The Kaluli People of Papua New Guinea in the Book, The Sorrow of the Lonely and the Burning of the Dancers by E.L. Schieffelin

"Children of the Forest" is a narrative written by Kevin Duffy. This book is a written testament of an anthropologist's everyday dealings with an African tribe by the name of the Mbuti Pygmies. My purpose in this paper is to inform the reader of Kevin Duffy's findings while in the Ituri rainforest. Kevin Duffy is one of the first and only scientists to have ever been in close contact with the Mbuti. If an Mbuti tribesman does not want to be found, they simply won't be. The forest in which the Mbuti reside in are simply too dense and dangerous for humans not familiar with the area to enter.

“She had never said it was love. Neither had he. They were shy. They had been unsure. Now, there would be no time for love. It was in the moment of parting that she knew she loved him” (21).

Anthropology is defined as the study of human societies and cultures and their development through time. This is shown through Clifford Geertz essay “Deep Play: Notes on the Balinese Cockfight”. In his essay, he attempts to give insights on the Balinese culture and mainly focusing on the significance of Balinese cockfights within the Balinese culture. Throughout this paper, first, I will briefly summarize Geertz’s essay, then, I will discuss his use of ethnographic fieldwork and ethnocentrism in Bali and how it led him to the discovery of the Balinese culture. Finally, I will discuss cockfights and their meaning and significance within the Balinese culture.

The religion detailed and examined throughout Don Talayesva’s “Sun Chief” can be difficult to understand and near impossible to appreciate. At first glance to the casual reader it can appear shallow and ridiculous; a religion created around the wants and needs of the Hopi but not based on any empirical or even supposed sacred evidence. When coupled with The Sacred Canopy however, the reader begins to understand the simplistic beauty of their religion providing necessary guidance and support to the Hopi tribe. The reader also is able to relate to Don’s religion in terms of the love one has for his or her own dogma and the importance it plays in an individual’s life.

The Kamilaroi nation’s kinship is based a lot around totems, that link between the spiritual world, creation and the living world (“A Nations Identity Totems”, n.d; para 1). Totems are a system that looks at the community, how people work as a team, and the value of individual skill. (Totems, 2016). In a way totems provide people with a sense of belonging in relationships between a person and group. In Kamilaroi, totems allow individuals to understand their connection to the scared land. (“A nations Identity Totems, n.d; para 2)

During the study, the renowned anthropologist uses the local lingua franca “Neo-Melanesian” to collect his data from the Imbonggu villages. At first, the Wormsley finds himself as an object of competition as different communities wanted to stay with him. The men thought that Wormsley had come to collect the "head tax”, one of the renowned colonial payments that were subjected to men based on the number of women. In these communities, the author observes the culture of both men and women to collect his data. He notes how men are engaged in war, religion and politics (Wormsley, 1993). Women, on the other

He describes the beauty of the Masin’s environment including spectacular beaches, sea, and rainforest. Chapter one highlights subsequent chapters; for example, Chapter 6, which explores the Maisin’s efforts to conserve the rainforests and beauty that surrounds them. The first edition of this book ended with the 2002 campaign in which Maisin’s prevented logging on their lands. This current version extends to on-going threats of logging, mining and climate change. Barker’s fieldwork spans three decades and depicts what he learned about Maisin culture, values, spiritual ways and transitions over time. A brief history (p.23-30), covers events before and after independence of Papua New Guinea in 1975.

The author’s purpose in writing this article was not to show the “Nacirema” as an example of how extreme human behavior can become, but how an outside perspective can affect your perception of an alien culture. If one were to look at the “Nacirema’s” cultural behaviors regarding physical appearance and health without any insight or knowledge of the specific beliefs or values of that culture, they might seem bizarre and even incomprehensible. By showing behaviors and “rituals” performed by this unknown tribe, Miner allowed others to see that the way studies were representing distinctive cultures was narrowminded and defective. Without the proper comprehension of the basis of any society, huge cultural misunderstandings could occur. Of

