The Miyanmin of Bowye Creek

!!FILM STUDIES OF TRADITIONAL CULTURES OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA: The Miyanmin of Bowye Creek !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!M. Michael Maloney!National Anthropological Film Center!April 22, 1980!!!

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!!!!!!!!Table of Contents !!!!

Residence Trumps Descent 4

The Miyanmin of Papua New Guinea 7

The Bowye Creek Miyanmin 9

Discussion of Descent, Residence, and Leadership at Bowye Creek 18

Topics for Further Research at Bowye Creek 23

Appendix I: Genealogical Charts 25

Appendix II: Consanguineal and Affinal Terminology Charts 34

Appendix III: Bowye Haus Singsing Floor Plan 37

!In this report my aim is to structure the kinship and social data gathered during phase I of the National Anthropological Film Center's Miyanmin research film study along the lines suggested by de Lepervanche in her article entitled, "Descent, Residence and Leadership in the New Guinea Highlands" (1967, 1968) My intention is to draw on the key features of de Lepervanche's analytic schema to formulate a preliminary account of Miyanmin social structure as the basis for follow up research. !Residence Trumps Descent !The argument developed by de Lepervanche begins with a reconsideration of the notion of descent and its role as a structural principle in New Guinea societies. By over emphasizing the structural similarities between Africa and New Guinea, ethnographers had over stressed descent as a basic organizing principle of Highland social systems. This led to model building which could not account for common features found in many Highland societies, such as: the "looseness" of descent groups, the presence of non-agnates in local (agnatic) groups and their full incorporation into descent groups, the "shallowness" of genealogies with a corresponding lack of emphasis on tracing links to known ancestors, etcetera. The models did not fit the data. !For de Lepervanche, this happened "partly because structural concepts and relationships have been imposed without due consideration either of their applicability or of the Highlander's own cognitive map" (1968: 168). Specifically, this orientation is inadequate because: !

"a. it minimizes the implications for Highland systems of the prevalent conditions of warfare; b. the relation between descent group and locality is obscured; c. the role of Big Men in political relations within and between groups is not accorded due consideration; d. the character of Highland segmentation as a political process is neglected; and

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c. the discrepancy between ideology and practice becomes a problem" (1967: 143)

!For de Lepervanche, these are the major problems to address in order to properly deal with the realities of New Guinea Highlands social structure. !Her central thesis is "that common residence and working together rather than descent group membership ascribed at birth are the bases for group solidarity" (143) . She bases this statement on an examination of ethnographic descriptions of Highland groups ranging in size from 200 to 400 members. In these groups, members cooperate in warfare, assemble for ceremonies and ritual, and “although they say they are closely related as brothers, they are usually unable to demonstrate the precise inks” (144). Matrilineal kin and affines are resident in otherwise agnatic groups and membership "seems to depend not so much on agnatic genealogical connection but on residence, participation in joint undertakings, a willingness to accept obligations within the group: to act, that is, as a brother to other members" (144) . Shifting cultivation tends to limit the size of local groups, but larger groups emerge to meet the need for collective defense. !Group solidarity is engendered in terms of common residence and joint participation, and "a change in residence results in a change in group affiliation with all the corresponding implications" (145). The "all-pervasive importance of locality and local contiguity" carries the additional implication that the concept "of 'place' tends to restrict social horizons and influence both inter- and intra-group relations" (143-144) . The hamlet is the effective cooperative unit, not the descent group; and "social relations . . . usually occur within and between relatively small autonomous territorial units . . . which are related in varying degrees of intensity by kinship, marriage, exchange, alliance and hostility to similar neighboring, or not too distant units" (157). !Nevertheless, descent remains a key feature of Highland social systems. In virtually all of the societies studied, "the emphasis is upon brotherhood, in the extended sense, rather than upon precise genealogical links" (135); and, "kinship can be and is achieved in the interests of strengthening the group" (168). The exact relationship between residence and descent, however, needs to be

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explored. Additionally, the implications of reclassifying the descent group as a local group need to be examined in order to "indicate the mechanisms of group recruitment and how these operate" (158). Descent appears to be a classificatory criterion in this respect, but it is "neither a necessary nor sufficient principle of recruitment" (173) . !Bound up with the emphasis on the primacy of locality and common residence, the role of Big Men in the processes of recruitment and segmentation becomes important. In this context, both recruitment and segmentation may be properly regarded as a sort of political activity in terms of which Big Men manage group activity. Those that are enterprising enough can build up a following, attract new members, and "if they are strong enough, split off to form groups of their own" (180). Group leadership is achieved and allegiance is elective. !De Lepervanch concludes her argument by noting that the context of social relations in the Highlands is "extremely competitive.” Local groups emphasize brotherhood and cohere as solitary groups around Big Men. To gain competitive advantage, outsiders are incorporated into local groups — "only after recruitment do these outsiders assert agnatic relationship with other members. . . and are . . . accepted as brothers" (173). It follows from this that "descent is not simply a recruitment principle, but the agnatic idiom serves to express group unity vis-a-vis other groups and to delimit 'proper* status within the group" (185).

