Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume 2 - Oceania - U ppt

The name 'Usino" refers to the inhabi-tants of fourlowland social and territorial units parishes, eachcorresponding to a dialect of the Usinolanguage.. Al-though all speakers of the lang

358 Ulithi

Ulithi

ETHNONYM: Re Ulthi

Orientation

Identification. Ulithians are Micronesians living on an

atollin thewest-central Caroline Islands While thenatives

referto their land as "Ma Ulithi," Europeans have applied

othernames totheir islands: Isles deSequeira,LosDolores,

LosGarbanzos, Mackenzie,andMogmog.TheJapanesecall

them "Uhssi" and "Urishi." Their culture has undergone

strong change since the atoll came under U.S control in

1944andcanbest bedescribedin termsofitstraditional

cul-ture,withobservations as to currentmodifications

Location The atoll, which is not reallyone entitybutis

made of fourgeologic units, is locatedat about 100 N and

140° E Itsclosestneighbors areYapandNgulutothewest

and Fais to the east. Guam is about 640kilometers tothe

northeast The climate is that ofthe doldrums belt, with

muchrainfall andhigh humidity

Demography In1731Father Cantovareporteda

popula-tionof592,in 1870TetensandKubary counted about 700,

andin1903 District Officer Senfftreported797,after which

there was a steady decline, witha censusbyLessa showing

only 421 in 1949 Then, asthe result ofU.S medical and

publichealth measures,therewas an upswing,witha census

by Lessa showing 514 peoplein 1960

Linguistic Affiliation The language is a dialect of

Tru-kese, asubdivisionofthefar-flungAustronesianlanguages.

History and Cultural Relations

Mostlikely Ulithiwasdiscoveredin 1525by Portuguese who

had been blown there from the Celebes and remained for

sev-eral weeksin greatharmony withthepeople while rebuilding

their smallvessel.TheSpaniardsinthePhilippines often

en-counteredCaroliniansmarooned there,someofthem

appar-entlybeingUlithians Missionarieswereinspired to convert

thenativesof theCarolines, buttheydidnotsucceedin

es-tablishinga missionuntil 1731.It washeadedby Father

Can-tova andwas in Ulithi,butvery soonafterwards he and his

party weremurderedby the people Betweenthetimeofthe

Cantova episode and the stopovers ofBritish, French, and

Russianexplorers, however, Ulithi didnotliveentirely in a

world isolated from foreign influences The people were in

continualindirect contactwith Spaniards through the

sus-tained trade being carried onby Carolinians sailing to the

Marianas.Thesenativetraders wouldreturnhomewithiron

implements, cloth,andglass beads.Inthe nineteenthcentury

two large-scale traders worked throughout the Carolines

Onewas aGerman,Alfred Tetens; the otherwasthe

Irish-AmericanDavid O'Keefe.Germaninterest intheregion grew

strongandin1899aftermuch disputeGermany acquired all

of theCarolinesfrom Spain Japantook overthearea in1914

andin 1920was given aclass C mandateby the Leagueof

Nations TwoSpanishmissionaries werepermittedtobegin

conversion of Ulithi to Catholicism The United States

seized the atollin 1944andimmediatelyconvertedit into a

huge naval base for theinvasionofOkinawa and the

Philip-pines In 1947 the UnitedNationsgave the United States a

trusteeshipover most ofMicronesia, after which intensive ed-ucational activity took place and very largepayments and subsidies were given to the Ulithian people, resulting in a rapid deterioration of the traditional culture.In 1986Ulithi became part ofthenewlyestablishedgroup of Caroline Is-landsknownastheFederated States ofMicronesia,

indepen-dent but in"free association" with the United States

Settlements The settlementpattern is that ofsmall,highlynucleated

vil-lages, although it has beenspeculated thatformerly itwas that ofneighborhoods, each ofwhichhadastrip of land ex-tendingfromthesea tothe interior, withahouse,cookhut, andcanoeshed, surrounded by gardenareas.Eachvillagehas itslargemen'scouncilhouse,usednotonlyas ameetingplace

but also as adormitoryforunmarried menand a clubhouse forall males At the time of maximum population in 1903 the average number of inhabitants pervillagewas88.All dwell-ings are onthe lagoon side ofanislet Housesarebuilton platforms made of slabs of coral, and they are characterized

