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Losing the Forest but not the Stories in the Trees

2006; Routledge; Volume: 41; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/00223340600826094

1469-9605

Joshua A. Bell,

Cultural Heritage Management and Preservation

Abstract In 1922, F.E. Williams began his first assignment as the Australian Territory of Papua's assistant government anthropologist in the Purari Delta. During this eight-month trip, Williams obtained information on daily life, social relations, material culture, as well as religious beliefs and practices. He collected ethnographic specimens, made sketches and took some 96 photographs and used 29 of these photographs in his 1924 monograph The Natives of the Purari Delta, a publication that subsequently came to define the area for Europeans. However, Williams obscured the culturally specific ways in which Purari histories were locally reproduced and understood. This essay highlights a long-term ethnographic trend by which communities of the Purari have been portrayed as without ‘history’ or as having only a rudimentary historical consciousness and suggests that, despite this ‘particular bundle of silences’, the Purari is not without ‘important stories’. ∗ Field research was conducted between March 2001 and November 2002, with the aid of a Wenner–Gren dissertation grant (GR6700) and a 2001 Crowther–Beynon grant from the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology. Papua New Guinea's National Research Institute and the National Museum and Art Gallery provided me with in-country research affiliation. The staff of both the National Archives of Australia (NAA) and the National Archives of PNG (NAPNG) gave me invaluable assistance for which I am grateful. The ideas in this paper have benefited from the comments of Michael O’Hanlon and Elizabeth Edwards, as well as Amy Casher, Eben Kirksey, Sloan Mahone and David Odo. My greatest debt is to the communities of the Purari whose residents took the time to talk with me. I am particularly grateful to the Rove and Aukiri households for their acceptance, guidance and hospitality. Any errors or omissions in this paper are my own. Notes ∗ Field research was conducted between March 2001 and November 2002, with the aid of a Wenner–Gren dissertation grant (GR6700) and a 2001 Crowther–Beynon grant from the University of Cambridge Museum of Archaeology & Anthropology. Papua New Guinea's National Research Institute and the National Museum and Art Gallery provided me with in-country research affiliation. The staff of both the National Archives of Australia (NAA) and the National Archives of PNG (NAPNG) gave me invaluable assistance for which I am grateful. The ideas in this paper have benefited from the comments of Michael O’Hanlon and Elizabeth Edwards, as well as Amy Casher, Eben Kirksey, Sloan Mahone and David Odo. My greatest debt is to the communities of the Purari whose residents took the time to talk with me. I am particularly grateful to the Rove and Aukiri households for their acceptance, guidance and hospitality. Any errors or omissions in this paper are my own. 1 D.J.F. Griffiths, ‘The career of F.E. Williams, government anthropologist of Papua, 1922–1943’, MA Thesis, Australian National University (Canberra 1977); M. Young with J. Clark (ed.), An Anthropologist in Papua: the photography of F.E. Williams 1922–1939 (Adelaide 2001); see also I.C. Campbell, ‘Anthropology and the professionalism of colonial administration in Papua and New Guinea’, Journal of Pacific History, 33 (1998), 69–90. 2 F.E. Williams, The Natives of Purari Delta. Territory of Papua Anthropological Reports No. 5 (Port Moresby 1924). 3 The full collection of Williams’ photographic images is currently held in the NAPNG and the NAA. The NAA mounted an exhibit of Williams’ photographs in 1999. In 2002, the exhibit was sent to the PNG's National Museum and Art Gallery. See Young with Clark, An Anthropologist in Papua. 