article

Food festivals and politics in Wogeo

Oceania40Published In 1969 • Pages: 304-328

By: Hogbin, Herbert Ian.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is a description and discussion of a food festival. The objective is for a headman to humiliate his rival with a shower of gifts which the latter would be unable to repay. The first hurdle is to get the rival headman in the same room so that the challenge can be made with a rolling coconut. Several schemes are reported. The author proceeds to describe how gifts are accumulated and presented, then the following feast and the redistribution of food. Finally there is the counter gift. Overall, this reads like a parable of how Cold War nuclear powers might avert an unthinkable escalation to warfare.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Drives and emotions
Adjustment processes
Music
Dance
Status, role, and prestige
Manipulative mobility
Visiting and hospitality
Community structure
Community heads
Inter-community relations
Organized ceremonial
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Wogeo
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2014
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
article
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
Ian Skoggard; 2012
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1934
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1932-1934
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Vokeo Island, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
NotesAdditional notes
By Ian Hogbin
Includes bibliographical references
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
38017490
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Vokeo Island (Papua New Guinea)