[Mihalic] A few comments on recent entries

[Allison Jablonko]

Tom,

In the archival footage my husband and I took in 1968 among the Maring  
of the Simbai Valley, there is a long sequence of young men and women,  
some visiting from the Jimi Valley, performing Kukim Nus.  Your  
description below is, at a general level, correct.  From what we  
understood at the time, Karim Lek was a variation of kukim nus in which  
either the man or the woman placed a leg over the leg of the partner  
while continuing the head turning.  It was also our understanding that  
Tanim het and kukim nus were synonyms. This all,  mind you, at the far  
Eastern end of the Simbai Valley.

Should you or anyone else on the list be interested in more detail as  
to how to consult the film (or my analytical notes of the event), which  
is now archived at the Human Studies Film Archives of the Smithsonian  
Institution,  please contact me directly.

Allison

Allison Jablonko, Ph.D.
Via della Ginestra, 12
06069 Tuoro sul Trasimeno (PG)
Italy

Jablonko Web Sites:
Baruya Study Guide - http://space.virgilio.it/baruya.html
Maring Interactive:  Photographs and Memories -  
http://digilander.libero.it/jablonko

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On Wednesday, Jan 26, 2005, at 09:08 Europe/Rome, Thomas H. Slone wrote:

> Gutde!
>
> Wau:
> Some botanical information on definition #1 can be found at:
> http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/wood/en/www/magelspp.htm
> and
> http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/wood/en/www/fagca-be.htm
>
> Gam:
> Bailer shell: Hinton (1977: 50) says the bailer shell is either of two  
> species, Melo aethiopicus or M. umbilicatus.
>
> Large cowrie shells: Hinton (1977: 11-16) says cowrie shells are in  
> the genus Cypraea.
>
> Garawa:
> Some botanical information is available at:
> http://biodiversity.uno.edu/delta/wood/en/www/dipan-me.htm
> This page indicates an origin for the word as "WI", but I couldn't  
> find what that means (West Indies??).
>
> Lek: definition 4 is now "those parts of the roots of a tree that are  
> above ground".  Isn't this likely to refer to a tree buttress as well?
>
> Definition #8 should probably have a cross-reference to "marila".
>
> Karim lek: The custom of karim lek was carried to the South Fore of  
> Eastern Highlands Province by Simbu policemen, but was apparently  
> short-lived (Alpers, 1992: 318).  Lobban (1985: 32) gives a 1-page  
> description of karim lek, as described by Paraka Mara from the  
> Mid-Wahgi area.
>
> Other courtship customs are "kukim nus" and "tanim het" (practiced  
> among in the Melpa and Tambul areas).  Lobban (1985: 31) describes  
> tanim het as follows, "Boys and girls line up face-to-face. The boy's  
> left ear is placed on the girl's right ear. The faces roll until the  
> boy's right ear touches the girl's left ear."   Kukim nus, is  
> practiced in the Highlands.  It is I suppose a kind of nose rubbing in  
> courtship; does anyone know the details of this practice?
>
> --Tom Slone
>
> References
> Alpers, Michael P. (1992). Kuru. In: Human Biology in Papua New  
> Guinea: The Small Cosmos, Robert D. Attenborough & Michael P. Alpers,  
> eds. Research Monographs on Human Population Biology 10. New York:  
> Clarendon Press, pp. 313-334.
>
> Hinton, Alan ([1977]). Guide to Shells of Papua New Guinea. Port  
> Moresby: Robert Brown.
>
> Lobban, William D. (1985). "A collection of children's singing games  
> of Papua New Guinea." Oral History 13(2).
> _______________________________________________
> Mihalic mailing list
> Mihalic at anu.edu.au
> http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/mihalic
>
Allison Jablonko, Ph.D.
Via della Ginestra, 12
06069 Tuoro sul Trasimeno (PG)
Italy

Jablonko Web Sites:
Baruya Study Guide - http://space.virgilio.it/baruya.html
Maring Interactive:  Photographs and Memories -  
http://digilander.libero.it/jablonko

****Environmental Problems are Human Problems  -  www.forests.org***



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