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The Miyanmin of Papua New Guinea !The Miyanmin  language group occupies what may be the most extensive 1

geographical area of any of New Guinea's 700 languages. The area is topographically diverse with rugged mountains (1000-1500 meters) in the south and east; and lower (50-200 meter) swampy terrain in the areas to the west and north. The wider Miyanmin territory is bounded by the Upper May River in the east and by the Yapsiei (August) River in the west and extends from Telefomin in the south to just above Green River in the lowland north. Lower montane rainforest blankets the terrain, but in the Yapsiei Region this flora gives way to forested flood-plain swamp. !George Morren, who conducted fieldwork among the Southeastern Miyanmin on the Upper May River, has characterized the Miyanmin way of life as one which "exemplifies a land-extensive swidden and hunting pattern supporting a dispersed population with a crude density of three people per square mile" (Morren 1977: 286). Paula Brown refers to the Miyanmin territory as "the highland fringe" at the headwaters of the Sepik River (Brown 1976: 30). As late as the mid 1960's, the area had never been thoroughly explored and many small groups had never been contacted (Papua New Guinea Government Archives). !Within the wider Miyanmin area, Morren reports the following: !

"Local populations occupy watersheds and valleys, are named after such features, and are economically self-sufficient with a high degree of co-operation, co-ordination, sharing, and population movement" (1977: 286).

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1 Miyanmin is the name given to a population which was conservatively estimated to contain 1500 members in 1972. The name itself derives from "the name of a group living nearest the southern boarder of the language area and whose members have died out" (Smith and Weston 1972: 16).

Ecologically, the floral and faunal variation in the area is related to altitude and seasonal rainfall (area-wide rainfall is computed at 4,000 - 5,000 mm per year)  ? 2

The most important sources of protein and fat are feral pigs and dogs supplemented by smaller fauna such as rats, birds, marsupials, fish snakes, etcetera. In addition to wild leaves, sago, nuts, and grasses which are gathered in season, recently introduced sweet potatoes and corn supplement the main food crops--taro, tapioc, bananas and some papaya. In general, "levels of health and nutrition are high by New Guinea standards" (ibid), although malaria is endemic to the entire territory (epidemiologically more significant at the lower elevations) and, recently, respiratory diseases have emerged as a major health problem for most Miyanmin groups. !Morren also outlines a Miyanmin settlement pattern that "has to do with a complex settlement cycle [related to] a process of response to the problem of the availability of meat" (ibid). The cycle begins with the invasion or recovery of territory that is topographically distinct and an "initial period of occupation" commences which is, at first, "nucleated, but over time there is a progressive expansion of the distances between hamlets until a variable limit on expansions is attained" (ibid). !At this point, according to Morren, the entire settlement moves "unidirectionally" within the territory until a geographic or political boundary is encountered "at which time a new occupation area is invaded" (ibid). This settlement process is reported to 'cycle' every eight to twelve years and has the "effect of spatially distributing hunters in relation to harvestable faunal resources”(ibid). !!

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� Morren (1977) outlines a Miyanmin pattern of settlement development as part of a "life support 2

system" based upon his study of the Southeastern Miyanmin. Morren writes:”The 500-1200m range is particularly rich in resources with the most extensive variants of the Miyanmin life support system occurring below this range, where the smallest human populations and lowest population densities also occur" (Morren 1977:291). Differences between the Bowye Creek pattern and Morren's description can, I think, be attributed to the Bowye settlement's low altitude at approximately 50 meters above sea level. Morren regarded the Bowye Creek residents as “hicks” (personal communication, 1987) as compared to the social groups he worked among in the southeastern range of Miyanmin territory.!

