Book

Becoming a Kwoma: teaching and learning in a New Guinea tribe

Published for the Institute of Human Relations by Yale University PressNew Haven • Published In 1941 • Pages:

By: Whiting, John Wesley Mayhew.

Abstract
This study describes in detail the socialization process of the Kwoma individual. Young children are treated with very great indulgence, and scolding and beating are practiced in moderation in disciplining older children. The males have to undergo several age grade ceremonies in which certain religious secrets are revealed to them and scarification is practiced. Only after he has been initiated into the highest grade is a man permitted to plant yams. Headhunting, traditionally a source for personal merit, seems to have almost vanished under the pressure of the colonial administration. The author presents data which are primarily on males, since his sex did not permit more than superficial contact with Kwoma females. Also, data on the earliest phases of infancy are limited, since during the first three months of life, a baby is not allowed to be observed by anybody else than the closest family members; this, to prevent it from being harmed by sorcery.
Subjects
Culture summary
Theoretical orientation in research and its results
Reproduction
Religious beliefs
Social readjustments to death
Hunting and trapping
Infancy and childhood
Kin relationships
Sex
Socialization
Adolescence, adulthood, and old age
culture
Kwoma
HRAF PubDate
2010
Region
Oceania
Sub Region
Melanesia
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Sigrid Khera ; Helen Bornstein ; 1971-1974 ; Teferi Abate Adem; 2008
Field Date
1936-1937
Coverage Date
1936-1937
Coverage Place
Rumbina Hamlet, Sepik River District, Peilungua Mountains, Papua New Guinea
Notes
by John W. M. Whiting ; with a foreword by John Dollard
Includes bibliographical references and index
LCCN
42014232
LCSH
Kwoma (Papua New Guinean people)