Paper database of excerpts from pre-1961 publications on aspects of religion in sixteen Papua New Guinea cultures. The data was indexed in the early 1960s by Dr. James B. Watson and Dr. Kenneth E. Read at the University of Washington according to Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) numeric subject classification. The ethnolinguistic groups included are the Arapesh, Buka, Busama, Dobu, Gururumba, Iatmul, Keraki, Kiwai, Kuma, Kutuba, Manam, Orokaiva, Orokolo (Elema), Tanga, Waropen, and Wogeo.
New Guinea Religions Cross-Cultural Files, 1903 - 1961 (MSS 424)
Extent: 12 Linear feet (24 card file boxes)
The New Guinea Religions Cross-Cultural Files, created between 1960 and 1961, are a paper-based database of ethnographic publications on magico-religious practice and beliefs in sixteen distinct New Guinea ethnolinguistic groups. The data is drawn from a wide array of sources published between 1903 and 1961. The files result from a Bollingen Foundation funded project led by anthropologists James B. Watson and Kenneth E. Read at the University of Washington. Read and Watson applied the methodologies of the Human Relations Area Files (HRAF) to the New Guinea region and topic of religion. Unlike the HRAF, which currently indexes 365 cultural groups across the world, the files provide a narrow geographical and topical focus for the purpose of aiding cross-cultural research. Watson and Read initially intended to index data from 30 to 35 groups not already included in the HRAF.
Several graduate students of Read and Watson-- Steven Piker and Terence Hays-- contributed by collecting and indexing sources.
Watson and Read taught at the University of Washington at a time when its anthropology program was a respected center of Melanesian studies and trained many active scholars of New Guinea and the Pacific.
The New Guinea Religions Cross-Cultural Files are a collection of published ethnographic data indexed by James B. Watson and Kenneth E. Read, with the assistance of Steven Piker, between 1960 and 1961 at the University of Washington. The collection follows the Human Relations Area Files system of classification and numerical coding of subject headings, although it refers to cultural groups by name. The OUTLINE OF CULTURAL MATERIALS (2000) by George Murdock is an index to the codes for HRAF subject headings, and is available online at http://www.yale.edu/hraf/ocm_list.html. By and large, the subject codes that are used range from 781-798, that is, those dealing with aspects of religion. Watson and Read arranged this material by cultural group, and by subject number thereunder.
The actual documents consist of photocopies of excerpts from published works, with annotations, affixed to 3" by 5" note cards bearing the source code, page number, cultural group name, and one or more OCM codes. Excerpts with multiple codes are redundantly filed under each code. Cards in each series are arranged in ascending numerical order of OCM code.
The Files are arranged in single series, CROSS-CULTURAL FILES, with sixteen subseries: A) Arapesh, B) Buka, C) Busama, D) Dobu, E) Gururumba, F) Iatmul, G) Keraki, H) Kiwai, I) Kuma, J) Kutuba, K) Manam, L) Orokaiva, M) Orokolo (Elema), N) Tanga, O) Waropen, and P) Wogeo.
A) The Arapesh subseries contains materials on the Arapesh language groups of the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea and begins with several note cards describing the HRAF terms used in subject description and their numerical codes. These are followed by note cards describing meetings of project participants to discuss coding and sources. The sources for this subseries are:
Fortune, R. F. 1939. "Arapesh Warfare." AMERICAN ANTHROPOLOGIST 41:22-44.
Mead, M. 1933. "The Marsalai Cult Among the Arapesh with Special Reference to the Rainbow Serpent Beliefs of the Australian Aborigines." OCEANIA 4:37-53.
_____. 1934. "Tamberans and Tambuans in New Guinea." NATURAL HISTORY 34:235-46.
_____. 1935. SEX AND TEMPERMENT IN THREE PRIMITIVE SOCIETIES. New York, The New American Library.
_____. 1937. "The Arapesh of New Guinea." In COOPERATION AND COMPETITION AMONG PRIMITIVE PEOPLES. M. Mead, ed. New York, McGraw-Hill Book Co.
_____. 1938. "The Mountain Arapesh: An Importing Culture." In ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, vol. 36, part 3, pp. 139-349.
_____. 1947. "The Mountain Arapesh: Socio-economic Life and a Diary of Events in Alitoa." In ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, vol. 40, part 3-4.
_____. 1949. "The Mountain Arapesh: The Record of Unabelin with Rorschach Analysis." In ANTHROPOLOGICAL PAPERS OF THE AMERICAN MUSEUM OF NATURAL HISTORY, vol. 41, part 3.
_____. 1949. MALE AND FEMALE. New York, William Morrow and Co.
B) The Buka contains the index for data on the Buka Island people of North Solomons (Bougainville) Province, Papua New Guinea. The following sources were used in the subseries:
Blackwood, Beatrice. 1931. "Report on Field Work in Buka and Bougainville." OCEANIA 2:199-219.
