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The Mafulu
Mountain People of British New Guinea
Robert W. Williamson
With an Introduction
by
A. C. Haddon, Sc.D., F.R.S.
With Illustrations and Map
Macmillan and Co., Limited
St. Martin's Street, London
1912
PREFACE
This book is the outcome of an expedition to British New Guinea
in 1910, in which, after a short stay among the people of some of
the western Solomon Islands, including those of that old centre
of the head hunters, the Rubiana lagoon, and a preparatory and
instructive journey in New Guinea among the large villages of the
Mekeo district, I struck across country by a little known route,
via Lapeka, to Ido-Ido and on to Dilava, and thus passed by way of
further preparation through the Kuni country, and ultimately reached
the district of the Mafulu villages, of whose people very little was
known, and which was therefore the mecca of my pilgrimage.
I endeavoured to carry out the enquiries of which the book is a record
as carefully and accurately as possible; but it must be remembered
that the Mafulu people had seen very few white men, except some
of the Fathers of the Catholic Mission of the Sacred Heart, the
visits of Government officials and once or twice of a scientific
traveller having been but few and far between, and only short; that
the mission station in Mafulu (the remotest station of the mission)
had only been established five years previously; that the people
were utterly unaccustomed to the type of questioning which systematic
ethnological enquiry involves, and that necessarily there was often
the usual hesitation in giving the required information.
I cannot doubt, therefore, that future enquiries and investigations
made in the same district will bring to light errors and
misunderstandings, which even with the greatest care can hardly be
avoided in the case of a first attempt on new ground, where everything
has to be investigated and worked up from the beginning. I hope,
however, that the bulk of my notes will be found to have been correct
in substance so far as they go.
I regret that my ignorance of tropical flora and fauna has made it
impossible for me to give the names of many of the plants and animals
to which I refer.
There are many people, more than I can mention here, to whom I owe my
grateful thanks. Prior to my departure for the South Seas Dr. Haddon
took great trouble in helping and advising me, and, indeed, I doubt
whether I should have ventured upon my solitary expedition if I had
not had his stimulating encouragement.
In New Guinea I had the never-failing hospitality and kindness
of my good friend Monseigneur de Boismenu (the Bishop of the
Mission of the Sacred Heart) and the Fathers and Brothers of the
Mission. Among the latter I would specially mention Father Egedi
and Father Clauser. Father Egedi (whose name is already familiar
to students of New Guinea Ethnology) was my friend and travelling
companion during a portion of my journeyings through the Mekeo and
Kuni districts, and his Mekeo explanations proved invaluable to me
when I reached my Mafulu destination. And dear good Father Clauser
was a pillar of help in Mafulu. He placed at my disposal all his
existing knowledge concerning the people, and was my intermediary
and interpreter throughout all my enquiries. And finally, when having
at some risk prolonged my stay at Mafulu until those enquiries were
completed, I was at last compelled by the serious state of my health
to beat a retreat, and be carried down to the coast, he undertook
to do the whole of my photographing and physical measurements, and
the care and skill with which he did so are evidenced by the results
as disclosed in this book. [1] I must also add that the frontispiece
and plates 17, 67, 68, 69 and 70 are taken from previous photographs
which Father Clauser kindly placed at my disposal. My remembrance of
His Lordship the Bishop, and of the Reverend Fathers and the Brothers
of the Mission will ever be one of affectionate personal regard, and
of admiration of the spirit of heroic self-sacrifice which impels
them to submit cheerfully to the grave and constant hardships and
dangers to which their labour of love necessarily exposes them.
Since my return home Dr. Seligmann has given me immense help, advising
me upon my notes, placing material at my disposal, and afterwards
reading through a considerable portion of my manuscript. Mr. T.A. Joyce
and Mr. J. Edge Partington helped me in arranging and dealing with
the things which I had brought back to the British Museum. Dr. Keith
examined and reported upon some skulls which I had obtained,
and advised me upon my notes on physique. Dr. Stapf helped me in
matters of botanical identification; Mr. S.H. Ray has given me the
full benefit of his wide knowledge of South Pacific linguistics,
and has written the appendices to the book. And, finally, Dr. Haddon
has very kindly read through my proof sheets.
In conclusion, I would add that there is still an immense amount
of detailed work to be done among the Mafulu people, and that
the districts of the Ambo and Boboi and Oru Lopiku people, still
further back among the mountains, offer an almost virgin field for
investigation to anyone who will take the trouble to go there.
