Index

A

Adoption, 80 -83;

and immigrants, 80 ;

and coresidence, 80 , 83 ;

and food-sharing, 85 ;

of sons-in-law, 256

Adultery, 117 , 178 , 180 ;

and sorcery, 53 ;

and ghosts, 61 , 108

Affinity: affinal mediation, 4 , 9 , 231 -259, 295 -296;

and betrothal, 92 -94;

avoidance protocol between, 94 , 228 , 300 n. 7;

and intersexual mediation, 95 ;

and bridewealth, 99 ;

asymmetry between, 101 , 105 -106, 240 -241;

and kinship terminology, 105 ;

and mortuary ceremonies, 108 -109, 112 ;

and death, 116 -117;

and cross-cousin exchanges, 118 -121;

tropic analysis of, 139 -149;

and matrilaterality, 203 ;

and maternal kinship, 221 -224, 226 -230;

and pork exchange, 231 -236;

and pigs, 237 -241;

and sister-exchange, 240 -241;

and game animals, 243 ;

and patrilineality, 256 -257;

and male contingency, 258 ;

and pearl shell hearts, 282 -283;

and obviation of male siblingship, 291 -294. See also Brothers-in-Law; Father-in-Law

Afterworld, 47 , 55 , 109 , 117 , 193 ;

origin of Foi healing cults, 57

Agnates, 104 -105, 112 -113, 291 -294;

and widows, 116 ;

vs. affines, 247 ;

and male contingency, 248

Agnatic Parallel Marriage, 211 , 213 , 216 ;

relationship to bridewealth networks, 105 -106

Analogy, 7 , 288 ;

cross-cousins and male/female, 119 ;

flow of, 137 ;

and social process, 139 -149;

between myths, 170 ;

male/female and living/ dead, 243 ;

eggs and pearl shells, 278

Aname Kobora (exchange of meat and shell wealth), 73 -77, 110 , 227 , 295

Arrowhead Cult (Bi'a'a Guabora ), 56 , 111 -113

Avoidance. See Affinity

Axe, 272 -275, 305 n. 6

Aya (Wife's Mother, Mother's Mother, etc.), 208 -210

Ayamo, 34 , 296 , 297 n. 8, 298 n. 4, 299 n. 9. See also Hunting

B

Bateson, G., 208

Betrothal, payments, 30 , 31 , 92 -95

Big-Man. See Head-Man

Birds, 115 , 170 , 195 , 197 -199, 300 n. 7, 304 n. 3;

and ghosts, 55 ;

and pearl shells, 278 -279, 280 ;

banima , 157 , 168 ;

hawk, 130 , 157 ;

hornbill, 115 , 158 , 162 , 165 -171;

in death, 112 ;

karia , 261 -263;

marua , 157 , 171 , 174 , 175 , 184 , 200 , 254 ;

Palm Cockatoo, 55 , 70 ;

Pesquet's Parrot, 69 -71, 195 ;

Rainbow Lorikeet, 71 ;

Raggianna bird-of-paradise, 6 -7, 70 , 112 , 182 , 188 , 261 -263;

Sulphur-Crested Cockatoo, 7 , 70 ;

symbolism of, in dreams, 69 -71

Bi'a'a Guabora Cult. See Arrowhead Cult

Black Palm, 6 , 178 -179

Blood, 120 , 161 , 163 , 181 , 207 , 269 , 271 -272;

and fish poison, 208 -210

Bone, 189 , 191 , 193 , 248 -249, 251 -252;

jaw bone, 111 -113;

and mortuary ceremonies, 113 , 114 ;

pearl shells, 120

Bow, 248 , 251 , 252

Breast, 205 -207;

breast milk, 50 , 174 , 199 , 201 -202, 205 -208;

and semen, 207

Bridewealth, 78 , 117 , 119 -120, 163 , 168 , 224 , 240 , 242 -243, 301 nn. 9, 12 ;

inflation of bridewealth payments, 1950-1960, 30 -33;

role of head-men in raising, 85 -89;

head pearl shells in, 86 , 95 -97;

defined by Foi, 89 -90;

categories of marriage payments, 92 -108;

description of distribution, 98 -99;

women's portion, 96 -99;

rules of distribution, 99 -100;

marriage and bridewealth networks, 105 -108;

mofoha ubora , 106 -108;

relation to mortuary payments, 110 -113;

and maternal illness, 118 -120;

and sister-exchange, 240 -241;

and daughter's husband, 252

Brother and Sister, 156 , 157 , 161 , 163 , 167 -170, 221 -224, 224 -230, 237 -241, 248 , 255 , 257 -258, 264 -267;

and origin of Usi cult, 56 -57;

and obviation of male siblingship, 292 -294

Brothers, 245 , 247 , 253 -259;

and cross-cousins, 118 -119, 261 , 263 ;

and maternal relatives, 199 ;

and male sexuality, 194 -199;

matrilateral brothers, 211 -218;

wife's sister's husband, 216 ;

and affinity, 256 ;

pig and dog, 264 -267;

obviation of male siblingship, 291 -294;

theme of good and bad brothers, 303 n. 9

Brothers-in-Law, 94 -95, 105 , 196 , 198 , 226 -230, 236 -241, 248 -253;

and cross-cousins, 101 , 118 -120, 142 , 264 -267;

and sister's sons, 221 -224;

and pig-kill, 233

Brown, D. J. J., 104 , 299 n. 14, 304 n. 2

Burial, 52 , 109 . See also Mortuary Ceremonies

Burridge, K., 287

Bush Fowl, 39 , 276 -279

Bush House, 38 , 47 , 73 ;

and spatial orientation, 48

Bush vs. Village, 76 , 114 , 179 -181, 235 , 237 , 239

C

Campnosperma brevipetiolata (Foi: kara'o ), 19 , 63 -68, 270 -272, 299 nn. 2, 3 ;

originated from Foraba region, 21 , 22 ;

origin myth of, 65 ;

and maternal kinship, 227 , 229

Cannibalism, 22 , 212 , 214 -218, 233 -236;

vs. gardening, 253 -258, 265

Cash-Cropping, 29 -30

Cassowary, 39 , 161 , 162 , 184 , 188 , 268

Champion, I., 26 -27

Childbirth, 51

Clan: described, 78 -83;

local clan segment, 79 , 82 -83;

intermarriage between, 104 , 105

Collectivization, 44 , 143 ;

symbolic process defined, 6 ;

vs. differentiation, 8 ;

function of metaphor, 9 , 10 ;

structuralism as, 11 ;

in Foi magic, 13

Complementarity, 65 , 95 , 118 , 120 , 220 , 260 ;

husband and wife, 45 -46, 177 , 186 -187, 193 -194, 199 , 216 ;

male and female lineality, 90 ;

and cross-sex siblings, 170 ;

of affines, 259 ;

between pig and dog, 264 -268;

between trading partners, 271 -272

Conception, 41 -43, 207 ;