_____. 1932. "Folk Stories from the Northern Solomons." FOLKLORE 43:61-96.
_____. 1935a. BOTH SIDES OF BUKA PASSAGE. Oxford, The Claredon Press.
_____. 1935b. "Treatment of the Sick in the Solomon Islands." FOLKLORE 46:148-161.
Gordon, Thomas. 1931. "Customs and Beliefs of the Natives of Buka." OCEANIA.
C) The Busama subseries contains the index for the data on the Busama people of Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea. The following sources were used in this subseries:
Hogbin, H. Ian. 1946-47a. "Sex and Marriage in Busama, North-East New Guinea." OCEANIA 17:119-138.
_____. 1946-47b. "Shame, A Study of Social Conformity in a New Guinea Village." OCEANIA 17: 273-288.
_____. 1947-48a. "Native Christianity in a New Guinea Village." OCEANIA 18:1-36.
_____. 1947-48b. "Pagan Religion in a New Guinea Village." OCEANIA 18:120-145.
_____. 1951. TRANSFORMATION SCENE. London, Routledge and Kegan Paul.
D) The Dobu subseries contains the index for data on the Dobu Island people of Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. The following sources were used in the subseries:
Benedict, Ruth. 1934. PATTERNS OF CULTURE. New York, Houghton Mifflin and Co.
Bromilow, Rev. W. E. 1909. "Some Manners and Customs of the Dobuans of S.E. Papua." In AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, vol. 12. Sydney. pp. 470-85.
_____. 1911. "Dobuan (Papuan) Beliefs and Folk-lore." In AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE, vol. 13. Sydney. pp. 413-26.
_____. 1929. TWENTY YEARS AMONG PRIMITIVE PAPUANS.
Fortune, Reo. 1932. SORCERERS OF DOBU. London, George Routledge and Sons.
Franklyn, Julian. 1936. "Cannibal Poets." CONTEMPORARY REVIEW 150: 341-348.
E) The Gururumba subseries contains the index for data on the Gururumba people of Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. It also contains a leading note on pagination errors in the data source. The following source was used in this subseries:
Newman, Philip Lee. 1961. SUPERNATURALISM AND RITUAL AMONG THE GURURUMBA. Ph.D diss. University of Washington.
F) The Iatmul contains the index for data on the Iatmul Arapesh tribes of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. The following sources were used in this subseries:
Bateson, Gregory. 1932. "Social Structure of the Iatmul People of the Sepik River." OCEANIA 2:245-291,401-53.
_____. 1936. NAVEN. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
G) The Keraki subseries contains the index for data on the Keraki people of Western Province, Papua New Guinea. The following source was used in this series:
Williams, F. E. 1936. PAPUANS OF THE TRANS-FLY. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
H) The Kiwai subseries contains the index for data on the Kiwai (alternatively Gibaio) people of Western Province, Papua New Guinea. The following sources were used in this subseries:
Chalmers, Rev. James. 1903. "Notes on the Natives of Kiwai Island, Fly River, British New Guinea." JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF GREAT BRITIAN AND IRELAND, pp. 117-124.
Landtmann, Gunnar. 1916. "The Magic of the Kiwai Papuans in Warfare." JOURNAL OF THE ROYAL ANTHROPOLOGICAL INSTITUTE OF GREAT BRITIAN AND IRELAND 46:322-333.
_____. 1917. "The Folk-tales of the Kiwai Papuans." ACTA SOCIETATIS SCIENTIARUM FENNICAE 47.
_____. 1920. "Papuan Magic in the Building of Houses." ACTA ACADEMICA ABOENSIS 1.
_____. 1926. "Some Agricultural Rites of the Kiwai Papuans." NATURE 117:537.
_____. 1927. THE KIWAI PAPUANS OF BRITISH NEW GUINEA. London, MacMillian and Co.
Lyons, A. P. 1921. "Harina, of Punishment by Substitute--A Custom among the Kiwa and Kindred People of Western Papua." MAN 21:24-27.
I) The Kuma subseries contains the index for data on the Kuma people of Simbu and Western Highlands Provinces, Papua New Guinea. It also contains two photocopies of a map of the Waghi River valley in Western Highlands Province. The following source was used this subseries:
Reay, Marie. 1959. THE KUMA. Ph.D. diss. Australian National University.
J) The Kutubu subseries contains the index for data on the Kutubu people of Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. It lacks a bibliographical note. Yet, the following source was apparently used in this subseries:
Williams, F. E. 1940. NATIVES OF LAKE KUTUBU. Sydney, Australian National Research Council.
K) The Manam subseries contains the index for data on the Manam Island people of Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. The followings sources were used in this subseries:
Wedgewood, Camilla H. 1933. "Girl's Puberty Rites in Manam." OCEANIA 4:132-155.
