Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation
Oryol State University
Essay
by discipline: "Culturology"
on this topic: Australian Aboriginal Culture and
Papuan New Guinea"
Performed:
1st year student, 3 groups
Melanesia, or the Black Isles, is New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, Bismarck Archipelago, New Caledonia, Fiji, Santa Cruz Islands, Banks and many other smaller pieces of land. Their indigenous population consists of two large groups- Melanesians and Papuans.
The Melanesians live on the coast of New Guinea, while the Papuans live in the interior of the other large islands. Outwardly, they are unusually similar, but differ in languages. Although the Melanesian languages are part of the large Malayo-Polynesian family, the people who speak them cannot communicate with each other. And the Papuan languages are not only not related to any other languages of the world, but very often even to each other.
In addition to the Melanesian and Papuan peoples, small pygmy tribes live in the inaccessible mountainous regions of New Guinea and on many large islands. However, their languages have not yet been studied enough.
Inhabitant of Papua New Guinea in the ritual robes of a sorcerer.
In the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, on the Bismarck archipelago and the northern part of the Solomon Islands, the state of Papua New Guinea is located. In the XVI century. these lands were discovered by the Portuguese. Since 1884, the territory was owned by Great Britain and Germany, and at the beginning of the 20th century. it was controlled by Australia. Although the country became independent in 1975, it is part of the Commonwealth and the formal head of state is the Queen of Great Britain. Copper, gold and zinc are mined in the country. They grow coffee, cocoa and coconut palm.
Papua New Guinea is often referred to as "an ethnographer's paradise, but any government's hell". This expression was coined by colonial officials, but it is no less true today. Why "paradise" is understandable: there are few places on Earth with such a variety of languages, customs and cultures. On the one hand - officials, businessmen, workers of the capital city of Port Moresby, wearing European clothes and educated. On the other - not out of the Stone Age hill tribes waging war with each other and not understanding the language of the people from the neighboring valley. They may welcome a visiting scientist, but kill a person from the nearest village. Therefore, for the government, this is "hell", because he has to "harness to the wagon" of the state system not only "ox and quivering doe", but also "swan, cancer and pike" to boot.
The country's government tried to reinforce in the minds of the Papuans and Melanesians that they belong to the same people - hire Papua New Guinea. For this, you need first of all mutual language, because the number of languages in the country has not been calculated by anyone. In fact, there was a common language, moreover, understood throughout Melanesia. In Papua New Guinea it is called "tok-pisin". It originated from English words and Melanesian grammar among recruited farm laborers from different tribes on the plantation who needed to communicate with each other. The English called this language “pidgin English” (from the English pigeon - “dove”); the pronunciation of the Papuans and Melanesians reminded them of the cooing of doves. Very quickly, the language spread, reaching the most remote mountain villages: it was brought by men who returned from work or itinerant traders. Almost all the words in it are English. Although the territory of Papua was long owned by the Germans, only two words remained from their language (one of them is “pasmalauf” - “shut up”).
If in English “you” is “yu”, and “me” is “mi” (in Tok Pisin it means “I”), then the combination “yu-mi” (“you-me”) gives the pronoun “we ". "Kam" - "come", "kam - kam" - "came"; "bow" is "to look", and "bow-bow-bow" is "to look for a very long time". The most common word is "fela" (from English, "guy"); so the planters addressed the farm laborers.
In essence, there is nothing strange in the Tok Pisin language: French and Romanian, Spanish and Portuguese originated from the Latin brought by the Roman colonialists, which the conquered peoples changed in their own way! It is only necessary to develop the language in order to publish newspapers, speak on the radio, etc. Therefore, tok-pisin is taught in all schools in Papua New Guinea. And the main slogan of the country is “Yu-mi van-pela pipal!” (“We are one people!”).
It is interesting that the Papuans and Melanesians not only consider Tok Pisin their language, but they also know that there is another English, the real one. It is called "tok-ples-bilong-Sidney" - "Sydney language". After all, Sydney is the closest Big City inhabited by whites. Therefore, anyone who wants to get an education must know the "Sydney language".
The famous traveler Miklukho-Maclay observed the Papuans of New Guinea, who still did not know how to make fire, but who already knew the methods of preparing intoxicating drinks: they chewed the fruits, squeezed their juice into coconut shells, and after a few days received mash.
