Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 2 - Oceania - T pot

History and Cultural Relations People, perhaps ancestral toTairora, haveoccupied the re-gion for at least 18,000 years.. In principle, all land, whether for gardening or forest resources

Tahiti 305Tahiti

ETHNONYM:SocietyIslands

OrientationIdentification The name 'Tahiti"-or, as Bougainville

first wrote it in 1768, "Taiti," and Cook in 1769,

'Otaheite"-wasthenamethenatives gavetheir island and

whichEuropeanscame toapplytotheindigenes.If the

Tahi-tianshada namespecificallyidentifying themselves,it is not

known Whatisknownisthat all of thoselivingintheSociety

Archipelago, including Tahiti, referred to themselves as

"Maohi."

Location The island of Tahitiuponwhich the Tahitians

livedisthelargestof theSocietyIslands andislocatedinthe

windwardsegmentofthatgroup at149°30'Wand 17°30'S

Itis ahighislandofvolcanicoriginwithpeaks risingabove

1,500meters.Themountainous interior iscovered with

for-estand ferns while thelower slopes, especiallyonthe leeward

side,arebrush and reed covered.Intheinhabitedvalleys and

coastalplainsopenstandsofindigenoustreesand tallgrasses

werescatteredbetween the cultivated fields of the Tahitians

Wild fowlweresaidtohave beenrelativelyscarceand limited

to a fewspecies, pigeons and ducksbeing specifically

men-tioned Wildfour-leggedcreatures werelimitedto afewsmall

lizardsand thePolynesianrat,the latterprobably brought by

Polynesians

LinguisticAffiliation The Tahitic languageof the

Tahi-tians belongs to the Eastern Polynesian Subgroup of the

Malayo-Polynesian Subdivision of the Austronesian

lan-guages.

Demography EstimatesofTahiti'spopulationinthelater

yearsoftheeighteenthcenturyvaried fromasfewas 16,050

to approximately 30,000 persons, and thus theseestimates

are of little factual value A nineteenth-century decline in

population due to wars and diseases is known to have

oc-curred.However, by 1907,after whichit was nolonger

possi-ble to segregate indigenous totals from those offoreigners

andimmigrantPolynesiansfromotherislands,the numberof

Tahitianswas saidto number 11,691

History and Cultural Relations

Present archaeological evidence supports the viewthat the

SocietyIslands, of which Tahitiis a part, werethefirst tobe

populatedin easternPolynesiafroman easternPolynesia

dis-persalcenter intheMarquesas,perhapsasearlyas A.D.850

Whether laterprehistoric migrants everreached theSociety

Islandsis an open question. Limitedarchaeologicaldataand

traditionsuggesttheoccurrenceofprehistoric SocietyIsland

emigrations toNew Zealand and Hawaii However, by

con-tact timesTahitianvoyaging,primarilyforpoliticalandtrade

purposes, was limited tothe islands ofthearchipelago and

the atollsofthewesternTuamotus Incontrast toprehistoric

culturechangeonTahiti,which had occurredinsmall

incre-ments,thediscoveryof the islandbyWallis in1767 marked

the beginning of strong European acculturative forces

im-pacting onthe traditional life-ways of Tahitians.Except for

materialgoods,the most notable changesoccurred with the

arrival of Protestant missionaries in 1797 Within severalyears aftertheir arrivalanumber of Tahitians,including theparamount chief, Pomare 11, had been taught to read andwrite, andthe Christianfaith and mores had begun to beac-cepted However, objections bymore conservative members

ofthe societyresultedin a series of internecine wars and it

was not until 1815 that Pomare 11crushed his opponentsand,with the aid of the missionaries,successfullyguided are-ligious and political modification of the older traditionalorder With the development of American and Europeanwhalingarid sealingactivitiesTahiti became a primedistribu.tion center forgoods By 1840 South American currencieshad come tobe accepted as asubstitute for the old tradingtechniques.At the sametime,foreignimmigrants andinvest-ments onthe islandproducedavarietyofproblemsfor whichtheTahitians were ill prepared Foreign government overtures

toQueenPomare toestablishaprotectorate resulted intheFrench movingquicklyto annexthe islandin 1842 and thusdissolving Tahitiannative rule

Settlements

Prior toEuropean intervention,Tahitiansfollowedapattern

ofdispersed settlements, dwellings beingscatteredalong thecoastal plain andupthebroader valleys Bythe nineteenthcenturymissionaryactivitiesand theuseby European vessels

ofsafeharbors on the islandresulted in the formation of lages neartheselocations TheTahitian house resembled aflattenedovalinground plan,the long sides being parallel andthe twoends rounded Thethatchedroof extendeddown onall sides from a centralridgepoleextendinglengthwise alongthe house Mostdwellingswereenclosed by awall ofverticallylashed bamboopoles,aspacebeing left open in the middle ofonelong sideto serve as adoorway.Such structuresaveragedabout 6 meters inlength withawidth of 3.6 meters and aridge heightof 2.7 meters However, importantchiefs mighthavebuildings measuring as much as 91 meters in length andproportionately wide,with aridgepoleresting some 9 metersabove the tampedearthen floor

vil-Economy

Subsistence and CommercialActivities Tahitians werehorticulturalists raisingavariety oftreeand tuberous crops aswell as plantains, all of which, except sweet potatoes,origi-nated in southeastAsia orMelanesia Domesticated animalsincludedpigs, dogs, andchickens Fish, caught by avarietyoftechniques,were adominantsourceof protein Contact withEuropeansresulted intheadditionof severalAmerican andOld Worldplants and domesticated animals During the earlynineteenth century asuccessful porktradewithNewSouthWales wascarried onandthiswasfollowed later by exports ofcoconutoil, sugarcane,andarrowroot Provisioning of Euro-pean ships became a major nineteenth-century source of

income

IndustrialArts Decoratedbark cloth wasamajornal industrial art createdby women andusedasclothing, asformal gifts, and for export trade Bark-clothproduction con-tinued intothe twentieth century, butsuchclothis nolongermanufactured

aborigi-Trade Regularaboriginal tradingwascarriedonwiththeleeward islands oftheSociety Archipelago and the western

306 Tahiti

atolls of the Tuamotus Theprincipalitemforexchangewas

barkcloth,towhichwasadded provisionsinthecaseof the

Tuamotuatolls.Withthearrival of Europeans,ironbecame

the dominantitemtradedtothose atolls.Inexchange,

Tahi-tiansobtaineddoghair, pearls,andpearlshellsfrom the

Tua-motusandcoconutoil andcanoesfrom the leeward islands

Division of Labor Traditionally, general construction

work and manufacturing oftools,weapons, canoes, and

fish-ing gear wasmen'swork,as wasfishing,majorritualism,and

warfare Women created bark cloth, wove mats, and

fash-ionedclothing from both materials Farmingwassharedby

bothsexes

Land Tenure Atthetimeofcontactlandownershipwith

therightof inheritancewasrecognizedforthose of thechiefly

andcommonerclasses, withonlythe lowerclass, knownas

teuteu,beingexcluded.Suchlandsweresubjecttotaxationin

kindbythe ruling chiefs who could banishan ownerif such

taxes werenotforthcoming Missionary activityinthe

nine-teenth century seems tohaveresultedin atleastsome ofthe

teuteu class obtaining land rights

Kinship

KinGroups andDescent Descentwasbilateral with

so-cialweighttending tofavorpatrilateral ties.Consanguineal

and, perhaps,affinal kinweregroupedinwhat have been

re-ferred to as kin congregations who worshiped their own

tutelardeityattheir groupreligiousstructure,referredto as a

marae Primogeniture was important in ranking within the

kin congregation While women were excluded from the

maraeof thelargekin congregations, thatwas notalwaystrue

for marae of smaller kin congregations

KinshipTerminology Thetermmatahiapowasappliedto

firstborn as well asall representatives ofa family stock

de-scendedinthe line of the firstborn Teina wasusedto

distin-guish younger brothers, sisters, and cousins who were not

matahiapo; otherwise, the Hawaiiantype ofkinship

termi-nology wasused

Marriage and Family Marriage. Tahitians disapproved of marriage between

doseconsanguinealkin,but how closewas nevermadeclear

However,marriagewas notpermittedbetweenthose of

differ-ingsocial classes.Therefore,children resultingfromasexual

relationship between partners ofdifferingclasseswerekilled

uponbirth In theeighteenthcentury youngcoupleswere

re-quiredtoobtainthe permissionoftheir parents before

mar-riage,and among thechieflyclassearlybetrothalwassaidto

be thenorm andconcubinagewas common Marriage

cere-monies, when present, consisted of prayersat a marae.There

appeared tobe no fixed residency requirement anddivorce

was bycommon consent

Domestic Unit The nuclear family was the dominant

unit.

Inheritance The firstborn son became the head ofthe

familyatbirthandsucceededtohis father's name,lands,and

title,if any.Thefather then servedasthe child's regent until

he became of age.Intheeventof the firstborndying,thenext

son succeeded him There is some indication thatinthe

ab-sence of male offspring, an oldest daughter might be theinheritor

Socialization Children were raised permissively by theirparents, although those of thechiefly class were given a de-gree of education through teachers ofthatclass Men and

women ateseparately, andthere was avarietyofrestrictionsregarding who might prepare another's meal

Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganization. During the eighteenth century,therewerebasicallythree social classes: the ari'i, or chiefs; the com-moners,variously knownasmanahuni or ra'atira; and the la-boring and servant class known as teuteu Only the last groupcould notownland By thebeginningof thenineteenth cen-tury, perhaps because of Europeaninfluence, a fourth classcalled titi, consisting of slaves derived fromwarfare, had beenadded

Political Organization In the early years of European

contactTahitian tribesweregrouped into two major ial units.Oneconstituted thelarger northwestern portion ofthe island andwasknownasTahiti Nui, while the other con-sisted ofthe southeastern Taiarapu Peninsula and was known

territor-asTahiti Iti.Eachmaintainedaparamountchief of ligious power Below this highest position were chiefs whoruledover what may be likened to districts These were di-vided into smaller units and managed by inferior rankedchiefs A paramountchiefs power was not unlimited, sinceimportant mattersaffecting most or all of his region were de-cided bya council ofhigh-ranking chiefs Paramountcy wasnottotallypreordained,aswars and kinshipalliances served

sociore-to maintainsucha status.It was with European aid andbinations of these factors that the Pomareparamountcywasmaintainedwell intothe nineteenth century

com-SocialControl Fear ofdivine retribution was a majortrol, whilehuman sacrificeand a variety of corporal punish-ments for secular antisocial behavior were also used assanc-tions.justiceinthelattercases wasdetermined by a districtchief, and the right toappeal to one's paramount chief wasavailable

con-Conflict Confusionregarding tribal territories and dulgence of chiefly demands for products and services weresourcesof irritation At the time of European contact, war-farefor chiefly aggrandizement, rather than territorialacqui-sition, was dominant Bythe close of the eighteenth centurytheEuropean tradition ofwarfare forterritorial gain had beenadded to the traditional theme of warfare Minorinterper-sonal conflicts were resolved by each antagonist being al-lowed to exhibit publicly his strong resentment of whateverindiscretion had caused the conflict, afterwhich both partiessoonreconciled However, more important conflicts were set-tledby a district chief, the antagonists having the right to ap-pealhisdecision to the paramount chief if not satisfied

overin-Religion and Expressive CultureReligiousBeliefs Justas with Tahitian society, native reli-gionrecognized a ranked series of gods starting with onesu-premedeity and passing down through lesser gods andsubor-dinates to individual family spirits of departed relatives.Religion was centered onregional, tribal, and kin tutelardei-

Tairora 307

ties,althoughafewofthegods transcended such limitations

and were, ineffect,supratribaldeities Godsrequiredawide

varietyof appeasements inorderto ensurethecontinued

wel-fare of the individual aswell asthe tribe Earlynineteenth

century missionaryactivitysuccessfullysubstitutedChristian

beliefs for the earlier traditionalones

Reigiou Practitioners Aboriginally, priests wereof the

chiefly class andwereoftwokinds There were those who

conducted formalrituals duringwhichthegodswereprayed

toandappeasedby giftsinordertogaintheir favor Others

were inspirational priests through whom particular gods

spoke and offered oracular advice AU priests receivedsome

sortof payment for theiractivitiesand manywerebelievedto

have powers of sorcery With thenineteenth-century

accept-ance ofChristianity,variousTahitians,notallnecessarilyof

thechiefly class, were trainedbythemissionaries tobecome

laypreachers

Ceremonies Religious ceremonies were carried out in

marae,mostofwhichweretabooedtowomen.Some

ceremo-nies wereseasonalaffairs,while otherspertainedto warand

peace,thanksgiving, atonement,and criticallife-cycleevents

of chiefs.Thedegreeofceremonialismwasdependentupon

the deity and the importance of themarae, those for

com-moners indistrictsand smallerland divisionsbeingthe least

elaborate

Arts Drums-and, intheearly nineteenth century, shell

trumpets-were the only musical instruments used during

ceremonies.Theraisedplatformsofcertain marae were

deco-ratedwith carvedboards, while the god, Oro, was personified

by a wickerwork cylinder enclosing sacred feathers The

culture-herogod, Maui,wasrepresented byalargehumanoid

wicker figure covered with patterns of feathers Plaited masks

were worn during certain ceremonies on the Taiarapu

Peninsula

Medicine Obvious ailments such as sores and open

wounds were treated with herbal medicines and poultices,

and splints were applied to broken bones Less obvious

ill-nesses were thought to occuras a result of sorcery,contact

withasacred individualorobject,orthe anger of one'sgod

Curing wasattemptedthrough priestly prayers andofferings

Among thechiefly class, thesecures were performedatthe

patient's maraeand might include human sacrifices

Death and Afterlife Untimely deathwasthoughtto be

because of the anger of one'sgod,whiledeaththroughaging

wasregarded as a natural process Rankdetermined the

ex-tentof expressions of mourning and the lengthoftime the

corpsewasexposed onaplatform before burial.In the caseof

high-ranking members of thechiefly class, this time factor

wasgreatly extended by evisceration and oiling of the body

Simpleburial, secretive for those ofhigh rank,wascustomary

There is some indication thatcremation was employedfor

certain individuals on theTaiarapu Peninsula Among the

upper classeshuman relicswerepreserved Forsome, the

af-terlife was seen as a state ofnothingness,but for othersit was

believed to be a happy life, forrankin the spiritworld

re-mained the same as in life

See alsoHawaiians, Marquesas, Rapa, Raroia

Oliver, Douglas L (1974) Ancient Tahitian Society 3 vols.Honolulu: University Press of Hawaii

EDWIN N FERDON

Tairora

l~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ETHNONYMS: Kainantu, Ndumba, Ommura, Taiora

Orientation

Identification The Tairora live in the Kainantu District ofthe Eastern Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea.Group names and place names are usually the same; for ex-ample,"Tairora" (or'Tai-ora") is the name of a phratry, set-

tlement, andcreek nearthe present-day town of Kainantu.This designation was generalized by Europeans in the 1920s

to include all ofthe muchlarger ethnolinguistic group.Location Tairora speakers occupy about 1,035 square ki-lometers of the region southand east of Kainantu, at 145°45'

to 146°15' Eand 6°15' to 6°45' S With annual rainfall of220-250 centimeters,the region is a catchment area for theRamuand Lamari River headwaters The terrain is highly di-verse, withlarge, open grassland dominating the northern ba-sins atelevations of 1,625 to 1,880 meters above sea level,and steeply incised forest- or grass-covered ridges in thesouth, where theKratkeRangeculminates in Mount Piora, at3,450 meters The climate isfairly uniform throughout there-gion,with cool nights, warm days, and relatively wet and dryseasonsthat alternate with the southeast and northwest mon-soons, respectively

Demography Current estimates for Tairora speakersplacethe population at about 14,000, reflecting a steady, ifslight, rate of increase since European contact Nowadays,sizable numbers of Tairora, especially from northernsettle-ments, emigrate to the towns of Kainantu,Goroka,and Lae

