 and 250,000.Thepopulation declined aftercontact

with Europeans, butitbeganto recover atthebeginning ofthiscenturyandnow approaches 300,000

linguistic Affiliation Maori is classified as part of the

Polynesian Group of the Eastern Oceanic Branch of the

Aus-tronesianlanguages Approximately one-third ofthe Maori

stillspeak their ancestral language, with thevast majority

flu-ent in Englishaswell

History and Cultural Relations

New Zealandwasevidently settledin three wavesby travelers

from Polynesian islands in A.D. 950, 1150, and 1350. The

early arrivals, the Moriori, subsisted mainly by fishing and

hunting themoa and otherbirds that are now extinct.The

final (pre-European) immigration was thatofthe "seven

ca-noesof thegreatfleet."The people ofthe greatfleet

assimi-lated the original inhabitants bymarriageandconquest.The

immigrants of 1350 arrived with their own domesticated

plants and animals (several of whichdidnot survivethe

tran-sitionfromatropicalto a temperateclimate),andthey

subse-quently developed into the Maori ofthe presenthistorical

period Whalers and sealers were common visitors to New

Zealandinthe1790sand theirrelationswith theMaori were

generally unfriendly andoftenviolent Thefirstmissionaries

arrivedin1814andby the1830slargenumbers ofEuropeansand Australians were settling in New Zealand With the

Treaty ofWaitangi, signed in February 1840 by many (but

notall) of the indigenous chiefs, theMaorirelinquishedsov,

ereigntyoverNewZealand landandin turn received British

recognition andprotection, aswell asguaranteed rights to

theirnative lands Aperiod of rapidacculturation ensued,

lastinguntil 1860.Theyears1860-1865saw manybattles

be-tweenthe Maori and thegovernmentofNewZealand, mainly

over questionsof land rightsandsovereignty. By 1900their

populationslide hadreversedandthe Maoribegantoplaya

more activeroleinNewZealandsociety.They received

per-manent Maori seats inthe nationallegislature, andmost criminatorylawswererepealed AtpresenttheMaoriare ale

dis-gally recognized minority group (about 10 percent of the

population), and theyreceivespecial legal andeconomic

con-siderationsonthese grounds.Sincethe 1960stherehasbeen

a move torevitalize theMaorilanguageand theMaori are

at-Maori

L-.14.

.Maori 177

tempting to preservetheirculturalheritagewhileliving

side-by-sidewiththe'Pakeha" (New ZealandersofEuropean

de-scent) This summary focuses on traditional Maori culture

Settlements

Today the Maori areoverwhelminglyanurbanpopulation,

lo-catedprimarilyin townsand cities of thenorthernsectionsof

North Island.Inthepastthere weretwotypesof Maori

settle-ments: fortified (pa) andunfortified (kainga). Pa, inwhich

peopletook refugeinwartime, wereusuallylocatedon ahill

and wereprotected by ditches, palisades, fighting platforms,

andearthworks.Housesin the pa wereclosely crowded,often

onartificialterraces.Kaingawereunfortifiedhamlets

consist-ing of five or six scattered houses (whare),acookingshelter

(kauta) with an earth oven hanggi, andoneor tworoofed

storage pits(noa).Mostfarmsteadswereenclosed ina

court-yardwithapolefence.Mostbuildingsweremadeofpoleand

thatch, but somebetter-madeones were constructed of posts

and worked timber

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities Maori

subsist-ence depended onfishing, gathering, and thecultivation of

sweet potatoes, or kumara (lpomoea batatas), some taro,

yams, and gourds Fishing was done with lines, nets, and

traps, while fowlingwasdonewith spears and snares Items

gathered includeshellfish, berries, roots, shoots, and piths

Rats were alsotrapped andeaten Ininfertile areas or in harsh

seasons uncultivated fern roots provided an important

starchysupplement.Kumara wasplantedinOctoberand

har-vested in FebruaryandMarch; winter was the mostimportant

hunting season Getting food was a time-consuming and

ar-duous business

Industrial Arts The Maori made tools from stone and

wood Importantmechanical aids werewedges,skids,lifting

tackles,fireploughs,andcorddrills.Mostmaterialitems were

highly decorated.Major manufacturesincludedflaxmats,

ca-noes, fishing equipment, weapons, elaborate digging sticks,

cloaks, and ornaments, among others

Trade Goodsandservices wereconveyedorcompensated

through gift givingbetween individuals. Items and services

did not have set values, and the Maorilackedany form oftrue

money Items mostoftenexchangedwere food,ornaments,

flax coats, stone, obsidian, andgreenstone Generosity was

valued as it enhanced a person's mana, or psychic power

There was a coastal-interiorexchangeofseaandagricultural

products for forest products and greenstone from the west

coast ofSouth Islandwasexchangedforfinishedgoodsfrom

the north

Division of Labor Menwereresponsibleforfellingtrees,

clearingground forcultivation, planting,trapping birds and

rats, digging fern roots,deep-sea fishing,canoemaking, carv

ing, stoneworking, tattooing, and performing esoteric rites

Women wereresponsible for gathering, weeding, collecting

firewood, carrying water,cooking,plaiting,and weaving

Es-pecially skilled individuals could become specialists

(tohunga) as carvers, builders, and raftmakers The Maori

preferredtowork cooperatively,withparticularlyodiousjobs

left to the slaves

Land Tenure Nearlyall land wasowned bythe various

descentgroupsortribes Eachgroupcontrolledaparcel of

tri-balterritoryand granted rightsofusufruct andoccupation toits members Only the group could alienate the descent

group'sland, andthenonly with the permission of the entire

tribe.Borderdisputeswereacommon sourceoffighting.The

nuclear family (whanau) ofadescent group held rights to

specificresources andparcels ofland,which could be

con-veyedto the members' children Rights of use could be

ex-tendedtononmembersonly with the permission of the entiredescent group

KinshipKinGroups. The largestkin groups in Maori society were

theso-called tribes (iwi).The iwi wereindependent political

units that occupied discrete territories An iwi was a large,

bi-lateral descent group encompassing as its members all scendants, tracedthrough bothmale andfemale links, of the

de-tribe's founder (bywhose name most tribeswereknown).TheMaori wereorganizedinto somefiftyiwi, of varying size andprestige The iwi, in turn, were made up of a number ofsec-

tionsknownashaps.The hapu also owned a discrete territory

and consistedofallindividuals bilaterally descended fromafounding ancestor The hapu were much more importantthan the iwi with regard to land use andcommunal projectsamongtheirmembers Most ofthemembers of a hapu lived,along with in-marrying spouses and slaves, in one or twocom-

munities Since they were defined bilaterally, an individualwasoften a member of and could affiliate with more then onehapu A household became officially affiliated with a particu-lar hapu by demonstrating a genealogical link conferring

membership and by participating fully in the group's dailylife Descent was reckonedbilaterally,with a patrilateralem-

phasis, especiallyin chieflyfamilies

KinsbipTerminology. Maorikin terminologywas of theHawaiian type

Marriage and Family

Marriage. Maoriyouth enjoyedpremarital sexual freedomand wereexpected to have a series ofdiscreetlove affairs be-

foremarrying.Thechoice of amarriagepartnerwasmadebythe senior members of the whanau (household) Marriage

served toestablish new relations with other kingroups andbrought new members into the hapu Aristocrats oftenbe-

trothed theirchildren as infants Marriages were nearly alwaysbetweenmembers of the sametribeand often between mem-bers ofthesame hapu Firstand secondcousins wereineligi-

ble as marriage partners Most marriages were monogamous,though chiefsoftentookseveral wives Gifts were exchanged

by both partners at the weddings ofcommoners while cratic women brought a dowry often in theform of land andslaves Divorce was common andeasy, based simply on anagreement ofhusband and wife to separate Residence wasflexible, but often patrilocal Children were greatly desiredandcommonly adopted from relatives.Abortion, infanticide,

