IDNO

T.132022.MST

Description

On Strathern's listing: Giving of pigs by Minembi Yelipimbo to Minembi Mimke & Tipuka Oklembo, plus shells to Oklembo at a moka (ceremonial exchange occasion). (Mimke = a clan within Minembi) (Oklembo = a clan within Tipuka)
Minembi Rying going down line of shells and counting (has his foot raised – ‘kicking’ each pig as he counts).
At moka pena (ceremonial ground) of Minembi Kambila (personal name).

Place

Oceania Melanesia; Papua New Guinea; Western Highlands Province; moka pena (ceremonial ground) of Minembi Kambila (personal name)

Cultural Affliation

Minembi Yelipimbo

Named Person

Minembi Yelipimbo Rying; Minembi Yelipimbo Kambila

Photographer

Strathern, Marilyn (later Prof., Dame)

Collector / Expedition

Date

29 March 1964

Collection Name

Strathern Collection

Source

Strathern, Marilyn (Prof., Dame)

Format

Colour Transparency

Primary Documentation

Other Information

T.131993.MST - T.132027.MST were identified by Marilyn Strathern as Set 3.

Named Person: "Rying, Minembi Yelipimbo M." [Information provided by Marilyn Strathern on 'List of Personal Names', JD 12/7/2016]

Named Person: "Kambila, Minembi Yelipimbo M". [Information provided by Marilyn Strathern on 'List of Personal Names', KH 21/03/2017]

Context: moka pena = ceremonial ground. [Strathern's Glossary word document, JD 4/24/2017]

Context: moka = 1. General term for ceremonial exchange between partners coordinated in a single set of events, involving gifts of pigs and / or shells according to certain formulae, and in several stages, with the sequences eventually reversing so donors become recipients.
2. Term for the occasion of a ‘final’ gift in such a sequence, at which people – especially and often only the donors -- dance and decorate. The rationale for the gift payments may be in terms of warfare exchange, e.g. for enemy-compensation and ally-reparation payments (in 1970s, esp. N Melpa) or as ‘pure moka’, which includes pig-moka and shell-moka (pp3,48; MS word document “Order B (3) 1967”, p1) where payments to kin or allies may be made under all kinds pretext (1970s, esp. C Melpa). The size and significance of the moka will determine whether or not a festive occasion is made of the final gift. (Melpa). [Strathern's Glossary word document, JD 4/24/2017]

A grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation Historical Archives Program supported the documentation and preservation of the Strathern photographic collection. [JD 6/11/2017]