The Bowye Creek Miyanmin !The Miyanmin in the Yapsiei Region represent the northwestern-most extension of the Miyanmin linguistic territory.  The Bowye Creek group lives in a single 3

communal house next to the stream (-4.222 South Latitude, 141.0923 East Longitude) by whose name the settlement is known. The "core community" at the Bowye hamlet is comprised of six married couples, three unmarried men, and a total of twelve children ranging in age from newborn to fifteen years — for a total population of 27 persons. Friends and relations from neighboring settlements occasionally visit Bowye from time to time for stays ranging from several days to several weeks or longer. !In the early 1960’s, the Yapsiei Region supported six Miyanmin hamlets with roughly 20 - 30 persons living in each: Ariko (now Yapsiei) , Queema (now Wagerabai), Rumtema, Bowye (further up stream at a higher elevation), Qwin and Warn  . Sometime in the mid-sixties — 1964, laborers began to be recruited 4

from the male population to build airstrips for government patrols and mission stations. In payment, each adult male received a steel axe head. Along with the steel axe head payments came new ideas. Axe heads (followed by machetes, knives, cloth, clothing, tobacco, matches, etcetera) were highly priced and much sought after. Traditional ideas and practices were attacked by the foreigners they worked for and who possessed the wealth they wanted. Magic was discouraged and the skulls of fathers used for garden and curing magic were discarded or hidden; stone axe heads were thrown into the rivers or piled up under trees — never to be used again; men changed their elongated penis gourds — imako —

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� � Based upon linguistic data collected at the Yapsiei Patrol Post and at Bowye Creek, we can 3 3

say that the Yapsiei Region Miyanmin speak a dialect cf the Miyanmin language as described by Smith and Weston. Also, by virtue cf being a "boarder group" several members of the Bowye settlement are multilingual — speaking both the Green River and the Ama languages in addition to Neo Melanesian Pidgin.

� These hamlets are more or less even spaced from each other at ~1½ days intervals (walking). 4

Badbi is the place name for the old Bowye Creek settlement at rough;y 175 meters which was the precursor of the first Bowye Creek settlement. Badbi is still returned to periodically to harvest pawpaws and iwato nuts — both tree crops. At a lower elevation on the Badbi creek, Anatregeieme and Kaibaimabai (Bowye’s luluai and tultul respectively) have built and maintain a hunting camp. This exemplifies the way in which old settlements are used after they have been abandoned as residence areas.

for small, tear-shaped gourds — kamaeno — which are more easily concealed while wearing trousers. !Several years after the introduction of steel axe heads, major warfare broke out in the region. According to the Miyanmin, the Green River speakers to the west and north began mounting brutal attacks upon Miyanmin hamlets — beginning with those that were most vulnerable by virtue of being boundary settlements. Axe heads and steel spear points were used in warfare for the first time. The hamlets of Waru and Qwin were decimated. The Miyanmin were particularly appalled at the killing of women and children during the hostile attacks. Bowye and its closest neighbor, Rumtema, were also attacked, but less severely. !After the initial attacks on the Miyanmin hamlets, a raid/counter-raid pattern developed and threatened to persist. Overt hostilities ended only after a provincial government census-cum-medical patrol was undertaken in 1970. During the patrol, a census was taken and laborers were recruited to work on a government sponsored air strip at Yapsiei — the Census District headquarters. Shortly after the airstrip was finished and the workers had returned home to resume their normal lives, an epidemic swept through the population and killed virtually all of the older generation plus many young men and some women and children. The Miyanmin considered the epidemic as sanguma warfare: the epidemic marked the resumption of hostilities, albeit on a covert level. !The Miyanmin, as do most isolated groups in New Guinea, have a far greater fear of and respect for sanguma warfare than overt hostilities. There is little they can do to prevent attacks, defend against them, or cure victims. Symptoms struck fast and victims, in this particular case, died quickly. Magical cures in the Miyanmin repertoire did not work. !Fortunately, the epidemic was a short lived one. Coincident with the drop in morbidity, the Bowye community was induced to form an alliance with its nearest Green River speaking neighbor located two and one half days walk from the original Bowye hamlet. The remnants of the Bowye community moved a day's walk down stream under the leadership of Anatregeieme--Bowye's ascendant Big Man.

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!The move had two related motives: i.) to rid themselves of the sanguma menace, and ii.) to gain rights to territory with a higher mean temperature.  Nemaimo, the 5