aristo-andpostpartum sexual abstinence were theprimarymethods

of populationcontrol

Domestic Unit The basic social unit was the household

(whanau),often comprised of an extendedfamily, including

a male head (kaumatua), his spouse(s), their unmarried

chil-178 Maori

dren, andtheirmarried sons, alongwith the latter'sspouses

and children Manyhouseholdsalso had resident slaves

Inheritance Adyingperson would makeafinal testament

disposingof his or her property Most of theestate was di

videdfairlyequally amongthe survivingchildren, exceptthat

certain types ofhunting, fishing, and craftequipmentwent

onlytotheoffspringof the same sex

Socialization Children were generallyeducated by their

relatives,especially grandparents, throughsongs andstories

Gamesoftenimitated adult activities andwerecompetitive

Aggressiveness and competitiveness wereencouraged

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. The interrelationships among

households, hapu,and iwi hasbeendescribed above While

iwi were fixedin compositionand number, new hapuwere

createdthroughfission When ahapugrewtoolargeto

func-tioneffectivelysomeof its members would break offand

es-tablisha newhapu undertheleadershipof oneofthechief's

sonsoryoungerbrothers.Thetribes whoseancestorsarrived

in New Zealandin the same canoe were considered to

consti-tute awaka,literally 'canoe." Awake waseffectivelya

con-federationwhose members feltsomeobligation tohelpone

another.This specialrelationship did not,however,ruleout

warfare between two tribes of thesamewaka TheMaori were

rankedintothreesocialclasses,determinedbythesourceof

one'sline Members ofthetwohighestclasseswerebothfree

people,while thosedescendedfrom the oldestmales ofeach

generation formed the aristocracy (rangatira) Those from

more juniorlines, orwhose ancestors had lost status, were

considered commoners (tutua orware).Thequestion of

pre-ciselywhere aparticularline stood inthese twoclasseswas

often a source ofcontroversy Difference inrankwasdirectly

correlated withdegreeof sacredness(tapu)and mana ofeach

individual and group Finally, there were theslaves

(taure-kareka), mainlywarcaptives,whostood outside the descent

system

PoliticalOrganization. Eachhapuhada chief(fromthe

rangatira).Therangatiraof themost seniorhapuwasthe

par-amount chief(ariki)ofthattribe.Thetribe wasthereforethe

highest politically integrated unit in Maori society Both

chieftainshipswerepassed onpatrilineallytothe first sonin

each generation In some tribes a seniordaughterwasalso

givenspecial recognition.Chiefswere ofhighrankand

gener-allyquitewealthy.Theyexercised great influence butlacked

coercive power Thechiefsorganizedanddirected economic

projects, led marae ceremonials, administered theirgroup's

property, and conducted relations with other groups The

chiefswere often fully trained priests with ritual

responsibili-ties andpowers, mostimportantlytheright to impose tapu

The rangatiraandarildwere, in their persons, very tapu and

had much mana The household heads or kaumatua as a

group constituted the community council (runanga) which

advised and could influence the chief

SocialControL Penalties for crimesranfromgossip,

repri-mand, and sorcery to seizure of property, beating, and

execution

Conflict. Conflict between different hapu and different

tribes was commonand often ledto warfare.The defeated

were mostoften enslaved,killed, or eaten Women and drenwere the mostlikelypersons tobe spared

chil-Religion and Expressive Culture

Religo Belief The Maori held anessentiallyspiritual

viewoftheuniverse.Anything associatedwiththe

supernat-ural was invested with tapu, a mysteriousquality which madethose things or persons imbued with it either sacred or un-cleanaccording to context Objects and persons could alsopossessmana, psychic power Bothqualities,which werein-herited or acquired through contact, could be augmentedor

diminished during one's lifetime All free men were tapu to a

degree directlyproportional to their rank Furthermore, an

object or resource could be made tapu and therefore

off-limits The punishment for violating a tapu restriction wasautomatic, usually coming as sickness or death The Maorihad apantheonofsupernaturalbeings (atua) The supremegod was known as To The two primevalparents, Papa andRangi, had eight divine offspring: Haumia, the god ofunculti-

vatedfood; Rongo,thegodofpeaceandagriculture; moko, the god of earthquakes; Tawhirimatea, the god ofweather, Tane, the father of humans and god of forests;Tan-

Ruau-garoa,the god ofthe sea;Tu-matauenga, the war god; and

Whiro,thegod ofdarknessand evil There were also exclusivetribal gods, mainly associated with war In addition, therewerevarious family gods and familiarspirits

Religious Prctitioners The senior deities had a hood(tohunga ahurewa), members of which received specialprofessional training They wereresponsible for all esoteric

priest-ritual, were knowledgeable aboutgenealogiesandtribal tory, and werebelieved to be able to control theweather Sha-mans rather thanpriests served the family gods whom theycommunicated with through spirit possession and sorcery.Ceremonies Most public rites were performed in theopen, atthe marae The gods were offered the firstfruitsof all

his-undertakings,andslaves were occasionallysacrificedto pitiatethem Incantations (karacia)werechanted in flawlessrepetition toinfluence the gods

pro-Arts Most of the material objects of theMaoriwere highly

decorated.Theirstatues and carvings, especially withfiligreemotifs,areadmired worldwide and are the frequent subject ofartmuseum exhibitions

Medicine Sickness was believed to be caused by sorcery ortheviolationof a tapu The proximate cause ofillness was thepresence of foreign spirits in the sick body The medicalto-

hunga accordinglyexorcisedthespirits and purified the pa,tient The therapeutic value of some plants was also

or two theaikiwould have the body exhumed, and the bones

scrapedclean andpaintedwith redochre, to betakenfromsettlement to settlement for a second mourning Afterward,thebones were given a second burial in a sacred place Thespirits of the dead were believed to make a voyage to theirfinalabode, a vague andmysterious underworld

Mardudiara 179

Bibliography

Best,Elsdon (1924).The Maori.2vols Memoirs of the

Poly-nesian Society, no. 5.Wellington.

Buck, Peter (1949) The Comingofthe Maori Wellington:

Maori Purposes Fund Board andWhitcombe& Tombs

Firth,Raymond(1929).Economicsofthe NewZealand Maori

Wellington: GovernmentPrinter

Hanson, F.Allan,and Louise Hanson (1983). Counterpoint

in Maori Culture. London: Roudedge&KeganPaul

Metge, Joan (1967) The Maoris ofNewZealand, Rautahi

London: Routledge &KeganPaul Rev ed 1976

CHRISTOPHERLATHAM

Mardudjara

ETHNONYMS:Jigalong, Mardujarra

Orientation

Identification The Mardu Aborigines are part of the

Western Desertculturalbloc, whichencompasses one-sixth

of thecontinentof Australia,andisnotableforitssocial,

cul-tural andlinguistic homogeneity. 'Mardu," meaning 'man'

or'person,"wascoinedas acollectivelabel because therewas

no suchtraditional term. Constituent dialect-name

group-ingsinclude the Gardujarra, Manyjilyjarra, Gurajarra,Giya,

jarra,and Budijarra

Location Theterritoriesofthe Mardustraddle theTropic

of Capricorn between 122°and 125°Ein oneofthe world's

harshestenvironments. Rainfall,thecrucialecological

varia-ble, is verylow andhighly unpredictable Permanent waters

are rare,andbothdaily andseasonaltemperature ranges are

high (-4° Cto over54°C) Majorlandformsinclude:

paral-lel, red-colored sand ridges with flat interdunal corridors;

stonyandsandy plains (coveredinspinifex); rugged hilly

ar-easwithnarrow gorges;and acaciascrub thickets andcreek

beds linedwith large eucalyptustrees. Animal life includes

kangaroos,emus,lizards, birds,insects, andgrubs, which

to-gether with grass seeds, tubers, berries, fruits, and nectars

formedthe basis of the traditional Aboriginal diet

Demography It isimpossible accuratelyto estimate the

precontactpopulationsheretermed Mardu Theywere

scat-teredinsmallbands (fifteentotwenty-five people) mostof

thetime,andpopulation densitieswere verylow:aboutI

per-son per 91 square kilometers Today thereare about 1,000

Mardu,mostofwhom liveeitherinthesettlement ofJigalong

or in a numberof small outstation communities that have

beenestablishedinthe desert homelands withinthepast

dec-ade Boththegeneral populationsizeand the ratio of

chil-drento adultshavegrowngreatly since migration from thedesert

inguisticAffiliation All Mardugroups speak mutually

intelligible dialects of the Western Desert language, the

single-biggest languageinAustralia.There are currently eral thousandspeakersofthislanguage

sev-History and Cultural Relations

Shielded by their forbidding environment, the Marduwere

leftlargely undisturbeduntilrelatively recently.Theywere

at-tractedfrom thedeserttofringe settlements:mining camps,pastoral properties, small towns, and missions, initiallyforbriefperiods However, inducementsofferedby Whites whodesired their labor (and, inthe case of women, sexual ser-

vices), plusagrowingtastefor Europeanfoodstuffs and othercommodities, drew themincreasingly into the ambit of the

newcomers Inevitably, theyeventually abandoned their madic,hunter-gatherer adaptationfor asedentary lifecloseto

no-Whites.Migrationbeganaroundthe turn of the century andended as recently as the 1960s The Mardu remain todayamongthe moretradition-oriented Aborigines in Australia