bysharplypitched roofs made ofplaited palm leaves and walls

ofpaneled wood Such traditional houses have now been re-placedby boxlikewooden ones orconcrete-blockstructures useful towithstand typhoons In the interior of the isles of Mogmog and Falalop are artificially constructed gardens, used principally for growingtaro.The vast lagoon serves not only as a fishing ground but also as a highway for the

ex-tremely fast lateen-sailedoutrigger canoes used to transport people and goods

Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities Simple horticul-turedominates subsistenceactivities, although fish and other seafoods are more highly prized in the diet The chief plant food is the coconut, consumed in many forms, followed by breadfruit, true taro and pseudotaro, bananas, and from time

totime squashes and sweet potatoes There is some gather-ing, especially of wild berries and other fruits Pigs are valued butarefewbecause of the scarcityofsuitable feed Chickens aremoreabundant, being the predominant domestic animal Birds areoccasionally trapped for consumption Highly

desir-able but limited by religious andpolitical taboos is the giant seaturtle, Cheloniamydas.Withthe rise of a casheconomy, originally instigated by the manufacture of copra and then

enormouslyexpanded by U.S.welfare allotments and other grants, the traditional economy has been reduced to a

shambles

IndustrialArt There arepart-time specialists, especially canoe and house carpenters, who are exclusively men Women weave garments on a true loom, probably introduced long ago from Indonesia Weavingmaterials are made of ba-nana fiber, hibiscus fiber, or a combination of the two, al-though these textiles have largely been supplanted by com-mercial cloth There is no pottery making, due to the absence

ofclay,butsomepottery isimportedfrom nearby Yap Prior

tothe introduction of iron tools, such tools as adzes, knives, andscrapers were made from shells or coral Since the advent

oftraders the chief commercial activity has been the

manu-Ulithi 359

facture of copra, with some seasonal gathering of trochus

shells for the foreign market

Trade While thereis someinternal trade between

individ-uals,mostofit isexternal and somewhatritualistic,being

car-riedon in acomplexsysteminvolving exchangewithYapand

the islands of the Woleai, almost as far east as Truk

Al-though Ulithians are regarded as being of low caste by

Yapese,becausetheyliveonout-lying islands,Ulithireceives

more fromYapthan itgives, especially inthe form of

food-stuffs and large timberfor constructingcanoes. Acommon

formofexchange, largelypoiiais tegivingoffiemats

used as men'sand women'scltig

Division ofLabor Sexplaysapart individinghousehold

andvillageactivities: men mainlydothefishing and

carpen-try, whilewomen cultivate gardens, harvest wildplants and

shore fish, weave, and almost exclusivelyraise children and

perform mostdomestic work, including cooking.

LandTenure Landisheldin variousways. Intheorythe

sixlandownership,chiefs of the atollhave therightofeminent

domain Inpracticelandisownedby lineagesinafee-simple

system,whichisadministeredbythelineage'schief Itis

bro-kenupintoplotsthatareworkedby familygroupswith

usu-fructrights that are tantamount to ownership.

Kinship

KinGroupsandDescent Inadditiontothe nuclear

fam-ily there aretheextended family, thecomposite family, and

theall-importantcorporatelineage Lineagesarematrilineal

Even though adoption is extremely common, in theory the

adopteeretainsmembershipinhis natural mother'slineage.

Kinship Terminology. Kinterms are aslightvariationof

the Crow type,which reflects unitineal descentby

"overrid-ing"generations.Akintermalwaysembracessecondaryand

tertiaryrelatives in addition toprimaryones. The systemof

nomenclature serves both forpurposes of reference and of

address

Marriage and Family

Marriage Marriageis monogamous Residence is

patrio-cal,but the residence ruleissomewhatelastic, especially

be-cause ahusbandspends longstretches oftimehelpinginhis

wife'sgardensif the landassignedfor herusebytheprevailing

systemoflandtenureisonanother islet Inactualitythereis

somematrilocal, avunculocal, andneolocal residence Until

the advent of Catholicism divorcewasverycommonand

eas-ily accomplished by mutual agreement

Domestic Unit While the nuclear family is the basis of

the domestic unit, in actualityhouseholds consist less ofa

husband and wife and theiroffspringthan theydo of either

extendedfamilies,compositefamilies, or units notinvolving

amaritalpair.Althoughmembers ofanuclearfamilymaylive

underoneroof, forpurposesofeatingtheymaybescattered

amongcommensal units.