oldest male member of the Gwin River settlement, performed some magic intended to protect the Bowye group from sanguma (Miyanmin = bhisaro) attacks which he claimed to understand and was able to prevent. Nemaimo, a Green River language speaker, was also the person who suggested the attractiveness of living on Bowye Creek at a lower elevation. !Nine months to a year after the Bowye group moved downstream under Nemaimo's protection, they were more secure and hopeful. Nemaimo was recognized as "papa bilong Bowye" <<Bowye’s father>> and his son, Scabrebe, was married to Ninofube — an unmarried sister (nenengo = sister/female cousin) of Sokaiebebi. Sokaiebebi was one of the three married men who settled the new Bowye hamlet. At the same time, two of Sokaiebebi's widowed siblings (also nenengo), Tiblube and Habjebe, were married to male survivors from Qwin and Rumtema respectively. The leader, or Big Man, of the Bowye group — Anatregeieme -- arranged for his widowed step-sister (Yekura) to marry a man from Qwin (aka “Queema" named Frion. !The occasion of these marriages provided an opportunity to host a feast and plant new and larger gardens and build the large communal house (haus singsing) for the community to live in permanently. Up until this time, the three families that pioneered the Bowye settlement had lived in two small houses close together near their first gardens. The large communal house — which is the typical house style among the Miyanmin — was built closer to their new, more extensive gardens and could accommodate the full community. Table I lists all the members of the Bowye Creek community. ![All ages are approximations and are included merely as an indication of relative seniority. Bold name indicates an original settler of the Bowye hamlet.] !

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� Temperature readings from Bowye Creek are ~ 70° during the night and less than 110° during 5

the day with a mean day time temperature of 101° At Badbi the nighttime temperature drops to 63° during the rainy season — as a function of altitude.

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Name Sex-Age Relationship

1. Anatrageieme M-35 Luluai or leader/Big Man#2's husband, sibling #'s 14,28,30

2. Habjebe F-30 #l's wife, sibling #'s 3, 29

3. Kaibaimabai M-33 Tultul, sibling #'s 2, 27

4. Skamotembi F-30 #3's wife, sibling #8

5. Sello M-2 son # ' s 3 $ 4

6. no name F- daughter S's 3 5 4

7. Sokaiebebi M-34 sibling #'s 11, 12, 17 # 8's husband, # 15 ’ s father's brother

8 . Ifanura F-35 Sibling #4, #7's wife

9. Waronube F-14 daughter #'s 7 S S

10. Ketamabe F-12 daughter #'s 7 § 8

11. Hagobe F-23 sister = 7 (later married to Briub

12. Ninotube F-22 first cousin cf = 7 (later married to Scabrebe)

13. Frion M-34 2nd husband #14, first cousin #'s 3 § 29, step-father of # 15

14. Yekura F-31 mother #15, 'half-sister' #'s 1,28

15. Skihaisabe M-6 son #12

16. Anatafube M-30 2nd husband #17, father #'s 19, 20

17. Tiblube F-26 sibling #7, mother #'s 18 - 22

18. Kiab M-14 son # 17, step son #16

19. Nekaieme F-12 daughter #17, step daughter # 16

20. Bebinai F-10 (deceased)- daughter #17, step daughter # 16

21. Harito F-4 daughter #'s 16 5 17

22 . Memgrebe F-1 daughter #'s 16 § 17

23. Biagasa M-45 husband #22, eldest male

24. Tibiedeme F-40 wife #21

25. Boberabi M-20 son #'s 21, 22. hsuband # 9.

26. Fugobe F-16 daughter # ' s 21, 22. wife #28

27. Sennikenabi M-6 son #'s 21, 22

28. Aison M-23 brother #1, husband #24

29. Koru M-25 brother #'s 2, 3; first cousin #13

30. Igerabi M-27 brother #'s 1, 28. half-brother #14

One way in which to understand the structure of the new Bowye community is to examine the prior relationships obtaining among its principal members and those that developed as the group grew.!!The leaders of the Bowye group, Anatregeieme and Kaibaimabai are brothers-in-law (neswaro) — Anatregeieme’s wife, Habjebe, is Kaibaimabai's sister. Sokaiebebi and Kaibaimabai are socially linked via the sisterhood of their wives, Ifanura and Skamotembi, respectively. The social ties linking Sokaiebebi and Anatregeieme are likewise affinal: Sokaiebebi's brother, Ketarube (deceased), was once married to Yekura, Anatregeieme’s step sister. These three couples along with the leader's unmarried brothers (Igerabi and Koru) and Sokaiebebi's unmarried sister and first cousin (Habjebe and Ninofube) formed the group which pioneered the Bowye Creek hamlet. !The initial settlement phase occurred as the decline in the epidemic's morbidity began. Two garden type houses were built close together on a bluff behind some small trees on the west bank of the stream. Anatregeieme (the group's leader) and Kaibaimabai shared one house with their waives and Anatregeieme's brother, Igerabi; Sokaiebebi's family and his sisters shared the other. Koru and a widower from Qwin shared a house across the stream nearby some gardens they were building. Anatafube, Webli's brother in law, lived here also (Anatafube's parents and sister were several of the first casualties when the hostilities began). These three households comprised the nucleus of the Bowye Creek group. !Shortly after Habjebe and Skamotembi each gave birth to sons, the group doubled its size by arranging marriages for Sokaiebebi's and Anatregeieme's sisters (the group's sisters). Yekura, Anatregeieme's sister, with her five year old son named Skihaisabe, was married to Frion. Frion originally lived at Queema (now Wagerabi) and was a maternal first cousin of Kaibaimabai, Habjebe, and Koru. Tiblube, Sokaiebebi's younger sister, with her three children — Kiab, Nekaieme, and Bebinai — were married to Anatafube. Anatafube was orphaned in the first weeks of hostilities between the Miyanmin and the Green River tribes and had been adopted by his brother in law, Webli, with whom Anatafube came to Bowye Creek. Hagobe, Sokaiebebi's youngest sister was married to Briube, a