Jigalong was founded as a maintenance camp on a

rabbit-controlfence,and itlater became a rationdepot forthe

indi-gent Aborigines who had begun congregating there in the

1930s It was aChristianmissionfor twenty-fouryears from

1946, but racerelations were often tense andthe Aborigines

resisted alleffortstoundermine their traditions Many riginal men and women worked onpastoralleases as laborersand domestics, but there was adramatic downturn inthisform ofemploymentfollowingthe advent, in the 1960s, oflaws requiring parity of wage levels betweenAboriginal andWhiteworkersin thepastoralindustry.Jigalongbecame ale-gally incorporated Aboriginal community in 1974, assisted byWhiteadvisersand fundedalmostentirely from governmen-talsources Government policy since the early 1970s has pro-motedself-reliance and the retention of adistinctiveidentity

Abo-and traditions.For theMardu,accessto alcohol and ingWesternization pressures have led toconsiderable social

increas-problems,whichremainunresolved Arecent movement to

establishpermanentoutstations on or neartraditional Mardulands ispartlyin response tothesepressures,particularlythedamagingeffects ofalcohol,but it alsorelates to the advent

oflarge-scale mining exploration in the desert The Mardustrongly oppose these activities, andsince the formation of a

regional landcouncil in the mid-1980s,amajor concern hasbeen toprotect their lands fromdesecration andalienation

Settlements

MostMardu live today atJigalongorin smaller outstations

onthe western side of the GibsonDesert, but afew (mostlythesteady drinkers) live in or on the fringes of towns in theregion Mobility remains high, especially betweenJigalong,whosepopulationisaround 300, and theoutstations,whichrange inpopulation from about 20 to 100 people.Jigalonghas

anairfield, graded dirt roadsconnectingitto the main wayto the west, telephone and radiocontact,television, andmany motorvehicles It has a large school, amedicalclinic, asewage system,electricity, watersupply,awell-stockedcom-

high-munity-owned store, and many European-style houses forWhite staff andAborigines However, many people still live

180 Mardudjara

in squalid and unhygienic conditions The outstations are

still beingdeveloped,butmosthavebasicnecessitiessuchas

watersupply and radio transceivers, and thelargeones each

have an airfield, a school, electricity generators, and

refrigeration

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities The total

au-tonomy of the traditional hunting andgathering economy

andthepartialself-sufficiencyofpastoralemploymenthave

beenreplaced bymassiveunemploymentandahighly

depen-dent, welfare-basedexistence.TheMardu regionis

ecologi-cally extremelymarginal,sotheprospects ofdeveloping

prof-itable local land-based industries areslim Jigalong runs a

cattle enterprise, and various othereconomic schemes have

beentried,withoutsuccess Allthesettlementsareheavily

re-liant on the importation offoodstuffs, despite the

continu-ance of hunting and gathering activities At Jigalong, the

largesettlementeconomyprovides salariedworkfor

Aborigi-nalofficeandstoreworkers,teacherand healthaides,

main-tenance workers, and pastoral employees Besides kinship,

gambling withcards is an important medium for the

redistri-bution of cash.TheAborigineshaveadoptedawide range of

material items fromthe Whites, butthey have strongly

re-sisted changesinbasic valuesrelatingtokinshipandreligion

Trade Formalized trading networks were absent in the

WesternDesert, but scarce andhighlyvalued items, such as

pearl shellsandredocher,diffusedwidely throughoutthe

re-gion as a result ofexchangesbetweenindividuals and groups,

mostlywithin the context of ceremonial activities.Group

ex-changescenteredonreligiouslore,bothmaterialand

nonma-terial,andthe exchange ofmundanematerialitems, such as

weapons ortools, wasclearlysubsidiarytoreligiousconcerns

Mostindividual transactionsweregiftexchanges conducted

withintheframeworkofkinship and affinalobligations.

Division of Labor The gender-based division between

women asgatherers (andhuntersof smallgame)and men as

hunters isstillseen,buttheseactivities are nolonger

funda-mental to subsistence Women are the maincooks,

house-keepers,and officeworkers,whereasmenprefertowork

out-doors Children stay atschoolintotheirmid-teens, sotheir

economic impact is slight, but girls tend still tomarry at a

younger age thanboysandto assumefullparentalresponsi

bilities earlier

LandTenure Traditionally, bands were the basic land,

occupying, economic unit,while largeterritoriallyanchored

entities, known as estate groups,were associated withland

Ownershipp" Althoughtheycontainedacoreofpatrilineally

relatedmales,these groups hadmultiplecriteriafor

member-ship, and it was possible for active adults to be involved

sig-nificantlyin more than one suchgroup.Sinceland was

inal-ienable, property rights were more often conceptualized in

termsofresponsibility for,rather than control over,sitesand

resources In both ethosandpractice, Mardu society strongly

favoredinclusivity and the maximizingofrights and

obliga-tions.Today, theJigalongarea is anofficiallyrecognized

Abo-riginal Reserve, but theMarduhave yettoobtain firmtenure

to the traditionalhomelands AnAboriginalLandbill,

intro-duced in the State Parliament in 1985,failedtobecomelaw

Along-termlease scheme has since beenestablishedbut the

Mardu are pessimistic that governmentswill recognize theirclaims to traditionalland, as mininginterests continue totake precedenceoverAboriginalconcerns

Kinship

KinGroups andDescent Althoughdispersaland tional localorganization have given way to aggregation in sed-entarycommunities,kinshipremains afundamental buildingblock of Mardusociety, and everyone relates to everyone else

tradi-primarily in terms ofclassificatory kinship norms Kinship

andreligious tieslinkAboriginesrightacross the vast

West-emDesert The Mardu are drawn from dialect-named torial divisions that uniteterritory,language, and kin groups

terr-These largerunits, sometimeswronglycalled"tribes," neverexisted as corporateentities,andthoughboundaries existed,they werehighlypermeable.The mostvisible groupwastheband, whose camping arrangements reflected the several fam-

ily groups that made up this flexible aggregation Withineverydialect-named area were a number ofbands and at leastone 'estate," the highly valued heartland that containedmajor sacred sitesandimportantwaterholes andconstitutedthe locus of theestate group The Mardu kinship system is bi-lateral, but traditionally there was aclearpatrivirilocal ten-dency in "residence" rules and practices, as well as a strongpreference for children to be born somewhere in or near theestate of their father Both the estate group and the bandtended to have a core of people relatedpatrilineally Therewere no lineages orclans,andgenealogicaldepth was limited(aided by taboos on namingthedead)

KinshipTerminology Terminology isbifurcate-mergingand occurs in association with a sectionsystem, with the divi.sion ofsociety into fournamedcategories.Many of theseven-

teen different terms of address used byeach sexare sharedbymale and female speakers Mardu also employ a large andcomplex set ofdual-referenceterms There is a generationalemphasis; thus, for example, all people in one's grandparentand grandchild generations are merged under two nearlyidentical terms, differingonly for the sex of the personad-

dressed Patterned sets of behaviors associated with each kinterm canbe seen asranging along a continuum fromjokingtoavoidance relationships

