Social Organization of the Natives of West New Guinea : with Special Reference to the Formation of "Tribes"

Abstract

On the basis of his eight months' field-work in 1943, covering the Schouten Islands, the southern coast of the Geelvink Bay, and the isthmus region west of the Vogelkop Peninsula, the author confirms the existence of separate, cohesive tribes in this area. The number of tribes surveyed amounts to twelve. The "tribe" as observed here seems to be the product of an accumulation of certain spcific social and cultural features. These are : a consciousness of kind, a common name, common dialect, intermarriage, and communal ceremonies. Full tribal status requires the presence of all of these features, in interaction. But the tribe does not always remain stable. Several factors, e.g., distance, produce changes in the social and cultural features noted above, such changes resulting in less harmonious relationships between and within dialect groups, intermarrying sets, ceremonial groups, etc. Such developments lead not infrequently to the formation of a new tribe through the split of an original tribe, or the fusion of several. Nevertheless each tribe is generally a distinct, sociopolitical unit, clearly distinguishable from others.