The crops grown in clearings by the Papuans of New Guinea are mostly fruit or tuber plants and, unlike cereals, they cannot be stored for a long time. Therefore, the community is always in danger of starvation.
There are some principles of relationships between people. Ethnographers who have spent years studying societies with primitive economies have repeatedly emphasized that people here are far from alien to romantic love. While the basic principles of family organization are not regulated by any rigid rules and allow for wide freedom of choice,
comparatively insignificant, in our opinion, details of a woman's behavior are under the strictest control of traditions and customs. Mostly we are talking about negative precepts. Among the Papuans of New Guinea, a woman does not have the right to enter the men's house, which plays the role of a village club, participate in festive meals, or touch the stimulating drink keu. She is not only not allowed to be present when men play on musical instruments, but it is strongly recommended to run headlong away at the sound of music alone. A wife cannot eat from the same dishes as her husband, and while eating, she, like children, usually gets what is worse. The duties of a woman include delivering vegetables and fruits from the garden, cleaning them, bringing firewood and water, making a fire. The husband is responsible for preparing food and distributing it among those present, and he takes the best pieces for himself and offers them to the guests. Life primitive man inextricably linked with hunting. Therefore, first of all, magical operations refer to it. The so-called "fishing magic" has been preserved among modern backward peoples. The Papuans of New Guinea, when hunting a sea animal, place a small stinging insect in the tip of the harpoon so that its properties sharpen the harpoon.
In Papua New Guinea religious beliefs have always played and continue to play important role. Animistic beliefs are deeply rooted in the minds of many people, as is the belief in the magical effect of sorcery, which serves as a means of regulating public relations. From the middle of the 19th century the activity of Christian missionaries has intensified, due to which at present about 3/5 of the population, at least nominally, are Protestants and about 1/3 are Catholics. Until the Second World War, the treatment and education of the Melanesian population was mainly carried out by missionaries. The largest Protestant denominations are the Lutheran and the United Church of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Over the past 20 years, new evangelical communities have made significant progress, in particular, one of the largest Pentecostal organizations, the Assemblies of God.
The population of the country, according to ethnic and linguistic criteria, has always been divided into many groups, often very small in number. separate group form the Papuan tribes on the southern coast of New Guinea.
Papuans live in such inaccessible and dangerous places that their way of life has hardly changed over the past few hundred years.Papuans believe in their pagan gods, but with the advent of night, evil spirits appear, of which they are extremely afraid. They faithfully follow the customs of their ancestors during hunting, holidays, war or weddings. For example, the Dani Dugum tribe believes that their ancient ancestors were birds, and the "bird" theme is present in their dances and exotic body coloring. Some traditions of the natives of Papua may seem shocking to us, for example: they mummify their leaders and talk to the mummy in the days of the most difficult trials; native sorcerers invoke and stop the rains with spells.
Most male Papuans (and almost all boys aged 8-16) walk constantly with a bow and arrows, as well as with big knife(with its help, new arrows are quickly cut out), and they shoot at everything that moves (whether a bird or an animal). The reaction of the Papuans is simply magnificent.
Many male Papuans go completely naked, but with tubes tied in front.
One of the most amazing countries in the world Papua New Guinea has the widest cultural diversity. Its territory accommodates about 85 different ethnic groups, there are approximately the same number of languages, and all this despite the fact that the population of the state does not exceed 7 million people.
Papua New Guinea strikes with the diversity of nations, the country has a huge number of indigenous ethnic groups. The most numerous are the Papuans, who inhabited New Guinea even before the arrival of the Portuguese navigators. Some of the Papuan tribes today have practically no contact with the outside world.
Every year the island hosts the Independence Day. Feathers of various exotic birds and a lot of shell decorations serve as a festive outfit for this Papuan. Once upon a time, shells were used here instead of money, but now they are a symbol of prosperity.
This is how the dance of the spirits performed by the Huli tribe living in the Southern Highlands looks like.
During Independence Day, the Goroka festival is held. The Papuan tribes believe in spirits and honor the memory of their dead ancestors. On this day, according to tradition, it is customary to completely cover the body with mud and perform a special dance to attract good spirits.
This festival is quite famous, it is very important cultural event for local tribes and takes place in the city of Goroka.
Tari is one of the major settlements in the Southern Highlands. Traditionally, a resident of this settlement looks like this ...