LinguisticAffiliation Tairora, with at least five dialects, is

a member of the Eastern Family of Non-Austronesian guages in the East New Guinea Highlands Stock ManyTairora are bilingual with neighboring languages (Agarabi,Auyana, Binumarien, Gadsup, and Kamano in the north;Awa andWaffa in the south) and currently mostmalesandyounger women arefluent inTokPisin Summer Institute ofLinguisticstranslators have produced a considerable amountofreligious and educationalmaterial inTairora,but the num-

lan-0I U9TUT

berofpeople who areliterate intheir ownlanguage is still

fairlysmall

History and Cultural Relations

People, perhaps ancestral toTairora, haveoccupied the

re-gion for at least 18,000 years The earliest-known era

ar-chaeologically, the MamuPhase,appearstohave beena

per-iod of continuousgrowth anddevelopment,withsubsistence

based inhunting andcollecting.After 3,000 B.P.,inthe

Ten-tikaPhase, evidenceforsedentarism occurs,asdo other

sug-gestionsof theadoptionof horticulture.Ingeneral,oral

tradi-tionspointtoTairorahomelandstothewestandsouthwest,

butgroups' origin myths tendtobehighlylocalized Tairora

territory abuts those of other language groups on all sides,

and manydifferentsourceshave contributedtothelinguistic

and cultural diversity of the region Since earliest contact

with European missionaries, goldprospectors, and

adminis-trators (beginninginthe1920s inthenorth and1950s inthe

south), theTairora social universehasexpanded

considera-bly.The establishment of theUpperRamuPatrol Post (now

Kainantu) in1932and the AiyuraAgriculturalExperimental

Station in 1937-both inthe north-were notable events,

beginningthe processes ofpacificationandeconomic

devel-opment leading to the current situation, inwhich Tairora

play a prominentrole inprovincialgovernment

Settlements

SettlementsinnorthernTairora aregenerallyclosertogether

andmorenucleatedthaninthesouth,wheretheytendtobe

hamlet clusters about a halfday's walk apart Most

settle-mentsarefoundatelevationsbetween 1,500and 1,900

me-ters, andtypically theyeach had200-250residents until

re-cent population surges Traditionally, wherever allowedby

the terrain, ridge-top locations were preferred fordefensive

purposes; also fordefense, except fora few groupslivingin

the open grasslands of the north, settlements were

sur-rounded with high palisades Inan arrangement used until

the 1960sinthe north, and still usedinmuch of thesouth,

Tairorasettlements focusedon one ormorelarge, separately

palisaded men's houses, with women's houses clustered

below (where slopepermitted) and withseclusion

houses-used by women during menstruation and childbirth and

sometimes for sanctuary-separated from living areas and

usuallysurroundedbytheirownfences Thetraditionalstyle

forallhousesiscircular,with low grass andtimber walls and

conical thatched roofs, windowless and tightly insulated

against the nightcold Increasingly nowadays,Tairorahave

adopted rectangular house styles with walls of woven

bamboo

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities Tairora derive

most of their subsistence from a wide variety of gardens

Sweetpotatoes are thedominant rootcrop, although yams

and taroarealso majorsourcesofcarbohydrates,especiallyin

thesouth.Tairoraaresophisticatedhorticulturalists,

employ-ing fallowing, mounding of sweet potatoes, and ditching of

gardens;inthesouth,elaborate systems of bamboo pipesare

used to irrigatetarogardens.Other important crops include

legumes, maize, bananas, sugarcane, and leafy greens; tree

cropsinclude pandanus nuts and, in some areas, betelnuts

Domestic pigsare amajor source ofprotein, but they are erallykilled and the pork exchanged onlyonceremonial occa-

gen-sions.Huntingandcollectingalsoyieldfood, especiallyinthemoreheavily forested south where both gameand wild plantfoods are more abundant; everywhere, however, game hasspecial salience in rituals and ceremonial prestations Theforests, and to a lesser extent thegrasslands, also serveasthe

sourceof countlessrawmaterialsfor manufacture,medicines,and ornamentation In recent decades various cash cropshave been triedby Tairora, with coffeebeing the most suc-cessfull; in the north, cattle raising hasalsobecome an impor-

tant source ofmonetary income

Industrial Arts Apart fromstructures, such aspalisades,fences, bridges, andhouses, a partial inventory oflocally pro-duced goods includes weapons (bows, arrows, clubs, spears

lin the north], and shields); implements (digging sticks,

wooden spades [in the north],adzes, knives, and daggers);andstringbags, pandanussleeping mats, and bamboo cook-ing tubes (withwoodencooking cylinders also manufactured

in the north) Locally made traditional clothing for bothsexesincludes skirts or sporransmade ofpounded bark strips

or rushesand,inthe north, wooden'codpieces" for men.Trade Fromneighbors at lowerelevations to the east, Tai-rora obtainblack palm for arrow shafts and bow, adze, andaxestaves;bark cloth for capes worn by both sexes; and shellsforornamentation Stone adze blades were traded in from anysourcesavailable and, in the south, Tairora were importantdistributors in the Baruya salt trade Major export itemsin-clude rushskirts,stringbags, and plumes By the 1980s, many

ofthese itemshadbeenreplaced by Western goods that were

now available in indigenously owned trade stores

Division of Labor Except formodemskillssuchas automechanicsorcarpentry that areknown only to a few, there is

no occupational specialization, although some individualsare renowned asexceptionally good weavers of string bags orarrow makers Each man is able tobuild houses andfences,

cleargarden land, hunt, and fashion his own weapons andimplements, just asall women are gardeners and skilled inmaking string bags, sleeping mats, and items of clothing forboth sexes Construction tasks are male responsibilities, asare clearing garden land, fencing, and ditching; women arecharged withplanting,weeding, and harvesting of crops, withthe exception of tree crops, bananas, sugarcane, yams, andtaro,which arethe province of males Both sexes collect wildplant foods opportunistically Cooking of vegetable foods islargely a femaletask,while men generally both butcher andcookdomestic and wild meats

LandTenure In principle, all land, whether for gardening

or forest resources, is held by patrilineal descent groups,thoughresidence in itselfusually confers rights of usufruct.However, when land disputes arise, claims to land associatedwith eitherone's father's or mother's clan are usually strongerthanthose based solely on residence, with elders called upon

to authenticate both genealogy and history of use courses,paths,fences, andhamlets or village open areas aregenerally considered the common property of all who live in asettlement

Water-308

Tairora 309

Kinship

KinGroupsand Descent Apatrilinealideologyascribes

atbirth membership in one's father's lineage and clan,

al-though residence in itselfcan blur suchdistinctions,

espe-cially in the north, where immigrants (suchas refugees in

timeof war) acquire thestatusof"quasiagnates." Patricans

are named and exogamous butnot localized;while land in

anysettlement isassociated with particular clans, clan

seg-mentsmayreside (andclaimland)in anumber of

neighbor-ing settlements Clanmembersseldom act as a unit in

cere-monies, exchange,or war

Kinship Terminology In the north, kin terms are ofa

modified Iroquois type, with collateralsinEgo's generation

otherthanmother'sbrother'schildren,andall collateralsin

the firstdescending generation other thansister's children,

being terminologically equivalent to a man'sown children

Farthersouth,termsformother'skinshow Omaha-type

ten-dencies;however,choices ofterms arecomplicatedby

bride-wealth exchange

Marriage and Family

Marriage Pairs of clans often havelong-standingpatterns

of intermarriage, with adult males negotiatingcomplex

bride-wealth payments Settlementshavehighratesofendogamy,

but this practice is not an explicit preference; substantial

numbers ofwomen in-marry from enemy groups,with

mar-riages inthe pastsometimesincorporatedintopeace-making

ceremonies Individuals ofboth sexestypicallyareassigned

likely spouseswhilestillinchildhood,withformalbetrothal

deferred until young adulthood.Virilocalityisthenorm, with

a new bride usually moving into the house of her groom's

mother, but exceptions can occur Polygyny is allowed,

though fewmenhavemorethanonewife; cowivestypically

live indifferenthamlets andusually objectstronglytotheir

husbands' polygyny Divorce orextended separation is not

unusual, buttheyareformal optionsonlyformen;

tradition-ally,amarried woman'sonlyalternativesto anunhappy

mar-riage were running away or suicide Remarriage for both

divorcees andwidowsisusual;thereareveryfew permanent

bachelors and virtuallyno women (apart from albinos and

lepers) who gothroughlife unmarried

Domestic Unit Traditionally,outofconcernfor the

sup-posed debilitatingeffects ofcontactwith women, all males

pastthe age of 10-12livedinmen'shouses;afamily

house-holdwouldincludeone or moreadultwomen (sometimesa

mother anddaughter,orsisters), their uninitiated sons, and

unmarrieddaughters.Variantsinclude households of several

nubile young womenoryoungbachelors Increasingly,

espe-ciallyinthenorth,Tairora areadopting the practiceof

nu-clear families residingin asinglehousehold Husbands and

wivesseldom form aworkunit,exceptinearly stages of

gar-den preparation

Inheritance Upondeath, gardens and movable property

ideally are claimed by adult unmarried children; otherwise

they are divided among married sons.

Socialization Responsibilityfor nurturing andsocializing

youngchildrenprimarilyfallsonthewomenand oldergirlsof

ahousehold;oncemalechildrenareinitiatedandmove into

their fathers' men'shouses,their socializationislargely taken

overbyadult males Girlswork side by side with their mothersfromanearlyage,whileboysareallowed to roamfreely withagematesuntiladolescence Distraction and oral admonish-ments are used rather than corporal punishment for youngchildren, but older boysare sometimesdisciplined severely inthe men'shouse Nowadays, and especially in the north, siza-ble numbers ofchildren attend mission or government-runschools,whereparentalsupervision is limited

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization Especially in the north, Tairora tendgenealogicalmetaphorswidely,qualifying strict reckon-ingof descent andkinship as socialidentities are based moreimportantly inresidence Also in the north, clans are linked

ex-inphratries, forming near-connubia within which warfare isdisallowed; in the south, clans may be joined in exogamous,nonwarring pairs Coresidents of a settlement act as a unitmoreoften than dokin groups in warfare, ceremonies, and in-tercommunity exchanges.An egalitarian ethospervades so-ciallife,withanemphasisonindividualism, though associa-tions are strong among age matesofeither sex

Political Organization Traditional leadership was of abig-man or 'strong-man" type, with individuals attainingstaturethrough warfare and management ofaffairs betweencommunities In recentdecades, officials appointed by theAustralian administration have been replaced with electedmembers of the provincial government

SocialControl Disputes arise most commonly over

sor-cery accusations, failures to meet compensation and wealth obligations, marriage arrangements, land, depreda-tionsof pigs, and, nowadayg,-voffsetheft Parties areusuallysupported bykin and age mates in informalmoots Increas-ingly, disputes unresolved through informal means are re-ferred to elected officialsorformal courts inKainantu.Conflict Physical violenceisstronglydiscouraged withinone'sclan, but otherwiseit is notinfrequent, with domesticviolence being especially common Traditionally, warfare wasendemicthroughout Tairora,and it has seen a resurgence inthe 1980s Each settlement has"traditionalenemies" amongitsimmediate neighbors, though enmity/amity relations aresubject to alternation over time, with periods of peace ef-fected through formal ceremonies that often include inter-marriage Competing claims to land are less often the source

bride-ofintercommunity conflict than are murder and purportedsorcery attacks

Religion and Expressive Culture

ReligiousBeliefs The Tairora cosmos is filled with natural beings of a wide variety, including ghosts, monstrousanthropomorphs, localized nature spirits, and zoomorphicforest spirits Men's house rites draw on a generalized forceavailable through ancestors, and diverse types of magic areemployed by individuals Since 1940 in the north and the1960s in the south, avarietyofChristian missions have oper-ated, with a decreasing north-southgradient in numbers ofconverts

super-Religious Practitioners Most adultTairorahave edge of spells and magic to meet their individual needs.Knowledgeable elders of both sexesconduct rituals and cere-

knowl-310 Tairora

monies atthehamletorsettlementlevel,andsome

individu-alsarenoted divinersand shamans.Nowadays,too,many

set-tlements have resident mission catechists

Ceremonies Life-cycle ceremonies include feasts for

ba-bies after they emerge from seclusion houses; septum- and

ear-piercing (for both sexes,traditionally);first-menstruation

and nubilityrites; a two-stage sequence of male initiation;

weddings; andfunerals Seasonal yam andwinged-bean

festi-vals and peacemaking ceremonies draw communities

to-gether,asdidperiodicrenewalceremoniesinthe north

Re-cently inthe north, public communitydance festivals have

become a source of income, with outsiders being charged

admission

Arts AswithotherNew Guineahighlanders, plasticarts

playalimited roleinTairora artisticlife;apart from

individ-ualcostuming and ornamentationonceremonialoccasions,

decoration is largely restricted to string bags, arrows, and

shields,though in thenorth menworewoodenframes with

painted bark panels on occasions ofpublic dancing Jew's

harpsareplayedoccasionallyasprivateentertainment,

other-wise only hour-glass drums supplement the human voice

Several genres of oral literature provide evening household

entertainment and instructionduring ceremonies

Medicine Their naturalenvironmentsuppliestheTairora

withanextensive rangeofmedicines,whichmostindividuals

obtainandadminister themselves Someindividualsofboth

sexes are renowned diagnosticians and curers Nowadays,

mostsettlements haveor are near a mission- or

government-runmedical aid post

Deathand Afterlife Wakes are held for severaldays, at

theconclusion of which theghostpossesses alocal resident

who transports it out of the settlementtobeginitsjourneyto

the land of the dead, located to the northeast in the

Markham Valley Thereitwill livealife that replicates the

or-dinaryworld, completewith gardens and pigs The corpse left

behindis traditionally buriedin a grave with its individual

fence onclanland

See also Fore,Gahuku-Gama, Gururumba

Bibliography

Grossman, Lawrence S (1984) Peasants, Subsistence

Ecol-ogy, andDevelopmentin theHighlands of PapuaNewGuinea

Princeton: Princeton University Press

Hays,Terence E.,and Patricia H Hays (1982).'Opposition

andComplementarity of theSexes inNdumbaInitiation." In

RitualsofManhood: Male Initiation in PapuaNewGuinea,

ed-itedby GilbertHerdt, 201-238.Berkeley: University of Cali

fornia Press

Johnson, S Ragnar (1982) "Food, Other Valuables,

Pay-ment, andthe Relative ScaleofOmmuraCeremonies (New

Guinea)." Anthropos 77:509-523

Pataki-Schweizer, K J (1980) A New Guinea Landscape:

Community, Space, andTimein theEastern Highlands

Seat-de: University ofWashington Press

Radford, Robin (1987) Highlanders and Foreigners in the

Upper Ramu: The Kainantu Area, 1919-1942 Melbourne:Melbourne University Press

Watson, JamesB (1983) TairoraCulture:Contingency andPragmatism Seattle: UniversityofWashingtonPress

Watson, VirginiaDrew, andJ. David Cole(1977).Prehistory

of the Eastern Highlands ofNew Guinea Seattle:UniversityofWashington Press

namealso refers to the language spoken byboth the Tangu

"proper" and certain other related groups

Location Tangu live on a series of steep, forested ridgesabout 24 kilometers inland from Bogia Bay in thenortherncoastal area of Papua New Guinea, at about 4°25' S by144°55' E

Demography In 1951-1952, the ethnographic presentfor this report, KenelmBurridge estimated the Tangu popula-

tion at roughly 2,000, distributed throughout about thirtysettlements of varying size The population is now approach-ing 3,000

LinguisticAffiliation Tangu is aNon-Austronesian guage in the AtaitanLanguage Family

lan-History and Cultural Relations

While theTangu are ethnographically quite similar to theirneighbors, they consider themselves to be a distinctpolity,

tied closely together bykinship, trading, and exchange tionships Perhaps the mostdistinctive feature setting themapart from theirneighbors is theirparticipation in a disputingactivityknown asbr'ngun'guni, in which grievances are aired

rela-atpublic assemblies European contact with Tangu was firstmade by German administrative officials shortly beforeWorld War 1,although the event had relatively little effect ontraditional life Effective "control" was established by theAustralians in the 1920s, at which time aSociety of the Di-vine Word mission was also founded Tangu have beenknown for participation in cargo cults or millenarian move-ments under the influence of two messianic leaders: firstMambu, in the 1930s and 1940s, and later Yali, in the1950s

Tangu 311

Settlements

TheTangupopulation isroughly grouped intofour named

neighborhoods Each neighborhood contains one or more

largesettlements ofsometwentyormorehouses and several

smaller settlements, some comprised of only a few home

steads Settlements arestrungoutalonga seriesofsteep,

in-terconnected ridges Garden sites are scattered around the

surroundingcountryside.Tanguusually havetemporarybush

settlementsassociatedwithhuntingandgardeningareasfar

from the mainvillage, andtheymayliveinthem for several

weeks ata time

Economy Subsistence andCommercialActivities The Tangu are

primarily subsistence farmers who practice swiddenorslash

and-bum horticulture Theirstaplecrops includenumerous

varietiesof yams, taro,and bananas,plantedinrotation and

supplementedwith sago andbreadfruit,especially during

De-cember and January, whicharemonths of relative scarcity of

the primary foods Thesemaincropsaresupportedby

sugar-cane, coconuts, pitpit, gourds, beans, squashes, andgreens

Maize, tapioca,sweetpotatoes,melons,pumpkins,tomatoes,

and othervegetableshave beenrecentlyintroduced Pigs and

chickens are keptdomestically, the latter mainly for their

feathers Tangu forageintheforest, andtheyalso hunt wild

pigs, cassowaries, lizards, possums, cuscus, wallabies and

othersmallmarsupials, andbirds Landanimalsareusually

tracked with the aid ofdogs, or caught in snares ortraps

Birdsareusuallyshotwith bows andarrows.Fishweretradi

tonally netted with handnetsbywomen, spearedbymen,or

stunned inpoolsby using poisonroots.Thislife-styleof basic

subsistence farming, supplemented by some hunting and

gathering, is alsoaugmentedbymigrantoroccasional labor

for cash

IndustrialArts Tanguproduceavariety ofutilitarian

ob-jects used intheireveryday lives,including banana-fiber

un-derskirts, pandanus-fiberskirts,woven-canebands and

per-sonaladornments,andpandanus-fibercord, from whichthey

fashion stringbags and fishing nets They manufacture slit

gongs, used forsignalingpublic announcements, and

tradi-tional musicalinstruments includinghand drums andJew's

harps Their only commercial manufactures are clay pots,

made with the coil technique, and string bags These are

traded within Tangu and also sold for cash

Trade Tangu have extensive trading relations, both

amongthemselves and withneighboringpeople.Twoof the

four Tanguneighborhoodsspecializeinclay-pot makingand

twospecializeinstring bagand sagoproduction Theseitems

are traded within Tanguand arealso sold to outsiders The

stringbags and sagoaresoldmainlytopeoplefromthecoast,

while theclay pots aresoldboth to coastal inhabitants and to

people from the hinterland Other traditional items of

ex-changeinclude hunting dogs, tobacco,and betelnuts More

recently, the mission trade store stocksgoodsof European

manufacture, whicharesoldorexchangedfor localproducts

andservices These itemsareoftenexchanged again,typically

withhinterlandneighbors

Division of Labor As in mosttribalsocieties,Tangu

divi-sion of labor is basedon age and sex Women cook, weed,

look afteryoungchildren,and docertaincraftswork,suchas

making stringbags Menhunt, buildhousesandshelters, and

do othercraftswork, such aswoodcarving Gardenwork iscarriedonby both sexes,althoughthesexesonceagainper-form slightly different tasks, with men doing most of theheavyfelling,clearing, and digging and womendoing most ofthedaily carrying,weeding, and cleaning