Marriage and Family

Marriage Classificatorybilateralcross-cousin marriage isthe prescribed form.Polygyny was a social ideal not always re-alized inthepast, andtodayit isstillpracticed but is not com-mon Infant betrothal was once the norm, all adults married,all widowsremarried, and divorce was rare Today, many wid-ows remain single, and young, unmarried mothers arecom-

mon Marriage rules are less oftenobeyed, buttheystill haveconsiderable forceand transgressors are physically punished.Traditionally, mencould not marry for at least a decade aftertheir first initiatory rites, which occurred around age 16-17,but today men in their early twenties are marrying, and farfewer betrothals result in marriage

Domestic Unit Traditionally, the commensal unit wasthe nuclear orpolygynous family andthisremains largely thecase Most people camp near close relatives and there is agreat deal ofvisiting and casual eating atthecamps or houses

of others Generosity and sharing remain prime values and

Mardudiara 181

mosthouseholdsprovidefood andshelter forashifting

num-ber and range of relatives

Inheritance Materialpossessionswereminimal,andwere

generally buried with a person upondeath; today, they are

burned or given away todistantrelatives,andhouses,orareas

surroundingthedeceased'scamp, arevacated for monthsor

years at a timefollowinga death

Socialiation Infants and children are raisedby parents,

siblings and other close coresident relatives; grandparents

typicallyplayanimportant roleassocializers Children tend

tobegreatlyindulged byadultsandcanalwaysgetmoney and

food fromawide range of relatives Freed from thenecessity

ofobservingkinshiprules, theyspend muchtime at playin

large groups Traditionally, they spent more time with

women, whomthey accompaniedonfood-gathering

expedi-tions.Today, mostattend school from the age of 5or6, but

thisrequirement isfrequentlybreached.Attheonsetof the

teenageyears, the fortunes ofboysandgirlsbegintodiverge

dramatically.Thetransitionofgirlsinto wivesand mothersis

unmarkedbyritual,whereasboysenteruponaprotractedand

rituallyhighlyelaborated process that transforms them into

adults Thisculturallyvery important transition takes about

15 years from the firstphysical operations,suchasnose

pierc-ing, to the final stagesprecedingfirstmarriage,which occurs

in the late twenties and marks the young man as socially

adult

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Orpnizatio. Families, bands, estategroups, and

'big meetings" (periodicaggregations ofpeoplefroma

num-ber ofneighboringdialect-named territories,who metto

con-duct ritual and otherbusiness)werethe majorelementsof

so-cial organization traditionally These were crosscut by a

multiplicity of memberships (totemic, kin-based,

ritual-grade, etc.), includingmoieties and sections,whichwelded

desertsocietytogether.Today,thefamilies and the 'big

meet-ings"remainimportantinstitutions,buttheyexistparallelto

introduced forms such as committees and councils

Political Organiztion. In former times, political action

was the domain of small groups, and sex and age were the

main criteria for differentiation Although the status of

women was lowerthanthatof men, an egalitarian ethos

pre-vailed, andleadershipwasvery muchcontext-dependentand

changeable Most of the time, the norms ofkinship provided

anadequateframeworkfor social action and theallocationof

roles The social and political autonomy of the traditional

band and estate group has been replaced byencapsulation

andminoritystatus within the nation-state and the

introduc-tion ofWestern-styleinstitutions such aselectionsand

coun-cils Highmobilityandinvolvement in regional landcouncils

reflect acontinuinginterest in the wider WesternDesert

soci-etyas"allone people," and the Mardu spend much time and

effortmaintainingthese contacts.Politically, they remain

de-pendent ongovernmentsfor survival andon White advisers

for assistance indealingwith thebureaucraciesofAustralian

society In the past few years, however, there has been a

markedincreaseinMardu politicalawarenessandconfidence

indealingwith outsiders

Social Control. Traditional socialcontrols relied heavily

on ahigh levelofself-regulation, but physical sanctions were

invoked on occasion Western influences have seriouslyderminedthese controlsinthecontactsituation Forexam-ple, spearing andother forms of physical punishment haveoccasionedpolice interventions and arrests of"lawful" pun-

un-ishers;unprecedented numbers of children have led tolemsofvandalism; thereis anincreasing incidence ofmar-

prob-riagebetweenimproperlyrelated partners; and youngwomen

have successfully resisted attempts to marry them off totheir

betrothed partners Alcohol has contributed greatly to a

loos-ening of traditional social controls, and uncontrolled lence (aswell asdrunkendriving) has ledto manydeaths.Conflict Conflict wasclosely controlledtraditionally,andthe ritualizedsettlementofdisputeswas avitalpreliminaryto

vio-every "big meeting." Today, adding toless easily controlled

intracommunity conflicts are political struggles, mostly withmining companies but also with a neighboring Aboriginalgroup that has long sought, unsuccessfully, to bring theMarduunder itscontrol

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs Religion, like kinship, is pervasive in

Aboriginal society Founded on the notion of acreative era,

nowcommonlyknown as "the Dreaming," when everythingcame intobeing and the rules for life were instituted by ances-tralbeings, religion isembodiedin thelandscape, myths,ritu-als, song lines, and sacredparaphernalia.Life was profoundlyunder spiritual authority, but prayers and worship had noplace.Mencontrolled the most powerful, inner secrets, andritualperformancewasbelievedtoensurethecontinuance ofsociety, under the watchful eyes of all-powerful, but with-

drawn, spiritualbeings Their continued release of life forceinto the physical world was held to be dependent on theproperobservance of "the Law" (their legacy to theliving, inthe form of a blueprint for the proper conduct of social life)and the correct performance ofritual Totemism providedeachindividual with direct and unique links into the realm oftheDreamingand wereimportant in theformationand main-

tenance ofidentity Despite intensive contact with Whitesand a diminution in thefrequencyofritual activities, beliefs

intherealityof thetraditionalreligion remain strong amongMardu, andall young mencontinuetobeinitiated intoits se-crets Beliefs in a range ofbenevolent andmalevolentspiritsremainstrong, andMardu retainstrongfears of travel to dis-tantareaswhose spirits do notknow them andthereforearelikely to be dangerous A small minority of Mardu professChristianbeliefs, but none to the exclusion of the traditional

religion.

ReligiousPractitioners Virtuallyall Marduparticipateinaspects of the religious life, andwhile different ritual com-plexesinvolvedifferent roles or grades, there are nospecialistpractitioners

Ceremonies Thetraditionallyrichceremoniallife, much

of which included allcommunitymembers,now has to pete with many otherdistractions Itis now more seasonal,

com-and most"bigmeetings"areheld in the very hotsummeriod Some kindsofceremony are no longer performed, butthose surrounding male initiation remain as significant asever,andgenerally involve several hundredAboriginesfromwidelyseparatedcommunities.Ceremonial activitiesare still

per-182 Mardudjara

generally accordedpriority oversociopolitical dealingswith

thewidersociety

ArI Most artistic endeavor was confined to religious

contexts and entailed the manufacture of sacred objects,

body decorations, and ground paintings The making of

weapons and other artifacts for sale to Whites has been

aninformal andminorpart of thelocal economy for several

decades

Medicine About 10 percent of Mardu males are

magi-cian-curers (mabarn),part-timespecialistswhoemploy

magi-calmeans to cure(and,allegedly,toharm) people.Arange of

'bushmedicines"isalso knownandemployed bytheMardu,

who also have frequent resort to Western medicines and

treatment Belief in the powers andefficacyof mabarn and

magicremains unshaken

Death andAfterlife Theceremoniessurrounding death

were nothighlyelaboratedamongthe Mardu Theirobjective

was toensurethe passage of the newlyreleased spirit of the

deceased backtotheplacefromwhenceithademerged,as a

spiritchild, to enterthebodyofitsmother Loud mourning,

self-injury, and ceremonial exchanges continue to mark

death, but there is now only a singleburial, since inquests

usingdug-upbones,priortoreburial,are nolongerheld.Ma,

barn attend theburialtospeak to the spirit and urgeit to

leave peacefully and to not harass the living; Christian

prayersarealsoofferedin somecases.TheMarduhaveno

be-liefs in reincarnation

See alsoAranda, Ngatatjara, Pintupi, Warlpiri

Bibliography

Tonkinson,R.(1974).TheJigalongMob:AboriginalVictorsof

the Desert Crusade MenloPark,Calif.:BenjaminCummings

Tonkinson,R (1978).TheMardudjara Aborigines:Livingthe

Dream in Australia's Desert New York: Holt, Rinehart &

Winston

Tonkinson,R (1987)."Mardujarra Religion:AProfile of the

ReligiousSystemoftheMardujarraAborigines."InThe

Ency-clopediaofReligion,editedbyM.Eliade,196-20 1 NewYork:

Macmillan, Free Press

Tonkinson, R (1988) 'Mardujarra Kinship." InAustralians

to1788 Vol 1, Australians:aHistoricalLibrary, editedbyD

J. Mulvaney and J P White, 196-219 Sydney: Fairfax,

Weldon & Syme

Tonkinson,R (1988) "One Community,Two Laws:Aspects

of Conflict and Convergence in a Western Australian

Aboriginal Community." In Indigenous Law and the State,

editedbyB MorseandG.Woodman, 395-411 Dordrecht:

Foris

ROBERT TONKINSON

Marind-animETHNONYMS:Kaja-kaja, Tugeri

Orientation

Identification Marind(anim means"people")isthename

by which some forty territorial groups (subtribes) in New

Guinea identify themselves vis-i-vis foreigners The tionalculture, especially the religious system, has been dra-

tradi-maticallychanged throughWestern contact, although manyWesternmaterial goodsareavoided and theMarind prefertoassociatewithoneanother Thedescription which followsfo-

cusesonthe traditional culture

Location Marind occupy thesoutheastern coastal area ofIrianJaya(thewesternhalf ofNewGuinea) from thesouth-

ern entranceofthe Muli Straitsoutheastwardtoabout 30 lometers beyond Merauke, with, at some distance from theinternationalborder, the enclave ofKondo Farther inland,

ki-theyoccupythe upperBulaka Riverregionand all thelandeastof it to the Eli and Bian rivers, an areausually called theOkaba Hinterland Marind territory also includes the Bianand Kumbe river valleys and part of thelower Maro with alltheland between The land islowland, mainly savannaalter-nating with swamps;inthe upper river areas, it is mostlylowhills and swamps Resources include coconuts on sandy

ground, sagointhe swamps,eucalyptus trees on the savanna,wallabies in the grasslands, and fish in the rivers and sea The

monsoon climate providesheavy rains during the northwest

monsoon (end of December until April) and relative coolwhen the trade winds pass through from June to early Octo-ber The transitionperiods are hot and sticky

Demography In 1902 whenthe area was brought undercontrol, the Marind numbered some 8,000 on the coast and

upto6,000inland By 1950 thepopulation had decreased by

more than 50 percent due largely to imported diseases Anadditional factor was the pacification itself, which ended thekidnapping of children from other groups who were the tar-gets ofMarindhead-hunting raids As the Marind were de-creasinginnumberslong beforepacification,theadoptionofthese stolenchildren was animportant source of new tribalmembers

Linguistic Affiliation Marind is one of the three guages that together constitute the Marind Family of theTrans-New Guinea Phylum of Papuan languages Marindhaseasternandwesterndialects along the coast and atleastthree inland The upper Bian people speak a special dialectthat is classified as a separate language, closely related to

lan-Marind

History and Cultural RelationsThe Marind presumably entered their present habitat fromthenorth In theMiddle Fly region live the Boazi, their clos-estlinguistic and culturalrelatives TheBoazi are also organ-ized into subtribes, with one key difference: the Boazi sub-tribes fought one another, while the Marind head-huntingraids were directed at far-off groups, usually sparing non-

Marind-anim 183

Marind neighbors Consequently, theMarind livedinpeace

practically everywhere, although non-head-huntingconflicts

didoccur among Marindgroups

Settlements

Inthe interior, the scattered location ofsago grovesleadsto

dispersed subtribe settlements, rarely numbering more than

50or60 inhabitants Thecoastoffersmorefavorable

condi-tions, withcoconutpalmsonsandy ridgesandswampyareas

at the back of the ridge suitable forsagocultivation Here,

settlements take the form ofvillageswithup to 200

inhabi-tants,withsubclans from each of the fourphratriespresent in

each In the settlements, members of different subclans

oc-cupy different wards, each ward having a number ofmen's

houses with one or two women's houses nearby. A men's

houseusuallyholdssixor seven menof thesamelineageand

anoccasional relative.Attheback of the settlementare

day-time shelters for boys and adolescent males All houses are

huts,setup inone or twoirregularrows.When thereare two

rows, they are set in parallellineswith anopen space down

thecenter.

Economy

Subsistenceand Commercial Activities Sagoisthe

sta-ple food, supplemented bycoconuts,bananas,andthe

prod-ucts ofhunting and fishing. On festive occasions, there is

porkfrom domesticatedpigs,andtaroandyams grownin

ele-vated garden beds erected for that purpose (coastally), or

grown inforestclearings (inland).Suchgardensarealsoused

forbananas andkava,the latterbeing (alongwith beteland,

recently, tobacco) a favored stimulant

IndustrialArts The traditional Marindwere aStoneAge

culture, with aself-subsistent economyexceptforstone

im-plementssuchas axeblades and clubheads,whichwere

im-ported from the mountains

Trade Information abouttraditional trade islacking. As

shellsareused forjewelryinmountainsocieties,it seems

rea-sonabletoinfer that shellsweretraded north and stone

im-plements

south.-Division ofLabor Most of the daily work is allotted to

women: household chores, planting, weeding, harvesting,

makingsago,andcollectingsmall fish and shellfish Themen

hunt, do some fishing, build garden beds, and make forest

clearings Theyalsobuildcanoes, constructfences,andframe

the huts, although theirmaintasks are ritual andwarfare

LandTenure The subtribe'sterritoryandfishing grounds

are divided between the mainclans Gardens and planted

trees belong toindividuals and are inheritedpatrilineally.

Kinship

Kin Groups andDescent Descentis strictly patrilineal.

Subtribeendogamy prevails, thoughintergroup marriagesdo

occur,sometimesevenbetweenlocallydistantgroups.Asan

expanding culture with much intercommunity traffic, the

local clans andsubclans-eachwithits own totems and

to-temic relations-have been arranged as parts of nine, or

sometimesten,superclans,whosenames areused foridentifi-

cationandallegiance duringintercommunity travel.Analysis

ofthemarriage relationsamongtheseclanssuggeststhatthey

arefurtherarrangedintofourexogamousphratries,withonly

one having a name. The four phratries are represented inevery subtribe andeverywhere they are aligned inpairsinto

two moieties, 'Geb-z7" and'Sami-rek.'These moietiesplay

an important role in Marind rituals In one or two places alongthecoastandin anumber ofinland subtribes (onthe

upperBian withoutexception)themoietiesareexogamous.Kinship Terminology. Kinterms are ofthe Dakotatype

withampleopportunitytoemphasizeagedifferences betweenmembers ofone generation

Marriage and Family Marriage. Sister exchange is the preferred form of mar-riage, with first-cousin marriage prohibited. In many inand

communities, the partnersmustbe brother and sister, arulewhich often requiresthe parentstoadoptan exchange part-

ner. Elsewhere, classificatory 'siblingship" suffices andeven

thatisnot afirmrule,asthepreferencesof the futurespouses

are given a certain degree of consideration First-marriagepartnersareusuallyagemates.Polygynyisrare.Traditionally,

mostmarriageswerelong-lastinig,whichissurprising, givena

number of Marindcustomsthatmighthave undermined the

stability ofmarriage These customs include wives'

involve-ment in ritualized group sex and husbands' involvement in

homosexual relations with their sisters' adolescent sons.

Domestic Unit Segregationofthesexesis strictandmen

may not stay for long in their wives' houses However, thewomen'shouses standsoclosetothe men's house thatevery

wordcan be overheardonboth sides

Inheritance Land, gardens, trees, and male ornamentsandutensilsareinheritedpatrilineally;femaleornamentsand

goods are inherited matrilineally.

