SOCIETY, RITUAL AND SYMBOLISM IN UMEDA VILLAGE (WEST SEPIK DISTRICT, NEW GUINEA) fay Antony Francis Cell 1973 ABSTRACT This thosjis concerns the peopl® of Omocia on® of that four villages which make up the Waina-Sowanda Canaus district of the West Sepik district of Hew Guinea. The thesis falls into three major parts. In the first pert (Chapters 1 and 2) the rajor features of the social structure are outlined. The economy (based on Sago, hunting, and gardening) is described. The discussion of Social Structure looks at various 'levels' of organisation starting with the cost inclusive and vorklng I downwards. Then© levels are 1) the connufolure., 2) th© village, 3) Village rr>oi«*ti@3 4) 'Bush associations 5) the hatftlet 6) hamlet roietios 7) cleng and sub-clans, and 8) the household. The rr.ain thene of the discussion is the rol© of marriage alliance, set up through sister-exchangee between exogenous (patrilincal) elan-hamlets, BR the 'lateral* bonding eler:*nt in the social structure. It is ahown, for instance, that ?t«rab<Brs of tiie society conceptualise its overall structure in terras of 'compatibilities* set up by alliance relationships. These alliance relations, thoucth actually shifting slightly with each generation are seen as permanent structural featurea. This is nlven symbolic expression in the Village- and Hajplet-Tnoiesty oroantsation. Th® opposition of kinship relations (within the clan-h.aif.lat) and alliance relations (outr?ieie it) is postulated as basis of a pervasive oproa.ltion b©tv?e«n 'central' an<3 'lateral' -- an opposition which underlies the rolety organisation, and which is also of crucial importance in under standing the Byinbolic Syateia as found e.g* in Ritual. Lator sections of Chapter 2 (viii - xi) discuss interpersonal relations in frore detail. The problems posed by sorcery beliefs are discussed in relation to marriage ana sexual relations generally. The concept of 'tadv' ** relations (klllimj, eating, shooting, and copulating with the other} are discussod as the basic modality of ego-alter relations across sociological boundaries. Sorcery Is the reciprocal of marriage. Chapter 3 takes up the second major there of the Thesia This chapter is devoted to linguistic eynbolista, particularly in relation to the basic social and kinship roles. Three form? of linguistic ayr^holiKD (or 'lexical jTiOtivation*) are distinguished; 1) semantic motivation 2} morphological motivation 3) phcr»ological rotivation. Chapter 3 concerns itself only with the first two kinds, Phonological motivation in UfteUa beinq exjolored in Appendix I as it poraes problems which oo beyond th« purely Antliropological. It is »ho%>n that the tjteada vocabulary contains many implicit clues as to the sytabolic syst«K of the people. A systen of analogies is demcnstrateid, using lexical evidence, between the structure of the body, the structure of botanical entities «uch as trees and the overall structure of the society. Once acain the "central/ lateral* opposition is shovm to be crucial, but thin IB further elaborated irto s notion of 'organic structure' -- a structural model applicable both to biological and sociological organisms. Considerable attention is devoted to an analysis of iteeda tree symbolism: for instance, the fact that the Mother'9 Brother is (lexically) identified with the Sago Pa list, the Ancestors* with the Coconut palm and so on. Chapter 3 thus performs a 'bridging* function between th@ firsst part of th© thesis which is basically concerned with Sociological queations, and the second part which is concerned with lUtual F-ymbolissr.. Through a consideration of language, an understanding is gained botli of th© 'organic' wetaphor at the heart of Ure£a syihboliftn, and of the way in which this kind of reetaphor meshe* in with the details? of the functioning of the social system, dominated by certain basic kinship roles. Chapter 4 is mainly descriptive. The Ida fertility rites, performed annually to increase the productivity of the sago palna are described in detail. A discussion of the- actual cererwnies is preceded by an account of the many wonthe of preparations fcr the ritual. It is argued that the ritual, and the need to accumulate supplies of food for its performance/ imposes pattern and discipline on mundane economic activity. The cerer-oni^s then>s©lv«9S consist of the appearance, owr the course of a night and the sul>secwent two days, of a sequence of masked dancor-3 (all male) representing various ritual rol©«?. The rest iiaj^ortant roles v»?re those of 1) casaovaries, 2} fish --- of which there are two kinds, thf» one red, the other black, 3) sago, 4) tennitea and 5) ipel«i bovif^n, representing noophytea accompanied by preceptors. Chapter 5 takes the various ritual roles In order of their appearance and analyses th«tlr symbolic significance. A preliminary discussion is devoted to Methodological issues. Subsequent sections <3i«cuss ritual roles under a »utsber of rubrics e.g. the significance in practical OK toythological terms of the aniroal or sspeciea represented, the significance of the constraints on actors taking certain roles, the significance of body-paint styles and mask styles, the (significances of various iMethods of dancing etc. All th<&se 'role attributes' are set, out in Tabular rliagrarr-forp. (Table 