article

The Massim: an introduction

Journal of Pacific History • XVIII (1) • Published In 1983 • Pages: 3-10

By: Young, Michael W..

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document presents a brief overview of the history of the maritime Massim region of Papua New Guinea from 1606 to 1981. Although most of the data describes European contact with the people of the region since 1845—by gold prospectors, missionaries, and government officials—a sizeable portion of this work also deals with the interisland trade known as the [n]kula[/n] in which material goods and ceremonial objects are exchanged between trading partners. With the abolition of warfare by the colonial government, the author discusses the effects of pacification on the maritime [n]kula[/n] trade as well as other culture changes that have taken place in Massim society, such as the introduction of schools, hospitals, self-government, etc.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
History
Gift giving
Exchange transactions
Accumulation of wealth
Acculturation and culture contact
Sociocultural trends
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Northeastern Massim
HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
2015
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.
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
John Beierle
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
no date
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1845-1981
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Milne Bay province, Papua New Guinea
NotesAdditional notes
Michael W. Young
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
73200598
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Massim (Papua New Guinean people)