IDNO

P.79576.ACH2

Description

On Catalogue Card for P.1955.ACH1: “House at Taburi.” [Typed text]

On Catalogue Card for duplicate image LS.116791.TC1: “B.N.G.
Central Distr: Atsia Makara village.
20. House on piles, w. side verandah.” [manuscript in ink]

Place

Oceania Melanesia; Papua New Guinea; Central Division; Southeast Coast; Taburi; Atsiamakara [British New Guinea]

Cultural Affliation

Papuan; Taburi

Named Person

Photographer

None

Collector / Expedition

Haddon, Alfred Cort [Cambridge University Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Straits, 1898 - 1899]

Date

18 - 19 June 1898

Collection Name

Unmounted Haddon Collection

Source

Haddon, Alfred Cort (Dr)

Format

Album Print Black & White

Primary Documentation

Other Information

P.79576.ACH2 and P.79577.ACH2 were found on an album page.

Place: The Place field was previously recorded as being “Oceania; Melanesia; New Guinea”, but matching images within the album to the duplicate prints and negatives (for example see P.1831.ACH1 and P.1985.ACH1) shows that the photographs are from A.C. Haddon’s field work in the then British New Guinea (now Papua New Guinea) during the Cambridge University Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Straits, 1898 - 1899. The Place field has been amended accordingly. [JD 21/11/2009]

Collector: / Expedition: / Date: / Source: This album was previously recorded as possibly been collected and sourced from “?Haddon, Alfred Cort”, but matching images within the album to the duplicate prints and negatives (for example see P.1831.ACH1 and P.1985.ACH1) shows that the photographs are from A.C. Haddon’s Cambridge University Anthropological Expedition to the Torres Straits, 1898 - 1899 (BNG). The Collector and Source field have been amended accordingly. [JD 21/11/2009]

Related Archive: Haddon writes in his 1898 journal: “We next made a steep descent across a river gully and after one or [more] clambers up and down wooded mountain valleys we dismounted in a bamboo thicket close to a tributary of the Laroki [Laloki] River.
The horses were left here in charge of one of the party to be afterwards fetched by natives by a long detour. The rest had a steep climb up a detached hill, on the top of which was the small village of Atsiamakara. To the east of this hill is another higher and with precipitous sides, but separated by a deep ravine to the north and west is open, wooded, hilly country. It is characteristic of these bush tribes to build their villages on the top of hills for the sake of safety from attack.
Many of these villages had tree houses but there are now very few of these left as the country has been pacified.9 This village itself had some tree houses but no trace of these is now left. At present there are but 11 houses. Two have verandahs along their side on to which the door opens – a type of house that is new to me as Papuan. The above sketch shows the ordinary type of house. The four of us slept for two nights and sat and had our meals and loafed for nearly two days on the verandah of this house – two natives slept inside.
Formerly it was a populous village but it was raided by the mountaineers of the main range. Though these have ceased in this particular district for 10 years, but since then two epidemics have reduced their numbers very considerably. We saw but 5 men – some half a dozen women and a few children, this does not represent the entire population as it is the custom of these bush tribes to reside but little in their houses. The rest of the time being spent in the bush making gardens and doing a little hunting. As a matter of fact these people are good agriculturalists.
It was interesting getting a glimpse – for it was nothing more – of a real Papuan village entirely unchristianised and scarcely at all affected by European civilization.
Daube – our host – behaved very nicely, indeed he was quite gentlemanly in his behaviour. He and a boy about the place looked after us in various ways – got water, made fires and cooked yams and sweet potatoes. The ladies of the village were particularly shy and consequently we took very little notice of them. They wore a common sort of grass petticoat – nothing like so good a quality [Page 138] as is usually worn by the coast women. The men had the narrowest string of bark I have as yet seen worn; clothing it could not be called.
I measured the five men and made a few notes on them and a little photography was done. These natives are somewhat darker than the coast tribes, of more rugged countenance and wear beards and mustaches. Ray obtained some information as to the nature of their language, like my Torres Straits friends they have names for ‘one’ and ‘two’ only...
"This is a village of the Taburi tribe, who with others are called Koiari by the Motu – a name which simply means ‘bush-men’, but it will probably be convenient to retain the latter as a general name for the district.” (pp.135-139) [JD 12/03/2020]