5) . The problem then be corses the analysis of the ritual process, seen as a sequence of transformations taking place in the attributes of succaesivs ritual actors over the course of th© total rite. It is cUftcuonstrat&cL that tho Ida ritual can be best understood as a concrete and dramatic representation of the overall process of bio-social regeneration. The cassowaries, who open the ritual, are shovn transfosrpto^, and, reoene,rate<3 , ao th«a* (neophyte) bowmen, whose loosino off of n.acical arrovu (inele) is tho culminating, and concluding, act of the ritual cycle. This finding is supported, by detailed anal^'sos of the transformations of triaak-styles and body paint stylea throughout the ritual. An extended account is given of Wweda oiour stynbolisi?. This leads?, finally, to a discwsBlon of the ritual representation of Time. It is aryiwd that the ritual is a ntctanis of (symbolically) renewing Tiff?®. Certain contradictions inherent in the notion of temporality are specified, and tho ritual ic seen *« a wwana of overcoming thea« contradictions within tho cultural and symbolic milieu of Ui«e4a, >.•*-?• I,— 1"b.ii3 chapter concludes the wain part of the thesis. Two &|>p«ndlc«s deal I) with phonological motivation in It <« arga«<S th«t articulatory P«at«r©s are «xpr®SQively in the structure of Umeda lexical II) An appendix giv®$ the coe.plet« Pui-tod Myth - & K^th r€»f*rr0d to at varioua r-ointe In th« thesis, concerning the adventures of the 'Oedipal 1 hero, Pul-tod LIST OF FIGURES 1 Mythological relationships of the Urceda harslets 2 A) Descent Construct B) Alliance Construct 3 Social composition of the tfrueda hamlets 4 Coconut compatibilities 5 Ba»ic kinship t&rminoloqy 6 Uzfseda kinship categories 7 The four baaic categories* 3 The sequence of transformations in the relations of intermarryimr lines 9 Th«a piol"-cycle 10. Usaeda Clans 11. Villages and liaislet liioieti©© 12. Breadfruit ij>r anil garden ana* 13. ."efiting of village and hamlet moieties 14. Alliance relations between village and hastlet is,oieti©B 15. The Sowai-Wasa v/orking group 1C. The social field of the hawlet 17. Pul IS. Areca and Coconut 19. ?iai£o 20. A saan, his little sister, and hln dog (ud_a, ud«)« 21. (a) Agi (cid:9)(J») The synisolisr^ of the fingers 22. '^he annual cycle 23. The ajfeli ia«»X 24. nli (Ca»»ovary) 25. Aba 26. T@h 8 2 7 . The tjagzwa mctsk • • 28. Ahoragw'ana tajBftm 29. Classification of Body -paint styles at Ida 3®" ±®Jfe®9^BB.®. tayawa designs 31. Awov 32. Ritual and sociological r.iovec'jents between bush and village 33. !Ueh« 34. Statistical interpretation of garden magic 35. black — re<2 36. Mythological oppositions of senior and junior 38. A) Crown of Coconut pains (cid:9)B) Leaf -bearing branch of hreecl fruit 39. The attributes of the i,g«JLe 40. Hair styles 41. The Transformations of tfask-- tyrxas 42 . Structural relations batweon th® tanjwa and teh mask a 43. Mask fringes 44. Colour, structure and process 45. Th© sequence of colours at ids 46. The Radiation of black and red 47. Structural significance of the ipele designs 48. Th© generational structure of Ida 49. Three kinds of 'tiiae* 50. (aftsr Leach) 51. JJon-nonsal behaviour 52. Syncshrony and diachrony 53. Senior/Junior pairings 54. Ter-rporal oscillation 55. Cycle of ritual roles st ida 56. Dialectical structure of ida 57. Contraativ© analysis of Ho 58. Syllabic inversion 59. Th« jgaj/afi inversion 60. Phonological, articulate ry, and symbolic tUironaiona 61. Tot TABLES 1 Marriage and alliance relations in the umeda- £»u!ida ccnnubiurc 2 F-alc> spacics 3. Casting of roles at ida (1S7G) 4. Senior and junior roles at itl 5. Tabular di a err am of Ida 6. The attributes of the 7. £vil_ vs. ^.gi_la 8. lir^adfruit vn, 10. Black -- Ked contrasts 11. Table of Urwda consonants 12 , Table of Oreda vov/«ls MAPS Hap 1 Map 2 10 TABLE OF CONTENTS. CHAPTER 1 „ THE UMEDA SETTING i0 Introduction 17 ii. Contact and administration 17 iii. The land 29 iv. settlement 32 v. .The People 35 vi. Material culture 37 vii Economic activity 40 CHAPTER 2. THE SOCIAL STRUCTURE OF UMEDA VILLAGE i. Introduction 46 ii The Umeda Punda Connubium 46 iii. The Village 60 iv. Village Moieties T\ v. Bush associations 89 vi. Hamlet and Clan 92 Vii. The Kinship System Io9 viii Agnatic Units 138 ix. Hamlet Moieties 150 x. The Household 162 xi . Parents and Children 165 xii Bachelorhood, Betrothal, and Marriage 183 CHAPTER 3. LANGUAGE AND SYMBOLISM i. Introduction - 206 ii. Words 207 iii. Lexical Motivation 210 iv. Pul - an instance of semantic motivation 213 v. Morphological motivation 221 vi. Central versus Peripheral ed vs. ag 228 vii. Relations vithin the hamlet 234 viii. Relations outside the hamlet 243 ix. The triple analogy 250 x. Organic structure 258 CHAPTER 40 THE IDA FERTILITY RITUAL i. Introduction . 262 ii. Ida smav 266 iii Huf smav 269 iv. Economic Activity The annual cycle 273 v. The taboos on performers 285 vi. Preparation of the enclosure and masks 287 vii. The first assumption of the peda 297 viii. Ritual roles at ida 299 ix. The eJLi &ab_bra (cassowaries) 304 x. The aba dancers and the y_is ceremony 300 xi. ulateh 312 xii. The ahora/^wana jamvra and the tetagrrana T. 314 xiii. Subsidiary figures 328 xiv. Ar/sego 336 xv. The second day and conclusion (amov) 340 xvi. The ipele bowmen 344