CONTENTS
Introduction, by Dr. A.C. Haddon
CHAPTER I
Introductory
CHAPTER II
Physique and Character
CHAPTER III
Dress and Ornament
CHAPTER IV
Daily Life and Matters Connected with It
CHAPTER V
Community, Clan, and Village Systems and Chieftainship
CHAPTER VI
Villages, Emone, Houses and Modes of Inter-Village Communication
CHAPTER VII
Government, Property and Inheritance
CHAPTER VIII
The Big Feast
CHAPTER IX
Some Other Ceremonies and Feasts
CHAPTER X
Matrimonial and Sexual
CHAPTER XI
Killing, Cannibalism and Warfare
CHAPTER XII
Hunting, Fishing and Agriculture
CHAPTER XIII
Bark Cloth Making, Netting and Art
CHAPTER XIV
Music and Singing, Dancing, and Toys and Games
CHAPTER XV
Counting, Currency and Trade
CHAPTER XVI
Language
CHAPTER XVII
Illness, Death and Burial
CHAPTER XVIII
Religion and Superstitious Beliefs and Practices
CHAPTER XIX
Note on the Kuni People
CHAPTER XX
Conclusion
APPENDIX I
A Grammar of the Fuyuge Language
APPENDIX II
Note on the Afoa Language
APPENDIX III
Note on the Kovio Language
APPENDIX IV
A Comparative Vocabulary of the Fuyuge, Afoa, and Kovio Languages
APPENDIX V
Notes on the Papuan Languages Spoken about the Head Waters of the
St. Joseph River, Central Papua
PLATES
Mafulu Women Decorated for a Dance. ... _Frontispiece_
1 Kuni Scenery.
2 Mafulu Scenery.
3 Skull A.
4 Skull C.
5 Husband, Wife and Child.
6 Man and Two Women.
7, 8 Man, Young Man and Boy.
9 Different Types of Men.
10 An Unusual Type.
11, 12 Two Unusual Types.
13 Fig. 1. Section of Man's Perineal Band. Fig. 2. Decoration
near end of Woman's Perineal Band. Fig. 3. Section of Woman's
Perineal Band. Fig. 4. Section of Man's or Woman's Dancing
Ribbon.
14 Fig. 1. Belt No. 1. Fig. 2. Belt No. 3. Fig. 3. Belt No. 4.
15 Fig. 1. Belt No. 5 (one end only). Fig. 2. Belt No. 6
(one end only). Fig. 3. Belt No. 7.
16 A General Group.
17 A Young Chief's Sister decorated for a Dance.
18, 19 Women wearing Illness Recovery Capes.
20 Fig. 1. Ear-rings. Fig. 2. Jew's Harp. Fig. 3. Hair Fringe.
21 Man, Woman and Children.
22, 23 A Little Girl with Head Decorations.
24 Figs. 1, 2, 5, and 6. Women's Hair Plaits decorated
with European Beads, Shells, Shell Discs, Dog's Tooth,
and Betel Nut Fruit. Fig. 3. Man's Hair Plait with Cane
Pendant. Fig. 4. Man's Hair Plait with Betel Nut Pendant.
25 Fig. 1. Leg Band. Figs. 2 and 4. Women's Hair Plaits
decorated with Shells and Dogs' Teeth. Fig. 3. Bone Implement
used (as a Fork) for Eating.
26 Group of Women.
27 A Young Woman.
28 Two Women.
29 Two Women.
30 Fig. 1. Mourning String
Necklace. Fig. 2. Comb. Fig. 3. Pig's Tail Ornament for
Head. Fig. 4. Whip Lash Head Ornament. Fig. 5. Forehead
Ornament.
31 Necklaces.
32 A Necklace.
33 Necklaces.
34 Fig. 1. Armlet No. 5. Fig. 2. Armlet No. 4. Fig. 3. Armlet
No. 2. Fig. 4. Armlet No. 1.
35 Woman wearing Dancing Apron.
36, 37 Decoration of Dancing Aprons.
38, 39 Decoration of Dancing Aprons.
40, 41 Decoration of Dancing Aprons.
42, 43 Decoration of Dancing Aprons.
44 Head Feather Ornaments.
45 Head Feather Ornaments.
46 Fig. 1. Head Feather Ornament. Fig. 2. Back Feather
Ornament.
47 Plaited Head Feather Frames.
48 Mother and Baby.
49 At the Spring.
50 A Social Gathering.
51 Fig. 1. Small Smoking Pipe. Fig. 2. Pig-bone Scraping
Implement. Fig. 3. Stone Bark Cloth Beater. Fig. 4. Drilling
Implement. Fig. 5. Bamboo Knife. Figs. 6 and 7. Lime Gourds.
52 Fig. 1. Wooden Dish. Figs. 2 and 3. Water-Carrying Gourds.
53 Fig. 1. Bag No. 3. Fig. 2. Bag No. 4. Fig. 3. Bag. No. 6.
54 Village of Salube and Surrounding Country.
55 Village of Seluku, with Chiefs _Emone_ at End and Remains
of Broken-down Burial Platform in Middle.
56 Village of Amalala, with Chiefs _Emone_ at End..
57 Village of Amalala (looking in other direction), with
Secondary _Emone_ at End.
58 Village of Malala, with Secondary _Emone_ at End and
Ordinary Grave and Burial Platform of Chief's Child in Right
Foreground.
