Book

The Tiwi: their art, myth, and ceremony

Phoenix House in association with Georgian House, MelbourneLondonPublished In 1958 • Pages:

By: Mountford, Charles Pearcy.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document deals primarily with Tiwi art and religion. The author summarizes a number of creation myths and beliefs about nature and describes funeral and initiation ceremonies. The numerous photographs of Tiwi art are described and explained in detail. A number of indications of acculturation appear in the document, particularly with reference to song texts, and there is also some discussion of changes in the age of initiation. While initiation rites are now for men of 30 or older, Mountford believes that formerly such ceremonies took place at or around puberty. This agrees with Hart and Pilling's claim of puberty initiation. The author is an ethnologist primarily interested in art who did field work among the Tiwi.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Mythology
Visual arts
Music
Dance
Historical reconstruction
General character of religion
Ethnometeorology
Ethnogeography
Ethnozoology
Spirits and gods
Sacred objects and places
Mourning
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Tiwi
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2009
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Oceania
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Australia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
Book
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Ethnologist
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Betty Potash ; 1960
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1954
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1900-1958
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Tiwi Islands, Northern Territory, Australia
NotesAdditional notes
Charles P. Mountford
Includes bibliographical references (p. 181-182) and index
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
2003374341
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Tiwi (Australian people)--Rites and ceremonies/Art, Tiwi (Australia)/Tiwi (Australian people)--Folklore