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bachelor from Rumtema, but living in Queema since Rumtema's demise. Tiblube, Sokaiebebi's paternal first cousin, was married to Nemaimo's son, Scabrebe. These marriages were formalized by a gathering of relatives and friends from neighboring settlements (both Miyanmin and the Green River speaking community of Gwin River--Nemaimo's settlement) at Bowye Creek. During the gathering, the larger group helped the Bowye community to erect their large communal house and to expand their gardens by collectively clearing and planting the forest. The Bowye group (Anatregeieme, Kaibaimabai, Sokaiebebi, Igerabi, and Koru) reciprocated by hosting feasts. Upon completion of the communal house, the entire group ritually expressed their solidarity by singing, dancing, and feasting for several days. !Also at this time, Biagasa decided to join the new community with his wife and three children. Biagasa and his brother Nembrembe were the oldest surviving Miyanmin in the Yapsiei Region and had maintained a rather independent life-style, living near a small stream — the Paita River — with their families. Biagasa resided at Bowye Creek more or less permanently, while his brother preferred to live near the Paita. Biagasa is known as the "lapun man bilong Bowye," or "the old man of Bowye.” He was a respected authority on most matters by virtue of his age and experience, but was not an assertive man — he and his family kept more or less to themselves. !Anatregeieme's brother, Aison, was convinced to return to Bowye from a government patrol post where he was working. His brother was working to make Bowye an increasingly viable community and a young man of Aison's age was a valuable addition. Just before the gathering, Aison returned to his brother's group and took up permanent residence. !One and a half years later, arrangements were made for Aison to marry Biagasa's daughter Fugobe and for Boberabai, Biagasa's son, to marry Sokaiebebi's daughter Waronube. I have no doubt that these marriages were the critical factors in the decisions on the part of Biagasa and Aison to affiliate with the Bowye group. !We can see from the foregoing how, in the space of a year, the Bowye community transformed itself from a small independent group consisting of three

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married couples, their children and a handful of unmarried adults into a larger, more productive community linked to all neighboring groups through marriage and friendship. !The cumulative impact of culture contact, warfare and disease had thoroughly disorganized social relations among the Miyanmin in the Yapsiei region. In building a renascent Bowye community, Anatregeieme led Kaibaimabai, Sokaiebebi, Igerabi, and Koru in taking the initiative to pioneer a new location for the Bowye group. Had these men and their families not made a successful enough beginning for the group, they would never have been able to attract husbands for their widowed and unmarried sisters — indeed, Aison would probably not have returned to Bowye Creek had it not been for this early display of potential (he and Boberabai did not obtain wives until after two years with the community — in part waiting for the girls to mature, but also, and in some ways more importantly, they had to prove their productivity to the community). !As it was, the group increased its complement of married couples from three to five resident couples; several more couples identified with the Bowye group, but only resided on a temporary basis at Bowye Creek. !By reference to the house plan in Appendix III (page 37), we are able to see how each of Bowye’s permanent households arrayed themselves inside the communal house. The families of Anatregeieme and Kaibaimabai paired off and shared the northern hearth ledge facing the entrance to the house — each couple having a hearth. (Anatregeieme also built a small pen for his wife’s pigs.) The families of Frion and Sokaiebebi shared the western hearth ledge with Scabrebe and Ninofube when they were visiting. The eastern hearth ledge was shared by the families of Biagasa and Anatafube and unmarried men shared a hearth ledge next to the doorway on the southern wall of the house. !These spacial arrangements can be seen as one indication of the closeness of ties existing between and among the members of the community. The closest bond between the males in the group was between Anatregeieme and Kaibaimabai--the leaders. This is expressed by the proximity of their hearths. The proximity established between Frion and Sokaiebebi represents the closeness felt by Sokaiebebi for Skihaisabe — his brother's son even though Frion is now

