Book
The Kapauku Papuans of West New Guinea
Holt, Rinehart, and Winston • New York • Published In 1978 • Pages: x, 130
By: Pospisil, Leopold J..
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This is an introductory monograph for students on the Kapauku of western New Guinea, covering their economy, social and political organization, religious and ceremonial life, world view and acculturation. The author was one of the first white men to contact the Kapauku and his initial field work occured prior to Dutch colonization in 1956. The author depicts Kapauku society as extremely individualistic, commoditized, and secular. Most property is owned on an individual basis and all social transactions have a price. Furthermore, the Kapauku men are wealth-oriented; their prestige and status is based primarily on the accumulation of wealth from the cultivation of sweet potatoes and raising of pigs. Through their generosity wealthy men form social groups of dependents who act in their interests.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Ethos
- Domesticated animals
- Tillage
- Borrowing and lending
- Accumulation of wealth
- Visiting and hospitality
- Mode of marriage
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Kapauku
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 1998
- 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
- Ian Skoggard ; 1996
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 954-1955, summer 1959, summer 1962, 1975
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1954-1975
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Kamu Valley, central Highlands, Irian Jaya, Indonesia
- NotesAdditional notes
- by Leopold J. Pospisil
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 125-126)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 77025981
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Kapauku (New Guinea people)