inheritance Individual inheritanceisgreatlyrestrictedby

therights of the matrilineal corporate group, which has its

traditionallands,traditionalhouse,commonhearth,canoes,

andcanoesheds Individualsacquireusufructtenure to aplot

of landinthreeways:intralineally, bymatrilineal inheritance

through another members extralineally, as a result of

patri-lineal inheritance of usufruct tenure originally acquired by gift exchange or purchase; and, last, life usufruct tenure, whichisheldonlyfor thelifetime of the individualorforeven lesstime.The systemofland tenure is basicallya matterof lineage "ownership'and thegrantingofrightstoindividuals eithermatrilineally or patrilineally.

Socialization The socialpersonalitiesof infants and chil-dren are shaped mostly by theirmothers, but other kin are

verycrucial These include theirfathers, oldersiblings, line-agemates, and also members of thekindred, oriernnt, who areall thepeoplewhoaretheircognates Whenchildrenare

adopted,whichisalwaysbeforetheyareborn, theycontinue

tobe domiciled with their realparentsuntil theagesof5to

I0,because theseyearsareconsideredtobe themostcrucial formativeyearsoftheir lives Muchpermissiveness character-izeschildrearing,which involvesa minimumofcorporal pun-ishment and an abundance ofscolding and ridicule Affec-tion islavishedonchildrenbyall those aroundthem,giving

them astrong sense ofsecurity

Sociopolitical Organization

Kinship factors dominate the whole sociopolitical organ-ization

Social Organization Although certain lineages outrank

others,thereisvirtuallynosocial stratification Suchranking

seems tobe lostinhistorical factors Individualsmayrise to a favorablepositionbyvirtueoftheacquisitionofcertain spe-cialties and skills, none ofwhich arehereditary.

Political Organization. The basic unit of government is thevillage council,madeupof allelderlymenexceptfor

out-rightincompetents.The head chief anddistrict chiefsare he-reditary. Thesechiefs each succeedtotheirpositionsby vir-tue of their status as the oldest male member of certain lineages,whichbeing matrilineal donotallowa man to suc-ceed hisfather.Complicatingwhatisotherwiseasimplelocal system is a highly complex arrangement superimposed on Ulithibyits"owners" intheGagildistrict of theYapIslands

to thewest. Gagilextends its dominance also to all the is-lands eastof Ulithi as faras Truk.Yap's castesystem is ap-plied to all of these islands

Social Control Pressure to conform to social norms comes notfrom law,which isonly rudimentaryatbest, but from the fear of criticism,publiccontempt, ridicule,and os-tracism,aswellastheutterneed forcooperationinasmall

so-ciety dependenton mutual assistance forits veryexistence Litigationis suppressed. Thegods and the ancestral ghosts

are majorinfluencesincontrollingsocial behavior.With the advent offoreign controlsomelaw has beenintroduced and traditionalrestraints thatwere operativeunder the old reli-gion have been weakened

Conflict Warfare internallyandexternallyceasedlongago because ofits suppression by foreignpowers, butoral tradi-tion proves conclusively that it was not uncommon inthe past

Religion and Expressive Culture ReligiousBeliefs Since the 1930s Ulithians have gradu-ally been converted to Roman Catholicism But the old be-liefs andpractices persistinthe minds oftheelderly.Thereis

360 Ulithi

amelangeofmany diverse elements: celestial and terrestrial

deities,naturespirits,demons,and ancestralghosts,

supple-mented by magic, divination, and taboos The gods of

heaven, earth, andsea arelofty,buttheyarereallymorethe

objects of mythology than participants in everyday life, a

spherethatisdominatedbythe ancestralghosts.Nature

spir-its arecharacterizedasbeingeither malevolentorbenevolent

and are thought to be active in human endeavors and

conditions

Religious Practitioners Lineageghostsaretheobjectof

ritual attention through mediums, who transmit advice

throughthem.Fourmajorpart-timemagicalpractitionersare

recognized-in navigation, typhoon control, community

fishing, andpalm-leafdivination,with medicine notfar

be-hind There are alsosorcerersand countersorcerers

Ceremonies A rite ofpassage isimportant forgirls but

lesssoforboys.Onemajorritual, prolongedforweeks,is

de-signed to promoteanabundanceoffish for thecommunity

Other rituals arepolitical, magical, andreligious.