59 Village of Uvande, with Chief's _Emone_ at End.
60 Village of Biave, with Chief's _Emone_ at End and Burial
Platform of Chief's Child in Middle.
61 Chief's _Emone_ in Village of Amalala.
62 Chief's _Emone_ in Village of Malala.
63 House in Village of Malala.
64 House in Village of Levo, with Child's Excrement Receptacle
to Left.
65 Suspension Bridge over St. Joseph River.
66 Bridge over Aduala River.
67 Scene at Big Feast in Village of Amalala.
68 Row of Killed Pigs at Big Feast at Village of Amalala.
69 Scene at Village of Seluku during Preparations for Big
Feast.
70 Scene at Big Feast at Village of Seluku.
71 Young Girl Ornamented for Perineal Band Ceremony.
72 Feast at Perineal Band Ceremony.
73 Figs, 1, 2, and 3. Points of War Spears. Fig. 4. Point of
War-Arrow. Fig. 5. Point of Bird-Shooting Arrow.
74 Fig. 1. Bow. Fig. 2. Shield (outside). Fig. 3. Shield
(inside).
75 Fig. 1. Club (pineapple type of head). Fig. 2. Club (disc
type of head). Fig. 3. Drum. Fig. 4. Adze.
76 Fishing Weir.
77 Planting Yams in Garden.
78 Collecting Sweet Potatoes in Garden.
79 Hammering Bark Cloth.
80 The Ine Pandanus.
81 Mafulu Network.
82 Funeral Feast (not of Chief). Guests assembled to commence
Dance down Village Enclosure.
83 The same Funeral Feast. Guest Chief Dancing down Village
Enclosure.
84 Platform Grave of Chief's Child at Back. Ordinary Grave
in Front.
85 Group of Platform Graves of Chiefs and their Relations.
86 Platform Grave of a Chief's Child.
87, 88 The _Gabe_ Fig Tree, in which Chiefs' Burial Boxes
are placed and which is Generally Believed to be Haunted
by Spirits.
89 The Remains of a Chiefs Burial Platform which has collapsed,
and beneath which his Skull and some of his Bones are interred
Underground.
90 An _Emone_ to which are hung the Skulls and some of the
Bones from Chiefs' Burial Platforms which have Collapsed.
91 A House with Receptacle for Child's Excrement.
Map.
ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT
1. Leg band making (commencing stage)
2. Ancient Mortar
3. Illustrative Diagram of a Mafulu Community of Villages
4. Diagram of Front of _Emone_ (Front Hood of Roof and Front
Platform and Portions of Front Timbers omitted, so as to
show Interior)
5. Diagram of Transverse Section across Centre of Emone
6. Diagrammatic Sketch of Apse-like Projection of Roof of
_Emone_ and Platform Arrangements
7. Diagram Illustrating Positions of People during Performance
at Big Feast
8. Mafulu Net Making (1st Line of Network)
9. Mafulu Net Making (2nd, 3rd, and 4th Lines of Network)
10. Mafulu Net Making (5th Line of Network, to which Rest of
Net is similar in Stitch)
INTRODUCTION
By Dr. A.C. Haddon
It is a great pleasure to me to introduce Mr. Williamson's book to
the notice of ethnologists and the general public, as I am convinced
that it will be read with interest and profit.
Perhaps I may be permitted in this place to make a few personal
remarks. Mr. Williamson was formerly a solicitor, and always had a
great longing to see something of savage life, but it was not till
about four years ago that he saw his way to attempting the realisation
of this desire by an expedition to Melanesia. He made my acquaintance
in the summer of 1908, and seeing that he was so keenly interested,
I lent him a number of books and all my MS. notes on Melanesia;
by the help of these and by the study of other books he gained a
good knowledge of the ethnology of that area. In November, 1908, he
started for Oceania for the first time and reached Fiji, from which
place he had intended to start on his expedition. Circumstances
over which he had no control, however, prevented the carrying out
of his original programme; so he went to Sydney, and there arranged
modified plans. He was on the point of executing these, when he was
again frustrated by a telegram from England which necessitated his
immediate return. It was a sad blow to him to have his long-cherished
schemes thus thwarted and rendered abortive, but, undaunted, he set
about to plan another expedition. Accordingly, in January, 1910, he
once more set sail for Australia as a starting place for the Solomon
Islands and British New Guinea, and this time achieved success; the
book which he now offers to the public is the result of this plucky
enterprise. In justice to the author it should be known that, owing
to climatic and other conditions, he was unwell during the whole of
his time in New Guinea, and had an injured foot and leg that hurt him
every step he took. The only wonder is that he was able to accomplish
so large and so thorough a piece of work as he has done.
It is interesting to note the different ways by which various
investigators have entered the field of Ethnology. Some have approached
it from the literary or classical side, but very few indeed of
these have ever had any experience in the field. The majority of
field workers have had a previous training in science--zoology not
unnaturally has sent more recruits than any other branch of science. A
few students have been lawyers, but so far as I am aware Mr. Williamson
is the first British lawyer who has gone into the field, and he has
proved that legal training may be a very good preliminary discipline
for ethnological investigation in the field, as it gives invaluable
practice in the best methods of acquiring and sifting of evidence. A
lawyer must also necessarily have a wide knowledge of human nature
and an appreciation of varied ways of thought and action.
