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.
Abstract
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.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2010
- Region
- Oceania
- Sub Region
- Melanesia
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Sigrid Khera ; Helen Bornstein ; 1971-1974 ; Teferi Abate Adem; 2008
- Field Date
- 1936-1937
- Coverage Date
- 1936-1937
- Coverage Place
- Rumbina Hamlet, Sepik River District, Peilungua Mountains, Papua New Guinea
- Notes
- by John W. M. Whiting ; with a foreword by John Dollard
- Includes bibliographical references and index
- LCCN
- 42014232
- LCSH
- Kwoma (Papua New Guinean people)