Foi theory of, 50 -51, 157 ;

analogy with sorcery and Usi cult, 60 -61;

analogy with kara'o tree oil production, 66 -68, 91 ;

symbolized in mortuary ceremonies, 113 , 147 ;

in myth, 157

Context, defined, 124 -125, 171

Convention, 8 -10, 13 , 137 , 138 -149 passim ;

defined, 3 ;

vs. innovation, 7 ;

and sign relationships, 123 , 128 ;

and individual identity, 44 , 130 -131

Co-Wives, 161 , 173 -178;

conflict between, 163

Cowrie Shell, 31 , 32 , 71 ;

in bridewealth payments, 96 -98;

in mortuary payments, 110 ;

in widow remarriage spell, 115

Cross-Cousins, 101 , 118 -120, 142 -145, 162 , 174 -177, 260 -268;

and matrilaterality, 120

D

Daribi, 41 -42, 91 , 126 , 129 , 143 , 150 , 175 , 189 , 193 -194, 276 , 299 n. 13, 302 n. 15, 302 n. 1, 303 n. 6, 303 n. 1, 304 n. 2;

Habu ritual, 112 , 113

Dawa Pork Exchange, 22 -23, 74 , 75 -76

Dead, 189 -194, 243 -247;

living/dead opposition, 76 , 188

Death Payments, 108 -111, 146 -149, 245 -247

Decorations, 64 , 71 -72, 114 , 181 -182, 186 -187, 219 -220, 227 , 229 , 239 , 276 -279. See also Pearl Shells

Development, 28 -30

Detotalization, 284 , 286

Differentiation, 143 , 296 ;

symbolic process defined, 6 ;

totemic, 7 ;

role in precipitating convention, 9 , 10 ;

role in creation of secrecy, 14 ;

and individual identity, 130 -131

Dog, 248 ;

feral dogs, 264 -267

Downstream, 23 , 47 , 195 , 279 , 282 , 298 n. 7

Dreams: acquisition of pearl shell magic via, 69 -70;

of maternal illness, 118 ;

of death, 266 , 304 n. 4;

of hunting, 303 n. 1

Drum, 184 -185, 187 -188

Dumont, L., 123 , 138

Durkheim, E., 3 , 5

E

Ecology, complementarity of different zones, 267 -272

Etoro, 52 , 211 , 248 , 297 n. 6

Exchange, 64 , 122 , 172 , 176 , 247 , 260 ;

and complementarity, 95 ;

Aname Kobora (pork/shell exchange), 73 -77, 110 ;

as mediation of male and female capacities, 77 , 120 ;

mortuary exchanges, 109 -111, 245 , 247 ;

ka'o manahabora (exchange between cross-cousins), 118 -120;

tropic analysis of bridewealth and death exchanges, 139 -149;

and Usane Transformation, 175 ;

affinal exchange of pork, 231 -236;

and cross-cousins, 261 , 263 ;

and Highlanders, 68 , 270 -272;

origin of pearl shells, 276 -279

F

Facilitating Modality, 143 , 165

Fasu, 21 , 22

Father: and son, 252 , 256 -257;

and father-in-law, 254 -257

Father-in-Law, 244 -247, 250 , 252 , 254 -258;

as cannibal, 233 -236;

as marsupial, 242 . See also Affines

Female Serf-Sufficiency, 204 , 205 -230 passim , 258 , 292 ;

defined, 41 -43;

vis-à-vis bridewealth, 90 , 96 ;

and patrilineality, 91 -92;

and maternal relationship, 118 -119;

female siblingship, 292 -293

Fighting: within village, 85 ;

war-leader, 246 , 247

Figurative Association, 150 . See also Metaphor; Trope

Fishing, 37 , 182 , 186 , 241 -242, 249 , 251 , 286 ;

fish spear, 194 -199;

and fish poison, 208 ;

and intersexual cooperation, 210

Fish Poison, 195 , 197 ;

magic spell, 130 ;

and matrilateral relationships, 208 -218

Fish Spear, 194 -199, 303 n. 6

Flowers, 276

Foi Language, narrative style, 126 -129

Food, 300 n. 5;

food gifts in cross-cousin exchanges, 119 -120

Food Sharing (Foi: Garanobora ): idiom of Foi kinship, 80 -81, 83 , 85 -86, 89 ;

and exogamy, 91 ;

prohibition of between affines, 94 -95, 99 ;

and bridewealth, 100

Food Taboos, 61

Foraba (Polopa), 21 , 299 n. 14;

origin place of Usi cult, 56

Functionalism, 5 , 122 , 131 , 149 -150, 285

G

Game Animals, 49 , 73 , 76 , 111 , 243 , 246 , 304 n. 5. See also Meat

Gardening, 35 ;

men's and women's roles in, 44 , 45 ;

vs. hunting, 198 -199;

garden food, 205 -207;

origin of garden food, 253 -258

Gecko, 262 -264

Geertz, C., 3 , 4 , 123 , 138

Gender, 4 ;

male and female capacities and activities, 41 -46. See also Intersexual Mediation; Male and Female

Ghosts, 145 -147, 189 , 191 , 247 , 298 n. 6, 300 n. 13, 303 n. 7;

description of, 54 -57;

role in Usi cult, 59 -61;

as source of dream revelations, 69 -70;

and mortuary ceremonies, 108 -116 passim ;

and maternal illness, 117 -118;

and Foi story-telling, 153

Ginger (Zinjerberaceae ), 186 , 188

Gisaro , 22

Glasse, R. M., 100 , 303 n. 4

Gnetum gnemon (Foi: hagenamo ), 155 -160, 162 -168 passim

H

Head-Men, 31 , 246 -247;

and kara'o tree oil trade, 64 ;

status dependent on dreams, 69 -71;

description of, 83 -89;

vs. Williams' definition of kabe ga ("base-man"), 86 -87;

associated with pearl shells and bridewealth collection, 86 -87, 99 , 276 -277;

use of metaphor, 126 ;

and magic, 129 ;

and axes, 273 -275

Healing Cults, 22 , 55 -56

Heart, 121 , 255 , 257 ;

of Usi medicine, 59 , 60 ;

and maternal illness, 118

Hegeso Village, 23 , 27 , 28 , 30 , 60 , 108 , 296 ;

and origin of kara'o tree oil, 65 ;

clan organization, 79 -85;

marriage patterns, 103 -104;

myth-telling, 151

Hidden vs. Revealed, as theme of Foi social discourse, 288

Highlanders, 19 , 49 , 268 -272;

perceived by Foi, 19 -21; 178 -179;

role in kara'o tree oil trade, 22 , 64 -65;

trade in pearl shells, 69 . See also Weyamo; Wola

Highlands, 64 -65, 179 , 186 , 303 n. 1;