Land Tenure Land can be 'inherited" through eithermale or femalerelatives, but the practices governingthe ac-tual transfer of land areextremely flexible Each individualhas 'claims" on landbelonging to his or herrelatives, de-pendingonthe closeness of thoserelatives,andthe strengths

ofthe competing claims of others Such"claims,"recognized

to a greater or lesser extent by the community, are alwaysgreater whenactually exercised.Particularlystrongstructuralclaims can be made by sons on theirfather'sclaims, by neph-

ewsontheirmother's brother's claims,andbyhusbands andwives on each other's claims In general, the Tangu haveample land, and they tend to gravitate toward those areaswhere their claims are most easily exercised and their personalprospects best

Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent Perhaps because individualTangu can choose to exercise their"claims" in avariety ofways,Tanguhave nonamed lineal descent groups Kinship isbased on mutualrelationships between people rather than oncorporate groupsdefined by categories of parentage or quasi-parentage The most important interrelationships are be-tweenbrothers, sisters,brothers and sisters, friends, siblings-in-law, cross cousins not intending to marry, betrothedcouples, and spouses

Kinship Terminology Kinship terminology is of the

Iroquoistype

Marriage and Family

Marriage Because of the sexual division of labor inTangu,there arefewunmarried adults Marriages bring aboutcooperative exchange relationships between the families ofthe husband and wife Ideally, marriages are arranged be-tweenthe children ofpeople who are already friends or be-tweencertain cross cousins.There is a period of formalbe-trothallasting for several years, marked bythe groom's familypresentingapig,chapletsofdogs'teeth, and other valuables

to thewife's family Atfirsttheengaged pair practice ancebehavior, but later they exchange labor in one another'shouseholds At the wedding itself, the wife's brothers hostthehusband'sfamily This practice not only clears the debtcreatedby thebetrothal pig and valuables, butitalso sets uptheexchange relationshipbetweenhusband and wife's broth-ersthat continues through the life of the marriage Eitherpartneris free tobreak off themarriageatwill, but the dosetiesbetween their familiesmake it difficult to do so withoutgood cause Men may often seekasecondwife, commonlya

avoid-sister of the firstwife, orsometimes adivorced woman Thesesecond marriages are accompanied by relatively little cere-mony: a paymenttothe woman'sbrothers usually contractsthemarriage Later, a return payment to the husband sets uptheexchange relationship and frees the woman to divorce theman if she wishes

312 Tangu

Domestic Unit The basic and mostpermanent

coopera-tivework group is the household, generally consisting of a

man, his wife orwives, and theirnatural andadopted

chil-dren Occasionallyan aging parent of either spouse may

re-side withthem,buthouseholdsaretypicallysmallandsimply

constituted

Inheritance Among the most important thingsthatcan

be inherited are land claims and friendship relationships

Thesepassfom parentsofeithersextoall of their children

People ofthe same sex, whose parentswerefriends, are

ex-pected tobefriends Landclaims andpersonal relationships

canalso be inheritedfrom other closerelatives.Aswith land

claims,peopleusuallyinheritmorefriendshiprelations than

they canactuallyuse, andtheychooseto activatethosethey

find most congenial or most useful

Socialiation Young children spend most of their time

with their mothers andmother's sisters for the first few years

of theirlives For girls, the natal household isthe focus of

their lives They follow a fairly tranquiltransition to

adult-hood, practicing the skills ofTangu womanhood from an

early age.Theylearntheskillsand craftsof womenftomtheir

mothers and aunts: how to cook, carry,collect water, clear

brush, andweed;how tomakestring,skirts,andstring bags;

how to gather and use wild plants; and how to care for

younger siblings For boys, the path to adulthood is less

smooth.Whenaboyis about6, he leaves hismother and

be-gins tospend more timewith his father, forwhom he

per-formssmallservices,andistaughtavarietyofskills.Helearns

abouthousehold landsand his father'sspecial talents, such

as curing, painting, carving, drumming, dancing, plaiting,

building,trapping, orfishing.Atthe sametime, hebecomes

involvedwith hismother'sbrothers,from whom helearnsof

their landclaims andtheirspecialskills Traditionally,at

ado-lescence, boys entered aclubhouse, to besecluded,

circum-cised, and initiated With the breakdown of this system,

ado-lescentboys have somedifficultieshandling theauthorityof

their fathers andmothers' brothers as they come of age, and a

period of contract labor is commonbeforemarriage

Sociali-zationin sexualmatters isprovided inpartbythe

gangarin-gniengi or 'sweetheart" relationship with a particular cross

cousinwho,althoughin amarriageablecategory,isforbidden

as amarriagepartner 'Sweethearts"dance,sittogether, flirt,

and fondle and stroke one another, engaging in love play

Breastandpenisstimulationarecommon,but coitus is

for-mallyprohibited

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization Traditionally, local communities

were comprised of two exogamous intermarrying groups

called gagawa Households would establish exchange

rela-tionships with otherhouseholds in theopposite group

Ide-ally, these exchange relationships would continue through

time asparents transmitted them to their children.Today,

ex-change relationshipsare still of major importance Through

marriage and formalfriendships,individualsindifferent

com-munities are also linked Thus Tangu society is integrated

through mutual relationships between individuals and

be-tween families

Political Orpnization. Tangu have no chiefs Instead,

groups of households tend to be held together by wunika

ruma, dynamicandhardworking big-men, who have no cific authority but lead by example and through respect

spe-gained in production and oratory

Social Control Social controlwithin thegroup is tainedlargely through the institution of br'ngun'guni: debat-ing, talking, and disputing in public assembly Matters ofpublic concern are brought up and discussed on frequent oc-casions, and theweightofpublicopinionisusuallyenoughtomakepeople conform to collective norms of behavior.Conflict Conflict within the group often arises out ofcompetition for status Grievancesmay relate to competingclaims onfishing, hunting andgardening resources, kinshipmatters, exchange obligations, or allegations of sorcery ortrespass.Traditionally, whengrievances arose between peoplewhose groups were not sufficiently close to engage inbr'ngun'guni, feuds and warfare generally resulted Warfarewithoutsiders, such as the Diawatpeople, who were trying toexpand their territory at the expense of the Tangu, was alsocommon

main-Religion and Expressive Culture Religion Beliefs Tangubelievein agroup of divinebe-ings called puoker, waterbeings called pap'ta, and ghosts ofthedead, whoultimately become ancestral beings Spirit be-ings of allsortsare thought to becapable of affecting humanaffairs, but they are somewhat capricious and difficult toplacate

Religious Practitioners The nature ofTangu religiouspractitioners is linked to the belief inranguova, men whopractice acombinationofsorcery and witchcraft Ranguovaareresponsibleforinflictingmanytypesofillnessanddeath.Their identity can be determined by dreamer-diviners, andtheycan be killedby adifferent sort of specialist

Ceremonies Dances and feasts are held frequently tomark avarietyofsocialoccasions Formerly, elaborate ritualaccompanied boys' circumcision and alsothe manufactureandpositioning of wooden slit gongs, but these rites are nolonger practiced

Arts Whilegoods of European manufacture are ingly takingthe placeofcertain traditional arts, finelypro-duced personal accessories are still made, including banana-fiber underskirts and pandanus-fiber overskirts, bark-clothbreechclouts, woven-cane ornaments and waistbands, andstringbags.Slitgongs and hand drums are made, but withoutthecarving, incising, pigmentation,anddecorationthattheyformerly carried

increas-Medicine Tangu recognize certain typesof sicknesses asphysiological and treat them with a variety of medicines.Otherillnesses are linked with the activities of ranguova (sor-cerers).Such illnesses are"treated"by determining the iden-

tityofthe sorcerer, exposing him, and forcing him to cease hisharmful activities

Death and Afterlife In Tangu, death is matter-of-fact,and deceased are buriedquickly, often within an hour or two

ofdying Traditionally, personal valuables were buried withthe corpse People mourn individually, onslit gongs, whenthey think of deceasedlovedonesfrom time to time Each in-dividual isthought to have a "soul" or"mind" calledgnek

Tanna 313

Afterdeath, thissoul becomes aghost temporarily,then

-nallybecomesan ancestral spirit

Bibliography

Burridge, Kenelm (1960) Mambu: A Melanesian

Millen-nium. London: Methuen

Burridge, Kenelm (1969).Tangu Traditions:AStudy ofthe

Wayof Life, Mythology, andDevelopingExperience ofaNew

Guinea People London: Oxford University Press

RICHARD SCAGLION

Tanna

ETHNONYMS: Ipare,Tana,Tannese

Orientation

Identificadon TannaIslandis partofthe Southern

Dis-trict of Vanuatu, a southwestern Pacific archipelago once

called the New Hebrides.JamesCook, the firstEuropeanto

visit this partof Melanesia, gaveTanna its name in 1774

"Tanna," in manyof the island'slanguages, actually means

"ground" or "land." Cook, pointing downward, no doubt

asked"Whatdoyoucallthis [place]?'The Tannesemistook

his question just as he mistook their answer. This

cross-cultural misunderstanding wasthe firstofmany tofollow

Location Tannaislocated at 190 S and 1690 E The

is-landis40kilometers long by27 kilometers wideat its

broad-est point,withatotalareaof561squarekilometers A

well-populated centralplateau (MiddleBush) rses inthesouthto

mountains morethan1,000metershigh.Theislandismostly

tropical forest,exceptfora grassyplaininthe northwest that

lies intherainshadow of themountains. In theeast, asmall

but continuously eruptive cinder-cone volcano coughs up

lava bombs and spreads volcanic ashacrossthe island

Demography There are about 20,000 Tannese, 10

per-centof whom have left hometoworkinPort Vilaor

Lugan-ville, Vanuatu's two towns, andinNew Caledonia The

is-land's population densityisaround 32.3 persons per square

kilometer; the populationis growing at a rateof3.2percent

per year.

LinguisticAffiliation TheTannesespeakfiverelated

lan-guages that are syntactically and semantically very similar,

differing mostlyinphonologyand lexicon.Theyare partof

the SouthernVanuatuSubbranch of the Oceanic Branch of

Austronesian languages Most Tannese alsospeak Bislama

(Vanuatu PidginEnglish),andsome areschooledinEnglish

orFrenchaswell

History and Cultural Relations

Although the archaeological record has yet to be fully

ex-plored,it isthought thatoceangoingMelanesians first landed

ontannaabout3,500 years ago Theisland has also experi.enced considerable Polynesian influence In fact, Tanna'stwo nearest neighbors, Aniwa and Futuna, are Polynesianoutliers From the 1860s through 1900, labor recruiters re-moved morethan 5,000 Tannese men towork onplantations

inQueenslandand Fiji During these years, too,Presbyterianmissionariesopened stations ontheisland.Inmission litera-ture, Tanna was infamous for its resistance toChristianity,but by 1910the missionaries had succeeded in convertingabout two-thirds of the population Mission success corre-lated with theestablishmentofjoint British andFrench colo-nial rule over the archipelago in 1906 Vanuatu remainedunder thisunusual'condominium"form of colonial adminis-tration until its independence in 1980 Starting in the late1930s, anumber of island social movements emerged in reac-tiontoforeignrule, and manypeople quit the missions TheJohn Frum movement,muchinfluenced by World War 11, isthe best known of these A spiritfigure, John Prum, coun-seled people to return totraditional practices and to seek helpfromAmericantroops This movement, once a cargo cult,re-mains an importantreligious group and political party Othernationalpoliticalpartiesarealsoactive ontheisland.Ingen-eral, Presbyterians support the Vanuaaku party, while JohnFrum and 'Custom" people (traditionalists) and French-educated Catholicssupportitsrival, theUnionof ModerateParties This contemporary political opposition reflects anenduring traditional dualism inisland culture

Settlements

The most salientfeatureintheculturallandscape is thedrinkingground Theseareforestclearings,shaded bymag-nificent banyan trees Men convenethere daily to prepareanddrink kava (Piper methysticum) People also meet there todance, toexchangegoods, and to resolve disputes Nucleatedvillages orscatteredhamlets arelocated along the periphery

kava-of these circularclearings.Atthelast official census in 1979,Tanna had ninety-two villagesthat included 370 hamlets.Most villages are small, averagingaboutsixtyresidents Mostfamilies possess one or moresleeping houses, plus a cookhouse The traditional thatched house isstill common, al-though manypeoplenowalsobuildwithcorrugated alumi-num and cement brick

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Actvites. The Tanneseare swidden horticulturalists Using hand tools, theyclearand burn offplots for yams and taro, rituallythetwo mostim-portant staples They also grow manioc, sweet potatoes,ba-nanas,andarange of otherfruitsand vegetables.Thanks tofertilizing ash falls from lasur volcano, garden-plot fallowtime is quite short Domestic animals include pigs, dogs, fowl,andalso introduced cattle and horses Coastal villagers fishand gather reef products,although the Tannese areindiffer-ent fishers People are engagedprimarilyinsubsistence pro-duction, although they alsoplant cash crops, especiallycoco-nuts, coffee, and vegetables The averagefamily's annual cashincome, however, is less than $500 [U.S.].

IndustrialArts Traditionally, island industrial arts werequitesimple,consisting ofstonetoolmaking,the weaving ofpandanusmatsandbaskets, and the manufactureofwomen's

314 Tanna

barkskirtsandtapa belts thatonceheld up men's penis

wrap-pers Today, afewmen earn alittle moneyin cementbrick

manufacture, automobilerepair, etc

Trade Theisland'sprincipalexportsarecopraandcoffee

Its imports include Japanesevehicles, fuel, tools, processed

foods, andclothing.Cooperativesand small-business owners

operateahandfuloftradestores,andwomensellproduceat

several roadside markets Rudimentary tourism, focusedon

thevolcano, alsobringssome moneyintothe island

Division of Labor Islanders practicea muteddivisionof

labor Men doheavy gardenclearing, plantyams, erecthouse

frames, fishbeyondthe reef, and drive trucks.Women

per-formday-to-daygardenwork, cook,washclothes,andweave

baskets and mats Men, however, also cook, weedgardens,

andmay washtheirownclothesin apinch.Bothsexes,more,

over,carefor children

Land Tenure Every Tannese boy receives a personal

namethat entities him toseveralplots oflandnear akava,

drinking ground.Women'snameshavenolandentitlements

A namealsomayentitleamalebearertoperformvarious

rit-ualacts, to controla sectionof traditionalroad, andsoon

Everyfamilypossesses a limited number of namesthat are

used each generation Ifamanhasnosons, headopts boys

(or other grownmen) by givingthemoneof his names In

ac-tual practice, theexact connection between aparticular

per-sonalnameanditsassociatedlands is oftendisputed.Garden

land,however,isplentiful,except in a fewlocales.Moreover,

mostpeople neither livenorgarden upon theirown lands;

permissionto useanother'slandisusually readilyobtained

Kinship

KinGroupsandDescent The mostimportantkingroup

isthe nuclear family Peoplehave a notion ofpatrilineal de

scent, and families group into somethinglikepatrilineages,

localized atkava-drinling grounds.These largergroups,

how-ever, areperhapsbetter called 'name sets" ratherthan line

agesinasmuch as newmembersarerecruitedbyreceiving

per-sonal names rather thanby beingborn into the groups A

manonlybecomesa memberof his father's lineage if he

re-ceives one of its names Up to half of all men receive names

fromsomeoneotherthantheirfathers,and thustheymay

be-long to a different name set Single lineage/name sets are

joined into larger groupings, associated with particularplaces

orregions Finally, each lineage/name set belongs to one or

two moieties, Numrukwen and Kaviameta, though today

these have onlyoccasional ritualimportance

Kinship Terminology. The terminological system is of

theDravidian typeinwhich everypersonofone'sgeneration

falls into one of four categories:brother,sister,spouse, and

brother/sisterin-law.