Socializationi. Girlsgrow upby themselves,whileboysare

thought toneedextra care.Atayoung age, boysgotosleep

withtheir fathersinthe men'shouse.Aspuberty approaches,

theyare nolongerallowedtobeinthevillageor onthe beach

duringtheday Theyareentrustedto a mentor (themother's

brother) andsleepwith himinhis men's house.Forthreetofouryears,seclusionis severeuntil theboypassesto ahigheragegradethat allows formorefun Thepassage isafamilyaf-

fair, markedby giftgivingbetween theboy'sparentsandhismentor.Giftexchangealsooccurswhenatage18or morethe

boyreturns tohisfather's men's housetobemarriedsoonterward.Women,whodomostofthedailyworkandprovide

af-more of the daily food, have no say in matters of ritual, though theycooperate in minorrites.Girlsare initiatedinto

theMayo fertilitycultatthesameageastheboys.Womenare

sometimes allowedtohave ceremonial dances of theirown,modeledonthemagnificentonesperformed bythemen,and

girlsgothrough agegrades likethe boys, althoughthegirls'

age grades lack social significance.

Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganization. As mentionedabove underkinship,

Marind social organization is based on the ties formedthroughthestructureofsubclans,clans,phratries,andmoie- ties spread across the variousinland and coastal communi- ties. These ties are reinforced through the religious beliefsand cult activities discussed below

184 Marind-anim

PoliticalOrganization. Despite the absence of any form

ofall-encompassingpoliticalorganization, therewas asense

of'belonging together." This sense foundexpressioninthe

placement of localclannamesunder the labels of thenineor

tensuperclans,whichwerefound allacrossMarind-anim

ter-ritory A moreimportantsourceofsolidaritywasfoundinthe

great cults The'Imo,"followedbyanumberof inland

sub-tribes and a fewcommunities on thecoast,acknowledged a

centralleadershipthatwassettledonthecoast.The'Mayo,"

the biggestand most impressiveofall,lackedsuchleadership.

Itoriginated in the far-eastern coastal region andspreadall

alongthe coastwhere the initiation rites wereperformed by

every subtribe for itself once every four yearsduringaperiod

lastingfromsix to ninemonths In thefirstyear ofthe

four-yearcycletheMayo wascelebratedbythe subtribes in the

far-western communities,thesecond year in themidwestern, the

third year in the mideastern, and the fourth year in the

far-eastern

Social ControL Social control is largelyinformal Apart

fromthe leaderof the Imocult,the Marind have no other

of-ficial authorities, save for the leading men of the men's

houseswhose influence is restricted and in practice is

depen-dent on their age andpersonality A more effective means of

guaranteeing modest behavior is the fear ofsorcery, which

canbe committed by or on behalf of anyone who bears a

grudge

Conflict Disagreements over issues such as women or the

use ofgarden land will usually be resolved ifthedisputants

are members of the same community Ifleft unresolved, a

grudge may be held until an accidental deathleadsto a

suspi-cionof sorcery, abeliefthat isalternatelythe causeandthe

consequence of the prevailing mistrust between members of

different subtribes Accusations of sorcery often lead to

seri-ousbrawlsinvolvingbloodshed, althoughheadsare not taken

and peace will eventually be restored through pressure

ex-erted by other community members

Religion and Expressive Culture

RelWous Beliefs and Practitioners Today, the Marind

are largely Christians: some are Protestants, but the majority

areCatholics Whilethebeliefs andpractices have changed

accordingly, the past is still remembered and scenes borrowed

from traditional rites are sometimes reenacted at festive

occa-sions Intraditional Marind-anim culture,everyclan and

sub-clanstoodin aspecific relationto several oftheinnumerable

phenomena in nature and social life that are relevant to

human existence Theclansbeing organized into theGeb-z7

and Sami-rekmoieties, these totemic relations were ordered

in a system of dual oppositions, with each moiety leading in

some areas andfollowing inothers The Geb-zimoiety was

associated with male sex, homosexuality, the sun and moon,

going east with the southeast monsoon, thedaytime,life, dry

land and the beach, the coconut, the stork, and the

casso-wary; its membersledthegreat cults The Sami-rek was

asso-ciatedwith the female sex,heterosexuality, theunderworld,

going west with the northwest monsoon, night, death, the

sea, the swamp and inland region, thesago palm, thedog,

crocodile,and pig; its members led thehead-hunting

expedi-tions and the great feasts that followed them Allphratries

sustain dialectical connections with the opposite moiety,

connections whicharefoundedinmyth.Thusthe dualism ofthewhole repeats itself in parts, creating adialecticalsystem

ofopposites that hasalogicof itsown.Thedramatis

perso-nae in mythare thedema, theancestorsof the clans.They

play a dominant roleinthe ceremonies of thegreat cults andtheir names areinvokedin magic, the minor rites accompany-ing everyday activities and needs Such invocation is particu-

larlyeffective ifpronouncedbyamember of the clan ingfromthat dema The beliefinvolves theclose cooperationbetween thesubtribesconstituting a settlement

originat-Ceremonies The major ceremonies associated with thebig cults are alsoinitiation ceremonies associated with rebirthand the promotionoflife To that endthemythicalhistory isstaged and itsmain featuressymbolicallyrepresented Ofpar-

ticular importance is the origin mythwith the two centralthemes ofantagonism between the sexes and life originatingfromdeath.Themyth overtlyrecognizes the male as superior,whilesymbolically confirming the real superiority of the fe-

male, who produces life by giving birth to the (sun) bird Thelife from deaththeme is symbolized by the coconut (symbo-lizing the human head) that sprouts when buried and is con-firmed by thehead-hunting that followed the initiation rites.The MayoMarind rites also emphasize the female, while theImorites emphasize aslightly differenttheme, particularly theassociation of the female gender with death and decay, andcelebrate maletriumphsin warfare Information on the cults

of the Kondo and Upper Bian groups is incomplete.Arts The Marind are masters at body decoration Their

dancesand ceremonies are afeastfor the eye The decoration

of objects is of minor importance, with the exception ofcarvedceremonial spears and some images used in Mayo ini-tiation rites Singing, accompanied by drumming, for bothceremonial purposes andpleasure is important

Medicine Illness is cured by shamans whose cures are

re-stricted to theextraction of foreign objects supposedly placed

in the victim's body by hostile sorcerers The shamans areoftenwell-versed in mythology and some play a major role inrites

DeathandAfterlife Death and the dead are of little portance, except among the Upper Bian where they are iden-tified with thedema.The dead are believed to travelunder-

im-ground to the far east,where,likethe sun, they will emerge to

go to the farwest, where, passing the spot where the sun sets,they will go on to the land of the dead which is just beyond.They will returnto sit aside at big feasts, but they have no role

Culture."InRitualized Homosexuality in Melanesia, edited by

G H Herdt Berkeley: University of California Press.Drabbe, P (1955) Spraakkunst van het Marind Studia

Institute Anthropos II Vienna and Modling: AnthroposInstitut

Mating 185

Geurtjens, H (1933) Marindineesch-Nederlansch Woorden- Australiansintheregionwasthe arrival ofcargocults,which

boek.VerhandelingenBataviaaschGenootschap71.Bandoeng, wereintroducedby peoplesfrom the north ofMatingterritory

Marings' early participation in cargo-cult activities, suchWin, Paul (1922-1925) DieMannd-animvonHoflindisch- practicesquickly fellinto disuse As partof the AustralianSiid-Neu-Guinea.Hamburgische Universitit, Abhandlungen government's efforts to bring the Maring into its orbit, a

aus dem Gebiet derAuslandskunde, Band10 and 16 Ham- headman (luluai) and assistant headman (tidtul) were

ap-burg: Friederichsen pointed,but thesepositions had littletodo with localaffairs,