Arts Artisticexpressionoccursmostlyinsong and dance

The graphicandplastic artsareminimal

Medicine Illnessisbelievedtobeessentially supernatural

rather than naturalinorigin Healers may be either

special-ized or domestic

Death and Afterlife According to traditional beliefs,

deathisthe result of sorcery, tabooviolation,orthehostility

ofspirits, except when the deceased has reached old ageand

succumbedtonatural causes After burial the soullingersfor

fourdaysonearthand thenjourneys to Lang, thesky world,

where agod assignsthe soultoeitheraparadisaloratortured

afterlife, dependingon the person'sbehavior while alive A

periodof mourninglasting for fourlunar months is ended

when alargefeast,called"paystone,"isgiven for thosewho

washed the corpse ordugthe grave Thenumeroustaboos

im-posedonthelivingarethenlifted.Thedeadoftenvisittheir

relatives and communicate with themthroughmediums

See alsoTruk, Woleai, Yap

Bibliography

Lessa, William A (1966) Ulithi: AMicmrnesian Designfor

Living New York: Holt, Rinehart&Winston.Reprint 1980

Prospect Heights, Ill.: WavelandPress

Lessa, William A (1980) More Talesfrom Ulithi Atoli: A

Content Analysis University ofCaliforniaPublications:

Folk-lore and Mythology Studies, no 32 Berkeley and Los

Angeles

Lessa, William A (1987) "Micronesian Religion: An

Over-view." In The Encyclopedia ofReligion, edited by Mircea

Eliade et al., vol 9, 498-505 New York: Macmillan

WILLIAM A LESSA

Usino

rHNoNYM: Tariba

Orientation Identification The name 'Usino" refers to the inhabi-tants of fourlowland social and territorial units (parishes),

eachcorresponding to a dialect of the Usinolanguage Al-though all speakers of the language are known to the Usino

people as"Tariba," they distinguishbetweenmountainand lowland speakers Thissummaryfocuseson the lowlanders, who call themselves 'Usinofolovo"or 'Usinomen,"because Usino isthe name ofthe centralvillageofthelowland region Prior tocontact, these parishesrarely unitedas asingle

socio-politicalunit andhad nocollectivename forthemselves, de-spite intensive social and linguistic alliance

Location The Usino people live in Madang Province of Papua New Guinea in three majorvillagesandseven hamlets, all ofwhicharecentered intheRamu RiverValleynearUsino Patrol Post, just east oftheRamu River Tothewest rise the

Bismarck Mountains and to the east the Finisterre Moun-tains rise toabout 1200 meters The area issteamy tropical rainforest,characterizedbyrichbioticresources and two di-maticseasons, a wet season from December toMay and a dry seasonfromMay toNovember Located 60 meters above sea level, the dense rain forest is crisscrossed by numerous streams and riversutilized for canoe travel and fishing Be causeyearly rainfallapproximates 508 centimeters, these wa-terways flood, turning the rain forest into swamp during the wet season

Demography. Theland is sparselypopulated with about 2.7 persons persquarekilometer.In 1974, 250Usino people

residedinthreecentralized villages, butsincethenthe

popu-lationhas increased toabout400, owing inpart to a rise in the birth rate and the return ofwage laborers and their families

LinguisticAffiliation Theterm"Usino people" refers to inhabitants of ageographicregion, near Usinovillagein the lowlands, ratherthan to a linguistic isolate The Usino lan-guage alsoencompasses groups in several mountain villages

It appears to beclosely related to Sumau (or Garia) in the Finisterre Mountains and to Danaru and Urugina in the Upper Ramu Valley These four languagescomprise the Peka Family of the Rai Coast Stock of Non-Austronesian lan-guages Most Usino people can understand at least one or two neighboringlanguages, and all except the oldest Usino women now speakTok Pisin aswell