It was with such an equipment and fortified by extensive reading in
Ethnology, that Mr. Williamson was prepared for his self-imposed
task. Proof of his powers of observation will be found in the
excellent descriptions of objects of material culture with which he
has presented us.
I now turn to some of the scientific aspects of his
book. Mr. Williamson especially set before himself the work of
investigating some tribes in the mountainous hinterland of the Mekeo
district. This was a most happy selection, though no one could have
foreseen the especial interest of these people.
Thanks mainly to the systematic investigations of Dr. Seligmann and to
the sporadic observations of missionaries, government officials and
travellers, we have a good general knowledge of many of the peoples
of the eastern coast of the south-eastern peninsula of New Guinea,
and of some of the islands from the Trobriands to the Louisiades. The
Ethnology of the fertile and populous Mekeo district has been mainly
made known to us by the investigations of various members of the
Sacred Heart Mission, and by Dr. Seligmann. What little we know of
the Papuan Gulf district is due to missionaries among the coastal
tribes, Mr. James Chalmers and Mr. W. Holmes. Dr. G. Landtman is at
present investigating the natives of the delta of the Fly river and
Daudai. The natives of the Torres Straits islands have also been
studied as fully as is possible. But of the mountain region lying
behind the Mekeo district very little indeed has been published; so
Mr. Williamson's book fills a gap in our knowledge of Papuan ethnology.
We have as yet a very imperfect knowledge of the ethnological history
of New Guinea. Speaking very broadly, it is generally admitted that
the bulk of the population belongs to the Papuan race, a dark-skinned,
woolly-haired people who have also spread over western Oceania; but,
to a greater or less extent, New Guinea has been subject to cultural
and racial influences from all sides, except from Australia, where the
movement has been the other way. Thus the East Indian archipelago has
directly affected parts of Netherlands New Guinea, and its influence
is to be traced to a variable degree in localities in the Bismarck
archipelago, German New Guinea (Kaiser Wilhelm's Land), Western
Oceania, and British New Guinea or Papua, as it is termed officially.
The south-eastern peninsula of New Guinea--or at all events the
coastal regions--has been largely affected by immigrants, who were
themselves a mixed people, and who came later at various times. It is
to these immigrants that Mr. Ray and I applied the term Melanesian
(Ray, S. H., and Haddon, A. C., "A Study of the Languages of Torres
Straits," _Proc. Roy. Irish Acad._, 3rd ser., IV., 1897, p. 509). Early
in 1894, Mr. Ray read a paper before the Anthropological Institute
(_Journ. Anth. Inst._, XXIV., p. 15), in which he adhered to our former
discrimination of two linguistic stocks and added a third type of
language composed of a mixture of the other two, for which he proposed
the name Melano-Papuan. These languages, according to Mr. Ray, occur
in the Trobriands, Woodlarks and the Louisiades, and similar languages
are found in the northern Solomon Islands. For some years I had been
studying the decorative art of British New Guinea, and from physical
and artistic and other cultural reasons had come to the conclusion
that the Melanesians of British New Guinea should be broken up into
two elements: one consisting of the Motu and allied Melanesians,
and the other of the inhabitants of the Massim district--an area
extending slightly beyond that of Mr. Ray's Melano-Papuans ("The
Decorative Art of British New Guinea," _Cunningham Memoirs_, X.,
_Roy. Irish Acad._, 1894, pp. 253-269). I reinforced my position
six years later ("Studies in the Anthropo-geography of British New
Guinea," _Journ. Roy. Geog. Soc._, 1900, pp. 265, 414). Dr. Seligmann,
in his valuable paper "A Classification of the Natives of British
New Guinea" (_Journ. Roy. Anth. Inst._, XXXIX., 1909, pp. 246, 315)
corroborated these views and designated the two groups of "Melanesians"
as the Eastern and Western Papuo-Melanesians. The following year he
published the great book to which Mr. Williamson so frequently refers,
and in which this classification is maintained, and these two groups
together with the Papuans, are termed Papuasians.
The Motu stock of the Western Papuo-Melanesians have extended
their dispersal as far as the Mekeo district, where they came
into contact with other peoples. It has been shown that the true
Papuans are a narrow-headed people, but there are some puzzling
exceptions, the explanation of which is not yet ascertained. The
Papuo-Melanesians contain a somewhat broad-headed element, and
there is a slightly broad-headed population in the central range
of the south-east peninsula, the extent of which has not yet been
determined. The questions naturally arise: (1) Is the true Papuan a
variable stock including both long- broad-headed elements? or (2)
Does the broad-headed element belong to an immigrant people? or,
again (3) Is there an hitherto unidentified indigenous broad-headed
race? I doubt if the time is ripe for a definite answer to any of
these questions. Furthermore, we have yet to assign to their original
sources the differences in culture which characterise various groups
of people in New Guinea. Something has been done in this direction,
but much more has yet to be learnt.