4 The Rev. J.H. Holmes also published a book on the region in the same year, which received widespread readership; however, it was Williams's ‘scientific’ monograph that had a wider and long-lasting impact within anthropology. In 1954, Robert F. Maher went to the Delta with the explicit intention of utilising Williams's monograph as a baseline from which to examine the impact of cultural change. See Rev. J.H. Holmes, In Primitive New Guinea: an account of a quarter of a century spent amongst the primitive Ipi & Namau groups of tribes of the Gulf of Papua (London 1924); R.F. Maher, New Men of Papua: a study in culture change (Madison 1961). 5 Williams, The Natives of Purari Delta, 246 (italics added). 6 J. Fabian, Time and the Other: how anthropology makes its objects (New York 1983). 7 Holmes, In Primitive New Guinea (London 1924), 21, 37, 23; Maher, ‘Koriki chieftainship: hereditary status and mana in Papua’, Ethnology, 13:3 (1974), 244–5. 8 M.R. Trouillot, Silencing the Past: power and the production of history (Boston 1995), 27. 9 J.A. Bell, ‘Looking to see: reflections on visual repatriation in the Purari Delta, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea’, in Laura Peers and Alison Brown (eds), Museums and Source Communities: a Routledge reader (London 2003), 111–122; idem, ‘Intersecting histories: materiality and social transformation in the Purari Delta of Papua New Guinea’, PhD thesis, University of Oxford (Oxford 2005). 10 A. Fiernup-Riordan, ‘Yup’ik elders in museums: fieldwork turned on its head’, Arctic Anthropology, 35:2 (1998), 49–58; Edwards, ‘Visualizing history: Diamond Jenness's photographs of D’Entrecasteaux Islands, Massim, 1911–1912 — a case study in re-engagement’, Canberra Anthropology, 17:2 (1994), 1–26; idem, Raw Histories: photographs, anthropology and museums (Oxford 2001); idem, ‘Talking visual histories: introduction’, in Peers and Brown, Museums and Source Communities, 83–99. 11 K. Neumann, ‘Finding an appropriate beginning for a history of the Tolai colonial past: or, starting from trash’, Canberra Anthropology, 15:1 (1992), 1–19. 12 See J. Binney and G. Chaplin, ‘Taking photographs home: the recovery of a Maori history’, Visual Anthropology, 4 (1991), 431–42; S.A. Niessen, ‘More to it than meets the eye: photo-elicitation amongst the Batak of Sumatra’, Visual Anthropology, 4 (1991), 415–30; R. Poignant with A. Poignant, Encounter at Nagalarramba (Canberra 1996); J.E. Staunton, ‘Snapshots on the dreaming: photographs of the past and present’, in Peers and Brown, Museums and Source Communities, 136–51. 13 T. Petr (ed.) The Purari: tropical environment of a high rainfall river basin (The Hague 1983). 14 J.H.P Murray, ‘Introduction’ in Williams, The Natives of Purari Delta, iii; Williams, The Vailala Madness and the Destruction of Native Ceremonies in the Gulf Division, Territory of Papua Anthropological Reports No. 4 (Port Moresby 1923); idem, ‘The Vailala Madness in retrospect’, in E.E. Evans-Pritchard et al. (eds), Essays Presented to C.G. Seligman (London 1934), 369–79. 15 Only 14 years had transpired since Lt. Governor Murray had led a punitive expedition to the Purari in 1908 in retaliation for the threatening of two European traders. Similarly, the Delta Division's administrative headquarters at Kikori (some 100 kilometres west of the Purari) had only been established in 1912. See Papua, Papua: annual report for the year ended 30th June, 1908 (Melbourne 1908); J.H.P. Murray, Papua or British New Guinea (London 1912), 173–8; B. Craig, ‘The ashes of their fires: the Hubert Murray Collection in the National Museum of Australia’, COMA, 26 (1995), 18–32. 16 Murray, ‘Introduction’ in Williams, The Natives of Purari Delta, iii. 17 Murray, Anthropology and the Government of Subject Races (Port Moresby 1921). 18 Williams, The Natives of Purari Delta, vii; idem, ‘The Pairama ceremony in the Purari Delta, Papua’, Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland, 53 (1923), 361–87. 19 Williams, The Collection of Curios and the Preservation of Native Culture. Territory of Papua Anthropological Reports No. 3. (Port Moresby 1923); idem, The Vailala Madness. 