[Mihalic] Kairiru

[Thomas H. Slone]

I just finished reading Village on the Edge: Changing Times in Papua 
New Guinea by Michael French Smith (University of Hawaii Press, 
2002).  It's not strictly an ethnology but follows up Smith's 1994 
ethnology, Hard Times on Kairiru Island.  Kairiru is a coastal island 
near Wewak.  Page numbers and quotes are from Smith (2002) except as 
noted.

staus (p. 90): a contraction of sithaus

lus lus (p. 91): "very loose or weak"

bembe (pp. 137-138, 193): "magic for obtaining money from the dead". 
The original meaning of bembe is butterfly (from Gazelle Peninsula 
according to Mihalic).  Has anyone else heard of this meaning or does 
anyone know how the word could have attained this meaning?

cowboy [kauboi] pilai (p. 147): sexual escapade ("Ol i cowboy pilai long bus!")

gudpela [gutpela] pasin (p. 31): the tradition of internal harmony 
and kindness towards strangers that is rooted in the belief that God 
arrived in Kragur Village prior to the arrival of Christian 
missionaries

beten korona (p. 193): rosary (Mihalic on p. 374 lists "roseri" and 
"korona" for rosary)

divelopmen (p. 193): development (widespread usage, I believe)

kastom (p. 194): "leaders whose authority rests on indigenous 
criteria" (Mihalic only defines this as the immigration meaning of 
"custom" on p. 107)

tredstoa (p. 195): trade store (widespread usage, I believe)

kentin (p. 194): a village store (from canteen).  Does this differ 
from tredstoa?

klen (p. 194): clan (widespread usage, I believe; is "lain" more 
commonly used?)

komiti (p. 194): a village council deputy (Mihalic has this as any 
member of the council on p. 114)

mi pasin (p. 194): "selfishness, individualism"

saveman / savemeri (p. 194): knowledgeable man / woman

straksa (p. 194): "lines of descent and genealogical relations" (from 
structure)

susokman (p. 194): an urban person (from shoe-sock-man)

--Tom Slone
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