John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series Torembi and the Sepik A Study of Village Life in New Guinea |
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Topic No. 24: Traditional Dance Forms in Modern Contexts ~ Photos 496 - 516 |
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John Tyman's Cultures in Context Series Torembi and the Sepik A Study of Village Life in New Guinea |
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Topic No. 24: Traditional Dance Forms in Modern Contexts ~ Photos 496 - 516 |
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| 496. The Spirit House in Torembi 2 was opened in December 1980. I photographed two of the three weddings in 1981, and the cremation and naven ceremonies in 1982. On my return in 1994 I learned that most of “the big men” I’d met previously were dead; and with their passing the community had lost its foremost custodians of traditional beliefs and ceremonies. However, there were still both men and women keen to preserve their traditions. (Flashback to opening of haus tambaran) |
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| 497. Sing sings may also incorporate dramatic presentations which recall tribal myths and legends. I attended one performed at Service Camp (alias Namagua), a village a short distance north of Torembi. Its “Western” name reflected its location near the site both of a World War 2 air base and a recent oil exploration camp. (Flashback to opening of haus tambaran) |
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| 498. The main characters in the drama were all males, and they wore outfits which blended old and new. |
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| 499. The women came from neighbouring villages and were probably accustomed to dancing for visitors, since both tourism and oil exploration have occasionally generated audiences willing to pay for the privilege. |
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| 500. This presentation recalled the time long ago when a boy of 16, who had yet to be initiated, saw an ancestral spirit entering the Spirit House. |
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| 501. Some of the participants carried kundu drums to provide the rhythm for dancing. |
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| 502. But the underlying tone and sense of mystery were established by flute players hidden from view inside the Spirit House. The spirits were summoned by them. |
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| 503. The masked figures representative of the spirits then left the Men’s House to dance outside, and it was here that they were seen by a boy long ago. |
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| 504. The punishment due to any woman or child looking at an ancestral spirit was death, and the boy was promptly speared by two male witches. |
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| 505. His family mourned his death, covering their bodies with clay. |
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| 506. A public meeting was then called to decide on an appropriate course of action. |
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| 507. The matter was debated heatedly for hours (apparently) and it was eventually determined that the boy’s parents should be compensated by a payment in kina shells. |
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| 508. The drama over, the caste posed for photographs, before returning to their homes for lunch. (Also see video extract number 41) |
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| 509. A rather different sing sing (also in 1994) was planned by the young men of Torembi 3 as a fund- raiser. |
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| 510. They were all either members or supporters of the local soccer club, and they planned to screen off an area with palm fronds so they could charge admission. |
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| 511. They would be dancing in the open, but they hid in the nearby forest at the start, while they prepared their “bilas” – their decorated costumes. |
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| 512. The mwai masks to be worn by those impersonating ancestral spirits were borrowed from the Spirit House. |
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| 513. These were brightened up with garlands of fresh leaves and fruits, plus brand new “grass” skirts. |
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| 514. The music was provided by two young men with long flutes. It would have been a serious offence in the not too distant past to bring these out into the open, but times have changed. |
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| 515. The spirits and their attendants then danced around the soccer field for an hour or so … rehearsing for their performance on another day. |
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| 516. The sad thing was that their presentation was meant to tell a story from their tribe’s past, but few of them had been initiated and they were roundly and continually criticized by the only "big man" present … because of their mistakes, both musical and dramatic. (Also see video extract number 40) |
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Cultures in Context Intro: Photos & Recordings
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by John Tyman
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Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum,
Oxford University, 2010.
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