Marriage and Family Mfarriae. Kinterminology reflects theislandpractice of

sister-exchange, bilateral cross-cousin marriage The ideal

marriage partner is a child of one's mother'sbrother, or

fa-ther's sister,althoughmanypeoplemarrylessclosely related

classificatorycross cousins Theideal marriage also consists

of asisterexchangebetween two men.Many marriages, in

ac-tuality, involve complex transactions in which women are

'swapped'among three or more families.Many men obtain awifebyexchanging aclassificatorysister or some otherfemalerelative Some promise a firstborndaughter in return for hermother A concern for balance governs marriage, as it does allother forms ofexchange With sister exchange, every mar-riage entailsanother,and divorceisvery uncommon Should

amarriagefail, the wife's family must provide the husband'sfamily with another woman in order to maintain the ex-change balance

Domestic Unit A nuclear family is the basic domesticgroup that produces and consumes food andothergoods.Residenceisvirilocal.Asboysgetolder,manybuildtheir ownsleeping houses,althoughthey continue to eatwith theirpar-ents until they marry

Inheritance Thereare few material goods on Tanna thatsurvivemorethan onegeneration Women inherit little Meninherit land as well asrights to ritual and medical knowledgefrom the men who named them, most often their fathers.Men also succeed to the social positions of older namesakes.Socialization Achild is raised bybothparentsand, impor-tantly, by oldersiblings Disciplining is rarely physical, butrather takes the form of teasing andshaming Boys are cir-cumcised between 5 and 10 years of age; their emergencefrom aboutsixweeksofsocial seclusion is animportant cere-monial occasion Girls' first menstruation is sometimesmarkedby thegiftofpig andkavafrom their fathers to theirmothers' brothers

Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganization. Two ormore lineages/name sets arelocalized ateachkava drinking ground The men of severalneighboring kava-drinking grounds together belong to anamed, regionalgroup, ofwhichthere areabout 115 Kava-drinking grounds across the island are linked by a complexsystem oftraditional'roads"alongwhich men exchangemes-sages,goods,andspouses.Thisroadnetwork,bywhicheachTannesevillageislinked to all others, has produced culturalhomogeneity across the island, despite linguistic diversity.Political Organization. Tannese society is hierarchicallyorganized on the basis of sex and age There are also twochiefly positions at most kava-drinking grounds: theianiniteta ("spokesman of the canoe") and the ierumanu("ruler') These today have only occasional ritual impor-tance.Among adult men a principle of egalitarianism governssocialinteraction Afewmen,however, enjoy more influenceandprestige than others In the main, theseiemaason,big-men, are unlike those found elsewhere in Melanesia whosepositions depend on economic ability On Tanna, a villageleaderowes his status to his age, his ritualandother localknowledge, and to the size of his name set A second kind of

"ideological" big-men arethe leaders of the various wide political andreligious organizations, such as the JohnFrum andCustom movements

island-Social Control Although national police and islandcourtsoperate on Tanna, most disputes are handled unoffi-cially.Avoidance is a common tactic When people must re-solve their differences, they convene a dispute-settlementmeeting atalocalkava-drinlingground Here, big-men andinvolvedthird parties attempt to establish a social consensusthat atleasttemporarily resolves the problem and ends avoid-

Tasmanians 315

ance betweendisputants Resolution issignified by the

ex-changeof pigs and kava between thetwosides.Although

tra-ditional sorcery is today uncommon, islanders believe that

ancestorsdispleasedwithconflictmay makethem sick.A

se-riousillness thus induces people to attempttoresolve

out-standingdisputes

Conflict Therootofmostconflictisexchange imbalance,

particularly within sister-exchange agreements People also

dispute land ownershipandboundaries, and disagreements

sometimes occur between husbands and wives Traditional

raidingandcannibalism ceasedintheearly1900s Inthe

per-iod leading upto independenceconsiderable social

disrup-tiontookplacebuttoday, asidefrom occasionalfights during

dispute-settlementmeetings gone awry,theislandis

remark-ably peacefuL

Religion and Expressive Culture

ReliiusBeliefs Christianity has mergedwith-not

re-placed-the traditional concern with ancestors and spirits

Missionariesproscribedanumberofcustomary practices,

in-cludingdancing andkavadrinking, and reworked local

politi-cal andeconomic structures.TheJohnFrumand other

move-ments, drawing upon both custom and Christianity, have

addedfurther,syncreticelementstoTanna'sreligiouslife.In

additiontoancestors,peoplerecognizevariousspirits

associ-ated withparticular places, suchasthe reefs andmountain

peaks ThePolynesianMauididtic (MwatiktikionTanna)is

also apopular culture hero.JohnFrumcontinueshiswork as

a spiritual mediator to the outside world, particularly to

America TheJohnFrum-Custom people ofthe southwest

claim aspecial relationshipwith PrincePhilipof Britain who

is, they maintain, a sonofthe mountainspirit Kalpwapen

ReligiousPractitioners Allmen are in contactwith their

ownancestors.Kavadrinkers,spittingouttheir lastmouthful

of thedrug,utterprayerstosurroundingancestorsburiedon

thekava-drinking ground.Afewmenandwomen areknown

to have particularly good contacts with the supernatural

world by way of dreams and various ritual devices These

clevers" diagnose illness, find lostobjects, andsoon Most

of the Christian denominations have ordained local pastors

The successfulprophetsofJohnFrum andother notable

spir-itsalso serveas religiousofficiants

Ceremonies AllTannese ceremonies consistofexchange

(of pigs,food, kava,wovengoods,andlengthsofcloth),kava

drinking, anddancing thatlaststhroughthe night Most of

themareassociated withimportantevents inthelifecycleof

individuals Thefamilyof the person involvedgathers goods

to present to his or her mother's brothers, with an equal

amount ofgoods returned when the exchange is later

re-versed Two ceremonies, not tied to individual life cycles,

function to maintainregional relations.Innieri,people oftwo

kava-drinkinggroundsexchangedifferentkindsoffood such

as yams for taro The nakwiari, involvingseveral thousand

people, is the island's most spectacular ceremony and

in-volvesexchange of pigs and kava betweentworegions,aftera

night and day of songand dance

Arts Thereislittlematerialart onTanna.Island

aesthet-icsfocusinstead on singing, dancing, andbodydecoration

Althoughpeoplemakepanpipesandbambooflutes, theyuse

nomusical instruments to accompany songordance that, for

rhythm, reliesinstead upon hand clapping and foot ing Women painttheir facesinmosaicsof colorthatreflectthe decorative dyed patternsonthe bark skirts they wear todance

stomp-Medicine Islandetiology citesmaleficent spirits and cestral displeasure to explain manyillnesses Also, an imbal-ance ofbody elements may causedisease Everyone knows atleast one or more secretherbal cures for specific ailments, and

an-a few men and women are renowned as particularly astutecurers orbone setters.

Death and Afterlife Important men are buried on thekava-drinking ground; other people are buried in the village.Christian pastorstypicallyofficiate at burial The traditionalfuneral,however, that takesplace a month or so after death isthe finalexchange betweenaperson'sfamily and that of his

orher mother's brothers Ancestral ghosts go off to a landcalled Ipai"; they may also remain close to their old homes,and they are oftenseen in gardens and the forest

Bibliography

Adams, R (1984) IntheLand ofStrangers: A Century of ropean Contact with Tanna, 1774-1874 Canberra: Austra-lianNational University

Eu-Allen, M R., ed (1981) Vanuatu: Politics, Economics, andRitual inIsland Melanesia Sydney: Academic Press.Bonnemaison, J. (1987) La derniere ile Paris: ORSTOM/Plon

Guiart, Jean (1956) Unsiicle et demi de contacts culturesTanna, Nouvelles-Hibrides Paris:Musie de l'Homme

LAMONTLINDSTROM

TasmaniansETHNONYMS: None

Orientation

Identification The term'Tasmanians" refers to the nativeinhabitants of the island of Tasmania These inhabitantsformed anumber of societies and communities, all of whichhad disappeared as distinctcultural groups by the twentiethcentury What is known of the Aboriginal culture is largelythe result of archaeological research and reconstructionsbased on thereports of early European visitors and settlers.The name of the island and itsinhabitantsistakenfrom theDutchnavigator, Abel Tasman,who discovered the island in

1642 Despitebeing extinct,the Tasmanians have continued

to drawscholarly and public attention, caused in part by their

316 I LaimanansI _

isolation fromotherculturesfor thousands of years and the

Stone Age technology they used when first discovered by

Europeans

Location Tasmania is anisland ofsome67,000 square

ki-lometerslocatedabout 240 kilometers southeast of mainland

Australia, with the twoland masses separated bytherough

watersofthe Bass Strait.Tasmaniais astateofAustralia.At

one time apeninsula ofAustralia,Tasmaniawas cutoffby

risingwaters about 7,000to 8,000years ago It isa

moun-tainousisland,withavarietyofecologicalzones,considerable

rainfall,andagenerallymildclimate.Landmammals suchas

kangaroos,wallabies, andnativedogsarerelativelyabundant

as areseals, shellfish, and birds

Demography Estimatesplace the precontactpopulation

atfrom 2,000to 5,000individuals

Linguistic Affiliation. Experts guess that from five to

twelve different languages, with some grammatical,

phono-logical,and lexicalsimilarities betweenthem,werespoken by

Aboriginal Tasmanians What relationship those languages

had to other PapuanorAustralian languages isunknown

History and Cultural Relations

The Tasmanian peninsulaof Australia has been occupied for

some 23,000 years Since the islands separated from the

mainland some 7,000or soyearsago, thereislittle evidence

of contact between mainlandpeoplesand theTasmanians.In

fact,it islikelythattheTasmanians werelargelyisolated until

contactwith the Dutchin1642,the Frenchin1772, and

set-tlement by the English in 1803 The English regarded the

Tasmaniansassubhuman and huntedthemdown;the

Tas-maniansrespondedbybothfightingback and retreating

far-therandfartherinland In 1835, afterrepeated attempts by

theEnglishtoroundthemup,the203survivingTasmanians

were gathered together and resettled on Flinders Island in

Bass Strait Although treated more kindly, their numbers

continued to decrease and in 1847 the 40 survivors were

againresettled,thistime on a reservenearHobart Thelast

"full-blood"Tasmaniandied therein1876.Whilethenative

languages and culturehave disappeared, there are still some

fewdozenindividuals whoclaimbiologicallinkstotheindigo

enous population

Settlements

It isnotclearwhether the Tasmanianswerenomadic, moving

to newencampments everydayortwo,ortranshumant,

mov-ing inlandin thewarm months andtothesea inthe colder

months.Thereis someevidence ofregionalvariation in

set-tlement patterns, with groupsin thewestbeingmoresettled

than thoseinthe east Ineithercase, thelocationof

settle-ments wasdeterminedlargelybytheavailabilityof food

Tas-manian societieswere territorial, and trespass into another

group's territoryusuallyledtowarfare Sheltersfornomadic

groupswerewindbreaks made frombark,while moresettled

groups lived incommunities ofbeehive-shaped shelters

lo-cated along the banks ofrivers orlagoons

Economy

SubsistenceActivities TheTasmanianswerehunters and

gatherers who had no agriculture and nodomesticated

ani-mals but exploited nearly all animal and plant foodstuffsavailable tothem Kangaroos,wallabies,wombats,and sealswere speared; snakes, lizards, snails, insects, eggs, scallops,and other mollusks weregathered; and root,fungus, berries,and native root crops werepicked and dug Thereis someevi-dence of communalhunting ofkangaroos and birds and gath-ering ofplant foods.Forthemostpart,however, food acquisi-tion was amatterfor the household unit of a man,awoman,andtheir children The mostinteresting andperplexingas

pect ofTasmanian subsistence practices was the absence(during the last 4,000 years of theirexistence) offishing andconsumptionofscalyfish.Whytheygave upfishis notclear,andavariety of explanationsciting religiousfactors, isolationfrom the mainland, and the difficulty of catching fish havebeen suggested

Industrial Arts The Tasmanian tool kit was limitedlargely to objects made fromwood, stone, andshell Woodenspearsandthrowing sticks werethe main weapons, and flakedstone knives and scrapers were used forshellfish gatheringandfood preparation Shellfish shellsserved ascookingves-

sels, along with kelp baskets and baskets and nets twinedfrom grass, reeds,andbark

Trade There is no record oftrade between Tasmanian cieties nor between Tasmanians and peoples of Australia orotherPacific islands

so-Division of Labor Men made the wood and stone tools,hunted forlargeanimals, andfought in wars with other islandsocieties Womendid mosteverythingelse, includingbuild-ingthe windbreaks and huts, gathering water, and huntingpossums byscalingtrees

Land Tenure Weapons, ornaments, and other objectscould be ownedindividually, though there was no individualownership of land.Evidence suggests that each community ineach society controlled access to a 300- to 5,600-square-kilometerterritory Useof another community's land withoutpermission was theprimary cause ofwar, particularly betweencommunities fromdifferent societies

Kinship, Marriage and Family

Little is known about Tasmanian kinship and kinshipterminology

Marriage Marriage was evidentlycommunity exogamousandmany men captured wives from othercommunities Ar-ranged marriages are alsoreported Most marriages were mo-nogamous, although older men might have more than onewife Divorce was allowed, and widows were considered theproperty ofthe society into which they married, suggestingthegenerally lower status afforded women than men.Domestic Unit The monogamous or polygynous family(perhaps withan additional relative) was the basic residen-tial,production, and consumption unit Early reports suggestlarge families, with later accounts noting frequent abortionand infanticide after contact with Europeans

Socialization Children were cared for primarily by theirmothers Bothparents were indulgent and physical punish-ment wasnotused The major childhood task for boys andgirls was tomaster the hunting,collecting, climbing, building,andmanufacturing skills they would need as adults Atpu-berry, boys were initiated through a ceremony involving

.Tauade 317

scarification,naming, andthe presentationofafetish stone

Thereevidentlywas nocomparable ceremony forgirls

Sociopolitical Organization

Asnotedabove,theterm'Tasmanians"refers to anunknown

number of groups or societies The societies had no formal

leadersnorweretheylandholdingorwar-making units Each

society was composed ofa number of named communities

which were furthersubdividedintohouseholds Each society

had from five to fifteen communities (with from thirty to

eighty related members in each), which were the basic

landholding andwar-makingunitsand were ledbyanolder

manrenowned for hishuntingability, althoughheprobably

had little authority exceptduring warfare Community

affilia-tion wasexpressedthroughsharedmyths, dances,songs, and

hairstyle Affiliationwith othercommunitieswithin the

soci-etywasweak, eventhoughitwasexpressedbyareluctance to

fightagainst affiliated communities andagreaterwillingness

toallow those communities access to community land The

aged were afforded someprestige,and thereis some evidence

of threeage grades formales,with ceremonialmarkingof

pas-sage into a new agegrade

Social Control In theabsence of centralized leadership,

social order was maintained by the community Individual

disputes wereoften settledbythrowing-stickduelsand

viola-tionsof customs werepunished bygroupridicule

Transgres-sionsagainst the community werepunishedbyhurlingspears

atthe stationary offenderwhocould try tododgethemonly

by twisting hisbodyoutof the way

Conflict Warbetween communities from different

socie-ties is reported to have been common, although this may

re-flect only thepostcontact situation Trespassing and stealing

a woman were the major reasons for war, which consisted

mostly of surpriseattacksand skirmishes andrarely produced

more than one death

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs. Tasmanianreligiousbeliefsfocused on

ghostsandtheir influence onthe affairsof theliving While

they might occasionallybe considered beneficial, spirits of

thedeadweremostlyfearedandthoughttobe the source of

much harm and suffering Consequently, burialspots were

avoided and the names ofthe dead tabooed They also

be-lievedincategories of spirits morepowerful thanghosts,

in-cluding a thunderdemon,amoonspirit, and harmful spirits

who occupied dark places such as caves and tree trunks

Magic and witchcraft were important and death and sickness

were alwaysattributed to theaction ofevil spirits or

witch-craft The bones of the dead andcertainstoneswerebelieved

to be imbued with protective, curative, or malevolentpowers

Ceremonies. Communitydanceswere animportant form

ofsocial,religious andartisticexpression.Mendanced until

collapse, whilewomenkepttimewith sticksandrolled-bark

drums Religious danceswereopenonlytothemen;women

evidentlyhadsecretdances of theirownemphasizingwom

men's activities such as digging rootsornursinginfants.The

in-itiation ceremony forboysandtheage-gradeceremonies were

ofconsiderablesocialimportance.Ceremoniesmarkingbirth

and marriage areunreported, althoughdeath was markedas

discussed below

Reliiu Practitioners Part-time shamans used bleed.ing,sucking,baths,massage,andvegetalremedies to cureill-ness or treat injuries They also relied onthe supernatural,whichthey reached through possessiontrance and arattlemade from a dead man's bones

Arts In addition to dances, the Tasmanians decoratedtrees and their huts with charcoal figuresofpeopleandob-

jects and sang of the heroic deeds of the singers andtheir

an-cestors.Themostelaborate form of artistic expression wasserved forbodyadornment Mencolored theirhairandskinwith charcoal, clay, and grease and both sexes worecoloredfeathers and flowers in their hair Both sexes also scarifiedtheirextremitiesand rubbed charcoal in toproducerows ofdark scars

re-Deat and Afterlife The deceased was disposed of asquickly as possible, usually bycremation and then burial ofthe bones and ashes,althoughsomebonesmight beretained

to be worn byrelatives.During the night of the burial, thetirecommunity assembled around the grave, wherethey satandwaileduntil dawn Widows cut and burned theirbodiesand cut off their hairandplaced it on thegrave.Eachpersonwasbelieved to have a soul which lived on after death as aghost Theafterworldwasthough to be much like the realworld, except forthe absence of evil

en-BMiliography

Jones, Rhys (1974).'TasmanianTribes."InAboriginalTribes

ofAustralia, edited by N B.Tindale Berkeley: University ofCalifornia Press

Roth,Henry L (1890).TheAborigines ofTasmania London:Kegan Paul, Trench, Trfibner

"Tauade."

Location. The Tauade live in the Goilala Subprovince ofthe Central Province of Papua New Guinea, mainly in thevalley of the Aibala River, at 8' S, 147° E The elevations ofthis valley range from 600 to 3,000 meters; the lowerslopesaregrassland,produced byprolongedburning, and theupperslopes are forested Rainfall averages 254 centimeters peryear,humidity is seldom below 75 percent, and the yearly av-eragetemperature at 2,100 meters 18° C The main rainy sea-son lasts from thebeginning of December until the end of

318 Tauade

May, andthe months ofJuneto September tendtobe the

driest

Demography. In1966,thepopulationof the Tauade

cen-susdistrictswas8,661.The precontactpopulationwas

proba-bly smaller A number of Tauade have migrated to Port

Moresby in recentyears

linguisticAffiliation TheTauadelanguage is amember

of the Goilalan FamilyofPapuan languages.

