Book
Becoming a Kwoma: teaching and learning in a New Guinea tribe
Published for the Institute of Human Relations by Yale University Press • New Haven • Published In 1941 • Pages:
By: Whiting, John Wesley Mayhew.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This study describes in detail the socialization process of the Kwoma individual. Young children are treated with very great indulgence, and scolding and beating are practiced in moderation in disciplining older children. The males have to undergo several age grade ceremonies in which certain religious secrets are revealed to them and scarification is practiced. Only after he has been initiated into the highest grade is a man permitted to plant yams. Headhunting, traditionally a source for personal merit, seems to have almost vanished under the pressure of the colonial administration. The author presents data which are primarily on males, since his sex did not permit more than superficial contact with Kwoma females. Also, data on the earliest phases of infancy are limited, since during the first three months of life, a baby is not allowed to be observed by anybody else than the closest family members; this, to prevent it from being harmed by sorcery.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Culture summary
- Theoretical orientation in research and its results
- Reproduction
- Religious beliefs
- Social readjustments to death
- Hunting and trapping
- Infancy and childhood
- Kin relationships
- Sex
- Socialization
- Adolescence, adulthood, and old age
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Kwoma
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2010
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Oceania
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Melanesia
- 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
- Sigrid Khera ; Helen Bornstein ; 1971-1974 ; Teferi Abate Adem; 2008
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1936-1937
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1936-1937
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Rumbina Hamlet, Sepik River District, Peilungua Mountains, Papua New Guinea
- NotesAdditional notes
- by John W. M. Whiting ; with a foreword by John Dollard
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 42014232
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Kwoma (Papua New Guinean people)