Agriculture

It is estimated that PNG was first inhabited somewhere around 60,000 years ago. These inhabitants initially were primarily reliant on the hunter/gatherer system of providing food, however, it does not seem it was long after their arrival that they began to cultivate the natural resources of the area. This emergence of agriculture in PNG is thought to have been occuring at the same time as agriculture was in the Mesopotamia and Egyptian region, also known as the Fertile Crescent.
When Europeans first arrived, inhabitants of New Guinea and nearby islands--while still relying on bone, wood, and stone tools--had a productive agricultural system. PNG is home to some of the most fertile areas in the world, mostly located in the highlands of the island. Agriculture was mostly devoted to the natural resources of the area, such as sugarcane, Pacific bananas, yams, and taros in the begining, however in the past few decades, a shift has moved to focusing in the growth of sweet potatoes and pigs.

The aspect of this which intrigued me the most is in regards to how uniformly the use of agriculture seems to have been mastered all over the island. Again, I must come back to the idea that PNG is made up hundreds of separate cultures. To me, it seems as if it would be necessary for there to be at some form of communication present between different PNG cultures, a communication perhaps based upon watching and learning, considering the diversity of languages. This uniformity in agricultural practices may be a key in being able to tie all of these separate cultures together.

Drug Culture

The Drug Culture of PNG is prevelant among most, if not all, of its population. The two most commonly consumed drugs are Betel and Kava. Betel is actually a combination of three main ingredients: the nut of a Areca Catchu palm, the leaves of a Piper vine, and "slaked lime" from seashells or coral. Socially, the use of betel is likened to the drinking of coffee or tea in Western societies. Betel is "chewed to stimulate social activity, suppress boredom, enhance work, and increase personal enjoyment" (AE pg 221). For Betel, there are no social constraints; thus, the use of it normally begins in early childhood (8 years of age), and continues throughout their lifetime. It is said that the only time in which one does not have a use for betel is when there is no betel to be had.
Kava is not chewed, but rather made into a tea-esque, concoction from a plant native to the Oceanic region of the South Pacific. Unlike Betel, the consumption of Kava is reserved for adult men of high status. Kava is consumed every evening by these adult men of distinction at a special kava drinking ground located off the premisis of the villiage, which is exclusive to men. Women are not allowed to consume Kava because men fear that women intoxicated on kava would become "wanton" and not want to cook anymore.

Kinship

PNG societies are held to both patrlinial and matalinial lineages. All the members of a kin group must participate in clan affairs, contributing to bride-prices and other exchanges and helping with initiation and mortuary ceremonies. Persons join other clans, allying themselves with their wives' clans or being adopted as children.
An important asset is the land a clan's members hold in common. Land is valuable and a way of life for 85 percent of the population. Inheritance of land is most commonly passed down from parents to children, or even from Uncles to neices and nephews.
For all intensive purposes, given the overwhelming hierarchy of gender in PNG, I was not expecting to see the inheritance of land handled in this way. Since most of the population lives under a sustenance system, and there is so much importance riding on the land for agriculture, it is suprising to learn that there is no clear distinction of whom is to have the rights to family land. This does, however, show the importance of kin and the family system.
Kinship in PNG also entails great importance due of the diversity of language, as seen earlier in the blog. If a member of a tribe of 200, who had their own distinct language and specific societal structure, decided to wander away from his tribal land, he would soon be confronted by a world of which he is unfamiliar, not only in scenery but in language and culture as well (talk about Culture Shock). It is not suprising see how tightly knit family systems become. Furthermore, this also shows the importance of the tribe as a whole. Nonkin may become "sons" and "daughters" of a family if they contribute generously to group affairs, such as bride prices. A similar idea is held in the United States, given the idea of God parents and such; however, it seems as though ones acceptance is dependent more on gifts than on personal relations.

Gender

PNG has a heavily male dominated society. Women are considered to be possessions of men, just as a pig or land is considered to be possessions. Although men are assigned the role of being hunters and warriors, the biological trait of having a penis is accepted as a sufficient reason for not fulfilling the duties of gardening and manual labor; thus, this is left as the responsibility of women, who tend to their responsibilities without question.
In establishing authority and control over women, men frequently beat and rape women. Every year, there are a 80 sexual assaults reported per every 100,000 people. This percentage is one of the highest in the world, and is even more striking when one considers that only 15% of the population of PNG lives in the urbanized sectors, where such reports are claimed.
Although it would be difficult to estimate how many sexual assaults there are over the entire population, looking at the makeup of the population helps put it into context. 40 percent of the population is under the age of 15, 56 percent between ages 15 and 65, and 4 percent over the age of 65. The 1997 total fertility rate was 5.4 children per fertile woman, with adolescent pregnancy a major contributing factor. Thanks to the prevalence of sexual assault on women, and the lack of birth control, not only is the population on track to double by the year 2020, the spread of HIV and Sexual Transmitted Infections is expected to increase exponentially.
When looking at all of this general information,. one must take it with a grain of salt, considering how diverse the country is when looking from one tribe to the next. For example, in most of the highland areas, women are taken advantage of not only by the men of their tribe, but also by those in surrounding tribes. Due to strict rules found revolving around incest, men from tribes consisting of only a few hundred people are prone to traveling to a neighboring tribe in the hopes of stealing a woman to make his wife. This action is not taken kindly, however, and most commonly results in either a reciprocal stealing of women, or even violent conflict between the tribes. Therefore, “Marriage in these societies, and the sexual relationships within marriage are always fraught with fear, hostility and anger” (Davenport 1997).
This is interesting to look at, especially when comparing this sort of society to that of the Dobo tribe. The Dobo live on a small island off the coast of the main island. The men of the Dobo live in constant fear of "sorcery" from their wives; Because they believe that they are particularly vulnerable during intercourse, Dobo men have to continually weigh their need for sexual gratification against the possibility of sorcery when they try to satisfy that sexual need.
These are two very different ways in which women are considered, but the possession value of women appears to be very similar in both.

Language

To start out my anthropological study of Papua New Guinea, I decided to begin by first investigating the language. Since a countries culture is in large part reflected and defined by its language and its relation to its social constructs, I thought that I would be able acclimate myself to the country in doing so. Why not? Seems logical enough, right?
The phrase "Boiling Pot" is often used in describing the culture of the United States, and rightly so. The U.S. has taken on the identity of a culture shaped by the combination of a multitude number of different cultures and ethnicities, which, when "boiled down", or combined, form our society. There are a number of languages which are used, stemming from years of immigration from countries all over the world, however English, and arguably Spanish, are considered to be official languages. Naturally, dialects are created and associated with different regions, however, when one is confronted with a distinct dialect of which they are not accustomed, for example when a Bostonian talks to a Texan, communication is achieved nonetheless. Dialects may vary, but the core language of our culture is still upheld, and enables to communicate to others in our country, no matter where they are located.
I bring this up because I was startled to see the diversity of the Papua New Guinea language structure. According to the U.S. Department of State, there are 3 official languages: English, Tok Pisin, and Motu. It is not the official languages that shocked me, rather it was the unofficial ones.
All 860 of them.
It is said that most of the languages are spoken by only 5,000 people each, and that a number of languages have less than 500 speakers. Furthermore, of these 860 languages, only an estimated 350-450 of them are in any way related, leaving about half of the languages as being distinct and personalized to their respective tribes/communities.
I need to do some more research on this specific topic, but I feel that much will be explained in looking at other aspects of the culture (which are soon to follow).