History and Cultural Relations

ThefirstrecordedEuropeanvisitor was Fr.V.M.Egidiof the

SacredHeart Missioninabout 1906,andthe firstpatrol by

the Australian governmentwas in 1911 Pacification of the

areawas averyslow process andwasnotfully accomplished

untilafter World War II The Sacred HeartMissioncame to

the area in the 1930s and established aschoolatKerau in

1939 The government established aschool atTapini, the

Subprovince headquarters, in 1962 Graded tracks,

con-structed under the supervision of the mission, extend

throughout the Subprovince, but thereis novehicular road

link with the coast Anairstrip wasbuiltatTapiniin 1938

and anotherat Kerau in 1967; they providethemain access

to Port Moresby, approximately 50 kilometers away There

hasbeenconsiderablelabormigrationandaninflux of trade

goods, notably steel axes and other tools, and alternative

sourcesoffood,suchas rice.Governmentincentives to raise

cattleasaform ofincomehavegenerallybeenunsuccessful

Local councils wereestablishedin1963,andinthefollowing

yearelectionswereheld for the nationalHouseofAssembly

Papua New Guinea received itsindependence in 1975

Settlements

The typical settlement pattern is one of scattered hamlets

with an average population offorty-five and about fifteen

houses (fewer today), often located on the crests ofridges

near the forest line The houses, arranged in two parallel

rows, accommodate thewomenandchildren, while married

menand bachelorsoccupythe men's houseattheheadofthe

two rows.Inmodem times, men's houses have mostly fallen

into disuse Inprecolonialdays, eachhamletwassurrounded

by astockade The space between the housesisused forfeasts

and dances The housesareoftenprotected bywindbreaks of

Cordyline terninalis Hamlets are only occupied for a few

years in succession, though the sites themselves are often

reoccupied periodically for a long time Large villages with

seventyormore houses arebuiltfor ceremonial purposes, but

they areonly occupied fora fewmonths

Economy

Subsistenceand CommercialAtctivities TheTauadeare

swiddenhorticulturalists whose main source of food is the

sweetpotato, ofwhichtheygrowatleasttwenty-twovarieties

They alsogrow bananas, sugarcane, someyams,anda little

taro Pandanus nuts, however, are avery important

supple-ment totheirdiet, sincetheycan bepreserved bysmoking

Pigs arekept,roaminginthe forestand bush, often destroy

inggardens,and returningtotheir owners' homesatnightfor

a meal of sweet potatoes Gardens are prepared when the

rains cease, and strong fencesareconstructed around them to

keep outthe pigs The ground for gardens is cleared by fire

and, nowadays, with steel axes In the past, stoneadzes andwoodendiggingsticksweretheonly tools The preferredarea

for gardensis thesecondary rather than the primary forest,butgrassland is seldom used There is an ample supply ofland, thepopulation density beingapproximately 7.7 personsper squarekilometer Thepandanustree isthemainsourceofhouse-building materials: its outer bark is easilystripped offforplanks; itsleaves,when dry, areanideal roofingmaterial;

anditsaerialrootssupply toughbindingsfor the framework

of the house.Itislikelythathunting-for small animals, sowaries, andpigs-andcollecting were much more impor-

cas-tant inthe past thanthey aretoday

Industrial Arts Inthe past, stone was used to make adzesand bark-cloth beaters Stone has beenreplaced bysteel, andbark cloth by imported textiles String bags are still madefrom local plant fibers No pottery was made, and green bam-bootubes were the only cooking vessels Bows were madefromblack palm, while bamboo is used for tobacco pipes and

as asimple drum,soundedbydropping theendofthe tubeon

the ground In general, the traditional material culture wasextremelysimple

Trade There was little or no contact with the tribes on thesouth coast of Papua, but feathers were traded for variousshells-and, later, steel-along a route through Fuyughecountrythat ended at the upper reaches of the Waria River inNew Guinea Steel tools were already being used in theAibalaValley at the time of Egidi's visit in 1906

Division of Labor Men are responsible for felling trees,clearing land for gardens, erecting fences, climbing thepandanus trees to cutdown the nuts, and house building.Men plant taro, yams, sugarcane, bananas, and tobacco.Women plant sweet potatoes, and most of the work in thegardens is done by women, who also carry the harvestedpandanus nuts home intheir string bags and collect driedpandanus leaves tobringto a hamletwherea new house isbeing built Women also care for the pigs

LandTenure There are roughly demarcated areas of landbelonging to each clan, and it is said that the clan ancestorswho firstcleared the forest thereby established theirowner-ship of the land and passed on these rights to theirdescen-dants But permission to use clan land has been given tomanycognates, affines, and friends over the course of time,andthis practice has thus also established inheritable rights

of use Customary rights to make gardens on the land of aclanthat is not one's own need to be exercisedfrom time totime if they are tobe respected In practice, therefore, sincethere is anabundance ofland and since use rights have been

so diffused,people are able to make gardens withable freedom Gardens are made by groups of friends, andoftendifferent groups will be involved in making gardenssi-multaneously There are no clearly bounded plots of landowned byindividuals that can be inherited Rights of use inland are also transmitted through women, so that men maymake use of the land rights of their wives and mothers.Pandanustrees are owned and inherited in a totally differentmannerfrom land Here the laws of ownership hold-as op-posedtorights of use-and the model of hereditary, clearlydemarcated plots ofland can be applied quite realistically.The pandanus forests are composed of many named areas,

consider-Tauade 319

and within these areasaretheplots of the owners markedby

Cordyline atstrategicintervals

Kinship

KinGroups and Descent Thereis noword in theTauade

language to denote "kin" asdistinct from affineorcognate

Noraretheregenetictermsfor'clan"or"lineage,"butthere

are named groups of kin, traditionally descended from a

founding group of ancestors, that it is appropriate to call

clans,and the reckoningofdescentispatrilineal Thisisnot,

however, a strict, juralprinciple,but ratheritseems tobea

re-suit of the fact that influence and cooperationareorganized

intermsof socialrelationships between people.Soitis

possi-blefor a person to claimmembershipinmorethanoneclan

Clans notonlyclaim tracts ofland;eachclanhasacave in

which the bones of ancestorsweredeposited (Today, burial

incemeteries iscompulsory.) Veryfew marriages takeplace

withinclans, andhomicidewithin clans seems not to occur

Clansarenotformally subdividedintolineages, although

im-portant ancestorswithinthe clan aregenealogicalreference

points fortheirdescendants

KinshipTerminology Theterminologyisofthe Iroquois

type

Marriage and Family Marriage. About 10percentofmenhavemorethanone

wife; relations between cowives are frequently hostile, and

only men of high status succeed in maintaining stable,

polygynousunions By farthe greatest proportion ofdivorces

occur as the resultofmen takingsecondwives First mar.

riagesarearranged bythewoman's fatherorbrother,andthe

ideal form of marriageissisterexchange,though this idealis

uncommon inpractice Infantbetrothalwascustomary and

themarriagewascompletedwhenthe girlattained maturity

Bride-wealthwaspaidatthistimeandcontinues tobean

im-portantfeatureof marriage Adulteryisextremelycommon,

andcompensationisoften offered andaccepted bythe

hus-band, but some men attackadulterersiftheycatch themin

the act Patrilocality is the dominant form of marital

resi-dence, but itisnormalforamantolivewith his wife's

rela-tives forseveralyearstoestablish goodrelations withthem

Only about 20 percent of marriagesarewithinthe'tribe"(see

the section onsocialorganization),and whilesomeof these

marriages arebetweenmembersoffairlyhostiletribes,

inter-marriage tends tobeinhibitedby a highlevel ofhostility

Domestic Unit Thebasicunitofproductionand

cooper-ation is thenuclearfamily.

Inheritance Therearenoboundedplotsofland thatcan

be treated as privateproperty; housesareimpermanent;anda

man's pigs areslaughtered at his funeral feast.Pandanustrees

aretheonlyreal property of anysignificancethatcanbe

in-herited Normally this inheritanceisthroughthemale

line-though men may also inherit use rights through their

mothers-butifamanhasnosons, histreesmay beinherited

by a daughter

Socializaton. Parents arekindandindulgenttotheir

chil-dren,and relations withinthefamilyarecloseand

affection-ate Inthetraditionalsociety,boysatpubertyweresubjectto

seclusion forafewmonths, duringwhichtheywerebeatento

makethemfierce Somechildren now attend the mission orgovernment schools

conve-inmanycasesbig-menarethe sons,grandsons, or nephews offormerbig-men, whose places they are said totake Ceremo-nial exchange of pork isvery important in Tauade society,and big-mentake a leading part in this practice, buttheyarenotthe managerial figures described in the ethnography ofhighlandNewGuinea Some of them were warleaders, butthis position was not essential to becoming a big-man At theotherend of thesocial scale are"rubbishmen," who areusu-

ally bachelors (because they are unable to attract wives),poor, and regarded as mean anduseless members of society

Intraditional times, they werekilled withrelative impunity,unlike thebig-menwhose deaths always producedlarge-scale

vengeance

Social Control Big-men have no judicialauthority, andwhiletheymaybe able to persuade a supporter to pay com-pensation, they havenoauthoritytosettledisputes.Disagree-

ments are extremely frequent, since the Tauade are very tive to insult, and there was ahighlevel of violence in thetraditional society over pigs, women, theft, and otherprovo-

sensi-cations In the caseofdisputes within the family, the relatives

ofthehusband and wife may try tomakepeace, and residence

in the same hamlet restrains disputes fairly effectively. Aman's fellow residents will support him if he has a disputewithsomeone of another hamlet or of a different tribe, andtheymayeven accompany him if he goes to get redress for astolenwifeor pig They will also put pressure on him to paycompensation ifhe istheguilty partyin adispute, andthey

do not feel obliged to risk afight to defend him in such cases

If a man isinjured in some way, he maytakeimmediate cal revenge,delayretribution for years,orask forcompensa-tion Inthecaseofadultery, such compensation is often paid,but thereisno wayof legally enforcing claims to compensa-tion except through government courts Those who are onbad terms avoidone anotherand live in different hamlets,

physi-320 Tauade

andthese hostilities are often long-standing,so that when the

Tauade are askedwhy theydo notlive in asingle

village-whichwouldbe quitepracticable-they reply'because of our

ancestors." Inthe case ofhomicide,themurderer often flees

to hiswife's ormother's tribe andstays there until tempers

cool,atwhichtimeheoffers compensation; if thisrestitution

isacceptedhe mayreturn to hisowntribe

Conflict In thetraditional society, the murderratewasap

proximately 1 in 200per yearorevenhigher,and there was

al-most asmuchkilling,violence,and theft within the tribesas

there wasbetween them Proximity was theprincipal cause of

this: adjacent tribesonthe same side ofariverfoughtmost

often; tribes on oppositesidesofariverfoughtless;andtribes

on opposite sides of the forested mountain ridges fought

least A man whohad killedanotherwasentitledto weara

shell homicide emblemonhisforehead, andthis medal was

much admired by women A man might take vengeance

againstanymemberof atribe that had killedamember of his

owntribe (oroneofhisfriendsorrelatives inany other tribe)

sothatthereweremanyoccasionsfor vengeance Those

se-lected as victims were usuallyweakorinsignificant persons

whosekillingcouldbereadily settled by an offer of

compensa-tion;grudgeswererememberedfor many years.Thekillingof

abig-mancouldstartfull-scalewarbetweentribes, in which

hamletswereburned, gardensdestroyed,andmanydeaths

in-flicted Members of a tribe thatwaslosingsuchawarmight

disperse to livewiththeir relatives inneighboringtribes,and

it was common to show hospitality to those driven out of

their tribal land But tribesusually returnedtotheir land after

ayear or two, andlandconquestwas not afeatureof Tauade

warfare The bodies of slain enemies from other tribes were

ofteneaten, ortheyweremutilatedtocausedistresstotheir

relatives

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs The relationship between the 'wild"

(kariari), and the "tame" ordomesticated (vala), is

funda-mental tothe worldview ofthe Tauade The forestis

repre-sentedinmythasthe antisocialoppositetovillage life,but it

is notmerely the destructive alternativetothe social

order-and it is the source oflife andofcreativity ingeneral The

Tauadehave no beliefs in anykindofgod,but theirelaborate

mythologyisconcerned with the culture heroes,agotevaun,

who aresupposedto haveinhabited thecountryand carved

out thevalleys before the firsthuman emergedfrom arock

The agotevaun were preeminently figuresbelonging to the

wild, withsuperhuman powers which they used to kill and

tormenthumans,but they also instructedhumansin

ceremo-nies,customs, and themakingofartifacts.InTauademyths,

women areportrayed as theinventors andsustainers of cul

ture through fire, cooking, betel nuts, string bags, and the

usefularts, while men areportrayedasbasically destructive

Each natural species ofplant and animal is sustainedbya

su-pernatural prototype, oftenintheformofarock, and if this

prototype weredestroyed the species would die out The

big-men are thought to partake in some aspects of this power,

whichemerges in generation after generation to sustain the

people Intraditional times, when abig-mandied hisbody

was placed in a sacred enclosure, hidden from women, in

which a bullroarer wasswung The sameenclosure was also

used for the initiation ofboys,ifsuitablenumbers were ready

for it Seclusion lasted for three or four months; theboys werefedspecial foodtomakethemtough.Theydancedinside theenclosure andwerebeaten withnettlestomake themfierce.The cult of the dead wasextremelyimportant Bodies ofbig-men were placed in elevated baskets within the hamlets torot, while the bodies ofordinarypeople were buried Whendecompositionwascompleteand the bones andskulls werecollected, a great feast and dance was organized and thebones of the dead were carried in the dance to honor theghosts The bones of big-men were then deposited in thebranches ofoak treesand thoseofordinarypeople inoneofthe clan bone caves The Tauade also believe ina number ofspirits, almost all of which are malevolent and which inhabitstreams, rocks, trees, and other natural features

Religious Praiioners Some men are supposed to bepowerfulsorcerers, but there isnosocialcategory of sorcerer

or diviner Some use is madeof magicalsubstancesandspells,but the practice of magic is not an important aspect ofTauade life

Ceremonies Theelements ofTauade ceremonies include:the killingofpigs; the distribution of pork andgardenpro-duce, especiallyyams, taro, and pandanus nuts; speeches; anddancing (when guests from other tribes are invited) Smallceremonies areheld within thetribe for various rites of pas-sage, especiallyatdeath,butthelargest and most importantceremonies arethelargepigkillingsorganized by the wholetribe to honor their dead These rituals are arranged by thebig-men, who invite manyothertribes (often hostile) Thusthere is astronglyagonistic quality in these occasions, as thehosts try to impress their guestsbytheirgenerosity,thesplen-dorof the dancevillage and men's house, and the speeches ofthebig-men (in the native language,"tomake aspeech" is lit-erally 'toboast") Dancing that lasts all night is afeature ofsuch occasions, as a means bywhich hosts and guests com-pete indisplays of stamina, and the ceremony concludes withthe slaughter oflarge numbers ofpigs Elaborate platformsarebuiltfor thespeeches,and the dancevillages fortheseoc-

casions may have more thanseventyhouses,with avery largeand decorated men's house

Arts The use offeatherornaments in dances is the onlysignificantexpression of visual art among the Tauade Sing-ing is also a prominent feature ofdances They are familiarwith a largevarietyofstringfigures, which are a verypopularform ofamusement

Medicine Traditionally, plants were used as abortifacientsand for the treatment of somediseases, and there were also anumber of magical remedies

Death and Afterlife Tauade believe that a person sists of flesh,energy or strength, and a soul, which becomes aghost afterdeath, while flesh rots and energy disappears Theworld of the ghosts in someaccounts is a reversal of the world

con-of the living Their food stinks,theysleep in the dayand wake

up at night, and so on Ghosts areencountered in dreams butnot apparently in waking life There is no belief that theghosts of big-men and rubbish men go to different placesafterdeath

See alsoMafulu, Mekeo

Telefolmin 321

Bibliography

Egidi,V M.(1907).-LaTribili di Tauata."Anthropos

2:675-681, 1009-1021

Hallpike, C.R (1977).Bloodshed andVengeance inthe

Pap-uanMountains: The Generationof ConflictinTauadeSociety

Oxford: Clarendon Press

C R HALIPIKE

Telefolmin

ETHNONYMS: Kelefomin, Kelefoten,Telefol, Telefomin

OrientationIdentification Telefolmin are one ofa group of related

peoplesknown asthe MountainOk or'Min" (afterthecom.