About a hundred tribes take part in the Goroka festival. They all come to show their traditional culture, showcase your dances and music. This festival was first organized by missionaries in the 1950s.
To see real culture various tribes, last years Tourists also began to come to the festival.
The traditional participant of the event is the green spider.
Papua New Guinea, especially its center, is one of the protected corners of the Earth, where human civilization has hardly penetrated.
People there live in complete dependence on nature, worship their deities and revere the spirits of their ancestors.On the coast of the island of New Guinea now live quite civilized people who know the official - English - language. Missionaries worked with them for many years.
However, in the center of the country there is something like a reservation - nomadic tribes who still live in the Stone Age. They know every tree by name, they bury the dead on the branches, they have no idea what money or passports are.
They are surrounded by a mountainous country overgrown with impenetrable jungle, where, due to high humidity and unimaginable heat, life is unbearable for a European.
No one there knows a word of English, and each tribe speaks its own language, of which there are about 900 in New Guinea. The tribes live very isolated from each other, communication between them is almost impossible, so their dialects have little in common, and people are each other friend simply do not understand.
Typical locality, where the Papuan tribe lives: modest huts are covered with huge leaves, in the center there is something like a clearing where the whole tribe gathers, and the jungle is around for many kilometers. The only weapons of these people are stone axes, spears, bows and arrows. But not with their help, they hope to protect themselves from evil spirits. That's why they have faith in gods and spirits.
In the Papuan tribe, the mummy of the "leader" is usually kept. This is some outstanding ancestor - the most courageous, strong and intelligent, who fell in battle with the enemy. After his death, his body was treated with a special compound to avoid decay. The body of the leader is kept by the sorcerer.
It is in every tribe. This character is highly revered among the relatives. Its function is mainly to communicate with the ancestral spirits, appeasing them and asking for advice. The sorcerers usually go to people who are weak and unsuitable for a constant battle for survival - in a word, old people. By witchcraft they make their living.
WHITES-DEVISED?
The first white man who came to this exotic continent was the Russian traveler Miklukho-Maclay. Having landed on the coast of New Guinea in September 1871, he, being an absolutely peaceful man, decided not to take weapons ashore, he took only gifts and a notebook, which he never parted with.
The locals met the stranger quite aggressively: they shot arrows in his direction, shouted intimidatingly, brandished their spears...
But Miklukho-Maclay did not react in any way to these attacks. On the contrary, with the most imperturbable look, he sat down on the grass, defiantly took off his shoes and lay down to take a nap.
By an effort of will, the traveler forced himself to sleep (or only pretended to). And when he woke up, he saw that the Papuans were sitting peacefully next to him and staring at the overseas guest with all their eyes. The savages reasoned thus: if a pale-faced man is not afraid of death, then he is immortal. That's what they decided on.
For several months the traveler lived in a tribe of savages. All this time, the natives worshiped him and revered him as a god. They knew that if desired, the mysterious guest could command the forces of nature. How is it?
Yes, just once Miklukho-Maclay, who was called only Tamo-rus - “Russian man”, or Karaan-tamo - “man from the moon”, showed the Papuans such a trick: he poured water into a plate with alcohol and set it on fire. gullible locals believed that a foreigner was able to set fire to the sea or stop the rain.
However, the Papuans are generally gullible. For example, they are firmly convinced that the dead go to their country and return white, bringing with them many useful items and food. This belief lives in all Papuan tribes(despite the fact that they hardly communicate with each other), even in those where they have never seen a white person.
FUNERAL RITE
The Papuans know three causes of death: from old age, from war and from witchcraft - if the death occurred for some unknown reason. If a person died a natural death, he will be honorably buried. All funeral ceremonies are aimed at appeasing the spirits that receive the soul of the deceased.
Here is a typical example of such a ritual. Close relatives of the deceased go to the stream to perform bisi as a sign of mourning - smearing yellow clay on the head and other parts of the body. The men at this time are preparing a funeral pyre in the center of the village. Not far from the fire, a place is being prepared where the deceased will rest before cremation.
Shells and sacred stones of the vus are placed here - the abode of a certain mystical power. Touching these living stones is strictly punished by the laws of the tribe. On top of the stones should lie a long braided strip, decorated with pebbles, which acts as a bridge between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
The deceased is placed on sacred stones, smeared with pork fat and clay, sprinkled with bird feathers. Funeral songs then begin to be sung over him, recounting the outstanding services of the deceased.