contrast with Mubi River area, 19 -21;

source of axes, 275

History, white contact, 25 -29

Hunting, 174 , 175 , 177 , 251 , 286 , 289 ;

seasonal variation of, 34 -35;

complementary to gardening, 46 ;

spatial and temporal coordinates of, 49 ;

in mortuary ceremonies, 111 , 113 ;

and magic, 130 ;

and sexuality, 187 , 194 -198;

and gardening, 205 -208, 296 ;

and cannibalism, 215 ;

and fishing, 216 ;

and marriage, 235

Husband, 144 , 158 -179 passim , 186 -188, 233 ;

and widow, 114 -116;

and dead wife, 189 -194;

and sister's husband (female speaking), 202 -203;

vs. wife's father, 233 -236;

as python, 224 -230

I

Immigrants, incorporation into host longhouse, 79 -82

Incest, 257 ;

and origin of Usi cult, 56 , 60

Innovation, 7

Intersexual Mediation 4 , 173 -204 passim , 289 , 295 ;

and affinal mediation, 9 , 95 , 118 , 231 , 296 ;

and male and female properties, 41 -43;

in gardening, 45 -46;

and origin of sickness, 57 ;

reflected in food taboos, 61 ;

through exchange of meat and shells, 73 -77;

and cross-cousin exchanges, 118 , 177 ;

intersexual hostility, 182 , 187 , 207 ;

intersexual competition, 187 -188;

analogous to mediation of living and dead, 145 -149, 189 -194;

and fishing, 210 , 216 ;

and trade, 275 -276

Inversion, in obviational analysis, 165 -170

K

Ka Buru (Black Woman), 158 , 163 , 164 , 182 -188, 189

Kalauna, 287

Kaluli, 22 , 129 , 134 -135

Kara'o . See Campnosperma brevipetiolata

Kelly, Raymond C., 22 , 32 , 42 , 52 , 105 , 211 , 248 , 297 n. 6

Kewa, 19 , 21 , 63 , 71 , 104 , 299 n. 14, 300 n. 4, 302 n. 2, 304 n. 2

Kikori River, 18 , 25 -26, 278

Kinship: as symbolically constituted, 3 ;

and bridewealth inflation, 33 , 89 ;

categories created by marriage, 100 -103;

and bridewealth, 104 -106;

matrilateral, 202 -203;

and myth, 290

Kinship Terminology, 89 , 104 ;

categories of affines, 93 -95;

encoding bridewealth debts and claims, 100 -103;

classificatory usages, 104 -105;

following death, 116 -117;

sister's children and siblings, 202 -203;

aya (wife's mother, mother's mother), 209 -210

Kuma, 111

Kusa , defined, 13 . See also Magic

L

Lake Kutubu, 155 , 178 ;

location, 18 ;

discovery by Ivan Champion, 26 -27;

Catholic Mission, 28 ;

and Foi spatial orientation, 48 ;

mortuary ceremonies, 109 ;

myth categories, 150 -151, 167 ;

kinship terminology, 209

Land, 302 n. 7;

gifts of, 86

Langlas, Charles M., 22 , 23 -24, 35 , 77 , 79 , 81 , 82 , 83 , 85 , 100 , 102 , 110 , 302 nn. 16, 1

Language, Foi, Speech conventions, 125 -129

Leach, 123

Leaf Talk (metaphorical Speech), 125 -126, 286 , 288

Leech, 67 , 178 -181

LeRoy, J., 300 n. 4, 302 n. 2

Levirate, 116 , 117 , 193

Lévi-Strauss, C., 3 , 16 , 151 -152, 157 , 259 ;

and structural analysis, 12 , 155 , 170 -172;

and detotalization, 284

Lexical Signification, 122 -125;

in

naming, 135 -136. See also Syntagmatic Associations

Lindenbaum, S., 43

Lineage, 87 ;

defined, 82 ;

uterine, 92 ;

involved in betrothal, 93

Longhouse, 23 ;

and clans, 79 -86;

internal organization, 83 -86;

myth-telling, 152 . See also Village

Longhouse Community, 24 -25, 37 , 73 , 296 ;

and bridewealth, 98 ;

and marriage patterns, 103 -104

M

Magic, Magic Spell (Foi: Kusa ): contrasted with myth, 13 , 14 ;

spell for tapping Kara'o tree oil, 67 ;

pearl shell magic, 70 -71;

widow remarriage spell, 115 -116;

as metaphoric discourse, 129 -131;

and Foi myth, 151 -152, 194 -195, 285

Maiden, 179 -181, 195 , 234 , 253 ;

Usi initiates resembling, 60 ;

marriage spell for, 71

Male and Female: intersexual mediation, 4 ;

and affinity, 9 , 95 , 258 -259, 295 ;

and differentiation, 11 ;

procreative capacities, 41 -43;

productive roles, 43 -46, 49 , 113 ;

spatial coordinates, 47 , 48 , 49 ;

and ghosts, 54 -55;

and Usi cult, 56 -57, 60 -61;

related to food taboos, 61 ;

and wealth items, 68 , 86 ;

associations with pig anatomy, 75 ;

with game vs. pork, 76 ;

in Usane illnesses, 76 ;

mediation through exchange, 77 , 90 , 295 ;

and lineality, 90 -92, 119 , 229 ;

and cross-sex siblingship, 101 ;

and mortuary ceremonies, 112 -113;

and affinal/cross-cousin exchange, 120 , 295 ;

tropic analysis of, 139 -149;

and brother and sister, 157 , 221 -224;

in myth, 167 -170;

and Usane Transformation, 175 ;

role reversal, 176 -177;

and cross-cousins, 177 ;

competition between, 182 , 187 -188;

and living vs. dead, 189 -194, 243 -247;

and kinship terminology, 202 -203;

and productive roles, 158 , 208 , 210 ;

nurturance, 220 -221;

and hunting vs. fishing, 251 -252;

and opposed domestic animals, 267 . See also Female Self-Sufficiency; Intersexual Mediation; Male Contingency