J VAN BAAIL serving only as points of contact for dealings with the

Identification The Maringare alinguisticallyand

cultur-allydistinctpeople of theinteriorhighlandsofNewGuinea,

made up of twenty-one named clan clusters divided,

geo-graphically,into two groups: one occupyingthemountainsof

the SimbaiValley of Madang Province; theotherlocatedin

theJimiValleyof the Western Highlands Province Despite

thisgeographicseparation,thelinguistic,social,andcultural

evidence links bothMaring populations mostclosely tothe

peoples of thewesternhighlands

Location Making territory, extending about 350

kilome-ters, islocatedatapproximately 50 S and 145" E,inthe

Bis-marck mountain range. The land is heavilyforested and of

high relief The year is splitinto relativelywetter anddrier

seasons,but the differenceinrainfallbetween thesetwo

peri-odsis notparticularlygreat.Rainfallisusuallyatnight

Tem-perature variations areslightthroughouttheyear,with

aver-age daily temperatures fluctuating between lows in the60s

andhighsinthe 70s

Demography Population estimates forthe Maringwere

in excessof7,000in1988.Individual clan-clusterterritories

support populationsranging from 150to900 people

Linguistic Affiliation The language of the Maring

be-longs totheJimiSubfamilyof the CentralFamily of the East

NewGuinea Highland Stock

History and Cultural Relations

Linguistic andother evidencesuggeststhat the Maringcame

intotheirpresent territoryfromsomeundeterminedregion to

thesouth.Traditional traderelations have long existed

be-tweenthe Maring and otherpeoples of theregion. Contact

withEuropeanscamelateto Maringterritory;the first

Aus-tralianpatroldidnot arrive intheregionuntil1954,and

gov-ernmental control of the area was not fully effected until

1962 However,the indirect effects ofanAustralianpresence

were feltasearlyasthe 1940s, assteeltools entered the

re-gional trade network and European diseases (dysenteryand

measles) strucktheregion.Alsopredatingtheactualentryof

TheMaringsettlement pattern has beendescribedas

'pulsat-ing," with housedustersandhomesteadsscattered out aclan cluster's territorymostofthetimebutundergoingasort of nucleation at certain times in the ritualcycle,when

through-nearlyeveryoneinaclan clusterishoused near the clan ter's central dance ground Populations tend to disperseas

clus-pigherdsincrease,thentemporarily come together arounda

danceground when ritual cooperation throughout theclan

duster is necessary This gathering together rarely lasts for

morethanayearbeforetheprocessof territorialdispersal gins again During the "nucleated" settlement period, one

be-finds residential compounds, consisting ofmatrilaterally lated kin, clusteredaround the traditional dance ground oftheclancluster,withindividualgardensontheadjacentland

re-Asingle compoundwillconsistof a men'shouse,inwhichtwo toeleven men and postinitiation boys sleep and eat; andindividual women's houses, located downhill from the men'shouse,inwhichlivewomen,their young children and unmar-rieddaughters, and,attimes, otherfemale kin in temporaryneed Pigsarekeptinindividual stalls in the women'shouses,

each stallhavingits ownentrancefrom theoutside.All ings are made of wood frames, thatched with pandanusleaves, andsometimesbuiltonstilts."Modemr homesteads

build-no longerconstructaseparate men's house, but within thesingle dwelling shared by men and women theseparation ofmale andfemaleisstillmaintained Near the dance ground amagic house," where men of the clan cluster congregate,serves as an importantpublicforum

Economy

Subtence andCommercial Activities Makingence isbased uponslash-and-bum gardening,pighusbandry,andsomehuntingand gathering in the rain forest, as well asfishing-primarly for eels-in therivers of theterritory.Gar-dens areplanted withtaro, sweetpotatoes,manioc, and ba-nanas.Also grown are sugarcane,pandanus, and a variety ofgreens Maize has been introduced to the region Pig hus-bandry is of greatimportance,butMaringdonotbreed pigs

subsist-domestically Rather, all male pigs are castrated young inorder to ensure thattheywill attain large size Female pigsmay breed withferal boars, but this is prevented whenever

possible, again with aneye to assuring greater growth stead,pigherds are increasedprimarilythroughtrade.Hunt-ing and gathering also contribute to the subsistence econ-omy,butto amarkedly lesser extent Nonetheless, hunting isconsidered tobe a highly prestigious maleactivity.Eeing isimportant, as eels are asignificant ritual food In the past,Maringmanufactured salt for trade

In-186 Maring

Industrial Arts Maring use simple technology: digging

sticks, axes, andbush knives are the only gardeningtools;

bowsand arrows andsnares,aswellaspits anddeadfalls,are

used inhunting; andspears,axes, and wooden shields

com-plementthe bows and arrows asweapons ofwar.Otheritems

of local manufacture include netbags, aprons, loincloths,

caps,waistbands,andarmbands.Makingtrade forsteeltools,

as theydid for their earlierstone versions Containers are

made of hollowedgourdsand bamboo tubes

Trade Much, if notmost, circulation ofgoodsiscarried

outthroughparticipation inrelationshipsofexchangewithin

the clan cluster, or between two clan clusters However,

Making traditionally traded salt outside ofMaring territory

withpeoples to their south inorderto acquire stonetools,

pigs,feathers,shells,andsomefurs.Mostexchange relations,

however,arebetweenaman and his wife's agnates, his sisters'

husbands' kin,hismother's agnatickin,and the agnatic kin

of hisdaughters'husbands.In recentyears,interclan markets

have been introduced The items sold atthese marketsare

principallyfoodstuffs, both rawandcooked,and while these

markets arepatternedafter'modem" ones,theyinfact

sim-plyprovide a newforum foressentiallybalancedexchanges

between individuals

Division of Labor Maring men fell trees, buildhousesand

fences,hunt,and fish foreels.Womendo thebulk ofthe

gar-deningwork,weeding, harvesting, and theburningoff ofused

plots toclear them of refuse Women and young children also

handletheresponsibilities ofpigrearing,butmenbutcherthe

meat Gardening isdone inmale-female pairs consisting of

husbandandwife,brotherand sister, ordaughterand

wid-owed father An individual will participate in several such

pairssimultaneously Child care is a woman's task

LandTenure Allgardeninglandsareheld in thename of

theclan clusterandsubdan, and individualsostensibly have

access tothat landonlythroughmembership therein

How-ever, anonmemberof aclan clustermay be granted access to

land on thebasis of recent or historic marriage relations

be-tween thetwoclandusters

Kinship

KinGroups andDescent EachMaring clan is held to be

derivedfrom thedescendantsof agroup of fatherless

broth-ers.Each of these founding brothers stands as the founder of

asubclan,and an individual's membership in thesubclanis

based on claiming patrilineal descent to one or another of

these brothers

Kinship Terminology Maring kin terms are

Iroquois-type for one's own generation andbifurcate-mergingonthe

level of the firstascendinggeneration On all other

genera-tionallevels, both ascending and descending, the

terminol-ogy isgenerational

Marriage and Family

Marriage Marriageabilityis determinedaccording to both

matrilateral and patrilateralrelationships: one cannot marrya

womanfromone's mother's clan noronefrom one'sown

sub-clanunit, but marriage betweensubclansofa singleclanis

permissible.Marriage withalocalwoman ispreferred,for the

husband acquires land rights from his wife's kin Rightsin

women are heldbytheclan, through theperson of the an'seldestbrother Thisbrother, who receives the greatest

wom-shareof thebride-wealth, chooses an appropriate husband,

andit is notunusual for a certainhighdegree of tension toexistbetween aman and his sister should his choice not meetwith herapproval Sister exchangeisthe ideal, and it requiresthe lowest bride-wealth A womanmay, and often does,pickher ownhusband, but such alliances must be regularized bythepayment ofbride-wealth to her kin Should this paymentnot bequicklyforthcoming, Matingtraditionally resolved thesituationby going to war against the husband and his kin.Todaysuchproblems arebrought to court, but this solution israrely satisfactory as the courts,reflecting a Western tendency

to prefer the rights of the individualover those of the group,tend tofind againstthe errant sister's kin Making marriage it-

selfisnotrituallymarked, beyondaninitial token payment ofbride-wealth and the fact that the woman takes up residence

in her new husband's mother'shouse Eventually herband will build her a house of her own, usually around thetimeof the birth of their firstchild,and it is alsoat this timethat thehusband generally fulfills the remainder of his bride-wealthcommitment.Untilthe birth of children and this pay-ment ofmajor bride-wealth, divorce is simple and rather com-mon Marriage is usuallymonogamous, though polygyny isconsidered ideal However, bride-price considerations make itdifficult for mento affordacquiring more thanone wife.Domestic Unit The basic domestic unit consists of aman, his wife, and their children This arrangement is not,however, a residential group, as men live in their separatehouses (or separate parts of the 'modem" dwelling struc-tures), andawoman's house may shelter some of herfemalekin attimes.The core unit within thefamily is the gardeningpair, but agardening pair may also becomposedof a man andone ofhis own femalekin, as noted earlier

hus-Inheritace Meninherit rights in land patrilineally, while

individual, movablepropertyispassedon atthe discretionoftheowner or the owner's survivors

