Book
Yena: art and ceremony in a Sepik society
Pitt Rivers Museum, University of Oxford • Oxford • Published In 1983 • Pages: xii, 179 , [32] of plates
By: Bowden, Ross.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This book describes the function and symbolism of sculptures displayed in important ceremonials (yena) of the Kwoma, an indegenous ethnic group living in the Middle Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. These sculptures are curved, painted, ornamented and decorated in different styles to reflect specific designes revealed by spirits to the owners in dreams. The book discusses the meanings of these designes and styles as related to Kwoma's notions of gender relations, warfare and fertitlity.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Cultural identity and pride
- Community structure
- Ethos
- Visual arts
- Music
- General character of religion
- Organized ceremonial
- Vegetable production
- Sacred objects and places
- Inter-community relations
- Gender status
- Kinship regulation of sex
- Ethnobotany
- Ethnoanatomy
- Mythology
- Eschatology
- Cult of the dead
- 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.
- Anthropologist
- 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
- Teferi Abate Adem; 2008
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1972-1974
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1970-1980
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Middle Sepik region, Papua New Guinea
- NotesAdditional notes
- Ross Bowden ; with a foreword by Rodney Needham
- Includes bibliographical references(p. 172-177) and index
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 84158524
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Kwoma (Papua New Guinean people)--Rites and ceremonies