And finally, the body is burned at the stake so that the human spirit does not return from the underworld.
TO THE DEAD IN BATTLE - GLORY!
If a man died in battle, his body is roasted at the stake and honorably eaten with rituals appropriate to the occasion, so that his strength and courage pass to other men.
Three days after this, the phalanges of the fingers are cut off to the wife of the deceased as a sign of mourning. This custom is connected with another ancient Papuan legend.
One man mistreated his wife. She died and ended up in the next world. But her husband yearned for her, could not live alone. He went for his wife to another world, approached the main spirit and began to beg to return his beloved to the world of the living. The spirit set a condition: the wife will return, but only if he promises to treat her with care and kindness. The man, of course, was delighted and promised everything at once.
The wife returned to him. But one day her husband forgot himself and again forced her to work hard. When he caught himself and remembered this promise, it was already too late: his wife fell apart before his eyes. Her husband only had a phalanx of her finger left. The tribe got angry and expelled him, because he took away their immortality - the opportunity to return from the other world, like his wife.
However, in reality, for some reason, the wife cuts off the phalanx of her finger as a sign of the last gift to her deceased husband. The father of the deceased performs the rite of nasuk - he cuts off the upper part of his ear with a wooden knife and then covers the bleeding wound with clay. This ceremony is quite long and painful.
After funeral rite Papuans revere and cajole the spirit of their ancestors. For if his soul is not appeased, the ancestor will not leave the village, but will live there and harm. The spirit of the ancestor is fed for some time, as if alive, and even try to give him sexual pleasure. For example, a clay figurine of a tribal god is placed on a stone with a hole, symbolizing a woman.
The underworld in the view of the Papuans is some kind of paradise, where there is a lot of food, especially meat.
DEATH WITH A SMILE ON THE LIPS
In Papua New Guinea, people believe that the head is the seat of the spiritual and physical strength person. Therefore, when fighting with enemies, the Papuans first of all seek to take possession of this part of the body.
Cannibalism for the Papuans is not at all the desire to eat tasty food, but rather magical rite, during which cannibals gain the intelligence and strength of the one they eat. Let us apply this custom not only to enemies, but also to friends, and even relatives who heroically fell in battle.
Especially "productive" in this sense is the process of eating the brain. By the way, it is with this rite that doctors associate the disease kuru, which is very common among cannibals. Kuru is another name for mad cow disease, which can be contracted by eating the unroasted brains of animals (or, in this case, humans).
This insidious disease was first recorded in 1950 in New Guinea, in a tribe where the brain of dead relatives was considered a delicacy. The disease begins with pain in the joints and head, gradually progressing, leads to loss of coordination, trembling in the arms and legs and, oddly enough, fits of uncontrollable laughter.
The disease develops long years sometimes the incubation period is 35 years. But the worst thing is that the victims of the disease die with a frozen smile on their lips.
Sergey BORODIN
Papua New Guinea, especially its center - one of the protected corners of the Earth, where human civilization has hardly penetrated. People there live in complete dependence on nature, worship their deities and revere the spirits of their ancestors. Quite civilized people now live on the coast of the island of New Guinea, who know the official - English - language. Missionaries worked with them for many years. However, in the center of the country there is something like a reservation - nomadic tribes and who still live in the Stone Age. They know every tree by name, they bury the dead on the branches, they have no idea what money or passports are.
They are surrounded by a mountainous country overgrown with impenetrable jungle, where, due to high humidity and unimaginable heat, life is unbearable for a European. No one there knows a word of English, and each tribe speaks its own language, of which there are about 900 in New Guinea. The tribes live very isolated from each other, communication between them is almost impossible, so their dialects have little in common, and people are each other friend simply do not understand. A typical settlement where the Papuan tribe lives: modest huts are covered with huge leaves, in the center there is something like a clearing where the whole tribe gathers, and the jungle is around for many kilometers. The only weapons of these people are stone axes, spears, bows and arrows. But not with their help, they hope to protect themselves from evil spirits. That's why they have faith in gods and spirits. In the Papuan tribe, the mummy of the "leader" is usually kept. This is some outstanding ancestor - the most courageous, strong and intelligent, who fell in battle with the enemy. After his death, his body was treated with a special compound to avoid decay. The body of the leader is kept by the sorcerer.