Male Contingency, 61 -62, 173 -204 passim , 207 , 208 , 248 , 258 ;

defined 41 -43;

vis-à-vis bridewealth, 90 ;

summating image of, 291 -294

Male Initiation, 42

Maring, 301 n. 13

Marriage, 89 -95, 238 , 241 , 243 -247, 258 ;

marriage spell, 71 ;

marriage payments, 95 -108, 113 ;

marriage prohibitions, 90 , 102 , 158 ;

and hunting, 187 , 235 , 243 -246;

marriage preference, 209 ;

sister-exchange, 219 -221;

and cross-sex siblings, 223 ;

and ceremonial exchange, 232 -236;

and heart of pearl shell, 279 -283. See also Affinity; Bridewealth

Marsupial, 39 , 49 , 73 , 124 , 161 , 202 , 203 , 241 -243;

in bridewealth payment, 96 ;

in mortuary ceremonies, 111 ;

and magic, 130

Maternal relatives, 141 -149 passim , 199 ;

and mortuary ceremonies, 109 ;

maternal death payments, 109 -111, 113 , 247 ;

maternal illness, 55 , 56 , 117 -121;

and fish poison, 197 , 208 -210;

and yams, 221 -224;

and origin of Usane Habora exchange, 224 -230

Matrilateral Siblings, 203 , 211 -218, 248 ;

and obviation of paternal kinship, 292 -294

Mauss, M., 4 , 37 -39, 131 , 171

Meaning, and metaphor, 12 , 285 -286

Meat, 180 -181, 229 , 252 , 258 , 268 -271, 275 ;

as wealth item, 73 -77;

of game animals (aso ), 73 ;

in bridewealth payments, 96 ;

and affinal categories, 107 -108;

and mortuary ceremony, 111 -112;

as mediating item of sexual roles, 113 , 173 -178

Meggitt, M., 42 , 72 , 87 , 303 n. 1, 304 n. 4

Melpa, 72 , 87 , 299 n. 4, 300 n. 6, 303 n. 1

Mendi, 22 , 301 n. 13

Menstrual Blood, 41 -43, 118 , 168 , 179 , 181 , 211 , 269 , 271 -272;

role in conception, 50 ;

related to sorcery, 53 ;

men's contamination by, 42 , 54 , 118 ;

similarity to kara'o tree oil, 65 -66, 67 -68;

equation with fish poison, 208 , 210

Menstruation, 41 , 51 , 52 , 178 -181 passim

Metaphor, 122 -137, 246 ;

defined, 6 ;

and social identity, 8 , 44 , 130 -131;

as self-signifying, 9 ;

and obviation, 15 ;

and signs, 123 -125;

metaphoric speech, 125 -126;

and convention,

138 -139;

myths as, 170 , 285 -286, 290 ;

as valuable, 288

Mission, Christian: beginning of in Foi area, 28 ;

Catholic and A.P.C.M., 28 , 29 ;

role in abandonment of healing cults, 56 ;

opposition to mortuary and widow ritual, 55 , 115 , 302 n. 16;

and relaxing of avoidance protocol, 209 , 300 n. 7;

and Foi myth, 154 ;

opposition to infant betrothal, 300 n. 6

Morality, 3 , 8 , 179 -181;

moral content of metaphor, 124 ;

in myth, 153 -154; 284 -296 passim

Mortuary Ceremonies, 108 -117, 245 , 247 , 273 -274;

burial customs, 55 ;

tropic analysis of, 145 -149. See also Death Payments; Widow

Mother's Brother (and Sister's Son), 101 , 119 , 222 -224, 224 -230, 238 ;

mother's brother's illness, 118 -119, 141

Motivating Modality, 143 , 165

Mount Bosavi, 21 -22, 27 , 32 , 35 , 42 , 116 , 134 , 299 n. 8

Mourning Songs. See Poetry

Mubi River: location, 18 ;

in spatial orientation, 47 ;

geographic significance, 49 , 268 ;

terminological usages of Mubi tribes, 209

Myth, 138 -296 passim ;

structural analysis of, 12 ;

and Foi magic, 13 -14, 151 -152;

and cosmology, 16 ;

and memorial poetry, 286

Mythologiques , 12 , 155 , 171 -172, 259 . See also Lévi-Strauss, C.

Myth-Telling, 126 , 127 , 151 -154

N

Names, Naming, 82 , 135 -137;

in mourning songs, 134 ;

teknonymy, 136

Namesakes, 135 -137, 245 -247

Nose Plug, 181 -188

Nurturance (Foi: garanobora ): female, 205 -207;

female vs. male, 218 -221;

maternal, 229 . See also Food Sharing

O

Obviation, 138 -172, 246 , 284 -296;

defined, 10 , 128 -129, 142 -143, 145 , 290 ;

and structural analysis, 154 -172, 295 ;

and inverted myth, 167 ;

of individual and collective, 296

P

Pandanus, 34 , 61 ;

as women, 232 -236

Patriliny, 47 , 54 , 72 , 78 , 86 -87, 89 , 90 , 229 -230, 236 ;

and adoption, 80 ;

and lineages, 82 ;

defined in opposition to female lineality, 90 -92;

name and property transmission, 135 ;

and wives, 256 -258

Pearl Shells, 63 , 64 -65;

introduction into Foi area, 27 , 30 ;

and inflation of bridewealth levels, 30 -32;

associated with sunset and upstream direction, 48 ;

varieties described, 69 -72;

symbolized by birds, 70 , 71 ;

and head-men, 86 ;

in bridewealth, 93 , 95 -97;

in widow remarriage spell, 115 , 117 ;

in cross-cousin exchanges, 119 -120;

"head" and "jawbone" pearl shells, 120 ;

origin myths of, 276 -289;

heart of, 279 -283

Penis, 174 -181, 252 , 274 , 275 ;

associated with shell wealth, 72 , 230 ;

as tree grubs, 173 -178, 271 ;

and fish spear, 194 -199;

and yams, 221 -224, 304 n. 4;

python as penis symbol, 228 ;

of wild pig, 237 , 239

Pesquet's Parrot. See Birds

Pigs, 66 , 236 -241, 250 -252, 264 -267, 277 -279, 296 , 300 nn. 9, 10;

husbandry methods, 37 -38, 73 ;

used in exchange, 73 -77;

in bridewealth, 96 -97, 107 -108;

in mortuary payments, 110 , 113 ;

in mythical Karuato exchange, 233 , 235 -236;

as brother-in-law, 236 -240

Piper methysticum , 52 , 112

Poetry, mourning songs, 131 -135, 284 -286

Political Organization, longhouse communities, 24 -25

Polopa (Foraba), 104

Polygyny, 161 , 163 , 250

Population, rise in Foi population since 1945, 32 -33

Procreation, 41 , 271 -272, 279 ;

and Usi symbolism, 60 -61;

and fishing, 208

Python, 224 -229, 252

R

Raggianna Bird-of-Paradise. See Birds

Reay, M., 111

Reciprocity, 260 ;

in bridewealth, 99 -100, 105 -108;

in revenge killing, 272 -276;

and pearl shells, 279

Reproductivity: female, 57 , 60 -61, 68 , 205 , 207 , 210 , 211 , 216 ;

male, 86 ;

female and male, 90 -92, 95 , 113 , 258

Residence: and seasonal variation, 38 ;

structure of bush house, 47 ;

within

longhouse, 83 -85;

related to food sharing, 85

Rule, M., 127

S

Sago, 33 -34, 162 , 165 , 297 n. 8;

description of processing, 45 ;

sago sickness, 76 ;

sago songs, 131 -135 (see also Poetry);

origin of honamo variety, 274 -276

Sahlins, M., 138 , 149 -150

Sa Pork Exchange (Sa aend wiya ), northern origin of, 22 . See also Dawa

Saussure, F. de, 122 -123

Schieffelin, E. L., 22 , 134 -135

Schismogenesis, 208

Scrotum, 254 -255, 257

Seasonal Variation, 34 -40, 296 , 304 n. 5;