_____. 1934. "Report on Fieldwork on Manam, Mandated Territory of New Guinea." OCEANIA 4:373-403.
_____. 1934. "Sickness and its Treatment in Manam Island, New Guinea." OCEANIA 5:64-79.
_____. 1935. "Sickness and its Treatment in Manam Island, New Guinea." OCEANIA 5:280-307.
_____. 1937a. "Women in Manam." OCEANIA 7:401-429.
_____. 1937b. "Women in Manam." OCEANIA 8:170-192.
_____. 1938. "The Life of Children in Manam." OCEANIA 9:1-29.
_____. 1959. "Manam Kinship." OCEANIA 29:239-256.
L) The Orokaiva subseries contains the index for data on the Orokaiva language groups of Oro Province, Papua New Guinea. The following source was used in this subseries:
Williams, F. E. 1930. OROKAIVA SOCIETY. Oxford, Oxford University Press.
M) The Orokolo (Elema) subseries contains the index for data on the Orokolo (alternately Elema) language groups of Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea. The following sources were used in this subseries:
Holmes, J. H. 1903. "Notes on the Elema Tribes of the Papuan Gulf." MAN 33:125-135.
_____. 1905. "Introductory Notes to a Study of Totemism of the Elema Tribes, Papuan Gulf." MAN 5:2-6.
Williams, F. E. 1932. "Trading Voyages From the Gulf of Papua." OCEANIA 3:139-66.
_____. 1939. "Seclusion and Age Grouping in the Gulf of Papua." OCEANIA 9:359-81.
_____. 1940. DRAMA OF OROKOLO: THE SOCIAL AND CEREMONIAL LIFE OF THE ELEMA. Oxford, Claredon Press.
N) The Tanga subseries contains the index for data on the Tanga (alternatively Tangga) Islands peoples of New Ireland Province, Papua New Guinea. The following sources were used in this subseries:
Bell, F. L. S. 1933-34. "Report on Field Work in Tanga." OCEANIA 4:290-310.
_____. 1934-35. "Warfare among the Tangans." OCEANIA 5:253-279.
_____. 1935a. "The Divination of Sorcery in Melanesia." MAN 90:84-86.
_____. 1935-36. "The Avoidence Situation in Tanga." OCEANIA 6:175-199, 306-322.
_____. 1935b. "What Makes Life Worth Living for the Savage." MANKIND 1(12):13-17.
_____. 1935. "Death in Tanga." OCEANIA 7:316-340.
_____. 1936. "Defal." JOURNAL OF THE POLYNESIAN SOCIETY 45(3):83-99.
_____. 1937-38. "Courtship and Marriage among the Tanga." OCEANIA 8:403-419.
_____. 1941. "The Narrative in Tanga." MANKIND 3(2):57-67.
_____. 1942. "The Narrative in Tanga." MANKIND 3(3):80-88.
_____. 1947. "The Narrative in Tanga." MANKIND 3(11):330-334.
_____. 1946-47. "The Place of Food in the Social Life of the Tanga." OCEANIA 17:139-173,310-327.
_____. 1947. "The Narrative in Tanga." MANKIND 3(12):361-365.
_____. 1947-48. "The Place of Food in the Social Life of the Tanga." OCEANIA 18:36-60, 233-248.
_____. 1948. "The Narrative in Tanga." MANKIND 4(1):24-31.
_____. 1949. "The Narrative in Tanga." MANKIND 4(3):99-102.
_____. 1952-53. "Land Tenure in Tanga." OCEANIA 23:28-57.
_____. 1957. "Male and Female in Tanga." MANKIND 5(4):137-149.
O) The Waropen subseries contains the index for data on the Waropen (alternatively Wonti, Worpen) peoples of East Cenderawasih Bay (Irian Jaya--West Papua), Indonesia. The following source was used in this subseries:
Held, D. G. 1957. THE PAPUANS OF WAROPEN. The Hague, Martinus Nijhoff.
P) The Wogeo subseries contains the index for data on the Wogeo (alternatively Uageo) people of East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. The following sources were used in this subseries:
Hogbin, H. Ian. 1935a. "Native Culture of Wogeo." OCEANIA 5:308-337.
_____. 1935b. "Trading Expeditions in Northern New Guinea." OCEANIA 5:375-407.
_____. 1935c. "Sorcery and Administration." OCEANIA 6:1-32.
_____. 1936a. "Adoption in Wogeo, New Guinea." JOURNAL OF THE POLYNESIAN SOCIETY 44:208-215.
_____. 1936b. "Mana." OCEANIA 6:241-274.
_____. 1938. "Tillage and Collection." OCEANIA 9:127-151.
_____. 1939. "Tillage and Collection." OCEANIA 9:288-325.
_____. 1939. "Native Land Tenure in New Guinea." OCEANIA 10:113-165.
_____. 1940. "The Father Chooses His Heir." OCEANIA 11:1-39.
_____. 1943. "A New Guinea Infancy." OCEANIA 13:285-309.
_____. 1945. "Marriage in Wogeo." OCEANIA 15:324-353.
_____. 1946. "Puberty to Marriage: a Study of the Sexual Life of the Natives of Wogeo, New Guinea." OCEANIA 16:185-209.
_____. 1946. "A New Guinea Childhood: From Weaning till the Eighth Year in Wogeo." OCEANIA 16:275-296.
_____. 1953. "Sorcery and Succession in Wogeo." OCEANIA 23:133-136.
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