Untitled - Stichting Papua Erfgoed

SUMMARY
235
The genealogical method served as basis for the collecting of the material
used in the preceding chapters; in working out the data grateful use was made
of the available literature concerning the Humboldt Bay area. To supplement
and deepen the insight thus acquired of the structure of this society the religious
aspect of the culture was included in the investigation to the extent that the
available time allowed. As for the language, we were forced to limit ourselves
to the compiling of a word-list. Various difficulties were encountered, as the
older people — the best informants — for various reasons often practised
passive obstruction with respect to the giving of information or, if they did
help, made all sorts of contradictory statements. The position of the Chamadi
clan formed a controversial problem which had to be broached with tact to
prevent quarrels and whose solution had to be carefully reconstructed later on
from the collected notes. Over against the difficulties, however, were the
advantages that the field of study was not far from the author's post, that by
means of Indonesian — thus without interpreter — much could be asked
directly and that the archaic conditions had come to an end scarcely a quarter
of a century ago, at least outwardly, as the old culture-pattern lives on in many
family affairs.
1. The history of our area begins, as far as the written sources are concerned,
in 1858. It is apparent that cultural changes have taken place in the past century
(the rise and disappearance of the temple-complex, the coming of Christianity,
the establishment of Netherlands authority, etc.), but that otherwise the society
was already consolidated at that time and remained so. Migrations took place in
earlier times. The superseding of original groups, the absorption of new ones,
wanderings in search of unoccupied territory, all belonged to the past and had
led to a certain equilibrium within the society in all its aspects. The flexible
culture had made room for immigrating customs and had developed with them
into a functioning whole. Yet some historical strata can be distinguished with
regard to various culture-facets. We already mentioned — als the population
does as well — the original inhabitants of the district, as the clans Daiwir, Pui
and Sanji. From the native stories it can be concluded (see Chapter X) that
various groups came from the east or the south (Itár, Meraudje, Chasor?).
Marriage relationships and trading trips teach us something about the ties with
the „outside world". As for linguistics, there is a dialectical difference in the
spoken language between the inner and outer-bay groups. After death the
corpses were sometimes buried and sometimes placed on scaffolds. Aside from
the older men's house the villages have had temples in recent times as well.
Besides an abode of the dead on a number of mountain tops there was also a
land of the dead somewhere „above"where the good and bad souls were separated.
It would appear that this is a question of older and younger forms.
It may be of interest to mention Vroklage's theory here 1 ). He assumed that
a number of cultural layers are to be found in New Guinea which, in the
course of time have been partly mixed together. He attributes an important
1 ) B A. G. Vroklage: „Die megalithkultur in Neu Guinea', Zeitschrift f. Ethnologie,
67, 1935: p. 104—116.