Mauss and Evans-Pritchard on, 37 ;

conceptualization of by Foi, 38 -40

Secrecy: as an effect of tropic symbolization, 14 ;

and origin of pearl shells, 278 -279

Semen, 41 , 66 , 117 , 156 , 299 n. 4;

role in conception, 50

Semiotic, and definition of culture, 6 -11, 138 , 150

Sexual Intercourse, 50 -51, 53 , 161 , 168 , 180 -181, 237 , 239 , 303 n. 1;

and dreams, 70 ;

vs. subsistence activities, 168 ;

and nurturance, 205 -208;

and oral insemination, 173 -178

Sexuality, 251 , 252 ;

obviation of male sexuality, 292

Sickness: menstrual contamination, 54 ;

originating in act of incest, 57 ;

Usi healing cult, 56 -62;

and food taboos, 61 ;

analogy with intersexual mediation, 60 ;

and skin, 72 ;

Usane sicknesses, 76 -77;

maternal and cross-cousin sickness, 113 , 117 -119, 161 ;

and widows, 114 , 116

Sign, 10 , 122 -124

Sillitoe, P., 56 , 65 , 66 , 67 , 69 , 268 , 299 n. 5, 300 n. 11, 304 n. 1

Sister-Exchange, 105 -106, 218 -221, 238 -241, 250 , 252 , 292

Sister-in-Law, 195 -198, 256 , 303 n. 8

Sisters, 199 -204, 211 -218, 218 -221, 258

Sister's Child, 201 -203, 227 -230, 233 , 258 ;

as yams runners, 221 -224. See also Mother's Brother

Skin, 68 , 220 ;

and shell wealth, 72 , 114 -116;

"Fastening the Skin" (cross-cousin exchanges), 117 -121, 302 n. 21;

and maternal illness, 118 ;

of pearl shell, 281 -282

Sky: as home of marsupials, 39 , 49 , 304 n. 5;

as land of the dead, 243 -247

Sociality, 2 -4, 8 , 121 , 139 , 284 ;

and myth, 16 ;

summating image of Foi sociality, 172 , 288 , 296

Social Structure: and myth, 5 ;

contrast between culture and social structure, 3 , 7

Sorcery, 51 -54, 59 , 60 ;

analogy with Usi cult, 56 , 60 -61;

structural relationship with kara'o tree oil, 67 -68

Spatial Orientation, 46 -50;

and origin of illness, 57

Strathern, A., 42 , 55 , 72 , 80 , 87 , 116 , 126 , 129 , 136 , 279 , 299 n. 4, 300 n. 6, 300 n. 5, 301 n. 11

Strathern, M., 4 , 72 , 129 , 299 n. 4, 301 n. 11, 304 n. 2

Structuralism: in symbolic analysis, 11 -13;

structural analysis of Usi cult, 60 -61;

and obviation, 154 -172, 290 , 295

Subsistence: description of Foi system, 33 -40;

male and female roles in, 43 -46;

and magic, 152 ;

in myth, 157 -160 passim , 259

Substitution: as property of metaphor, 9 ;

as feature of tropic construction, 122 -137 passim

Sunset, 47 -48

Symbolic Analysis, 5 , 15 , 285

Syntagmatic Associations, 123 -125;

vs. figurative associations, 138 . See also Lexical Signification

T

Teknonymy, 94 , 136

Territory: as poeticized in Foi song, 132 -135;

as metaphor of life span, 125 , 284 -285

Theft, 178 -181, 253 , 256 -257;

adultery as, 53

Timp Cult, 22 , 297 n. 2

Tools, 46 ;

used as items of mortuary payment, 110 -111;

and head-men, 274 -275

Totemism, 203 ;

as tropic contruction, 6 , 10

Trade, Trading Partners, 22 , 64 , 268 -272, 283 ;

pearl shells, 69 ;

kara'o tree oil, 64 -65;

internal trade in meat in Foi area, 73

Tree Crops, 35 -36, 44 , 234

Tree Grubs, 173 -178, 250 , 252 , 268 -269, 271 , 272 -273, 275

Trope, 6 , 9 , 181 ;

tropic analysis, 13 , 139 -149;

semantic vs. tropic symbolization, 14 ;

defined, 123 . See also Metaphor

Tuni (Myth), ethnography of, 150 -154

Turner, V. W., 123 , 125

U

Uga'ana (Foi Mythical Character), 186 , 200 -202, 211 -216, 233 -234, 253 -255, 257 , 261 -264, 264 -267, 270 -272

Upstream, 23 , 47 , 276 , 298 n. 7

Up vs. Down, 157 -158, 188 ;

as spatial axis in cosmology, 48 -49;

associated with game vs. pork opposition, 76

Usane Habora (Pork Exchange and Healing Ceremony), 22 , 76 -77, 174 -175, 184 , 187 -188, 200 -201, 218 -219, 250 , 252 -254, 276 -277;

origin myth of, 224 -230, 295 -296;

and mythical Karuato exchange, 233 -236

Usane Transformation, 184 , 200 , 254 , 295 -296, 303 n. 9;

defined, 175

Usi Healing Cult, 56 -62;

origin myth of, 56 -57;

analogy with sorcery, 60 -61;

and food taboos, 61

V

Vagina, 67 , 76 ;

and sorcery, 52 ;

and widow remarriage, 115 , 117 ;

origin of, 156 , 161

Village. See Longhouse; Longhouse Community

W

Wagner, R., 3 , 5 , 15 , 42 , 90 , 91 , 112 , 123 , 124 , 126 , 129 , 143 , 150 , 175 , 189 , 193 , 198 , 276 , 278 , 279 , 299 n. 13, 302 n. 15, 302 n. 1, 303 n. 6, 303 n. 1, 304 n. 2;

on collectivization and differentiation, 6 ;

on convention, 8 ;

on obviation, 10

Wealth, 68 , 71 , 75 , 224 , 230 , 235 -236, 276 -283;

purchase of sorcery, 54 ;

productive wealth (tools), 111 ;

and decorations, 181 ;

exchange, 260 ;

and Highlanders, 269 -272;

and women, 221 , 241 . See also Campnosperma brevipetiolata ; Cowrie; Pearl Shells