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his father. Anatafube's closest and longest term relations are with Koru and Webli who share the hearth immediately next to Anatafube’s. The operative principle here stresses interaction and the greater potential for close interaction resulting from adjoining activity areas. !The above should not be taken to imply any sort of 'exclusivity' in terms of social interactions within the Bowye group. The large (35' x 35') house floor and unrestricted space between individual hearths provided ample opportunity for interactions to develop, without hinderance, between any members of the group. A considerable part of daily life — eating, sleeping, playing, conversations, food preparation, etcetera — takes place almost anywhere on the floor. Nothing about the house construction inhibits social interactions. !Each family's hearth was the focus for its household organization. When a family was cooking its meals, they would do so in their hearth or, alternately, share the fire in someone else's hearth if a small meal was being cooked. Children often would get an uncooked taro or piece of tapioc and go to a lighted hearth to cook it or have it cooked--regardless of whose hearth it is. The only exception to this, is in the case of youngsters feeling shy about approaching the hearths of visitors with whom they are not familiar. !All Miyanmin utilize a Hawaiian-like system of kin terminology. The terms comprising this system are itemized in Table II. According to the usages in this system, all members of the same generation refer to each other as siblings with the only differentiations being in regard to sex and relative age (older or younger); members of the first ascending generation are referred to in relation to a parent, i.e., father, mother, father's brother (older/younger), mother's sister, et cetera; members of the second ascending generation are, on the maternal side, all referred to as afoko on the paternal side of the second ascending generation, there are a number of distinctions drawn depending upon the member's relationship to the ego's pater (cf. Table II). !!

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!!Genealogies collected from the community evidence a lack of generational depth (cf. Appendix 1, page 25) . Examination of the genealogies illuminates how the Bowye group interdigitates with its neighboring groups. The "shallowness" of these genealogies (both actual and terminologically) can I believe be most simply accounted for in terms of the fact that very few Miyanmin live long enough to assume these statuses. While the conceptualization of age statuses might- consistently be extended to a greater depth, they occur so infrequently as to become unimportant. All of the relationships that are important in terms cf daily life endeavor and cooperation are represented. !!

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Table II: Kinship Terminologyaajo father nokai generic for mo's fa.

kabadio father (reference) min son, brother/sister

biemmo mother mon daughter, bro/si da.

aabo elder brother fanino father's father

ammuno elder sister kawabo father's father's bro.

nemuno younger sister kawamano father's father's si.

neningo 1/

younger brother male cousin brevito son's daughter, da's son

aabo, mamuno father elder brother naliso brother in law's wife

molio father's sister naredo sister in law's husband

ningo father younger brother ngenenko son in law

nengo mother's brother ananenko mother in law

babumo fa/mo elder sister nenengo younger si/female cousin

amabo fa/mo younger si. neswaro brother in law (recip.)

neskido either spouse afoko all maternal kin

Discussion of Descent, Residence, and Leadership at Bowye Creek !De Lepervanche's tripartite constellation of descent, residence, and leadership all have a bearing on the Miyanmin material. Before discussing these, it is important to mention two significant features of life in "the highland fringe" that, I think, bear upon the forms and structures of human organization in the area. !Firstly, population densities are very much higher in the highlands proper than in the Yapsiei Region. I would estimate the density of the Yapsiei region to be in the range of 1 to 1.5 persons per square mile as compared to a range of 75 - 350 per square mile in the Highlands (Brown 1978: 99). The effect of lower population densities in the Yapsiei region is to lessen the extreme competition for land that prevails in the Highlands. This, of course, does not mean that warfare — the expression of competition in the Highlands — is not a significant factor in regards to social relations among the Miyanmin, only that warfare is less significant a factor. !I believe the war that so devastated the Yapsiei Region Miyanmin was directly related to the aftermath of culture contact rather than to any strictly Miyanmin developments. !The important 'stressors' that influence Miyanmin social structure are related more to environmental factors than to social factors. The lower montane rainforest and swamp only begrudgingly yields a suitable diet and disease always threatens (aside from the malaria and respiratory illnesses, yaws, tuberculosis, and filariasis have a high incidence in the area). The other important stress for the Miyanmin is related to the culture contact situation and their desires for a better standard of living. The stress here is social in terms of its immediate effects — Aison,for example, had left his family and friends to seek employment and to try and learn the ways of the modern world. This has the net effect of diminishing the young men available for membership in their local groups. The full impact of this drain will need to be investigated as the contact situation develops in the next several years. !The group composition of the Bowye Creek community can to a certain degree be related to a principle of descent insofar as the groups members all speak as if

