Book
Houses and ancestors: continuities and discontinuities in in leadership among the Manus
IASSA • Göteborg • Published In 1992 • Pages:
By: Gustafsson, Berit.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
In this study of Melanesian leadership, Gustafsson critiques the two widely-held views that i) the traditional leader, or so-called 'Big Man,' was a pure entrepreneur manipulating the system for his own gain and ii) that the traditional leadership system was changed forever by the Paliau Movement. Gustafsson argues that there were two traditional leadership systems. Besides Big Men, there were LAPAN who were lineage (TALI) leaders and whose main role was to serve the lineage. The authority of the LAPAN was sanctioned by ancestral spirits (MOEN PALIT) and maintained through prestations and lineage control of resources. According to Gustafsson only a LAPAN had the resources and prestige to become a Big Man. The Paliau Movement did away with the system of prestations undermining the Big Man system. Influenced by Christianity, it also transformed the MOEN PALIT into a universal god, WIN NEISEN. However the Movement did not change the village and lineage structure. The LAPAN remained the local leader and assumed a new role as elected official in the local government council.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Gift giving
- Lineages
- Status, role, and prestige
- Political movements
- Spirits and gods
- Theological systems
- Religious denominations
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Manus
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2005
- 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.
- 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
- Ian Skoggard ; 2004
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1990-1992
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1884-1992
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- M'buke Island, Manus Province, Papua New Guinea
- NotesAdditional notes
- Berit Gustafsson
- Originally presented as the author's thesis (doctoral--University of Gothenburg), 1993
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 276-280)
- LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
- 93228309
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Manus (Papua New Guinea people)