So far I have not referred to a Negrito element in the Ethnology of
New Guinea. From time to time we have heard rumours of pygmy people,
and German travellers have recorded very short individuals in Kaiser
Wilhelm's Land; but it was not till the expedition to Netherlands New
Guinea of the British Ornithological Union of 1910-11 that a definite
pygmy race was demonstrated. I think this can be no longer denied,
and the observations made by German ethnologists show that the race in
a more or less modified state is widely spread. Now Mr. Williamson,
whose work in New Guinea was contemporaneous with that of the
Netherlands New Guinea expedition, adduces evidence that this is
also the case in British territory. It is worth recalling that de
Quatrefages and Hamy (_Crania Ethnica_, 1882, pp. 207-210, 253-256)
distinguish a "Negrito-Papuan" and a "Papuan" element in the Torres
Straits. This problem will be discussed in Vol. I. of the Reports of
the Cambridge Expedition to Torres Straits. I feel little doubt that
Mr. Williamson has shown strong evidence that the Mafulu and probably
other adjacent mountain tribes are essentially a pygmy--that is to say
a Negrito--people who have been modified to some extent by Papuan and
possibly Papuo-Melanesian influence, both physical and cultural. He
has marshalled his data with great skill, and has dissected out, as it
were, the physical and cultural elements of the Negrito substratum. It
only remains for other observers to study Negritos in other parts of
New Guinea to see how far these claims can be substantiated. It is
evident therefore that, apart from the valuable detailed information
which Mr. Williamson has given us concerning a hitherto unknown tribe,
he has opened up a problem of considerable interest and magnitude.
A.C. Haddon.
THE MAFULU MOUNTAIN PEOPLE OF BRITISH NEW GUINEA
CHAPTER I
Introductory
The map appended to this volume is (with the exception of the red
lines and red lettering upon it) a reproduction of a portion of the map
relating to the explorations and surveys of Dr. Strong, Mr. Monckton
and Captain Barton, which was published in the _Geographical Journal_
for September, 1908, and the use of which has been kindly permitted
me by the Royal Geographical Society. I have eliminated the red route
lines which appear in the original map, so as to avoid confusion with
the red lines which I have added. The unbroken red lines and the red
lettering upon my map are copied from a map, also kindly placed at
my disposal, which has been recently prepared by Father Fillodean
of the Mission of the Sacred Heart, and these lines mark roughly
what the Fathers of the Mission believe to be the boundaries of the
several linguistic areas within the district covered by their map. It
will be observed that some of these lines are not continued so as to
surround and complete the definition of the areas which they indicate;
but this defect is unavoidable, as the Fathers' map only covered a
relatively small area, and even in that map the lines were not all
carried to its margin. It will also be noticed that, though the Fathers
introduce the two names Oru Lopiku and Boboi as being linguistically
distinct, they have not indicated the boundary line between the two
areas. Father Egedi, however, informed me that this boundary passes
along the ridge of hills south of the Ufafa river as far as Mt. Eleia,
and thence along the Ukalama river to the Kuni boundary. The Ukalama
river is not shown in the Geographical Society's map; but I may
say that it is shown in the Fathers' map as rising in Mt. Eleia,
and flowing thence in a south-easterly direction, and so joining the
St. Joseph river close to Dilava. The broken red line upon my map does
not appear in the Fathers' map, but has been added by me to indicate
what, I understand, the Fathers believe to be a continued boundary,
so far as ascertained, of the Fuyuge linguistic area, called by them
the Mafulu area, to which I am about to draw attention.
The term Mafulu is the Kuni pronunciation of Mambule, which is the
name, as used by themselves, of the people who live in a group of
villages within and near the north-westerly corner of the area of the
Fuyuge-speaking people, whose Papuan language, so far as ascertained,
appears, subject to local dialectal differences, to be the same, and
may, I was informed, be regarded as one common language throughout
the Fuyuge area.
The Fathers of the Mission have adopted the name Mafulu in a wider
sense, as including all the people with whom they have come in
contact of the Fuyuge-speaking area; and, though my investigations,
which form the subject-matter of this book, have been conducted only
in the neighbourhood of Mafulu itself, I was assured that, so far as
the Fathers have been able to ascertain, all these Fuyuge people not
only have similar languages, but also are substantially similar in
physique and in culture. My observations concerning the Mafulu people
may therefore, if this statement is correct, be regarded as applying,
not only to the inhabitants of the portion of the north-westerly corner
of the Fuyuge area in which the Mafulu group of villages is placed,
but to those of the whole of the north-westerly portion of the area,
and generally in a greater or less degree of accuracy to those of
the northerly and north-easterly parts of the area, and possibly the
southerly ones also.