Western Society, contrasted with Foi society, 7 -10, 153 -154

Weyamo. See Highlanders

Widows, 108 -117, 147 ;

and origin myth of kara'o tree oil, 65 , 67 -68;

remarriage of, 114 -117;

widow retention, 116 ;

as "black woman" (ka buru ) in myth, 188 , 189

Wife, 158 -170 passim , 216 , 240 , 261 -264, 289 ;

dead wife, 189 -194;

elder brother's wife, 194 -199;

and sister-exchange, 221 ;

as pandanus fruit, 232 , 234 -236;

and sisters, 257 -258;

as birds, 261 -264. See also Widow

Williams, F. E., 22 , 23 , 27 , 32 , 35 , 39 , 48 , 61 , 70 , 76 , 80 , 83 , 86 -87, 91 , 93 , 103 , 104 , 109 , 110 , 111 , 298 n. 10, 299 n. 12, 300 n. 12, 302 n. 18;

on Foi myth, 150 -151, 155 -158, 163 , 167 , 170 , 171 , 189 , 193 , 276 , 278 , 300 n. 14, 303 nn. 3, 5 , 6 , 304 n. 1

Wola, 19 , 27 , 63 , 178 -179, 299 n. 5, 300 n. 11;

role in kara'o tree oil trade, 64 -65. See also Highlanders

Women, 205 -230;

and ghosts, 60 -61;

and mourning, 109 ;

and mother's brother, 118 , 119 ;

without men, 187 , 199 -202;

equated with game animals, 206 , 243 -246;

as pandanus, 232 -236;

medial between husband and brother, 236 , 258 ;

and pigs, 239 ;

and gardening, 257 ;

as birds, 261 -263. See also Female Self-Sufficiency, Intersexual Mediation; Male and Female

Y

Yam, and penis, 221 -224, 304 n. 4

Young, M., 287

1. For a general critique of functionalist theory and methodology see Sahlins 1976.

1. According to the 1980 National Census, 439 Foi live in other areas of Papua New Guinea.

2. Ryan (1961:270) states that the Timp Cult originated in the Purari River delta area of the Gulf Coast.

3. Penelope Hope (1979) describes this and other patrols into the interior Gulf Province and Southern Highlands Province during this period.

4. One of the first village constables of Hegeso was Irasaburi of the So'onedobo clan. He was not a head-man at any time in his life, and as an elderly man when I arrived in Hegeso was without influence. He was replaced in 1961 by Iritoro, of the Banimahu'u clan, who by the time I arrived was one of the wealthiest and strongest leaders of the Herebo extended community (Patrol Report No. 3 1960-1961; Patrol Report No. 2 1953-1954).

5. Elsewhere I describe the role of silk production within the Foi domestic economy (Weiner 1982b ).

6. Raymond C. Kelly (1972: chap. 2) gives a derailed account of the subsistence system of the Etoro, of the nearby Mount Bosavi area to the west of Lake Kutubu, which shares some features with that of the Foi.

7. I would like to thank Bruce French who was Southern Highlands Province food crops field horticulturalist during my fieldwork period and who made a brief survey of Foi horticultural and sago management techniques in Hegeso in October 1980.

8. The Foi recognize at least five varieties of sago that grow only at Ayamo.

9. The flooding of the Mubi Valley watercourses is a result of seasonal rainfall increases near the source of the Mubi, south of the Tari Basin. The flood months coincide with the period of maximum rainfall recorded at Tari station over a ten-year period between 1953 and 1963 (see Brookfield and Hart 1966: table 1).

10. Williams' ninety-three days of fieldwork took place between November 18 and May 7. Between February 1 and April 17 of that period he was with the Wola-speakers of Augu village to the north in the higher-montane valleys. In other words, his time spent with the Foi coincided almost exactly with abate hase , "pandanus season," when interest in hunting among the Foi is at its lowest.

1. I would like to thank Bruce French, who was the Southern Highlands provincial agronomist during my fieldwork period, for much of this information.

2. This approximation applies only to the people of Hegeso, Barutage, and Herebo with whom I lived. I received the impression during brief visits to Tugiri and Yomaisi villages, however, that there were other areas in the Mubi Valley where people were more dependent upon sweet potato and could be said to have a double staple of sweet potato and sago.

3. The obsidian for such blades is not found in Foi territory but is imported from groups living to the southwest in volcanic areas.

4. During my first fieldwork period, the men and women of each village spent one day a week on road maintenance, upkeep of aid post and primary school grounds, and similar activities. The Local Government Council fined all people who did not attend communal work duties, and hence men and women drastically curtailed their time spent at Ayamo. Hunting activity was also greatly reduced by the responsibility of children's attendance at local primary schools and the desire of people to attend weekly church services. A favored time then for "family hunting outings" was the end of December and early January when the children received a prolonged Christmas holiday.

During my last trip to Hegeso in 1984-1985, however, government funding allocated to such rural improvement work had been suspended, and many men had been living at Ayamo for some time when I arrived, returning only to participate in the Dawa pig-kill that was held in January 1985.

5. Hegeso rebuilt their present longhouse in the early 1960s, locating it along the footpath but still near the River. When Barutage longhouse split into the new Barutage and Baru longhouses, the latter moved further up the Baru River in the bush and Barutage relocated to ridged ground south of the Mubi River. Men told me that an ideal site for longhouses was a ridge or spur near the river which made defense easier during times when warfare was still practiced.

6. The Foi were fond of telling me how in early days when a non-Foi-speaking stranger arrived and indicated the east as his origin, men assumed he was speaking "ghosts'" language.

7. Ta'i is the form used when speaking of position or location; ta'o by

contrast is used when indicating motion to or from a point. Similarly kore (when speaking of motion to the west) versus kuri (when speaking of position), and so forth.

8. Several spells I recorded refer to rivers that are said to exist in distant places to the west outside Foi territory, such as the Tunamo, which is said to be "near Koroba" (near the Upper Strickland River) and is considered "sacred" by the Foi; or the Dunu River that the Foi locate in the Mount Bosavi region. These waters are sacred because they are nearer the imagined source of all waters, which to the Foi is synonymous with the source of life itself.

9. This is true even though Ayamo is always kasia , because it is in the Yo'oro River valley and is approached by walking down intervening Mount Aguba.

10. I am indebted to Tirifa and his elder sister Ibume of the Hegeso So'onedobo clan for elucidating Foi conception theory and to their brother's son Heno for aiding me in a difficult translation.

11. "Eleven" in the Foi counting system is indicated by pointing to the side of the shoulder "where a man carries a child." "Nine" is the elbow "where a female holds a nursing child."

12. This was also true in traditional times according to Williams (1977: 250).

13. The acquisition and use of irika'o as a valuable parallels the use of busare poison among the Daribi (Wagner 1967:73). I had no knowledge of irika'o ever being used as an item of Foi bridewealth, though such an occurrence would be rare and highly clandestine. The use of husare by Daribi sorcerers seems to belong to the same class as fana sorcery among the Foi: that performed on the personal leavings of a victim.