It is in every tribe. This character is highly revered among the relatives. Its function is mainly to communicate with the ancestral spirits, appeasing them and asking for advice. The sorcerers usually go to people who are weak and unsuitable for a constant battle for survival - in a word, old people. By witchcraft they make their living. WHITES-DEVISED? The first white man who came to this exotic continent was the Russian traveler Miklukho-Maclay. Having landed on the coast of New Guinea in September 1871, he, being an absolutely peaceful man, decided not to take weapons ashore, he took only gifts and a notebook, which he never parted with. 
The locals met the stranger quite aggressively: they shot arrows in his direction, shouted intimidatingly, brandished spears ... But Miklukho-Maclay did not react to these attacks in any way. On the contrary, with the most imperturbable look, he sat down on the grass, defiantly took off his shoes and lay down to take a nap. By an effort of will, the traveler forced himself to sleep (or only pretended to). And when he woke up, he saw that the Papuans were sitting peacefully next to him and staring at the overseas guest with all their eyes. The savages reasoned thus: if a pale-faced man is not afraid of death, then he is immortal. That's what they decided on. For several months the traveler lived in a tribe of savages. All this time, the natives worshiped him and revered him as a god. They knew that if desired, the mysterious guest could command the forces of nature. How is it?
Yes, just once Miklukho-Maclay, who was called only Tamo-rus - “Russian man”, or Karaan-tamo - “man from the moon”, showed the Papuans such a trick: he poured water into a plate with alcohol and set it on fire. Trusting locals believed that a foreigner was able to set fire to the sea or stop the rain. However, the Papuans are generally gullible. For example, they are firmly convinced that the dead go to their country and return white, bringing with them many useful items and food. This belief lives in all Papuan tribes (despite the fact that they hardly communicate with each other), even in those where they have never seen a white man. FUNERAL RITE The Papuans know three causes of death: from old age, from war and from witchcraft - if the death occurred for some unknown reason. If a person died a natural death, he will be honorably buried. All funeral ceremonies are aimed at appeasing the spirits that receive the soul of the deceased. Here is a typical example of such a ritual. Close relatives of the deceased go to the stream to perform bisi as a sign of mourning - smearing yellow clay on the head and other parts of the body. The men at this time are preparing a funeral pyre in the center of the village. Not far from the fire, a place is being prepared where the deceased will rest before cremation.
Shells and sacred stones of vus are placed here - the abode of some mystical power. Touching these living stones is strictly punished by the laws of the tribe. On top of the stones should lie a long braided strip, decorated with pebbles, which acts as a bridge between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The deceased is placed on sacred stones, smeared with pork fat and clay, sprinkled with bird feathers. Funeral songs then begin to be sung over him, recounting the outstanding services of the deceased. And finally, the body is burned at the stake so that the human spirit does not return from the underworld. TO THE DEAD IN BATTLE - GLORY! If a man died in battle, his body is roasted at the stake and honorably eaten with rituals appropriate to the occasion, so that his strength and courage pass to other men. Three days after this, the phalanges of the fingers are cut off to the wife of the deceased as a sign of mourning. This custom is connected with another ancient Papuan legend. One man mistreated his wife. She died and ended up in the next world. But her husband yearned for her, could not live alone. He went for his wife to another world, approached the main spirit and began to beg to return his beloved to the world of the living. The spirit set a condition: the wife will return, but only if he promises to treat her with care and kindness. The man, of course, was delighted and promised everything at once.
The wife returned to him. But one day her husband forgot himself and again forced her to work hard. When he caught himself and remembered this promise, it was already too late: his wife fell apart before his eyes. Her husband only had a phalanx of her finger left. The tribe got angry and expelled him, because he took away their immortality - the opportunity to return from the other world, like his wife. However, in reality, for some reason, the wife cuts off the phalanx of her finger as a sign of the last gift to her deceased husband. The father of the deceased performs the rite of nasuk - he cuts off the upper part of his ear with a wooden knife and then covers the bleeding wound with clay. This ceremony is quite long and painful. After the funeral ceremony, the Papuans honor and appease the spirit of their ancestor. For if his soul is not appeased, the ancestor will not leave the village, but will live there and harm. The spirit of the ancestor is fed for some time, as if alive, and even try to give him sexual pleasure. For example, a clay figurine of a tribal god is placed on a stone with a hole, symbolizing a woman. The underworld in the view of the Papuans is some kind of paradise, where there is a lot of food, especially meat.