The boundaries of this Fuyuge-speaking area can hardly be regarded
as definitely ascertained; and the discrepancies, even as regards
the courses of the rivers and the positions of the mountains, which
appear in the few available maps make it difficult to deal with the
question. The area, so far as actually ascertained by the Fathers
of the Mission, roughly speaking, covers, and seems to extend also
some distance to the south or south-west of a triangle, the western
apex of which is the junction of the river Kea with the river Aduala
(a tributary of the St. Joseph), [2] whose north-eastern apex is
Mt. Albert Edward, and whose south-eastern apex is Mt. Scratchley. It
includes the valley of the Aduala river and its streams (except those
flowing into it from the north in the region of the western apex of the
triangle) within its northern boundary, and the valley of the upper
Vanapa river and its rivers and streams in the neighbourhood of its
eastern boundary; but this eastern boundary has been found to extend
also so as to include the upper valley of the river Chirima. How far
the area extends to the south or south-west of the triangle above
mentioned appears to be uncertain.
The linguistic area to the north of the Mafulu or Fuyuge people is
that of the Ambo people, who are somewhat similar in appearance to
the Mafulu, and whose language is also Papuan, and, though differing
from the Mafulu language, is, I was told, somewhat similar to it in
grammatical construction and as regards a few of its words. The area
to the west is that of the Kuni people, whose language is Melanesian,
but whose ordinary modes of life are, I was informed, more like those
of the Mafulu than are those of the Papuan-speaking Ambo. The areas
to the east and south cannot be so definitely stated, but are dealt
with below.
As regards these Ambo people I may, in view of divergences of names
which appear in maps, explain that Ambo is a contraction of Ambore,
and is the name given to the people by their Mafulu neighbours, whilst
Afoa is the name given to them by the Kuni people, and is adopted
in the Geographical Society's map. [3] As regards the Kuni people,
their name is the one adopted by themselves.
Concerning the boundaries of the Fuyuge linguistic area as above
indicated, and the people whose districts adjoin that area, I propose
here to draw attention to four names, and to refer to some observations
bearing on the subject of the probable Fuyuge boundary which are to
be found in existing literature.
The term Kovio, though primarily the name of Mt. Yule, and properly
applicable to the people living in the neighbourhood of that mountain,
is now, I think, often used to express all the mountain tribes
of the hinterland of the Mekeo and Pokau, and perhaps the Kabadi,
districts. But the use of this name has not, I believe, been generally
associated with any question of linguistics.
The area in the map which is called by the Fathers Boboi is occupied
by people whose language, I was told by the Fathers, is Papuan,
but is distinct from the languages of the Ambo and the Fuyuge areas.
Kamaweka is a name which appears in several of Dr. Seligmann's
publications. It seems to have been originally used by Captain
Barton to designate the natives of the district of which Inavaurene,
to the north-east of the Mekeo plains, is the centre, but to have
been afterwards regarded as a somewhat more general term; and I think
Dr. Seligmann uses it in a very general sense, almost, if not quite,
equivalent to the wide application above referred to of the term Kovio,
and which might include the Papuan-speaking Boboi and Ambo people, and
even perhaps the people of the northern Mafulu villages. [4] But here
again the use of the name has, I think, no reference to linguistics.
If the Fathers' linguistic boundary lines are substantially correct,
each of the two terms Kovio and Kamaweka, as now used, would appear
to cover more than one linguistic area; and in any case these terms
seem to have widened and to have become somewhat indefinite. It will
be seen on reference to the map and to Father Egedi's information
as to the Oru Lopiku and Boboi boundaries that both Mt. Yule and
Inavaurene are within the area which the Fathers call Oru Lopiku, but
that Inavaurene is not far from their Boboi area. I suggest that it
would be convenient for the present, pending further investigation
and delimitation on the spot, and until we know something of the
difference between the languages of the Oru Lopiku and Boboi people,
to adopt the term Kovio as a general name for, and confine it to,
the two areas Boboi and Oru Lopiku; though for linguistic purposes
the names Boboi and Oru Lopiku, which at present indicate very little
to us, may eventually be accepted and come into general use.