Socialization Young children are kept with their mothers,and astheybecome old enough tohelp out theyparticipate ingathering activities with her A daughter remains with hermotheruntil marriage; she learns the necessary skills and ap-propriate behaviors ofawomanthrough instruction and ob-servation Boys around the age of 8 undergo initiation andthenmove into the men's house of their fathers It is largelythroughobservation of and association with the adult males

ofhispatriline that a boy acquires adult knowledge

Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganization. Each Maring clan cluster maintains

a single territory, and its members cooperate economically,ritually,and in war Within that territory, however, the day-to-day gardening activities and responsibilities ofprovidingforthe subsistenceofindividuals are carried out by smallergroups: the gardening pairs (husband and wife; brother and

sister, daughter and father); brothers; and men related

through marriage

PoliticalOrganization. The largest Maring political unit

is theclan cluster There is no chiefly office, either hereditary

orelected, nor are there any other formally recognized offices.Eventhe concept of big-men is somewhat inappropriate An

Making 187

individual may gain the support or assistance of others for a

particular enterprise through his own powersof persuasion,

but any andallMaring men may,if they choose, participate

equally indecisionmaking.Attributeswhich contribute to a

man's leadership potential are the ability and willingness to

express an opinion on issues; a strong, outgoing personality;

physicalstrength; and a reputationforintelligentor

success-ful leadership in previous situations Allthisbeingsaid, the

arena within which leadership may be exercised is quite

lim-ited It rarely extends beyond the level of thesubclan and is

most strongly felt among the individual's coresidents in the

men's house Generally, the leader is merely the first to act

upon whatever group activity the consensus of the group

ap-pears to support Thegovernment-appointedluluaiandtultul

are offices of no local relevance, and the appointees enjoy no

special influence in the community

Socl ControL Social control is largely effected through

beliefs in and observances of taboos, aswell asthrough the

operation of community pressures brought to bear upon the

nonconforming individual Government courts exist, and

cases are sometimes brought tothem, but this practice is not

common given the personal and economic costs of bringing a

suit and the lack of fit between court conceptions ofjustice

and those of the Mating Serious offenses- such as wife

stealing, rape, pig killing, crop stealing, and

sorcery-traditionally called for blood vengeance to be sought by the

principal offended party, which inthe caseof wife stealing or

rapewould bethe brother orhusband of the womaninvolved

Conflict. Fighting among the Maring rarely escalates to

warfare within a localpopulation-there are simply too many

ties of interdependency for the community to allow hostilities

to continue, even if theprincipals are of different clans If

such disputes cannot be resolved peacefully, the local group

may split and take uprelationsof enmity, but this occurrence

is relatively rare.Warfare,properly called, occurs between two

separate local populations and wastraditionally precipitated

by serious offenses such as wife stealing With their inception

in an interpersonal dispute, hostilities call into play sets of

al-lies recruited from the cognatic and affinal relations of the

principal combatants Fightingis highly ritualized and carried

out in stages; the first stage requires that the offended party

summon the offenders to a designated place in the forest,

which will becleared expressly for the purpose ofbattle

Sha-mans (kun kazeyu) perform rituals and summon spirits

be-fore thebattle,and"fight-magic men" perform spells over the

weapons and thewarriors The fighting itself isstrictly

regu-lated, with the adversarial groups lined up opposite one

an-other on the fight grounds and shooting arrows at one

an-other Wounds are minimal and deaths are rare After this

"small" fight, ifthe dispute has not been resolved, ritual

prep-arationsforthesecond stage of hostilities (urakunuai, 'true

fight") are begun This second stage of fighting is done with

axes, jabbing spears, and bows and arrows At this level of

fighting, fatalities are less rare than in the 'nothing fight,"

and the combat may go on sporadically over a period of

weeks, ending only when one side oranothercan no longer

hold the support of its allies During the course of the war,

fighting would be interrupted because of rain or to permit the

kin of a slain warrior to mournthe deceased Warsended in

one of two ways Inthe first case, one side might successfully

rout the opposing force, after which they would bum their

victims' gardens and houses and kill all thepeopletheycould

findintheenemy'sterritory.The territoryitself,however,wasnotoccupiedby the victors, for it wasbelievedstill to harborthe ancestral spirits of the previous owners Inthe secondcase, one side might call a truce, which would be rituallymarkedbyapigfeast and theplantingof aritually important

bush called therumbim

Religion and Expressive Culture ReligiousBelief Central toMaringbeliefs istheworship

of ancestors Making origin myths refer to agroupofbrotherstravelingfromthe southwest to what is nowMating territory

andfinding a group of sisters, whomtheymarried.These riages gaverise tothe currentMaring clans Thesefounding

mar-brothers and the spirits of all other ancestorsconstitute theprincipalsupernaturalforcesrecognizedbythe Maring With-

outthe assistanceof ancestral spirits there can be no success

ingardening, hunting,pigrearing,orwarfare.Aseparate class

of ancestral spirits, the rawamugi,live in aspecial part ofthe

territory and are the spirits ofwarriorskilledinbattle.Otherspirits, not ancestral or even ofhuman origin, inhabit theMaringlands, and, along with the rawamugi, are associated

with natural resources orphysical attributes ofthe region.Onespecial spirit(or group ofspirits)isthe "smokewoman,"throughwhomshamans communicate with the spirit world

Religow Practitioners Shamans and fight-magic menarealways male, and it is their ritual knowledge, alongwiththe shamans' access tothespirit world through thesmoke-woman spirits, that makes them indispensable in prepara-tionsfor war TheMaringalsobelieveintheexistenceof sor-cerers, who are capable ofcausing death or illness through

magical means and who are identified as men whopossessgreat wealth but are not appropriately generous toothers

Ceremonies The most well-known ofMaringceremonies

isthekaiko,which is in fact aseriesofritualevents, extended

over the course of a year or more, that traditionally

termi-natedwiththe start of a war Thekaikohas twoperiods.Thefirst ismarked by theplantingofstakes aroundtheborderof a

settlement's land,aprocedure that ofteninvolvesthe

annex-ation ofabandonedland notpreviously claimedby thelocal

group.Thisfirst periodis a timewhen garden produceis

accu-mulated and workis done to prepare the dance ground Atthe start of the second stage, ashaman contacts the smoke

woman togaintheapprovalof thespirit worldfor the

upcom-ingcelebrations Arituallyplantedrumbim shrubisuprooted

and deposited on the border of the local group's territoryalong with other ritual objects, and theresidential area anddance ground are ritually deansed Throughout the kaiko

year, thehostgroup sponsors dances towhich othergroups,

linked bykinortrade relationsto the hostgroup, are invited

Men andsomeunmarried womenwhoattendthedancesdon

elaborately ornamented dress, which includes featheredheaddresses,fur-trimmed waistbandsandloincloths,andfacepigments Performancesofstomping dances andofsongsgo

onallnight-interruptedatsomepoint in theeveningwith a

feastpreparedby thehostvillage-and endat dawn This

cel-ebration is followed by a period of trading between the host

groupandtheirinvitedguests Thesongs sungand thefoods

presented at the feast differaccording to the portion ofthe

kaiko yearinwhich the dance is held The final kaiko feast