Book

Life in Lesu: the study of a Melanesian Society in New Ireland

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.New York • Published In 1933 • Pages:

By: Powdermaker, Hortense.

Abstract
This source is a basic ethnographic study of the village of Lesu on the island of New Ireland. The emphasis in the study is on social organization and non-material culture. Included are discussions of social organization, infancy, childhood, initiation rites, marriage, work, sexual life, knowledge, magic and religion, and the individual and society. Additional information on magic not included in the text, a table of intermarriages between clans, and a glossary are given in appendices.
Subjects
Functional and adaptational interpretations
Settlement patterns
Status, role, and prestige
Medium of exchange
Exchange transactions
Daily routine
Highways and bridges
Division of labor by gender
Sleeping
Domesticated animals
Rule of descent
Kin relationships
Clans
Residence
Mythology
Regulation of marriage
Dwellings
Ingroup antagonisms
Local officials
External relations
Techniques of socialization
Magic
Childhood activities
General sex restrictions
Puberty and initiation
Sacred objects and places
Tillage
Vegetable production
Fishing
Sexual stimulation
culture
Lesu
HRAF PubDate
2012
Region
Oceania
Sub Region
Melanesia
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Timothy J. O'Leary ; 1961
Field Date
1929-1930
Coverage Date
1920-1933
Coverage Place
Lesu, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
Notes
Hortense Powdermaker. Foreword by Dr. Clark Wissler
LCCN
33018372
LCSH
New Ireland Province (Papua New Guinea)
Ethnology--Papua New Guinea--New Ireland
Lesu, New Ireland (Papua New Guinea)