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they are all related agnatically. Agnatic linkages are, however, not possible to deduce from the genealogies the members could recall (cf. Appendix 1 ). The closest we can get to tracing descent is through a matrilineal reckoning of the relationships obtaining between Sokaiebebi, Tiblube, Habjebe (whose mother was named Feiaieme) and Ninofube (whose father was Petaieme's younger brother named Moyetemo), both of whose parents were Fanobe and Kembru. Fanobe and Kembru also were the parents of Skihaisabe's pater, Ketarube. As we can see from the earlier description of the marriages arranged by the Bowye community to increase its viability, both virilocal and uxorilocal principles of residence are practiced — although there is a tendency to favor virilocality. Uxorilocality seems to be opted for based upon several considerations all having to do with local resources and group productivity: Frion, for in stance, is from Queema (Wagerabi) and seems to have been relatively well off there; when he married Yekura, he decided to reside with the Bowye community because it presented more opportunities for him in the way of intra-group status and land resources available to him. Also, the hunting is better in the territory inhabited by the Bowye group than that around Queema. Whether the decision to reside virilocally or uxorilocally is made by the man or the woman, I can not say with certainty, but I suspect the husband has the choice. !The case of Koru, Kaibaimabai's younger brother, illuminates how little descent means in terms of residence. Kaibaimabai is the "second in command," so to speak, after Anatregeieme, the Big Man. As the gardens were becoming depleted and game harder to locate, Koru was asked to leave the group. Koru had the early stages of an acute filarial infection, was often tired, had trouble walking, and lacked stamina. He was therefore not as productive a member of the group as the others would have liked. So he was asked to leave, in spite of the fact that he was making an effort to build gardens and help others with their work. His only other potential residence was with Nemaimo's group — another language group altogether. !Koru's case highlights the primary criterion for group membership--productivity. Productivity and the willingness to enhance group productivity are the key evaluative criteria used to assess a man's potential. That the brother of Kaibaimabai should be asked to leave because of low productivity due to a

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debilitating illness — he was told he was lazy — stresses the importance of the productivity criterion. !Also bearing upon the relationship of descent to residence is the incorporation of Nemaimo — a Green River clansman — into the group as the putative "papa bilong Bowye." Nemaimo is the Big Man at the Green River speaking community at Gwin River. Having demonstrated his empathy for and support of the fledging Bowye group by solicitously suggesting a move down stream where it would be warmer and proving his good intentions over a period of almost a year, he was incorporated into the group by invoking an agnatic relationship. This, of course, applied not only to himself, but to his sons also — one of whom, Scabrebe, married into the group but chose not to take up permanent residence at Bowye. Instead, he, his wife, and their baby spent most of their time at Nemaimo's house and visited Bowye for periods of several weeks at a time to tend their gardens. (Nemaimo's house was roughly four hours walk from the Bowye Creek settlement.) !Residence is, I believe, the principle of social structural integration of first importance to the Miyanmin. Solidarity may be expressed or represented through the assertion of common agnatic descent, but the common goal of every member of a local group involves a cooperative pursuit of survival. Both gardening and hunting require cooperative effort: on the one hand, to clear the forest and plant crops; and on the other, to maximize the community's chance of obtaining meat. Very little is done as an individual. Collective effort is involved in virtually every aspect of daily life. It is up to the individual to join in collective activity in a productive manner and to share the labor involved in making the group prosper. All of this is worked out during conversations that - it seemed - all joined in equally, men and women. !Underpinning the cohesiveness of the residential group is what may be called an ethic (de Lepervanche's 'ideology') of brotherhood and sisterhood. I am more comfortable calling this an ethic because as I understand the Miyanmin, brotherhood and sisterhood are more than a doctrinaire conceptualization for them. Brotherhood and sisterhood emerge from long term, quite intimate cooperative activity: both men and women develop, in the context of sharing, close bonds in terms of which production and distribution are undertaken.