The Koiari people of the foothills and lateral spurs behind the Motu
area, also referred to from time to time in Dr. Seligmann's writings,
must be eastern next door neighbours of the Fuyuge-speaking people,
the western boundary of these Koiari being stated by him to be the
Vanapa river, [5] and they being in fact regarded by him as being
the eastern neighbours of the natives of "the mountains inland of
Mekeo Nara and Kabadi," [6] and being referred to by him as being
the people from whose district the Kamaweka and Kuni are reached by
"passing westward"--the word used is "eastward," but this is obviously
a printer's error--"in the mountains, keeping roughly parallel with
the coast." [7]
Turning to the question of the Fuyuge boundary, Dr. Strong says that
the Fuyuge people occupy the upper waters of the St. Joseph river,
[8] and he is quoted by Dr. Seligmann as having stated that the Afoa
language "is spoken in the villages on Mt. Pizoko and the northern
slopes of Mt. Davidson," and that "the Afoa villages lie to the north
of the Fuyuge-speaking communities, stretching westward for an unknown
distance behind Mt. Davidson." [9] If the information given to me
verbally by the Fathers of the Mission of the Sacred Heart and the
red linguistic boundary lines roughly drawn by them, and introduced
into my map, be correct, these statements require modification, for
according to the Fathers the Mafulu or Fuyuge-speaking area does not
include any part of the St. Joseph river, as its extreme north-westerly
corner lies to the east of the junction--close to the boundary line
between the Afoa (Ambo) and the Kuni areas--of the rivers Alabula
and Aduala, and Mt. Pizoko is within the Fuyuge area, and not within
that of the Afoa, and Mt. Davidson is within the Boboi area. I think
that, though the Fathers' lines are admittedly not exact, they and
the information supplied by the Fathers to me are likely to be more
trustworthy in these respects, especially as regards boundaries near to
the actual Mafulu villages, than the earlier statements of Dr. Strong,
as they are the outcome of recent and careful investigation; and,
as regards Mt. Pizoko, I may mention that Dr. Strong himself seems to
have subsequently regarded that mountain as being within the Mafulu
district, [10] which brings it into the Fuyuge area.
The inclusion of the upper valley of the river Chirima within the
Fuyuge or Mafulu-speaking area is perhaps surprising, as this valley is
separated from the general Fuyuge area by one of the southern ridges
of Mt. Albert Edward, and more or less so by the ridges of Mt. Stone
Wigg and the Wharton range, and as the Chirima is a tributary flowing
into the Mambare river, which is one of the great watercourses of
Northern New Guinea. The Mafulu Fathers, however, had no doubt as
to the correctness of the inclusion, which seems to open out the
possibility of some, at all events, of the Fuyuge people having
northern associations; and indeed Monseigneur de Boismenu told me
that he believed that the Mafulu people were in touch with Northern
New Guinea, and got some of their shell ornaments, or the shells from
which they were made, from the northern coast.
It is interesting, therefore, to turn for the purpose of comparison
to the report of Mr. Monckton's expedition to Mt. Albert Edward by
way of the Upper Chirima valley in 1906 [11] and the illustrations
accompanying it, with which I incorporate a description of the people
of this valley given to Dr. Seligmann by Mr. Money, who was with
Mr. Monckton. [12]
From these it appears that the Upper Chirima people are short in
stature and sturdily built. Both sexes wear the perineal band,
the front of which is made (I am not sure whether this applies to
women as well as to men) to bulge out by padding. In some cases the
men's hair is tied up in a bunch with string, and in others it is
bound up in various styles with native cloth. Some of the men have
their hair done up in small plaits over the forehead. All the above
descriptions, except that of the padding of the band, are applicable to
the Mafulu. Some of the Chirima houses have a curious apse-like roof
projection over the front platform, which is a specially distinctive
feature of a Mafulu house, and one with this projection figured by
Mr. Monckton is indistinguishable from a typical Mafulu house. The
Chirima people place the bodies of their dead on raised platforms,
and apparently sometimes put the body of an infant on the platform
erection of an adult, but below the latter. This also is a practice
of the Mafulu; and, though the latter people confine platform burial
(if such it may be called) to chiefs and their families and important
persons, it is possible that some such limitation of the custom exists
in the Chirima valley also, but did not come under Mr. Monckton's
notice. A burial platform figured by him might well be a Mafulu burial
platform, except that the curious cone-shaped receptacle for the child
is a form for which I cannot vouch as regards the Mafulu. The Chirima
have a special and peculiar form of netting, which Mr. Monckton's
illustration shows to be identical with the special form of Mafulu
netting. On the other hand, as regards the Chirima weapons, implements
and utensils, a comparison of Mr. Monckton's verbal descriptions and
figures with what I have seen in Mafulu, and describe in this book,
leads me to the conclusion that, though many of these are similar to
those of Mafulu, some of them are different. As examples of this I may
say that the drill implements of the Chirima people are very similar
to, and their stone cloth-beaters appear to be identical with, those
used by the Mafulu; whilst on the other hand their war bows are much
longer, [13] and their method of producing fire seems to be totally
different; also they apparently have bull-roarers, which to the best
of my knowledge are unknown among the Mafulu. Again some of the Chirima
weapons, as figured by Mr. Monckton, disclose ideas of artistic design,
including that of the curved line and a rude representation of a man,
which I have not met with among the Mafulu. As regards this last
point I draw attention to Mr. Monckton's figures of carving on a bow
and on wooden clubs. I think, however, that in such matters as these
local differences might well arise between people who are really
more or less identical, especially if their respective districts
are on opposite sides of the main mountain range of the country, and
still more so if the people of one of the districts (in the present
case I refer to the Chirima people) may perhaps have been subject to
the influence of other people beyond them. As to this latter point,
however, I should say that these Chirima people seem to be, so far as
dress, ornaments, &c., are concerned, much nearer to the Mafulu than
they are to the natives of the Mambare river itself, as described
by Sir William Macgregor. [14] It is curious also that the dogs of
the Chirima people are not yellow dingoes, but are black and white,
as is the case in Mafulu.