mon suffixforgroup names) Populartraditions derive the

namefrom Telefolip, the ancestralvillageofallTelefolmin,

whichwasfounded by the culture heroineAfek

Location. Telefolmin livein the southernportion ofthe

Sandaun (or WestSepik) Province ofPapua New Guinea

atut 141°30' E, 5° S There are two mainsubgroupings of

Telefolmin in the Upper Sepikand Donner (or Elip) river

valleys,withasmalloutlyinggroupalongthe Nena(or Upper

Frieda) River

Demography The totalpopulation isabout 4,000,

con-centratedintheUpperSepikandDonnerrivervalleys Since

1982much of the adult malepopulationhasbeenworking at

theOkTedimining project inthe Western Province

linguistic Affiliation Telefol belongs to the Mountain

Ok Subfamily of the Ok Family of Non-Austronesian

languages

History and Cultural Relations

Warfarewithneighboring peopleswasoften intense,andin

the nineteenth century the Telefolmin waged a successful

campaign ofannihilation against the fligimin, whose lands

they settled Contacts with Europeans date from the early

part of this century butonlybecamesignificantafter theU.S

Army Air Force builtan emergencyairstripinIfitamanduring

WorldWar II Thepostwaradministrationestablisheda

pa-trol post atthis site, with the firstmissionfollowinginthe

early1950s.By 1953an accumulationofgrievancesledto an

attempted rebellion, which resulted in the deaths ofsome

governmentpersonneland theimprisonmentofanumber of

local men. Telefolmin entered the cash economy through

participation inplantationlabor. Mineralexploration inthe

early 1970s gave rise to hopes forprosperity thatgrewwith

national independencein1975.In1974-1975a newform of

spiritmediumship emerged,culminatinginthe OkBembem

cult aimed at reestablishing contact with the dead Ok

Bembemsubsided,butit wasfollowed in 1978-1979bythe

Rebaibal,an evangelistic movementinspired by female medi

umspossessed by the HolySpirit Rebaibal resultedinthestruction of men's culthouses (with thesignificantexception

de-ofTelefolip) Rebaibal's goals includedconversion to

Chris-tianity,closertiesbetween menandwomen,theabrogation

of traditionalcult practices, and thelegitimationofthe saleofpork for cash This movement coincided with the introduc-

tion of cash crops and the announcement of plans to goahead withlarge-scalemininginthearea.Withtheinaugura-tionof theOk Tedi project in the early 1980s, large numbers

of men left their villages for the high wages offered atthe

Economy

Subsistence andCommercialActivities Swidden vation of taro and a number of subsidiary crops(induding ba-nanas, sweet potatoes, pandanus, andcassava) provide thebasis ofsubsistence,supplemented by pig husbandry, hunt-ing,and casualcollecting.Animportantfeatureof the tradi-tionaleconomywas aseries oftaboos prescribingdifferentialpatternsof food distribution These taboos wereabrogated inthe Rebaibal movement-a response, in part, to dilemmasposedbythe anticipatedinflux of cash associated with coppermining Traditionalshell valuables tended to circulate mainly

culti-in bride-wealth and mortuary payments or in interethnictrade Results of cash cropping(coffeeandchilies)have beendisappointing, largelybecause ofpoormarketaccess (thereare noroad linkstotheoutside).The chief source of cash forTelefolminhas been migratory labor, whether on plantations

inother parts of the country or, more recently, at the Ok Tedimine.Nowadays, villagepeople(including women) raise cashthroughthe sale ofpork Small trade stores are common, butonly a few localentrepreneurs have had success in business.Industrial Arts Traditionalindustrial arts involve housebuilding and carving The houses are built on slender pileswithelevated floors and thatched roofs, normally with a pair

ofbakedclay hearths set in the floor Techniques for fencebuilding and house building are similar (walls are fences).Men make arrows that are carved and painted, as are warshields and door boards In the past, men made woven canecuirasses, asfound in other parts of New Guinea Most vil-lages have at leastoneortwo returned mine employees whoareskilled in carpentry,andmany of these menearnsupple-mentary cashbybuilding new-style houses

Trade Most Telefol trade was conducted with theFaiwolmin (Fegolmin) tothe south and the Atbalmin to thewest, with the former playing a larger role There was occa-

322 Telefolmin

sionaltradewiththeWopkaimintothesouthwest,butonlyif

Telefol tradersfirstpassed throughFaiwol territory,sincethe

directroutetowardsWopkaimincountrywasblockedbythe

Tifalmin, enemies of the Telefolmin For the Telefolmin,

trade and warfareweregenerally incompatible, sotherewas

virtuallynoexchangebetweenTelefolmin and theirenemies

(Miyanmin, Tifalmin, Falamin, Enkayaakmin, etc.) After

the cessation ofwarfare, Telefolmin began intensive trade

withtheTifalminandWopkaimin,sincethelatterwere on a

directroute tothepathof shellsmakingtheir wayintothe

in-terior from the southcoast viaNingerum

Division of Labor Both sexes participate in gardening,

thoughtodifferingextent.Menaretraditionally responsible

forforestclearance andfencing,while womenand children

bear the majorburden ofweeding Plantingand harvesting

aredonebybothsexesandbyyoungand oldalike.Pig rearing

isprimarilyawoman'stask, as isthe collection offrogsand

othersmallfauna;huntingisamale occupation.With the

ad-vent of OkTedi, however, huntinghasvirtually lapsed asa

subsistence pursuit, while pig rearing has beendramatically

intensifiedwith the sale ofporkfor cash.Giventhehigh level

of maleabsenteeism,manypreviouslymasculinetasksare

ei-therbeingabandonedor are nowtakenupbywomen.Thusit

has become common forwomen toclear theirowngardens

without male assistance, andgardensareonlyrarelyfenced

Older people andwomen gain access to cashthrough pork

sales, bride-wealth payments, and remittances from mine

workers

Land Tenure Rightsto garden land in named tracts of

bushareconferredeitherbyfirstclearanceorbilateral

inheri-tance Both menand womenhaveindependentland rights

that mustbe maintainedby repeated clearance and

cultiva-tion.Theserightsareindividualized,andthereare no

collec-tive blocks ofland, although fullsiblings have similar

pat-temsofholdings.Because Telefolagricultureputsapremium

oncultivation indifferent altitudinal zones,mostpeoplehave

claimsscatteredinseveral differentlocations.Claimstoland

in respect to hunting are much more diffuse and apply to

large stretches ofbush vaguely associated with villages or

clustersofvillages Disputes overhunting rights were

tradi-tionally a sourceoftensionbetween Telefolmin and

neigh-boringpeoples

Kinship

KinGroups and Descent Therearenamedand

overlap-ping cognatic stocks; these stocks are nonlocalized and

nonexogamousand have no corporate features apart froma

commontale of origin.Although villageendogamy produces

inwardly reticulating kin networks, there are no formal kin

groupings as such Maleaction sets arereferred to as niinggil,

nationally"brothers.'Incestregulationsaredefined with

ref-erence to the bilateral kindred within first-cousin range

There are ritual moieties associated withthemen's cult, but

they operate independently of kinship

KinshipTerminology Telefol kinterminology is a vari

antofthe Iroquoian typeinthatitdepartsfrom usual forms

by differentiating patrilateral from matrilateral parallel

cous-ins Terms for the first ascending generation are

bifurcate-collateral, with parents' same-sex siblings differentiated by

seniority Siblingsaredifferentiatedbysexand seniority and

aredistinguished fromcousins Thereare separateterms forthreetypesofcousin:patrilateral parallelcousins,matrilateralparallelcousins,andcross cousins.All kin ofdescending gen-

erations aredesignated byasingleterm,thoughoptional

dis-tinctions canbemade.Inadditiontothese terms, Telefolminalsoemploymorecomplextermsforvaryingcombinations ofindividual kin

Marriage and Family

Marriage Traditionally, marriage wasby sister exchangeaccompanied byasmall bride-wealth ofshellsmatched bya

return paymentof pork Marriages were ideally between low villagers, though intervillage marriages sometimes oc-curred Divorcewasrelatively easy and frequent, withanat-tempt toallocate children equally to the mother and fatherafter separation There has beenaprogressive trendtowardsmonetization ofbride-wealth, while government policies for-bidding coercion ofbrideshavemade sisterexchangedifficult

fel-to enforce Contemporary marriages are less likely to havebeenarranged thaninthe past, oftentake place between vil-lages (with virilocalresidence), andalmost always include abride-wealth ranging from several hundred to several thou-sand kina (onekina-approximately $1.50 U.S.) in value.Domestic Unit Thedomestic unit is a two-generation nu-clearfamily,usuallyallied with another such family to form ajointhousehold;dwellinghouses normally have two hearths,onefor eachfamily.The componentfamilies of a joint house-hold are most often related through brother-sister or brother-brother links Despite common residence, the families of ajointhousehold have separate sets of land rights and form in-dependent productive units

Inheritance Rights to garden sites are bilaterally ited, with an equal division between siblings of both sexes.Childrenmayinprincipleinherit shellvaluables andpigs,butthese items tend to be dispersed to more distantly relatedclaimants in thecourse of mortuary rites Noclear precedenthas emerged for the inheritance of modem houses built ofpermanent materials

inher-Socialization Early socialization is in the hands of ers, although fathers and elder siblings (especially sisters)also play a role in caring for smallchildren Girls grow intoadult rolesearly.Traditionally,boys underwent a series ofini-tiationsfrom the age of about 7 until their late twenties; theseinitiations had been discontinued for some time, but theywere revived inthe late 1980s Since the 1970s a number ofchildrenattendpublic schools, and there are signs ofincreas-ingdifferentiation between school-educated Telefolmin andothers

moth-Sociopolitical Organization

Papua New Guinea is an independent country with aWestminster form of government Telefolmin and theirneighbors are represented by elected members at national andprovincial levels

Social Organization Theendogamous village is the basicunit of social organization and was traditionally tied to the

Telefolmin 323

men'scult, whichwasstructuredintermsofinitiationlevels

and ritual moieties In contrasttootherNewGuinea

socie-ties,exchangetraditionally playedaminorroleinintergroup

relations,whichwereinsteadorganizedthroughmale

initia-tionscenteredonTelefolip.Today,church groupsare

impor-tant atthevillageandintervillagelevel.Traditional social

or-ganization emphasized egalitarian values associated with a

community differentiated by ritual knowledge rather than

wealth,andone issue nowfacing Telefolsocietyisthe

accom-modationof wealth differences within smallcommunities.At

present,thegeneraltendencyseems tobetoemphasize

con-jugaltiesand the nudearfamily whilerestrictingtheclaimsof

less closelyrelated kin

Political Organization There are noformalpolitical

of-fices at the local levelapartfrom electedvillage councillors

andward committeemembers,who have only marginal

influ-ence on village affairs In the past prominent men

(kamookim) heldsomesway, particularlyinfights with

ene-mies, but even their influence was minimaL Despite this,

Telefolmindisplayeda remarkable degree of unity, whichis

largely attributable to common ritual ties to Telefolip

Telefolminwereunusual among NewGuineapeoplesfor

for-bidding warfare within their ethnic group; however, they

oftencombineden masseagainst outsideenemies, as inthe

case of the extermination ofthe Iligimin More recently,

Telefolmin have spearheaded movements toward the

cre-ationofa 'pan-Min" political identityinnegotiationswith

the central government concerningthe OkTedimine

SocialControl There is little exercise of authority, even

onthe part of parentsoverchildren,and socialcontrolisfor

themost partinformally managedthroughshame and

with-drawal of reciprocity Tact ishighly prized,andpeopleavoid

givingoffensefor fear of sorcery.Intravillage disputes

gener-ally gounaired; the partiesmerelyavoid eachotheruntil

mat-terscooldown

Conflict Traditionally, warfare only took place between

Telefolmin and other ethnic groups (especially Falamin,

Tifalmin, Miyanmin, and the now-defunct Iligimin)

Ten-sionsbetween Telefolvillages sometimeseruptedinto

brawl-ing,but moreoften it surfacedinsorcerysuspicions.Violence

between fellow villagers was and is rare The government

holds village councillors responsible for reporting trouble

cases, but such reportsaremadeonlywhen all elsefails

Religion and Expressive Culture

Since the late 1970s the majority of Telefolmin practice a

local version of BaptistChristianity.Someolder men,and

es-pecially the villagers ofTelefolip, however, adhereto

tradi-tionalreligious practices

Religious Beihef Traditional ritual knowledge is

parti-tionedalong lines of sex, age, and ritual moietyaffiliation;

cultsecrecy ishighly developed, with the result that thereis

greatvariationinbelief The divisionincultloreparallelsa

ritualdivision oflabor, with theTaromoietyresponsiblefor

lifepromoting(gardening, pigrearing) while theArrow

moi-ety is responsible for lifetaking (warfare andhunting) The

two most important cosmological figures are Afek and

Magalim, the Bush Spirit.Afekfounded Telefol culture and

themen's cult, and she leftalegacyofmythsand rituals She

isclosely identifiedwiththe central cult houseatTelefolip,

whichisheldtogovern thefertilityoftarogardens outthe region.Butwhile Afek diedlongago,Magalimcon-

through-tinuestoplayan active roleinTelefol lifeby disrupting theexpected pattern ofthings.Christians espouse beliefinGodthe Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit, who intervenes in

human affairsthroughmediums.Althoughmanybeliefs rounding Afek seem to have been relegated to the past,Magalim remainsactive inTelefolthought.He iscapable ofassuming many forms, includingposing as the Holy Spirit,and heisofteninterpreted byChristiansasamanifestationofthe deviL

sur-Religiotu Practitioners Ritual experts officiated in themen'scultonthe basis ofesotericknowledge;outside ofthecult, seers or divinersdiagnosed illness and sorcery Nowa-days villagechurchesarepresidedoverbypastors,andanum-

ber ofwomen act asdivinersand mediums forthe Holy Spirit.Sorcerersarefeared,arealmostalways unidentified,andaregenerallythoughttobelongtoother Telefolvillages.Ceremonies Traditionalreligionrevolves around a com-plexseriesofmaleinitiations.Seniorrites wereperformed atTelefolip, where theyhaverecentlybeen revivedafter a longhiatus AU Telefolmin, pagan or Christian, also celebrateChristmas,which coincides withthe return of mine workers

totheirhome villagesfor the holidays

Arts Carvedand paintedshieldsand house boards are themost prominent forms of visual art Men's arrow shafts areoftenintricatelycarved and sometimespainted, and women'snet bags are locally renowned for their quality Althoughsome individuals arebetteratthese things than others, nocraft specialization exists apart from the sexual division oflabor

Medicine Minorailmentsaretreatedby heating the bodywith warm stones, rubbingwithnettles, and avoiding foodsthoughtresponsible foraparticularcomplaint More seriousillnesses are attributed to sorcery, violation of food taboos,cult spirits punishingmisconduct,attacks by the Bush Spirit(Magalim) or,nowadays, theHolySpirit.Such matters wereusually determined by diviners; since the Rebaibal, femalemediumsalsodiagnose illnessand often prescribe a course oftreatmentinvolving prayer andchanges in the patient's pat-tem of activities Mostvillagesarealso inclose proximity torural aid postswhere routineproblems are dealt with Moredifficult cases are brought to the government hospital or theBaptist maternityclinic

Death andAfterlife Burial was by exposure on a raisedplatform, often in or near agardenofthe deceased Tradi-tional ideasholdthatghostsdepart for an underground land

ofthe dead, wheretheyhavenofurther contact with the ing Thosekilledinwarfare, however, were inimical to the liv-ingand returnedasfruit batstoraid gardens In addition, thebones of noted warriors, gardeners, and pig rearers were re-trieved as men'scultrelics Theserelics were the locus of thespirits who voluntarily remained among the livingtopromotevillage welfare in return for pig sacrifices and the observance

liv-of food taboos The Australianadministration prohibited posure burial inthe 1950s, and since thenTelefolminhaveburied their dead in village cemeteries Contemporary beliefsassign the soulsof pagans tothetraditional land of the dead,while Christians go toheaven

ex-Seealso Miyanmin

324 Telefolmin

BibliographyCraig,B., andD Hyndman,editors (1990).The Childrenof

Afek.Tradition, Place andChangeamongtheMountainOkof

Central New Guinea Oceania Monographno. 40 Sydney:

OceaniaPublications

Jorgensen, Dan(1980).'What'sin aName:TheMeaningof

Meaninglessness inTelefolmin." Ethos 8:349-366

Jorgensen, Dan (1981) "LifeontheFringe: Historyand

So-ciety in Telefolmin." In The Plight of Peripheral People in

Papua New Guinea, editedby R Gordon, 59-79 Cultural

SurvivalOccasional Paperno 7 Cambridge, Mass

Jorgensen,Dan(1983)."MirroringNature?Men'sand

Wom-en's Models of Conception in Telefolmin." Mankind

14:57-65

Jorgensen, Dan (1985) "Femsep's Last Garden: ATelefol

Response to Mortality." In Aging and Its Transformations:

Moving toward Death in Pacific Societies, edited by D A

CountsandD Counts,203-221 Lanham:UniversityPress

Identificaton The name "Tikopia" (sometimes written

"Tucopia" by early Europeanvoyagers),given to asmall

is-landinthe Solomongroup, isalsoapplied by theinhabitants

tothemselves.Theexpression,glossedas "we,theTikopia,"is

commonly usedtodifferentiate themselvesfromthepeople

ofotherislandsin the Solomonsand elsewhere

Location Tikopiais alittle, isolated, high island, primarily

an extinctvolcano with fringingcoralreef,rising to apeakof

350metersbutextending only4.6squarekilometers Itis in

thesoutheast of the Solomons, at 168°50' E and 12°18' S

Historically, until the mid-1950s, theTikopia people

occu-piedonlythisisland Butthen,stimulatedbythepressureof

thepopulationonthefoodsupplyand byadesirefor

experi-enceofthe outside world, Tikopia people begantosettle in

groupselsewhereintheSolomons Nowthesubstantial

set-tlements abroad include Nukufero in the Russell Islands,

Nukukaisi (Waimasi) in San Cristobal, and Murivai in

Vanikoro All Tikopialivein atropicalclimate, with

altemat-ingtrade-windandmonsoon seasons; duringthelatter their

homesaresubjecttoperiodichurricanes (tropical cyclones)

Demography About half a century ago Tikopia had a

dense population, about 300 persons per square kilometer

This density caused anxiety among thepeople's leaders, whofeared foodshortages (In1952-1953afamine occurredasa

result of a tropical cyclone.) In 1929 the population was

about 1,270; by 1952 ithad risen to about 1,750 But byabout 1980, throughemigration,thepopulationonTikopiaIsland had been reduced to about 1,100, while another1,200

or soTikopia lived inthe external settlements and aroundHoniara, the capital of the Solomons There ismuch inter-change of population between the settlements andTikopiaIsland

linguisticAffiliation TheTikopiaarePolynesian inguage andculture, theirlanguagebeing assigned toaWesternPolynesian grouping But from neighboring peoples they haveacquired some Melanesian loan words aswell asother cul-turalitems.Tikopia hasnodialects.But as aresult ofexternalcontact many Tikopia now speak English and all can use

lan-pijin."