20 Idem, The Natives of Purari Delta, vii. 21 In his monographs and field notes, Williams is quiet about his photographic practice. If and when he does mention photography, he does so obliquely and unreflectively, as in the following comment: Very few would even venture into the little hut at Kimiri, where five decrepit and weather-beaten kanipu [a type of mask] were hanging, though one boy of ‘plantation’ experience put on a costume readily enough to be photographed. However, several years later in a letter to Beatrice Blackwood, Williams comments, ‘I find I have a hatred of photography, and any good results are by chance’. While little evidence remains as to the nature of Williams's photographic practices in the Purari, it is possible to discern the following. In all likelihood Williams used an ICA Tropica 9×12cm. In a letter dated 1936, Williams remarks that this was his ‘old official camera’. While 14 years had transpired since his work in the Purari, a sample measuring of Williams's plates and prints taken during this period conforms to the ICA Tropica's plate size. First introduced in 1912, the Tropica was made by the German camera manufacturer ICA A.G. until 1931. It was a well-known camera for the tropics, and Williams could have purchased the camera in England before taking up his post. Extant correspondence (9 Oct. 1922–8 May 1923), between Williams's superior, William M. Strong and the Government Store Keeper reveals that Williams had requested two-dozen photographic plates to be sent to him monthly while he was in the Purari. Owing to the lack of stock, this procurement request ran into difficulties. In his last written comment on the matter, the Store Keeper notes ‘the last shipment brought 10 dozen plates, since that date no further supplies have been received’. While it is unclear when this ‘last shipment’ occurred and how many plates were sent to Williams, this exchange gives one a sense of the photographic limitations he faced. While these problems did not prevent Williams from taking photographs, the availability of plates might have been limited, thus forcing Williams to use great care in composing his images. F.E. Williams, The Natives of Purari Delta, 205; F.E. Williams to B. Blackwood, 25 Aug. 1939, Pitt Rivers Museum, General Correspondence, Blackwood Papers; F.E. Williams to Government Secretary, 23 Jun. 1936, F.E. William Papers, National Archive of Papua New Guinea (hereinafter NAPNG), Port Moresby, A447 ML MSS 5/1, 61/2989; W.M. Strong to Government Storekeeper, 7 May 1923, (NPNGA) A447, ML MSS 5/1, 61/2989. 22 Edwards, ‘Surveying culture: photography, collecting and material culture in British New Guinea, 1898’, in M. O’Hanlon and R. Welsch (eds), Hunting the Gatherers: ethnographic collectors, agents and agency in Melanesia, 1870s–1930s (Oxford 2000), 103–26; M. Young, Malinowski’s Kiriwina: fieldwork photography, 1915–1918 (Chicago 1998). 23 Edwards, Raw Histories, 133–81. 24 Williams, The Natives of Purari Delta, 43; cf., idem, The Vailala Madness (Port Moresby 1923), 60. 25 Papua, Papua: annual report 1921–22 (Melbourne 1923), 54. 26 Kikori Patrol Report 7 1922–23 (NAPNG), Gulf Province Patrol Reports. 27 Papua, Papua: annual report 1921–22, 116; Kikori Patrol Report 4 1921–22, (NAPNG), Gulf Province Patrol Reports; Kikori Patrol Report 8 1921–22, (NAPNG), Gulf Province Patrol Reports. 28 Holmes, In Primitive New Guinea. 29 Maher, New Men of Papua. 30 Idem, ‘From cannibal raid to copra kompani: changing patterns of Koriki politics’, Ethnology, 6:1 (1967), 309–31; idem, ‘The Purari River Delta societies, Papua New Guinea, after the Tom Kabu Movement’, Ethnology, 23:3 (1984), 217–27; N.E. Hitchcock and N.D. Oram (eds), Rabia Camp and the Tommy Kabu Movement (Canberra 1967); Oram, ‘Tommy Kabu: what kind of movement?” Canberra Anthropology, 15:2 (1992), 89–105; Anthony Yeates, ‘The patrol officers and Tom Kabu: power and prestige in the Purari Delta’, Journal of Pacific History, 40 (2005), 71–90. 31 The logging concessions referred to here are the west bank of the Purari, Baimuru Block 3 FMA, which is currently under TFI's jurisdiction, and Vailala Block 3 FMA, which lies on the east bank of the Purari and is operated by RH. 32 C. Filer with N. Sekhran, Loggers, Donors and Resource Owners (London 1998), 182; H. Holzknecht, ‘Pro bono publico?: conservation and appropriate resource management strategies in Papua New Guinea’, in Filer (ed.), The Political Economy of Forest Management in Papua New Guinea (Boroko 1997), 368–90. 33 Unfortunately, within the confines of this paper it is not possible to address the gendered dimension of history telling and authority. 34 Bell, ‘Looking to See’. 