I notice that Dr. Seligmann suggests that these Chirima valley people
are related to the natives of the neighbourhood of Mt. Yule, [15] a
statement which, though probably intended broadly, is in accord with
the suggestion that they are connected with the Mafulu-speaking people.
The natives of Mt. Scratchley (apparently the eastern or south-eastern
side), visited by Sir William Macgregor in 1896, appear from his
description of them [16] to show a few points of resemblance to the
Mafulu people. In particular I refer to their "dark bronze" colour,
to the wearing by women of the perineal band (to which, however, is
added a mantle and "in most cases" a grass petticoat, which is not done
in Mafulu), to the absence of tattooing or cicatrical ornamentation,
to their "large earrings made out of tails of lizards covered by
narrow straps of palm leaves dyed yellow" (which, though not correctly
descriptive of the Mafulu earring, is apparently something like it),
to their use of pigs' tails as ear ornaments, to their plaiting of the
hair and the decoration of the plaited hair with teeth and shells, to
their small charm bags and to the shortness of their bows. Also to the
construction of their houses, with the roof carried down to the ground,
with a fireplace about 2 feet wide extending down the centre of the
building from one end to the other, and having an inclined floor on
each side, and especially to the curious apse-like roof projections
in front of these houses (Dr. Haddon calls them "pent roofs" [17]),
Sir William's figure of which is, like that of the Chirima villages,
identical, or nearly so, with that of a Mafulu house. But Sir William's
description of the physique of these Mt. Scratchley people and other
matters make it clear, I think, that they belong to a type different
from that of the Mafulu, though they must be next door neighbours of
the Fuyuge-speaking people. Dr. Seligmann, in commenting upon this
description of these people, expresses the opinion that they are
Papuo-Melanesians. [18]
The natives in the region of Mt. Musgrave and Mt. Knutsford, as
described by Mr. Thomson, [19] appear, at all events so far as dress
is concerned, to be utterly different from the Mafulu.
Dr. Seligmann states that Dr. Strong has informed him that the
southern boundary of the Fuyuge-speaking area is the Kabadi country,
[20] and he had previously referred to Korona, immediately behind
the Kabadi and Doura districts, as being within the area, [21] and,
indeed, the Geographical Society's map shows the Fuyuge area as
at all events extending as far south as Korona. I do not know how
far inland the Kabadi and Doura people extend; but I may say that
the Mafulu Fathers expressed grave doubt as to the extension of the
Fuyuge area so far south as is indicated by the map.
If the Fuyuge area does in fact reach the Kabadi boundary, and if my
notes on the Mafulu people are, as suggested, broadly descriptive of
the natives of the whole Fuyuge area, there must be a very sudden
and sharp differentiation, as the Kabadi people are apparently an
offshoot from Mekeo, [22] with apparently other Papuo-Melanesian blood
(especially Roro) introduced. [23]
The contour and appearance of the country in the actual Mafulu district
of the Fuyuge area is strikingly different from that of the immediately
adjoining Kuni country, the sharp steep ridges and narrow deep-cut
valleys of the latter, with their thick unbroken covering of almost
impenetrable forest, changing to higher mountain ranges with lateral
ridges among them, and with frequent gentle undulating slopes and
wider and more open valleys; while, interspersed with the forests,
are small patches and great stretches of grass land, sometimes thinly
covered or scattered with timber and sometimes quite open and devoid
of trees. [24] And this condition continues, I was told, over the
greater part of the triangular area above referred to.
Plates 1 and 2 give, I think, a fair illustration of what I mean,
the steep contours and thickly wooded character of the foreground and
nearer middle distance shown by Plate 1 being typical Kuni scenery,
and the more open nature of the country displayed by Plate 2 and the
comparative freedom from forest of its foreground being typical of
the higher uplands of Mafulu. [25]
It will be noticed that the physical character of the Mafulu country
is more favourable to continued occupation than is that of the Kuni
country; and it is a fact that the Mafulu people are not so restless
and ready to move as are the Kuni folk; and, even when they do migrate,
it is generally to a spot comparatively near to their old villages.
The geological formation of the lower hills on which the actual Mafulu
villages are placed and the intervening valleys is partly limestone;
and I was told that limestone formation was also found further to
the east.
Throughout this book I shall use the term "Mafulu" as including,
not only the little group of villages near the north-westerly corner
of the Fuyuge linguistic area actually known by that name, but also
the other groups of Fuyuge villages in the north-western portion of
that area; and, as above indicated, it is believed by the Fathers of
the Mission that I should be substantially correct if I included the
whole of the northern and north-eastern, and probably the southern
portions of the known part of that area, and possibly the entire area.