Men also told me that Highlanders from Nembi and further north would purchase irika'o from Foi men for shell wealth, pigs, and other valuables.

14. The Foraba or Polopa people live along the eastern portion of the Erave River near the border of the Southern Highlands and Simbu Provinces. They are neighbors of the Daribi to the east and the Kewa to the west (see Brown 1980).

1. Traditional salt is still traded among Angan-speaking groups (Godelier 977:127-151).

2. The Foi say that two large bamboos of oil are traded for one large pearl shell or one midsized pig. One bamboo of oil may also be traded for one shoat.

3. These tubes are sixteen to twenty feet long and contain roughly ten to twelve liters of oil. Nowadays a small proportion of oil is also shipped by airplane, and in this case empty twenty-liter kerosene drums are used.

4. The Melpa people of the Mount Hagen area, who receive kara'o via Wola middlemen, liken it to male "grease" or semen rather than menstrual blood (see Strathern and Strathern 1971:163, 193).

5. Sillitoe (1979b :165) reports that Wola men were aided by the spirits of

dead ancestors who gave them dreams revealing the future acquisition of pearl shells and other wealth objects.

6. A. J. Strathern (1971a :233-234) notes that among the Melpa, the image of glossy bird plumage and the brightly colored leaves of certain plants is a common one in pearl shell magic.

7. According to Schodde and Hitchcock (1968) the Foi refer to the Black Capped Lory and the Red Cheeked Parrot by the same name.

8. The Foi refer metaphorically to a "wealthy woman" as one who cares successfully for many pigs and who is lavish in providing food for her husband's male visitors.

9. In preparing for the slaughter of pigs at the Dawa held in January 1985, the men of Hegeso cooperated in fencing off a large tract of unused swamp ground for their pigs. This, they felt, would mitigate against the contraction of illness from feral pigs.

10. It is common, however, for pigs to become lost in the bush, necessitating extended searches for them when they are needed.

11. Sillitoe (1979b :271) reports that the Wola themselves only recently borrowed the Sa or Sa aend wiya from Mendi-speakers to the northeast.

12. Williams (1977:173), however, suggested that the Foi of Lake Kutubu learned of the practices relating to the Usane from the Lower Foi to the southeast.

13. I was told, however, by other men that the i^~ was also a ghost or spirit, and perhaps semantically related to the i^~ ho^~ mentioned in chapter 3.

14. Note that Williams' account of the Usi cult stressed the origin of payment for Usi curing services (1977:275-277).

1. Fagiabo married a widowed So'onedobo woman of Barutage. Men said that this was permissible since they were not related.

2. I am indebted to Murray Rule for discussion concerning this point.

3. For a description of Foi housebuilding and architectural techniques, see Weiner 1982a .

4. LeRoy (1975:xiv) reports a cognate idiom among the Kewa. The Ikwaye-Angans also refer to the head as the "egg bone" (Mimica 1981:96 fn.).

5. A. J. Strathern similarly concludes that "food creates substance, just as procreation does, and forms an excellent symbol both for the creation of identity out of residence and for the values of nurturance, growth, comfort, and solidarity which are associated primarily with parenthood. In cultural terms what we often find in the Highlands, I would suggest, is a combination of filiative rules and ideas based on upbringing, nurturance and consumption of food" (1973:29).

6. Before the Christian Mission discouraged the practice, girls were betrothed in infancy. Men nowadays wait until a girl's breasts develop before making betrothal enquiries.

7. The men of Hegeso told me that as a result of Christian Mission influence, the yumu protocols have been relaxed somewhat and that they may refer

to these relatives by the less restrictive cross-sex affinal term aya . However, I noticed no relaxation in interpersonal conduct between yumu affines, nor any lessening of the force of other affinal protocols.

8. A "hand" refers to the counting system of the Foi. Starting with the left little finger: 1; ring finger: 2; middle finger: 3; index finger: 4; thumb: 5; palm: 6; wrist: 7; forearm: 8; elbow: 9; upper arm: 10; side of shoulder: 11; top of shoulder: 12; side of neck: 13; mastoid: 14; ear: 15; cheek: 16; eye: 17; side of nose: 18; nose: 19, and continuing in mirror fashion down the right side to the right little finger: 37, or "one hand."

9. I refer to the kabe gibumena , the man who gives the bridewealth, as the most common relative who assumes this role: the groom's father. However, I have noted in the previous sections where exceptions occur.

10. Nowadays, it is more common for a new piece of trade-store cloth to be used instead.

11. The Stratherns describe a part of Melpa bridewealth that is given about one week after the penal kng , "pig for public distribution": "The groom's family and close lineage mates cook two to six pigs and take these by night to the bride's family. In return, the bride now receives a personal dowry of netbags, oil flasks, and breeding pigs, and ideally a return is also made for the cooked pigs" (Strathern and Strathern 1969:147).

12. Apart from the arera bari , only men receive bridewealth. A man sometimes receives a share of bridewealth for his wife's female relatives, and he may often share it with her, but the wealth is given to him and not to his wife.

Only 3.7 percent of bridewealth shares in the sample were for matrilaterally related women: MZDs, for example, but-more commonly, mother's second husband's daughters. Usually, a man receives pay for his MHD only if he accompanied his mother to her second husband's household and "lived with" his step-sister.

For the four head-men of the sample, 18 percent of their bridewealth claims were for women with whom they had no recognized claim other than a tie of patronage with one of the woman's main recipients. These shares thus primarily represent reciprocation for aid they gave in accumulating the bride-wealth for the main recipient's marriage. Men explained to me, for example, that "I received this amount for this woman not because she is a relative of mine but because I helped her brother when he got married." By contrast, only 2 percent of the bridewealth shares the thirty-one ordinary men received were for women of this category.

13. Similar idioms are reported among the Mating of the Western Highlands and the Mendi. Rappaport (1969:122) notes that among the Maring, "all members of a subterritorial group share in the pork which accompanies the bridewealth. . .. But despite such ritual food sharing throughout the entire subterritorial group, and despite references to 'our women' which accompany it, it is within the minimal agnatic unit, the subclan, or clan, that rights in women are chiefly held." Ryan (1969:165) says of the Mendi that "a share in a woman's bride price is thus seen as a material return for certain personal

obligations, gifts and services, rather than as a compensation to her clan as a whole."

14. I am indebted to Raymond C. Kelly and Andrew Strathern for their correspondence on these subjects while I was in Hegeso, which helped me to formulate the problem.

15. Wagner (1967:154 if.) describes a similar structure of Daribi intermarriage, though the Daribi ideology relates it specifically to debts in women themselves, as the Foi ideology does not.

16. The Christian Mission forbade the Foi from making death payments in the early 1960s (see Langlas 1974:187).

17. I shall describe traditional funeral customs as they pertain to male decedents and note at which points the customs diverge for a female decedent.