History and Cultural Relations

From recentarchaeological research itappearsthat Tikopiahas beenoccupied for about 3,000 years Threephases of tra-ditionalculture have beendistinguished The earliest (c 900

to 100B.C.) usedlocally made sand-tempered earthenware ofLapitoid type; thesecond (c 100 B.C toAD 1200) probablyimported its pottery, of more elaborate style, from the NewHebrides (Vanuatu) to the south In the latter part of thethirdphase (c.AD.1200 to 1800) no pottery was used atall.Diet changes weremarked In the first two phases pigs, fruitbats, and eels were eaten By the end of the last phase, intothe historical period (c AD 1800 to present) no pigs werekept and bats and eels were regarded with aversion as food.The third traditional phase was seemingly the result of a sepa-

rateimmigrationand boreamoremarkedly Polynesianacter It is clear that over the whole period of occupationTikopiapeoplehave had irregular, infrequent, but sustainedculturalrelationswith Polynesian and Melanesian peoples inother islandsaround, by arduous, often dangerous canoe voy-ages.European contactbegan with a sighting of the island bySpanish voyagers in 1606, and was renewed in the early nine-teenthcentury by visits of Peter Dillon and Dumont d'Urvilleandby latercalls of labor recruiters and missionaries Onlytoward the end of the century did the British governmentclaimcontrol overTikopia; this control was exercised onlyrarely until after World War II, during which Tikopia re-mained undisturbed Since then both mission and govem-ment contacts have been fairly regular, though often inter-rupted by poor seacommunication

char-SettlementsThepopulation isdistributed in more than twenty nucleatedvillages,situated around the sandy coastal strip at the base ofthehills; there is no settlement on the rocky northern coast.Houses are still oftraditional pattern, built directly on theground in rectangular shapes, with low palm-leaf thatchedroofs on a timber frame, anddoorways to be entered only onhands and knees Earth floors are covered with plaitedcoconut-palm-leaf mats Houses in avillage are set irregu-larly, in no formal pattern, with canoe sheds adjacent, givingeasy access to the sea In the settlements abroad, housing isoften of traditional style, but modem types also occur

Tikopia 325

Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities Ontheisland,

Tikopiaareprimarily agriculturalists and fishers Crops

in-clude taro (Colocasia), manioc (cassava, Manihot), giant

taro (Alocasia), and sago (Metroxylon) In thesettlements

abroad their occupations include agriculture, plantation

labor, policeandhospitalwork, andschoolteaching.Several

Tikopiamenhave become priestsintheChurch of

Melane-sia,and onehas become bishopinthedioceseofTemotu,in

theeasternSolomons Ingeneral,Tikopiahavenotengaged

in commerce

Industrial Arts Traditionally, Tikopia men practiced

crafts of canoe building and other woodwork, net making,

and extractionof turmeric pigment,while women wove mats

of coconut-palm leafand pandanus leafand beatoutfrom

the innerbarkof a tree(Antiaristoxicana) thebark-cloth

gar-ments and blankets usedbybothsexes Afew suchobjects

are nowmade for sale totouristswhotravelontherarevessels

that call at the island, but there are no industrial arts of

significance

Trade Archaeological andethnographicrecords indicate

that since archaic times Tikopia residents have engaged in

sporadic trade withneighboring island communities,

receiv-ingitemssuch as arrows andshellornamentsfrom

Melane-siansourcesandfinepandanusmatsfrom thecloselyrelated

Polynesian people ofAnuta in return for turmeric pigment

Trade with Western visitorswashistorically by barter-steel

tools, fishhooks, calico, and tobaccobeingsoughtinreturn

for local artifacts and food But nowadays money is used

freely,even in transactions among Tikopiathemselves

Division ofLabor Mendo woodwork and goseafishingin

canoes Womendo domestic work,butboth sexestend the

earth ovensforcooking.Both men and women fish the reef,

menwith spears andseinenets,womenwith handnets.In

ag-riculture,mendo theheavy workofbreakingupthesoil,both

menandwomenplant,butwomendomostof theweeding

Specialization wasrecognizedparticularlyamong men (e.g.,

in canoe building) Menalone could be priestsinthe

tradi-tionalreligion

Land Tenure All thelandofTikopiaisdividedinto

or-chards (tofi) of palms and fruittreesandintoopengardens

(vao), marked offintoplots for annual cropping Every

or-chardand gardenplot isownedasofancestralrightbya

dis-tinctlineagegroup,with titular supreme rightsexercisedby

theclan chief (Asimilar system operatesinoverseasTikopia

settlementsthat haveagricultural lands.)Within thelineage

land, rights to produce areheldbyindividualcultivators By

ancientcustom, vacantgardenland may be used foraseason

by other thanitsowners, onpaymentofaproportion of the

crop.Permanenttransfers of land fromonegrouptoanother

were rare, buthistoricallytransferssometimesoccurred when

a chief gave somelandto adaughteronhermarriage Saleof

land isunknown NolandonTikopiaisheldbyotherthan

Tikopiapeople

Kinship

Kin Groups andDescent Tikopia society has been

di-vided into alarge number ofunilinealnameddescent groups,

determinedgenealogicallyand tracing ancestrybackfor upto

ten generations These groups aretermed paito, a word with awide range of meaningsincluding 'house" and'household."They can beconveniently called lineages Over time, segmen-tation can lead to theformation of new lineages, while failure

of male heirs leadstolineage extinction For corporate kingroupmembership as regards land rights, marriage arrange-ments, andfuneral rites, theprinciple of transmission is rig-idly patrilineal But the kin bond with mother and mother'slineage is also very strongly held, represented by formal andinformal support in avariety of socialsituations.The impor-

tanceofthis bondisindicated bythetermtamatapu ally, 'sacredchild") applied formallytoachild of any woman

(liter-ofalineage Members of a mother's lineage rally round theirnepheworniece atbirth, initiation, illness, ordeath.KinshipTerminology. Tikopia kinship terminologyisrel-atively simple with cousin terms of the Hawaiiantype.Gene-

ration differences are marked: grandparent (puna); parent(mitua); father (tamana); mother (nana); sibling (taina, ofsame sex; kave, of opposite sex); child (tama); grandchild(makopuna) Ingeneral the systemisclassificatoryy," puttingallkin of the same general type under one term Butdistinctterms exist for father's sister (masikitanga) and mother'sbrother (tuatina), who have special social roles

Marriage and Family

Marriage ModernTikopia marriage is solemnized by a ligiousservice inaChristian church But traditionally it wasinitiatedbyelopement or abduction of a woman from her fa-ther's house tothat of her chosen orself-elected husband.Nowadays,asformerly, the cruxof themarriagearrangement

re-isanelaborate series of exchanges of food and other property

between thelineages of brideand groom, occupying severaldays.The bride commonly goes to live with her husband, ei-ther in his parents' house or in a new dwelling adjacent totheirs Entryintothemarried stateismarked by assumption

of a newname, often that ofthe dwelling where they live So ifthey reside in the house "Nukuora," the husband is known as

Pa (Mr.) Nukuora, the wife as Nau (Mrs.) Nukuora tionally, polygyny waspermissible, and men of rank did oftenhave morethan one wife No womancould have more thanone husband, however Marriages seem to have been fairlystable Divorce was rare and adulteryby married women wasnot common,incontrast to the sexual freedom of both sexesbefore marriage.Infidelity by married men did occur, but if itcame to thewife's notice it often seems to have elicited a vio-lent reaction from her

Tradi-Domestic Unit The core of a Tikopia domestic unit is ahusband, wife, andchildren,butordinarilyahousehold is apt

to contain additional kin-anelderly widowed mother, anunmarried sister orbrother, a youth orgirlfostered from anallied kin group.Occasionally two brothers and their familiesshare accommodations, forming a multiple-family house-hold Adjacent, kin-related domestic units may share in thepreparation of meals, using a common oven house

Inheritance Major property (e.g., land, canoes, houses,

andhousesites) isinheritedpatrilineally,with theeldest sonacting as the maincontroller andhis siblingssharinginrights

of use and residence Butsometimesafteraman's death his

sons may dispute and decide to split the landed property.Smaller items, such asawoodenheadrestorshellornament,

326 Tikopia

maybe allocatedpersonallytospecifickinbya manbefore his

death

Socialization Social control by public opinion has been

stronginTikopia Althoughraisedpermissively, childrenare

very aware of the discipline of their parents and are also

trained much by other kin and by peer-group association

Formerly, the educationalprocesswas smoothand

uninter-rupted from birth to maturity; nowadays manychildren go

abroadtoschool foraperiod and areexposedto arange of

alieninfluences

Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganization. Amajorsocial divisioninTikopiais

intofour kainanga(clans), eachanaggregate of half adozen

or sopaito (lineages) Each clan isheadedby ahereditary

chief, with an order ofprecedencebased upon former

reli-gious ritual: Kafilca, Tafua, Taumako, Fangarere

Crosscut-tingthedan organizationisalocal grouping into residential

districts Between the twolargestofthese, Ravengaonthe

eastside oftheisland and Faea on the west, there is

tradi.-tionalrivalry,mostnotablyindancingandpoliticalprestige

TheTikopiasocial system has beenasymmetricalinthe

rela-tivestatusofmenandwomen.Menhave held all positions of

political and ritual power,thoughthe influence ofwomenhas

been strongdomesticallyand ingeneral social affairs

Mod-em developments, especially in the overseas settlements,

have tended to modify, and not necessarily improve, these

relations

Political Organization Traditionally, Tikopia chiefs

held absolute power in extremity over their people,

espe-cially over theirownclanmembers, thoughthis power could

be modified by conventional methods of constraining a

chief to respondtopublicopinion.Chiefswereand stillare

tapu (sacred) and treated with great respect Formerly,

chieflyfamilies tended toform an intermarrying class, but

nowadaysunions between commoners and thechildren of

chiefs are frequent

Conflict andSocialControL According to tradition,

con-flict betweenindividualsand between groups has been

com-mon inTikopiainstrugglesfor land and power, resultingin

slaughter orexpulsion of sections of the population

Nowa-days external government sanctions and the influence of

Christianitymake such extremesolutions mostimprobable,

and social frictionseems tobe heldin check by asense of

common purpose inthe advancement ofTikopiaagainst the

outside world Internally, chiefs exercise their control

through executives (maru), theirbrothers orcousins in the

malelinewho actinthechief'snametokeeppublicorder In

overseas settlements, men appointed by the chiefs serve as

leaders and advisers In modern timesespecially, public

as-semblies (fono)arecalled bymaru to heartheinstructions of

chiefs

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs Until the early present century all

Tikopia were pagan, practicing apolytheistic religion They

believed in spiritbeingscalledatua,atermincludingghosts

of thedead, ancestors, and spirit powers that hadneveras,

sued human form (These last beings were sometimestermed tupua, a word now applied mainly to the ChristianGod.)

Religious Practitioners The major practitioners in rites,

aspriests,werethechiefs of the four clans, assisted by ritualelderswho were the heads of themostimportantlineages Byabout 1923about half theTikopia population became Chris-tian, underthe aegis of the Melanesianmissionof the Angli-cancommunion (now the Church ofMelanesia).This con-versionled to friction in theTikopia community, but the newreligiongainedground tillin1956the last pagans,ledby theirchiefs, joined the church, thus radically changingceremonies

and practitioners

Ceremonies The major spiritbeings wereworshipped inelaborate rites, withofferings of food and barkcloth The val-idating feature of every rite was the pouring of libations ofkava, a liquidformed bychewing up the rootorstemof a pep-perplant (Pipermethysticum) Every sixmonthsceremonies

wereperformed in which canoes, crops, temples, and peoplewere rededicated to gods and ancestors for protection and

prosperity.

Arts TheTikopiatraditionallyhave had little competence

ingraphic arts Their sculptureconsisted of simple calforms applied to woodwork Their greatperforming art hasbeen dancing, whichhas inspired a profusion of songs andwhich is ofgreatsocialand (formerly) religious importance.Medicine Tikopia medical practices were rudimentary,consisting of massage and externalapplication of coconut oiland leafinfusions.These practices were linked with appeals

geometri-to spirit forces, usually held responsible for illness Thetrance-in which a medium, man or woman, explored thecause of illness and suggested remedy, in alleged spiritguise-was a common mode of treatment Such practices stillpersist,butmodemTikopia rely largely on Western medicineand hospitaltreatment

Death and Afterlife A death is an occasion for greatmourning Tikopia funeral ceremonies continue after burial

ofthe body with periodic wailing and massive exchanges offoodand other goods between thekin groupsconcerned Tra-ditional conceptions of the afterlife were vague but involved anotionof a series ofheavens on different levels or in differentwind points (sources of prevailing winds), each controlled by

amajorgod There wasalso an image of a 'rubbish pool," intowhich would be thrown the souls of those who had consist-ently misbehaved on earth Life in theafterworld followedmuchthe same pattern as on earth, but with dancing as themainactivity.Nowadaysconceptions of the afterlife follow aChristian model, butelements of traditional belief may stillpersist

Seealso Anuta

Tiwi 327

Firth, Raymond (1970) RankandReligion in Tikopia.

Lon-don: Allen& Unwin

Firth, Raymond (1985) Tikopia-English Dictionary

Auck-land: Auckland University Press

Kirch,PatrickV.,andD E Yen (1982) Tikopia:ThePre

his-tory and Ecology ofa Polynesian Outlier Bernice P Bishop

Museum Bulletinno 238 Honolulu

RAYMOND FIRTH

Tiwi

ETHNONYMS: BathurstIslanders, Melville Islanders

Orientation

Idenificatin The word 'Tiwi" means 'people" in the

language of theAboriginal inhabitants and ownersof

Mel-ville and Bathurstislands of north Australia

Location Melville and Bathurst islandsarelocated40

ki-lometers north of Darwin at 11°30'S and 131°15' E The

land(approximately 7,500squarekilometers) isrelatively flat

with alow central ridgeon Melville Islandrunning west to

east. Running southtonorth fromthisridgeare nine rivers.

On Bathurst there is lesselevation and draining rivers are

small andlargelytidal.Alongthetidalreaches ofriversand

smallerstreams are mangroveforests,while mixedeucalyptus

andcypressforests characterizemuch of theuplands.Atthe

freshwater headlands of the largerrivers are small areasof

true rain-forestvegetation and along thecoast are areas of

sandybeach androckyreef This variedenvironment makes

foravariedand rich diet for the Tiwitodayas in the past.The

rainfall is monsoonal, with heavy rains occurring between

Novemberand March Almostno rainfalls fromJuneto

Sep-tember, the nightsare cool and the air is filled withsmoke

fromthe fires ofhuntingparties.Therange of temperatures is

only a few degrees during the monsoon season, averaging

about27° C,whileduringthedryseason the range is greater.

Demography In 1986 the Tiwipopulationof the islands

wasabout2,000,divided betweenthe BathhurstIsland

town-shipNguiuwith 1,300andthetwoMelville Islandtownships

of Parlingimpi and Milikapitiwith 300 and400, respectively

Linguistic Affiliationr The Tiwi speak a distinctive

lan-guage, distantly related to other Aboriginal languages At

Nguiuthereis abilingualliteraturecenterproducingtexts in

Tiwilanguage foruse inthe localprimaryschool.Atthe

Par-lingimpi andMilikapitiprimaryschools educationis in

Eng-lish BothTiwiandEnglishareusedbynearlyeveryone

How-ever, elders bemoan the loss offluency inTiwi among the

younger generations. In thepast, fluencyinTiwiwas an

im-portantmarker offull adultstatus, enablingboth men and

women to participatefullyinthe importantceremonial

activ-ity ofcomposingand singing songs.