35 Edwards, Raw Histories; J. Hoskins, Biographical Objects: how things tell the stories of people's lives (London 1998). 36 R. Eves, The Magical Body: power, fame, and meaning in a Melanesian society (Amsterdam 1998); O’Hanlon, Reading the Skin: adornment, display, and society among the Wahgi (London 1989); A.B. Weiner, ‘From words to objects to magic: “hard words” and the boundaries of social interaction’, in D. Brenneis and F.R. Meyer (eds), Dangerous Words: language and politics in the Pacific (Prospect Heights 1984), 161–191. 37 R. Ropo, 31 Jul. 2001, taped interview with Bell. 38 Bell, ‘Looking to See’, 118. 39 M. Langford, Suspended Conversations: the afterlife of memory in photographic albums (Montreal 2001), 21. 40 Williams, The Natives of Purari Delta, 7–8; Papua, Papua: annual report 1921–22, 50; Kikori Patrol Report 2 1921–22 (NAPNG), Gulf Province Patrol Reports, 3–4. 41 Edwards, Raw Histories, 99–100. 42 Other rights conferred by being holding customary title to a portion of land are access to hunting game, planting gardens, harvesting sago and gathering other food items found in the area. Rivers and creeks are similarly claimed with customary tenure conferring rights to access the waterway's fish. 43 Williams, The Natives of Purari Delta, 120–4. 44 If women's male kin do not regulate this process, the potential exists whereby these women's husbands, their children and their husband's kin can gain unchecked access to and use of these resources, thus setting the stage for later land disputes. It is outside the scope of this paper to discuss the lived reality of land ownership in the Purari, which has become only more complicated by the logging ventures. 45 See A. Rumsey and J.F. Weiner (eds), Emplaced Myth: the spatial and narrative dimensions of knowledge in Australia and Papua New Guinea (Honolulu 2001). 46 I have purposely left vague the story I discuss below, in order not to create jealousy among villagers when this article returns and is read by the Mapaio community. However, I have not used pseudonyms and have respected local wishes by narrators to be named. 47 Aukiri died in 1976 and by my reconstruction was born sometime around 1900. He became a medical aide and assisted on medical patrols throughout the Gulf until his retirement in the 1950s. In what most likely is a reference to Aukiri, on an undated page of his notebook from 1922, Williams scrawled over one of his pages ‘Inft [sic] Aukiri f[sic] Iare (Hosp. boy).’ Later Aukiri is mentioned by patrol officer Liston-Blyth on his entry for June 14th, ‘Returned to Rest House and was busy on cases till 10 pm Medical Assistant Aukiri, is here, he is a native of this village and I greatly doubt that he spends much of his time at IVIRA [medical station on the coast], while the G M O is away tho [sic] he is nominally in charge.’ Williams, 1922, (NAPNG) A447, ML MSS 5/7 68/2993; Kikori Patrol Report 23 1926/27 (NAPNG), Gulf Province Patrol Reports, 5. 48 Personal communication Ke’a Aukiri, 3 Oct. 2002. 49 While the patrilineal succession prevails in the Purari, women could be initiated if they were the chief's only child. As I learned during my fieldwork, I’ai women of chiefly lineages could (and did) pass on titles, and in some cases land rights to their eldest son. These trees may have also been a gift bestowed upon Aukiri by Ikoipie's brothers, his maternal uncles. The maternal uncle was responsible for the initiation of a child into the long house cult, as well as for the child's well being and frequently gave them things. Williams, Natives of the Purari Delta, 153–64; see also ibid., 68, 113. 50 Information regarding this drilling project can be found on the Inter-Oil website, http://www.interoil.com/. 51 Williams, Natives of the Purari Delta; Maher, ‘Koriki Chieftainship’. 52 Edwards, ‘Talking Visual Histories’, 91. 53 D. Newton, Art Styles of the Papuan Gulf (New York 1961); B. Knauft, South Coast New Guinea Cultures: history, comparison, dialectic (Cambridge 1993). 54 Langford, Suspended Conversations, 153. 55 M. de Certeau, The Practice of Everyday Life (Berkeley 1986), 115. 56 Edwards, ‘Visualizing History’, 11–12. 57 J.F. Weiner, ‘Afterword’, in Rumsey and Weiner, Emplaced Myth, 236, 243. 58 Edwards, Raw Histories, 17.