History and Cultural Relations Little isknownabout theorigins of the Usinopeople;

linguis-tic evidence suggests that they may derive fromthe Madang coastal area to the east Usino people date first European contact in the late1920s when the German Lutheran mission first settled in the Finisterre Mountains.Apparently, indige-nous missionariesfrom the coast were the only source of regu-lar foreign influence, while European government and mis-sion patrols from Madang and Bundi made frequent visits until the 1960s During World War11, German and

indige-Usino 361

nousmissionaries returnedto their homes while Usino

peo-ple scattered to the bushduringthefightingbetween

Ameri-cansand Japanese in the region When the missionaries

re-turned in the late 1940s and 1950s, Christianity hadbeen

eclipsed by cargo cults,whichflourished until the mid-1960s

Although an indigenous Lutheran missionary settled in

Usinovillage in 1980,traditionalbeliefs remain strong Prior

to the establishment of Usino Patrol Post and airstrip in

1967, access to the port town ofMadangentailedafour-day

trek In 1974, a feederroadfrom theLae-Madang Highway

connected Usino Patrol Post withthe coast and the

high-lands In 1981, when WaliumsupplantedUsinoPatrol Post

as the Upper Ramu District headquarters, the airstrip and

health centerdosed, andUsinopeoplewerealienated from

their primary source of cash income Usino responded to

these recidivistic trends in themid-1970stomid-1980switha

sense of increased relative isolation

Settlements Until mission contact in the 1930s, Usino resided in

scat-teredhomesteads, gardeningandhuntingwithin their

tradi-tionalparish territories Afterwardtheyformed onelarge

vil-lage in accord with government policy The site of this vilvil-lage

changed several times and fission occurred about 1967,

creat-ing two majorvillages,thelargestofwhichisUsino.Each

vil-lage and hamlet is in a constant state of internal flux with

re-gard to residence patterns and household membership.

Houses are built year-round as extended families outgrow

their homes or as families nucleate Rectangular houses,

made of bush materials, encircle acentral common In the

past, initiated menusuallyresided in one house that doubled

as a male culthouse,buttheycould live with their families if

theywished Until recently,residential patterns reflected

tra-ditional beliefs about ritual pollution; if men and women

shared a house, they partitioned their sleeping areas, and

women had isolated menstrual huts onthe edgeof thevillage

In 1974, womenobservedmenstrual seclusion in thebacksof

their houses, with separatebackdoorsfortheir exclusive use

Since 1981, there are no more backdoors, althoughwomen

stillobserve menstrual seclusion

Economy

Subisteceand CommercialActivities. TheUsino

sub-sistence base has changed little in the past four generations

The production oftaro, bananas, pumpkins,sweetpotatoes,

tapioca, and yams characterizes the swidden horticultural

economy Coconuts, betel nuts, papayas, and tobacco are

also cultivated invillage plots Garden produce is

supple-mented by bush foraging, fishing, and the hunting of wild

pigs, cassowaries, bandicoots and other small marsupials,

birds, lizards, snakes,crocodiles,andinsects Pighusbandryis

practiced to a lesser extent thaninthehighlands.Although

most Usino men have engagedin contractual labor on the

coast for a year or two, at presentUsinoaccess towage labor

is minimal Until the late 1980s, attemptsatcommercial

pro-duction of coffee, rice, and peanuts were unsuccessful, and

cattleprojects haveengendered fewprofits

IndustrialArts Usinopeopletraditionallymanufactured

carved woodenbowls,one of theirmajor items ofexchange

Additional handicrafts include canoes, drums, bark cloth

from the papermulberrytree, woven bamboo mats for house walls, pandanus baskets, spears,bows, andwoven-fiber net

bags

Trade Usino is an entrepreneurial community,

economi-cally and geographically intermediate in several important trade networks extending across the Ramu Valley Unlike neighboring highland areas, theUsino bush abounds with wildlife and is a source of feralpigs,cassowaries, bird of para-dise plumes, Victoria pigeon and hornbill feathers, lizards, opossum meat andfur,and musselshells for lime In addition

tobeing richer in natural resources than thebordering moun-tain groups, Usino produces woodenbowls,betel nuts,

to-bacco,taro, and coconuts-lowland products highly valued

by upland groups Usino's location, intermediate between two mountain ranges, ensures its entrepreneurial role as goods from the Bismarck Mountains flow through Usino to the Finisterres and vice versa Usino's position as a trading center allows it to survive as an in-marrying group, maintain-ing exchange relationships with outside groups by means other than marriage

