IDNO

T.133388.MST

Description

On Strathern's listing: Spectator at the moka, lavishly dressed.

Place

Oceania Melanesia; Papua New Guinea; Western Highlands Province; Mt. Hagen; Kumndi tribal area

Cultural Affliation

Named Person

Photographer

Strathern, Marilyn (later Prof., Dame)

Collector / Expedition

Date

24 September 1967

Collection Name

Strathern Collection

Source

Strathern, Marilyn (Prof., Dame)

Format

Colour Transparency

Primary Documentation

Other Information

T.133369.MST - T.133403.MST were identified by Marilyn Strathern as Set 65.

Related Archive: Marilyn Strathern lists “Kumndi moka. […] Many of the digitals are very dark – though originals are better – it was a tree-shaded place." [Strathern's word document file]

Bibliographic Reference: See Strathern, M., 'Self-Decoration in Mount Hagen' 1971: 94-96. [JD 4/6/2017]

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]