History and Cultural Relations

The prehistory of the Tiwi isrelated to that of other nal Australians Recently calculated (1981) dates for earliestsigns ofhuman cultural activityareapproximately forty thou-sand years ago The Tiwi themselves arementioned in his-toric records from the early eighteenth century, when theycame in contact withDutch, Portuguese,and British explor-

Aborigi-ers Prior tothese recorded contactsby Europeans, there isevidence for early Chinese and Indonesian contact but nosustained settlement.The first foreign settlement on the is-lands occurred in 1824, when the British established FortDundasnearthecontemporaryParlingimpi township.Afterfive yearsofhardship thesettlement was abandoned andit

was nearlyseventy-fiveyearsbefore European settlement wasagainattemptedearlyinthe twentieth century In 1911,Fa-

ther Gsell, M.S.C.,established a Catholic mission at Nguiu

onthesoutheastern coast of BathurstIsland, and followingthisdevelopment there was asignificantlyincreased amount

of contact withWhiteAustralians The township ofgimpi, located near the ruins of Fort Dundas at GardenPoint, was first established as a government settlement in

Parlin-1939 In the late 1940s the government settlement wasmovedfromGarden Point toSnakeBay(Milikapiti) Milika-piti continued as a government settlement until the late1970s, when itbecame the first of three communities to in-corporateas a township

SettlementsThe Tiwi today live in housing largely built by outsidecon-tractorsduring the past ten tofifteen years, each with two tofour bedrooms, kitchen and bath, electricity, and plumbing.Some families have builthousing for themselves outside ofthe townships on their own local groups' land What theygain in 'rural" peace and quiet they lose in proximity toschool, store, and clinic-all of which are located in eachtownship Manyfamilies own private vehicles or boats andleave their home township frequently to hunt, visit, attendceremonies, orfly toDarwin forshoppingand visiting Per-haps the most important recent eventin thehistory of theTiwi was thegrantingback to the traditional Tiwi owners ofall their original tribal lands (both Bathurst and Melville is-lands) under the Land Rights Bill (Northern Territory) of1976

EconomySubsistence and Commercial Acivities Prior to Euro-pean settlement on theislands, the Tiwi had an abundantsubsistence economy of hunting, fishing, and foraging in thebush, sea,and along the shore Increasingly after Europeansettlement, Tiwi became employed in avarietyof jobs related

to settlement life, including education, health, communityservice, and government While each community has a shopwhere food and other material goods may be purchased, themajority ofTiwi areconcerned with the maintenance ofhunt-ing and foragingskills among the young With a preferencefor 'bush" over'store-bought" foods, Tiwi make up much oftheirweeklydiet with native foods

Industrial Arts A number of local industries have hadcommercialsuccess:silk-screened textiles;clothingmanufac-turing;pottery;and, morerecently, a large pine (timber) plan-

328 Tiwi.

tation-alegacyofthe Australiangovernment-andseveral

touristfacilities

Trade External trade withthemainlandpeoplesdidnot

existpriortotheearlytwentieth century and the arrival of

Eu-ropeansettlersonthe islands

Division of Labor In the precolonial subsistence

econ-omythe division oflaborwassuch thathuntingintheseaor

air wasthe exclusive domainofmen,while extracting roots,

seeds,fruits,etc.fromplantsrootedinthegroundwasthe

ex-clusivedomainofwomen However, aside from these

particu-lar exclusions, both menand women hunted and gathered

ground- ortree-dwelling animals, shellfish, turtleeggs, and

thelikefromtheshore,and bothsexescontributedequallyto

thedaily diet Therewere nofull- orpart-time specialists

Land Tenure Thereareanumberofnamed localgroups

that hold exclusive responsibility forgeographicallydistinct

areas(murukupupuni,or'countries')onthetwoislands The

number and boundaries of thesecountries areknowntohave

fluctuatedoverthenearlyonehundred years of recorded Tiwi

history.Currentlythereare sevencountriesandeachof these

isrepresentedbydelegates tothe TiwiLandCouncil, which

came into existence in 1976when the islandswere deeded

back to the Tiwiunder theLandRightsBill.Currentlyone is

consideredan ownerof one's father's countryalthoughinthe

presettlementdaysone was an ownerofthe countryinwhich

one'sfatherwasburied Ownersofacountryarecollectively

heldresponsibleformaintainingthatcountry(anditsnatural

and spiritual resources) andfortransmittingtheknowledge

ofand responsibilityfor that countrytothenextgeneration

Kinship

KinGroupsandDescent The matrilineal danis agroup

whosemembers assumecommondescentfromanancestrally

conceived group of unborn spirit beings located in

clan-specificlocalitiesinornear abodyofwater.Intheprecolonial

belief system, conceptionisaccomplished whenafather

lo-catesoneof theseunborn spiritsandsendsittohiswife,who

mustbe of the same clan origin Each clan is named and

members of a clan provide physical, moral, and emotional

support tofellow clanmembersinnumerousanddiverse

situ-ations These clans arefurther groupedintofourlarger and

exogamousgroups.Foreachindividual,twoclansare

signifi-cant: his or her ownclan;and his orher father's clan It is

among the latter clangroup thatone should seek a spouse

One'sfather'sclanand thenaturalspecies withwhichitis

af-filiated is also considered to be one's 'Dreaming." One's

Dreaming serves as inspiration for expressive ceremonial

dances, songs, and art.Inthe social world of the Tiwi

every-one is related

KinshipTerminology Inthefirstascending generation,

one's parent'ssiblingsof thesame sexareclassifiedwiththe

parent, and their children(one'sparallelcousins) are classed

with one and one'ssiblings One's parent's opposite-sex

sib-lings aredistinguishedfromeach other,as aretheirchildren

(one's cross cousins and potential spouses) One's siblings

aredistinguishedinseveral ways: firstbygenderandthenby

relative age.Furtherdistinctionismadeforsiblingswho have

the same father but whose mothers are of different clans

There are two further distinctions thatarebehaviorally

signif-icantalthough unmarkedbyterminology.Aminiyatisiblings

are those who have the same (named) father's father, and

"one-granny'siblingsarethose who have the same (named)mother's mother Among the latter group there is strict

avoidance betweensiblings of the opposite sexonce sexualmaturity is imminent, while the potentially much larger

group,thosewhoacknowledge a common grandfather, was inprecolonialdaysthegroupofsiblingsthatwaslargelyrespon-sibleforthe integrity of the countries

Marriage and Family

Marriage In precontact times-and in some casestoday-marriages were arranged by asystem ofselecting a

son-in-law forayoungwoman atthe conclusion of her menstruation celebration The young woman (who, in thepast, wouldalreadyhave beenmarriedbythistime) and herson-in-law arein areciprocalrelationship in which the son-in-law is obliged to "feed" his potential wife's mother, provid-ing her not only food but any goods and services she de-mands.Inreturnhe will receiveaswivesalldaughtersborntohis mother-in-law prior to their sexual maturity For eachwoman, thiskind of marriage arrangementgenerally charac-terized herfirst marriage and also often hersecondary mar-

first-riagesto a deceased husband'sbrothers) throughtherate.Forthemale,this form of marriagewasoftencontractedforwell past middle age,as itwasthe most prestigious and re-quired considerable political acumen and accomplishment.Earlier marriages for men(after the age of 30 or more years)weremostfrequently toolder women, widows of older broth-ers Because a woman was usually married to a series ofyounger men,divorce rarely tookplace Changes in the regu-lationof marriage have occurred since contact While the ac-tual cohabitation ofayounggirl with her promised husband

levi-is morefrequentlynottaking place,such marriage contractsare still being made In manyofthese cases themother-in-law/son-in-lw relationshipstill followsthe traditional pat-tem,and the marriageusuallyconforms tothe societal prefer-ence for marrying someone in one's father's matrilinealclan-someonewho falls into the category of acceptable po-tential spouses yet who is, at the same time, someone closer inage There are,however, an increasingnumber of marriages ofTiwito non-TiwiAboriginals of mixed (Asian or European)background

Domestic Unit Theprecontact domestic unit-awoman,

her daughters, her daughters' husbands, and her children-remains today a viable domestic unit, althoughmonogamy is almost universal Within the townships therearegroupsofhouses in close proximity to each other thatop-erate as economic units The modem domestic unit is oftenunder the"direction" of a senior woman as in the past, and allmemberscontribute differentially, from wages, pensions, andforaging activities Ceremonial activities (dancing andcarv-ing) are now monetized, as is gambling (a redistributiveinstitution)

grand-Socialization The socialization of children is carried out

bythe entire domestic unit today as in the past.All childrenattendelementary schoolintheir home community until thesixthgrade Some may continue their schooling at Nguiu, inDarwin, or evenfarther away from home in Brisbane, Sydney,Melbourne, or Alice Springs A few Tiwi have gone beyondhighschool, and ineach community there are women and

Tiwi 329

menwho havebeen trainedaseducators,healthworkers,or

office managers The annual kulama yam ceremonywasthe

event atwhichinitiationof males and femaleswasfinalized

Initiatestraditionallyparticipatedinsixsuch annual

ceremo-nies,advancing in rankineach andultimately reaching

sen-iorstatusas afull initiate betweenages 40and 50.Today,ini

tiation is more often for males (though women attend and

participate) andinvolves onlyone or twoparticipations In

contrast topracticesonthemainland,thereis nobody

scari-ficationormutilation (circumcisionorsubincision) inTiwi

maleinitiation.There is,however,a ritual sequence ofbody

painting and decoration, heavily imbued with symbolic

meaning

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Organization. The precontact social organization

wascharacterized by the matrilineal clans and by the local

groupsaffiliatedwith each country.Inmatrilineal clans,

lead-ershipwaslargelyceremonial andwasconferred accordingto

seniorityandcompetence amongthe males Under the

coun-trysystemof organization, someleadersinthe pastwere men

who achieved great prominence through arrangingmultiple

(reportedlysometimes asmanyas ahundred) marriage

con-tracts for themselves; they also were men whose domestic

groupswereverylarge andregionally influential. Such men

also gained notoriety asceremonialleaders insong, dance,

and art

PoliticalOrganization. Today,imposed upon the kinship,

kin group, and local group organizations are (in ascending

order)thetownshipcouncil,theTiwiLandCouncil,and the

Northern Territory andAustralian Commonwealth

govern-ments.Ineach of the threecommunities anelected township

council isempowered to imposebylaws regulatingcommunity

affairs andisresponsible forbudgetingandformaintaining

townshipservices.The council hiresatownderk(amanager)

and other personnel to manageandoverseethe various

oper-ationsof thetownship Both menandwomen serve onthe

towncouncil

Social Control The Tiwi Land Council meets once a

monthtodecideissuesthatconcern mattersoutside ofthose

ofindividual townships Whilemostofthese have to do with

land anditsuse, someareconcerned withmattersof law and

itsenforcement Whoorwhatbodyisconcerned with social

control and conflict resolution is sometimes problematic

Clanmembersareoften theproperones toresolvedomestic

and intradomestic conflict However, the territory

govern-ment maintains a two-person police station at Parlingimpi

andone or twopoliceaidesineachtownshiptohandle

inter-naldisputes

Conflict Conflicts occurred between matrilineal clans

and patrifocal local groups and mainly concerned rights to

womenaswives, almost neverotherresources Today,such

conflicts are still settled by localized close cognatic and/or

matrilinealkin groups or, if thisfails,byaffiliated matrilineal

clansthat consider that their closerelationshiprequirestheir

involvement onbehalfof theirkin Avery fewinterregional

conflicts are part of theoralhistoryof contemporaryTiwiand

wereresolved byholdinga 'war" ata designatedplace and

time, during which the opposite sides took turns throwing

and dodging spearsand throwing clubs Interpersonal

con-flicts were often settled by sneak attacks and ambushes

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs Tiwireligion focusesonancestral spirits

ofthose who have livedinthe recent past and including thosewho, in'the Dreamtime," created theland, sea, and all that isfound within The Catholic churchis astrongand consistentelement ofdaily life in Nguiu andParlingimpi andto alesser

extent inMilikapiti At the present time there is open anceof Tiwi ceremoniallife by the church and church mem-bers, although in the past thiswasnot so

accept-Ceremonies The annual kulama yam ceremony is heldnear the end of the wet season (November-March) Thethree-day ritual involves the digging, preparation, cooking,andeatingof the kulama type of wild yam The yamsymbo-lizes reproduction and maintenance of life, both human andnonhuman Participants must, inaddition to carrying out thepreparation andcooking of the yams, compose and singmore

than adozen new songs throughout the three days Othermajorceremoniesinclude the celebration of the transition ofthe living totheworld of thedead.Inconnectionwith funeralrituals, elaborately carved and painted poles are commis-sionedand paid for by the close kin of thedeceased, and forrelated activities painted bark baskets and spears are alsomanufactured Inthe songs and dances of these ceremonies,historic and mythological events as well as contemporaryevents and problems (complaints or explanations) are re-membered and marked To both compose andunderstandthe sungmetaphoric poetic allusions to significant elements

in Tiwiculture requires anextremely high level of verbalskill

inthe Tiwi language

Arts With the slow erosion of Tiwi language in favor of

fluencyinEnglish in postcontact times,theverbal arts are indangerofsubstantialloss,whereasthe visual arts (painting,sculpture,anddance) arebeing maintained, as they not only

are an essential part of the ceremonial life (reinforcing theTiwiworldview) but also are being translated to the commer-cialproduction of wood sculpture, textiles, clothing and pot-terydesign, and other related enterprises

Medicine Traditionally, good commonsense medicalknowledge among the Tiwi utilized the curative values of theisland environment Although some men and women weresaid to have greater knowledge of particular plants, animalparts, and other curative items, there were no full-time orevenpart-time curers Magicaldeath, sorcery, bone pointing,andkidney-fattheftareconsideredtobeillnesses caused bymainlanders and arebelieved to be cured only by mainlandcurers Thespread of theseillnesses is a feature of contempo-raryTiwi life, and thepeople seek cures from non-Tiwi spe-cialists on the mainland

Death and Afterlife The most important myth of theTiwideals with thepermanence of death, after the death-by-neglect ofPurukupali's son This culture hero walked into thesea with his son's body, declaring that henceforth all Tiwishall dieand never return to life The spirits of thedeceasedreside inthe countrywhere they are buried, although to ac-commodatetheincreased mobility ofTiwi (over to the main-land andoverseas) the spirits are said to be able to travelback

totheir"homeland" as well The life in this spirit world

mir-3 mir-30 Tiwi

rors that ofthe living,inthat the deadhunt,fish, and hold

parallel ceremonies with theliving.

Bibliography

Goodale,JaneC (1971).Tiwi Wives: AStudy ofthe Women

ofMelville Island, North Australia Seattle: University of

Washington Press

Hart, C W M., Arnold R Pilling, andJane C Goodale

(1988).TheTiwiofNorthAustralia 3rd ed.NewYork-Holt,

Rinehart &Winston

JANE C GOODALE

Tokelau

ETHNONYM: Union Islands

Orientation

Identification 'Tokelau" (Anglicizedas"Tokelauan")

re-fers bothtothe people andtotheirdistinctive Polynesian

lan-guage, aswellas totheir homeland whichconsistsofthree

at-olls: Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo "Tokelau" means

'north"or'northeast"in manyPolynesian languages,

includ-ingtheirown,butit wasalso thenameof thepreeminentgod

of the atolls, TuiTokelau The name 'Union Islands" was

coined in 1841 to label collectively the three atolls then

known to outsiders as Duke of York (Atafu), Duke of

Clarence (Nukunonu), and D'WolforBowditch (Fakaofo)

Thesenames were neverused by Tokelauans butwere'offi,

cial" for over a hundred yearsuntilthe three islands, with

their local names, were collectively designated Tokelau

Is-landsin 1948andin 1976 simply Tokelau

Locaion The atollsliealonganorthwest-southeast axis

of about 150 kilometersbetween 8° and 10°Sand 171° and

173°W Theclosest islands ofany size arethose of Western

Samoa,about480kilometerstothe south.Togetherthe

at-olls haveatotal landareaof onlyabout 12squarekilometers

andareseparated fromeach otherby60to90kilometers of

open sea.Theyarealltrueatolls:they have central lagoons

completely enclosed by coral reef, which forms the base of

is-lets of sand and coraldetritus Although rainfallis250to280

centimeters annually,rain is apt to be scarcebetweenApril

andSeptember,causingdrought,andtropical cyclonesorthe

swellsgenerated by themat adistanceare ahazardbetween

December and March

Demography Contactestimatesofthe population varied

widely (500-1,000) Eventhe lowest figure was more than

halvedinthe 1860sbythe advent of slavers anddysentery

From that time the population of the atolls gradually and

then rapidly increased, reaching a highof 1,900 persons in

the mid-I960s Thereafter it dropped and stabilized at

around 1,600inthe 1970s-1980sfollowing relatively heavy

migrationto NewZealand, where the population identified asTokelau numbered about 3,400in 1986 Although Tokelaupeople count among their more recentancestorssome otherPolynesians and European-derived foreigners, only personswith (or married to peoplewith) Tokelau ancestryareperma-nentresidents of the atolls

LingutiecAffiliation The Tokelaulanguage is amember

of theSamoicSubgroup ofPolynesian languages andisablymostclosely relatedtodialects of Tuvalu (Ellice) Untilvery recently, all Tokelauans werebilingual inSamoan, thelanguage ofChristianityandliteracy, from which theirown

prob-language has borrowedheavilyfor overahundred years whilestill retaining its own distinctive features

History and Cultural Relations

Tokelau traditions assertautochthonous origins; provisionalarchaeological evidence shows people residing in the atollsonethousandyears ago with Samoanand Tuvaluculturalaf-finities Oral narrativestell ofhostilities among the three at-olls which ended when Fakaofo gained ascendancy by con-quering Nukunonu anddriving off the people of Atafu; untilthe nineteenth century, explorers found Atafu uninhabited,Nukunonu lightly peopled, and Fakaofoclearly preeminent

as the place of the highest chief and the shrine of TuiTokelau Christian conversion and depopulation in the1860sbroughtanendtoFakaofodomination, andeachatollbecameatinytheocratic polity.Missiondominancewasmar-ginallycompromised at the end of the century when the atollsweredeclared British protectorates For a brief period (1910-1914)protectorateofficials were assigned to theatolls,andin

1916Tokelau was addedtotheGilbert and Ellice Island ony, thenremoved whenNewZealand assumedresponsibilityforthe atolls onBritain's behalf in 1926 Despite these ar-

Col-rangements,theadministration of Tokelau is best izedasbenignneglectuntil after World War II Tokelauansreceived NewZealand citizenship in 1948, but they did notbegin to emigrate there until the 1960s, some on governmentschemes of various kinds Aid and development programses-calated inthemid-1970s,accompanied by increasinginvolve-ment ofTokelauans in administrativeand decision-makingroles This trend continued in the 1980s, yet Tokelau remains

character-aNewZealanddependency at its inhabitants' expressed andreiteratedwish

Settlements

On oneleeward islet of each atoll is aclearly bounded village.Rectangularhouses, untilrecentlyof thatchconstruction, aremoreorless aligned to well-defined paths The villages aredenselysettled yet the open houses give a sense of spacious-ness At the lagoon shore, reclamations faced with coralboulders-from which extendover-waterlatrines-alternatewith natural shores where vessels are beached The ocean orback of thevillageisthepreferred location for cook houses.Here the prevailing winds carry smoke out to sea Villageamenities-church, meetinghouse, and cricket pitch-tend

tobe clustered in the center, while recently constructed pub,lic structures-copra sheds, hospitals, and schools-are lo-cated at the peripheries