Division of Labor A relatively sharp sexual division of labor characterizes Usino life Menworkcollectively at hunt-ing, carving canoes,buildinggarden fences and houses, plan-ning and conducting exchange ceremonies, and performing harvest and initiation rituals They also perform planting and hunting rituals and magic, curing, manufacture of tools and weapons, and public oratory Women are primarily responsi-blefor child care,cooking, collecting firewood, weaving net bags, and weeding and harvesting gardens Girls begin these

tasksat aboutage 5,whileboys are relatively free to play until adolescence Women cooperate with men in several tasks, collecting grass for thatch, hunting small rodents and carry-ing home the meat, clearcarry-ing the undergrowth in new gardens

asmen fell thelarge trees, making lime, planting gardens, pre-paring sago, and prepre-paring vegetables while men undertake thecooking at public feasts Both men and women fish, but

by different methods Recently women have joined their hus-bands in the production of cash crops

landTenwe Parish membership entails hereditary land rights to a particular associated terrritory, collectively owned

by a group of patrilinealkin.Usufruct isusually transmitted according to patrilineal inheritance rules, but cognatic princi-ples play a large part in determining land-use alternatives De-spite the patrilineal ideal, a majority of men actually utilize land obtained through affiliation with mothers or wives Al, though a person relinquishes ownership rights to his natal territory if he leaves and his children become members of an-other parish, most people maintain limited hunting and fish-ingrights in their native parish by virtue of strongfamilyties and continuity of use Because no discernible population pressure yet exists, borrowing land is relativelyeasy; a man and his children can eventually gain rights to land of another Usino parish by helping the owners cultivate the land Ide-ally, children inherit land from their father if he has paid bride-price and child-price Otherwise, children remain mem-bers of their maternal parish, and they inherit land accordingly

362 Usino

Kinship Kin Groups and Descent The largest local group in

Usino istheparish,anamedsocial and territorialunit.A

par-ishiscomposed of personsassociatedwitha certain tractof

land, bearinga distinct name, andforminga political unit.

There are four such traditional units, and members have

grouped along kinship lines into three villages. At present

each Usino parishis dividedinto two social and territorial

subunits, or 'carpets." A carpel is anexogamous unilinear

group,orpatrilineage,which hasitssocialcenterwithina

par-ish territory Descentispatrilineal; bymakingapayment for

his wife and eachchild,afatherattainsrightstohis children

andthereby establishes claimstohisdaughter'sbride-priceas

well astochild-price for hisdaughter'schildren Despitethe

patrilinealideal,however,achild willremain amember of the

mother'spatrilineage unlessbought bythefather.Although

child-price isfunctionallyanautonomouspayment,it isseen

by mostasan extension of thebride-price.

KinshipTerminology. Deviatingfrom standard systems,

in Usino paternal parallelcousins are merged withsiblings

whilecrosscousinsaredistinguished from maternalparallel

cousins.Thedistinction betweencrossandparallelcousins is

important, and manikin play an important social role for

eachindividual Relative ageisanimportantmarker,parents'

youngersiblings arelumpedwith parents, butparents' older

siblings arecalled"grandmother"and"grandfather."Thereis

also terminological merging between grandparents and

grandchildren,distinguishedbysex Great-grandparentsand

great-grandchildren call one another "husband" or "wife."

Affinal kinaredistinguished from consanguineal kin

Intra-community marriage results in many overlapping kin

categories

Marriage and Family

Marriage Polygyny in Usinoisaccepted but notpreferred,

anditispracticedbyonlyabout 18percent ofthe families

Successful polygynous unions are initiated by the cowives

themselves Preferential intraparish marriage and sister

ex-change characterize Usino, and if suitable mates are not

available within the opposite carpel, spouses are selected

fromotherUsinoparishes.Consequently,amultiplicityof

af-final and cognatic ties connect Usino parishes Intergroup

al-liances are maintained through trade partnerships rather

than marriage Divorces donotthreaten the system of

alli-ance andexchange, and they are accomplished withrelative

ease.Lowpopulationdensityand minimal cash income limit

access towealth andgoods,prohibitinglargebride-price

pre-stations, and there are no marriage-payment negotiations

Partners areofficiallybetrothed by their parents, sometimes

aschildren, but in practice young people often choose their

own mates Womengenerally choose their second husbands

Postmarital residence is usually virilocal, but most parish

members livetheir entire liveswithinUsinoterritory,ifnotin

the samevillage

DomesticUnit The basic domesticandeconomic unitis

the household, composed of either a nuclear or extended

family

Inheritance Inheritance is patrilineal, once bride-price

andchild-priceare paidby the husbandtohis affines

Socialization Education is primarily informal, through observation and imitation;relativelyfew children attend the primary school6.4 kilometers away, and only a few Usino menhave attended high school Scolding andphysical pun-ishmentare frequently used to impress upon children their responsibilities