Perhaps two to three times a year at most, members of a neighboring long house appear to spend time with the members of the other longhouse before returning by night to perform what the Kaluli people hold as the cultural and emotional highpoint of the year. The Gisaro ceremony tells a story of lost loved ones; it brings to the forefront of the mind the pain and anguish of nostalgic recollections of the past and what is longed for once more. The dancers arrive by night dressed in the most ornate of dress, like that of the Kalo birds with feathers and body paints constructed from ingredients from around the rainforest to perform the ceremony aimed at eliciting emotional and angered response from members of their neighboring longhouse. They sing out as though they were loved ones lost, taking on the identity of these loved ones reincarnated in the Kalo bird after which they are dressed. As they perform, the members of the group who have experienced the loss grow largely emotional and angry, taking out their anger by plunging torches into the shoulders of the dancers to get back at them for causing such heartache. Though the fired torches pierce their skin, the dancers do not react and continue their performance long into the night – often for hours at a time. The following day, almost as a peace offering or an apology for causing so much pain in the heart of their neighbors, these performers return to deliver food to them and no animosity is held. Though an incredibly painful

Western and Indigenous knowledge systems differ in values, habits of mind and practices; however, there has been productive cross-cultural collaboration that integrates global vision with social and cultural dimensions. Productive collaboration addresses past contradictions in the coevolution of society, science and environment. Ten Canoes is a cross-culturally collaborative film that was meant to portray the Yolngu community in its true representation in an attempt to bridge the black and white Australian cultural divide by sharing its traditions and values with a non-Indigenous audience. Important spiritual and cultural information is shared throughout the passage of the film that frames and contextualizes the cosmology of the Yolngu people (Clothier & Dudek, 2009: p. 85). Dutch-born director Rolf De Heer and Yolngu director Peter Djigirr consolidate to show modern audiences the “community’s cultural continuance and to connect between individuals and the community both past and present” (Clothier & Dudek, 2009: p. 86). Additionally, Ten Canoes is only spoken in the Yolngu’s Indigenous language. For Yolngu audiences, “the use of their own languages in Ten Canoes highlights the vibrancy of a continuing linguistic heritage” (Clothier & Dudek, 2009: p. 87). Simultaneously, audiences that cannot understand the language of the Yolngu people read subtitles that create a critical intimacy to engage in “passion and reason while seeking understanding” (Clothier & Dudek, 2009: p.

“Ancestral lines” by John Barker is a book about the anthropologist’s experience in the Uiaku village located in Papua New Guinea. In the first chapter, Barker tells his readers briefly about him and his education, his and his wife’s experience with the Maisin community, and talks in great detail about the Maisin and their culture in the Uiaku village.

The Papuan Toby belongs to a group of fishes known as the Puffer Fish. They are found in different regions of the world. One of the unique things about Papuan Toby is the brown and blue dots that adorn the body. It is not a very good swimmer and can ingest air when it puffs itself. This can be risky to its overall health as there have been instances where they float to the surface of water. Basically, they inflate their size to ward off predatory fishes from attacking them. Also, Papuan Toby has body mucus which is toxic to human health when ingested.

The way every being experiences the world around us is mostly constructed by the culture we are exposed to and brought up in. The world makes sense to us because of the ways culture influences our perception. We experience the world around us in a time, space, and mentality that are built solely by culture. The Kaluli are a tribal clan from Highland New Guinea who experience their lives through reciprocity. The way the Kaluli form relationships amongst one another, communicate, and practice their everyday lives is based through gift-giving and reciprocity. The Kaluli are socially dependent beings who have constructed a social mechanism in which everyone participates in the art of reciprocity to maintain and build these social relations

Samoan culture plays a large part in the lives of those with Samoan heritage. Samoan culture is kept strong in a Samoan house hold by keeping the culture alive. This is done by keeping family unity, the art of traditional tattooing, and eating traditional foods and cooking traditional ways.

Jomo Kenyatta’s ethnography, Facing Mt. Kenya was written in the 1930’s about Kikuyu society during 1890-1910, the early years of British colonialism in Kenya. Since the coming of the early colonization the Kikuyu people have tried to develop a religious attitude that would define it’s own culture while adapting forcefully to the European conforms of religion.