18. Williams (1977:293) observed that the Kutubuans took two bones from the deceased's little finger instead.

19. I am unable to say whether the same funeral rituals applied to a deceased female.

20. When I asked the speaker what kinds of shells these names referred to, he said that they were "magical" shells and that the names were "only names."

21. Nowadays, the Foi say that one makes ka'o exchanges to make up for bridewealth insufficiencies only.

2. LeRoy (1978) also discusses the rhetorical and competitive use of metaphor in Kewa ceremonial songs.

3. I am indebted to Nelson (Yaroge) Kigiri of Hegeso Village for his elucidation of the two categories of Foi magic.

4. Owe and eya are the conventional two-syllable cries ending each sentence in a sago chant.

5. The Foi use the expression me huraro to mean a place where humans do not live. By extension, they call a house in which there are no people an a huraro , an empty house.

6. The reference here is to those elderly, house-ridden people in a village who watch over the house while others are out at their tasks.

7. This is also true when men use land belonging to other individuals, which is common in Foi. The long-term occupation of land can sometimes outbalance true ownership, as in cases where the true owner has neglected a piece of territory and the borrower has occupied and used it extensively and advantageously. Be this as it may, the memorial songs always speak of an ideal system in which certain lands and territories belong to and have belonged to specific lineages and clans for all time.

1. I am indebted to Charles Langlas for discussion on this topic which aided me in formulating my analysis.

2. The Foi possess a tuni that accounts for this distinctive feature of the ya banima . The men of Hegeso also told me that the Banimahu'u clan is considered to be the only "true" Foi clan, the only clan with an autochthonous origin in the Mubi Valley region.

3. See later the analysis of the myth "Tononawi and Aiyabe" (chapter 11).

1. I have already mentioned the common metaphorical equation between sexual intercourse and death in Foi dreams (see chapter 4). Foi also told me that if one dreams of having sexual intercourse with a woman, it foretells the fact that the dreamer will kill a cassowary or wild pig. (For a more detailed account of Foi dream interpretation see Weiner 1986).

2. This is commonly done when one is leaving the house for the day.

3. Apparently, the circumstances under which the man revealed himself to the ka buru are thought to be romantic by the Foi. F. E. Williams gives an account of a seduction in which the man "finding [the woman] at work sago-making and ready to pack up and go home . . . had stolen up and taken her stick while her back was turned. After searching for it high and low she had finally seen it poking up near the heap of sago fibres and behind the heap found [the man] himself—an excellent joke which quite melted her heart" (Williams 1977:218-219).

4. In Williams' version of this myth, the husband discovers a hole leading from the spot where the si'a'a sui is planted. This springy stick was attached to the hair of the corpse and was designed to snap the scalp off after the body had become soft enough through decomposition. Wagner notes that among the Daribi, the coronal suture is the spot at which the soul leaves the body after death (1978:207 fn.). Glasse (1965:30) reports an identical belief among the Huli of the Southern Highlands Province.

5. In Williams' version, Gaburiniki, the guardian of the afterworld, is supposed to have plucked out the tongues of all new arrivals and replaced them back to front in their mouths so that they could not speak properly.

6. "The Fish Spear" is closely cognate to the Daribi tale "The Yaga " in its depictment of the mediating role of the fish spear (Wagner 1978:117).

7. This passage is a conventional reference in myth-telling. It indicates that the woman at first fears that the young man is a ghost and implores him to carry out the rites associated with the Dabi Gerabora ghost-appeasement ceremony.

8. Williams (1977:218), however, comments on the mediating confidant-like function of a young unmarried man's elder brother's wife, his karege , in acting as a go-between during the young man's courtship.

9. Most other versions of this myth begin with the "Usane Transformation."

1. The theme of the "good brother" versus the "bad brother" seems to be a pervasive one throughout the interior and Highlands area of Papua New Guinea and is found in almost identical form among the Western Enga (Meg-

gitt 1976:73) and Melpa (Vicedom 1977:106). The theme of the detachable tree that serves as a riverine escape vehicle is also found in a Daribi tale (Wagner 1978:117).

2. This character also "figures . . . often in Daribi folklore" (Wagner 1978:208).

3. The bush banana grows and bears fruit very rapidly and is used as a deus ex machina for accelerating the growth of humans in several Foi myths.

4. Tuzin (1972) has explored the symbolism of the yam among the Arapesh of the Sepik River area of New Guinea and has described the equation between the yam and the penis. As among the Foi, what Meggitt has described as the "perambulating penis" (1964) is a theme in the mythology of the Arapesh.

1. Williams (1977:328) recorded this statement from his Kutubu informants: "the abari [red pandanus] are women; therefore when men are eating abari women must not talk."

2. The association of warfare and affinity characterizes a number of interior and Highlands cultures (see for example P. Brown 1964; D. J. J. Brown 1979; A. M. Strathern 1972; Wagner 1977).

3. I would like to acknowledge Dr. Raymond C. Kelly's suggestion of the importance of this distinction in Foi mythology.

4. The themes discussed in this paragraph are similarly treated in the Auyana myth "Two Brothers Obtain Wives" (McKaughan 1973:333-337).

5. It may be of incidental interest to note that the fruit of the gofe tree (Ficus pungens : see Conn 1979) normally falls to the ground when ripe where it is eaten by ground-dwelling animals including the bush fowl, cassowary, and the various rodents, as well as the arboreal marsupials. The latter are said by the Foi to "spend the night on the forest floor looking for food and then take it back up into the trees with them during the day." In addition, as I have described in chapter 1, the marsupials and other forest animals are said to descend from the sky under cover of cloud during the beginning of the monsoon brought on by the southeast trade winds. The onset of this rainy season corresponds to the ripening of the fruit of several Ficus varieties which are used in setting traps during these months.

1. For an appraisal of the literature concerning the role of exchange in Melanesian societies, see Sillitoe 1978.

2. This tale is found in nearly identical form among the Kewa (Beier 1977:48-51).

3. The Foi call any large magpie-like black bird by this term (see Schodde and Hitchcock 1968: passim.)

4. The Foi refer to a medenane giru as a dream of the impending death of a man (denane: "ghost"; me -: transitive or causative prefix; giru : "dream"). It is often dreamt by the intended victim's brother. It portends not just death,

but specifically death by murder or sorcery, as distinct from a dream of fatal illness.

5. The Foi use the same verb (ku -) to denote "to lose consciousness" and "to die." The generality of this semantic usage in other New Guinea languages is perhaps reflected by the pidgin usage of the verb indai , "to faint" and indai pinis "to die" (see Mihalic 1971:79).

6. The axe heads found in the Foi area were identified by Ian Hughes (Human Sciences Program, Australian National University) as originating in the Ambiamp quarries in the Western Highlands.

7. A spell recited during the planting of honamo sago identifies the sago sucker as the skull of Tononawi.