Sociopolitical Organization

Social Orgnization Thecultural-linguistic unit that in-cludes the mountain speakers of Usino is called a "phyle" sincethe word "tribe" is inappropriate for a group whichlacks corporate existence Thephyle is divided into smaller units, based on slight differences in culture The lowland Usino subphyleisdivided into four"parishes,"political units associ-atedwith definedtractsofland Members of theseparishes

havegrouped along kinship lines into villages andhamlets, but members of extraphyle parishes are alsoincorporatedinto the villages Each Usino parish is subdivided into two smaller social and territorialsubunits calledcarpels, theexogamous

patrilineal groups (discussed previously) that have their so-cial centers withinparish territory.The Usino social structure

isoneofdiscretemulticarpellary parishes,because each par-ish has a set ofunilinearkinship groups that belong to it and

toitalone Parishesinthis systemmay beself-sufficient,and

inprecontact times theyalways were Unlike the neighboring mountain-dwelling Garia, Usino people have definite terri-torial groups withfixedboundaries

PoliticalOrganization Eachpatrilineage,orcarpel,has a patriarch who oversees land and ritualthat is patrilineally in-herited, but for the most part he is a figurehead for the de-scentgroup.Actualleadershipdepends on a combination of personal qualities The vernacular termforbig-man (nama-gem) means"good man" and can refer to any man who excels

in some way Almost all men over age 40 are considered namagem in some capacity, but leaders are those who excel in activities such asaccumulating pigs, wealth, or trade partners and who demonstrate skill at initiating and directing commu-nal activities.Therearenodistinctive visual symbols of eco-nomicdifferentiation andnoobvious differences in standard

ofliving, consumption, or material wealth What little status differentiation exists is based on acquired trade ties, the pos-session of powerful ritual names and secrets, or access to cash

Social Control Internal hostilities are managed through informal mechanisms such as gossip, physical confrontation, threat ofsorcery, and health beliefs that attribute illness to unresolved grievances, disharmony, and intervention by an-cestral spirits Pigsdestroying gardens, bride-price and child-price, marital disputes, and trespass on hunting rights are primary sourcesofinterpersonal conflict In a washing cere-mony, disputants absolve one another oftransgression Vil-lage moots or courts consider those cases that defy informal settlement, and government courts are used as a last resort Conflict Extraphyle raiding characterized external con-flict until the 1920s and 1930s, when Usino voluntarily ac-ceptedpacification Relations with other groups are generally amicable, but issues over exchange, land use, and sorcery oc-casionally require traditional methods of dispute settle-ment-that is, a moot or court in which the contending par-ties air their differences and seekconsensus If consensus is