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Terminologically, members of the same generation refer to each other as siblings. Behaviorally, those that reside together develop these usages beyond the basic referential usage and, through close association in joint productive activities, become as brothers and sisters to each other. Should one's productivity drop --as did Koru's, even sibling-ship can not stand in for a permanent decline. Achieving and maintaining a balanced sharing is the sine qua non of all durable relations. !Skamotembi and Habjebe epitomize the sisterhood relation between two women whose husbands are as brothers to each other. Gardening, child care (even nursing), cooking, etcetera are cooperatively shared. Habjebe's child died before it was a year old. Skamotembi's son, Sello, was two years old when his sister was born. With two children to care for and a normal load of gardening to be responsible for, Skamotembi needed some help and Habjebe was only too willing to share Skamotembi’s responsibilities. Tiblube and Yekura--the wives of Anatafube and Frion--also maintained a 'sisterly' relationship, although it is a less close than Habjebe's relationship with Skamotembi. Tiblube had five children-- three of whom were young enough to require considerable amounts of care. She and Yekura could often be found working their gardens together, but because of Yekura's age, this was the limit of their cooperative endeavors--which isn't to say that this was an insignificant joint undertaking. They were just not as close as Habjebe and Skamotembi. !Sisterhood often followed brotherhood in the sense that the wives of men that were closely cooperative tended to develop a sisterly relationship. This is the case with Frion and Anatafube. Both men are uxorilocally residing at Bowye, both have children, and both share the common purpose of making the Bowye community thrive. They would often hunt together, clear land together, and otherwise assist each other. !So, the dyadic 'brother-brother' and 'sister- sister' can be seen as an emergent sharing and joint cooperation between hamlet members which serves to not only distribute effort within the group, but also tends to increase productivity for the group as a whole. Wider than the ethic of 'dyadic brotherhood/sisterhood' is the ethic of community. This tends to be a sex differentiated set of relations (cf. Siskind 1979 for a general discussion) in terms of which men cooperate in tasks with each other as women do among themselves.

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Leadership within the Bowye community is a bit more complex than the simple ascendancy of a single Big Man--Anatregeieme. Where leadership is achieved, it must be maintained. The status of Big Man is nowhere a static one — leadership must continually be demonstrated and reinforced through generosity, industriousness, hunting prowess, oratory, etcetera. Anatregeieme, in this perspective, was the most adept within the Bowye group at performing well as a Big Man. Within the community, however, other men — most notably Frion and Aison — had achieved positions of leadership based upon their productive capabilities and, in Frion's case, a working knowledge of magical practices. My point of view regarding Big Men is that within a local group such as the Bowye Creek community, while there may an ascendant Big Man, his leadership of the group involves articulating a group consensus which emerges in terms of community discussion. Each night the Bowye community would sit inside the communal house in semi-darkness with their fires flickering and they would discuss the issues of the day, make plans, and share desires. A Big Man has no powers of coercion. His leadership relies on his abilities to either convince the group to follow his plan(s), or to articulate what he senses to be group’s consensus. It is in these discussions that men like Kaibaimabai, Frion, Sokaiebebi are abel to exert their influence--women also participate in these discussions, sometimes arguing for their point of view most assiduously. I did not see any severe factionalism emerge while I was with the community. !!

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Topics for Further Research at Bowye Creek !During follow up research among the Bowye Creek community, I will be interested in several objectives with regard to Miyanmin social structure. !Firstly, I want to try and expand and check the history of the group. Along these lines I plan to collect life histories from each adult member of the community-- or as many as are possible. I will also try working with men and women to see if the genealogical material can not be upgraded and extended further than three generations. I feel this is necessary in order to account better for the linkages between Bowye and its neighboring communities. I would also be interested in visiting the communities to which the Bowye group is related through marriage and friendship to collect some basic social data from these groups. These sorts of data will help to more completely context the nature of Miyanmin groups in the Yapsiei region. !Secondly, I feel it would be useful to more completely explore the nature of the relationship between descent and residence. Aside from questioning members on the nature of their relationships, however, I am not exactly sure how to best pursue this. The visits to other communities will provide me with the opportunity to inquire about and observe first hand what relationships are being developed. I will also pursue lines of inquiry that may illuminate the nature of Miyanmin sisterhood. I think discussions of political life in Papua New Guinea has lacked because it has ignored the place of women in local political affairs. I doubt that the Miyanmin are a group that is unique with reference to the roles women play in daily political life. !Because my main interest in the Miyanmin involves trying to document and analyze the quality of social relations, I will be concentrating specifically on the ways in which de Lepervanche's stress on descent, residence and leadership bears upon and influences the conduct of daily life. I want to specifically focus on the naturally occurring expression of social interaction (research film recording these permits examining this at a very detailed level) and their structural characteristics. For instance, what are the behavioral styles which characterize interactions between children and adults in different structural relationships, what are the interactive relationships between adults who cooperate closely and those

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who cooperate less closely, etcetera. In this way I expect to be able to link the styles of of behavioral interaction to their social structural concomitants in a rigorous way. !!

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Appendix I: Genealogical Charts

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Appendix II: Consanguineal and Affinal Terminology Charts

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!Appendix III: Bowye Haus Singsing Floor Plan

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