Uvea 363

not attained, sorcery or appeal to government courts may

follow

Religion and Expressive Culture

ReligiousBeliefs The secretritualnames of the

mytho-logicalcultureheroes and heroinesareownedbypatrilineages

andareusedinritual forwarfare,hunting, planting,

harvest-ing, feasts, and magic: these secret names giverituals their

power.Ownershipof thesenames isthemostvaluable kind of

ritual knowledge, but secret names of bush spirits-those

who protect parish landaswellasthe mischievousand

dan-gerouswild men andwomenspirits-mayalso beinvoked by

patrilineages for protection andhealing. Accessto spiritual

powerisunequal; earlymissionaries burnedsomeof the

sa-cred names, rendering themineffective,sosomelineageslost

thispowerful knowledge Additional secretnames were lost

when elders died before passing the names on toyounger

members Also, some peoplehave greatersuccess in

attract-ingthe favor of spirits.AlthoughUsino cargocultsendedin

the 1970s, a strong cargo bias still underlies relationships

with Europeans Lutheran conceptsofGodhave been added

bysometothespiritualbelief system,but traditional beliefin

spirits remainsuniversal

Religious Pracytioners Any man who seeks success in

planting,hunting,andexchangemustattempttocontrol the

spiritworldbygivinggiftstothe spiritsandinvokingtheir

rit-ual names Most men inheritorbuya few names and rituals

andoccasionallyobservetaboos,inordertoachieve material

well-being, buttherearealsoseveralkindsof ritualspecialists

inUsino One or twospecialize indanceritual,making the

dances ritually powerful so as to enhance intergroup

ex-change andto attractpotentialmates Two other men

con-trol ritualsforplantingandharvesting.Othermencontrol

rit-uals for maleinitiation,butfemaleinitiation,last conducted

in 1975, wasperformed byspecialists fromoutsideUsino

be-cause thatritualknowledge had been lost

Ceremonies Rituals are associated with nearly all

activi-ties: dances, initiations,warfare, hunting,curing, gardening,

rainmaking,love magic,canoeand woodenbowlmaking,slit

gong and drum making, feasts and exchanges, weddings,

deaths, and births Dance ceremonies, with singing and

drumming, accompany mostweddingsand formal

redistribu-tivefeasts Public oratory and exchangeof food and valued

trade items mark most exchange ceremonies Funerals are

characterized by the ritualdrinkingofkava.Mostsacred are

themale cultceremonies,includingmaleinitiations-which

involve seclusion ofinitiates, physical trials, and

dancing-from which women are excluded Female initiation follows

first menstruation, just priortomarriage.Male initiations are

performed every few years.Hand-washingceremoniesend

rit-ual seclusion for mourners and cleanse them of ritual

pollution

Arts Artistic endeavors include the carving of plain

wooden bowls and drums, with minimal decoration Some

spears are decorated and netbags are dyed with simple

de-signs Dancing andceremonialbodydecorationsexhibit the

mostartisticelaboration

Medicine Minorillnessisoften tracedtointragroup

con-flict and supernatural intervention (such as attacks by

ghosts), but serious illness and deatharegenerallyattributed

tosorceryfromthemountains Manyillnessesareexplained

by soulloss,andcures arecalled upontolocate and retrieve thesoul In the past,two curersdivined the causes ofillnesses

and treatedthem,but bothmendiedwithoutpassingontheir

knowledge Usinopeoplenowrelyon a Gariahealer, related

bymarriage, andthe government healthcenter

Death and Afterlife Ghosts of the deceased (gob) are said to roam the village and, if offended, cause illness A hand-washing ceremony following the mourning period rit, uallyburiestheghost The ghosts of those who die violently, kenaime, may be especially dangerous, so control of them throughspells andsecret namesisimportantfor healers and big-men Eventually gob disappear, some say to a mountain village.Traditionallythe spirits of the dead offered no assist-ance totheliving,butduringthe cargocultsofthe 1950s and 1960speoplewent totheirparents'gravesand asked fortheir assistance inacquiring materialgoods

SeealsoGaria

Bibliography

Conton, Leslie (1977) 'Women's Roles in a Man's World: Appearance andRealityin aLowland New GuineaVillage."

Ph.D dissertation, University of Oregon, Eugene

Conton, Leslie (1985) 'Reproductive Decision-Making in the Upper Ramu District, PapuaNewGuinea:Cognitive As-pects of Adaptive Problem-Solving." Papua New Guinea MedicalJournal 28:163-176

Conton, Leslie (1985) 'Social, Economic, and Ecological Paramatersof Infant Feeding in Usino, Papua New Guinea." Ecology ofFood and Nutrition 16:39-54

Conton, Leslie, and David Eisler (1976) 'The Ecology of Exchangeinthe Upper Ramu Valley." Oceania 47:134-143 Eisler, David(1979) ContinuityandChange in aLowland Po-litical System in Papua NewGuinea Ph.D dissertation, Uni-versity ofOregon, Eugene

LESLIE CONTON

Uvea

ETHNONYMS: East Uvean, Uvean, Wallis Island Uvea, like its twin island Futuna, isculturally and

lin-guisticallyclosely related to Tonga Uvea is a volcanic high is-land located 180kilometers northeast of Futuna at13° S and 176° W There areclose to 6,000 people in Uvea and Futuna

In 1982 there were 12,000migrant workers from these islands

in Noumia, NewCaledonia.Uveanisclassified in the East-ern Polynesian Group of Austronesian languages Settle-mentsare now mainly along thecoast Inthe past, wetland