symposium

Sepik Research Today: The Study of Sepik Cultures in and for Modern Papua New Guinea

Date

Aug 19-26, 1984

Organized by

Christian Kaufmann, Nancy Lutkehaus, William Mitchell, Douglas Newton, Lita Osmundsen and Meinhard Schuster

Location

Basel, Switzerland

Publications

Sepik Heritage: Tradition and Change in Papua New Guinea (N. Lutkehaus, C. Kaufmann, W.E. Mitchell, D. Newton, L. Osmundsen, M. Schuster, Eds.) Carolina Academic Press, Durham, North Carolina, 1990.

Participants

T.C. Aitken Brisbane College of Advanced Education, Australia
Bryant J. Allen Australian National University
Ross D. Bowden La Trobe University, Australia
Lawrence W. Bragge Independent Scholar, Australia
Christian Coiffier Laboratory for Anthropology and Architecture, France
Barry Craig Independent Scholar, Papua New Guinea
Anthony Crawford Robert Brown and Associates, Australia
Cherubim Dambui East Sepik Provincial Government, Papua New Guinea
T. Wayne Dye Summer Institute of Linguistics, Papua New Guinea
Zachary Enda West Sepik Province Government, Papua New Guinea
Frederick Errington Mount Holyoke College, USA
Soroi Marepo Eoe National Museum and Art Gallery, Papua New Guinea
C.S. Filer University of Papua New Guinea
Anthony Forge Australian National University
Deborah Gewertz Amherst College, USA
Chris Haiveta Gulf Provincial Government, Papua New Guinea
Simon J. Harrison University of Ulster, UK
Brigitta Hauser-Schäublin Basel University, Switzerland
Peter Huber Stuart Ford, Inc., USA
Barbara Huber-Greub University of Basel, Switzerland
Sasha Josephides University of Warwick, UK
Bernard Juillerat Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, France
Christian Kaufmann Museum für Völkerkunde, Switzerland
Antje Kelm Hamburgisches Museum für Völkerkunde, Germany
Donald C. Laycock Australian National University
David Lea University of New England, Australia
Gilbert Lewis University of Cambridge, UK
David Lipset University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, USA
Diane Losche Australian Museum, Macquarie University, Australia
Nancy Lutkehaus Columbia University, USA
Patricia May Australian National University
Ronald J. May Australian National University
Nancy McDowell Franklin and Marshall College, USA
Rhoda Métraux American Museum of Natural History, USA
William Mitchell University of Vermont, USA
Douglas Newton Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA
Brigit Obrist University of Basel, Switzerland
Lita Osmundsen Wenner-Gren Foundation, USA
Hanns Peter Museum für Völkerkunde, Austria
Hushang Philsooph University of Edinburgh, UK
Paul Roscoe American Museum of Natural History, USA
Richard Scaglion University of Pittsburgh, USA
Markus Schindlbeck Museum für Völkerkunde, West Germany
Jurg Schmid Universität Basel, Switzerland
Gisela Schuster Universität Basel, Switzerland
Meinhard Schuster Universität Basel, Switzerland
Johathan Sengi East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
Dirk Smidt Rijksmuseum voor Volkenkunde, The Netherlands
Michael French Smith Public Sector Consultants, Inc., USA
Gordon Spearritt University of Queensland, Australia
Milan Stanek University of Zurich, Switzerland
Werner Stöcklin-Frey Swiss Tropical Institute, Switzerland
Andrew Strathern Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies
Pamela Swadling National Museum, Papua New Guinea
Mary Taylor Woodrow Wilson School, Princeton, USA
Patricia Townsend Institute of Applied Social and Economic Research, Papua New Guinea
Margaret Tuckson The Pottery, Wahroonga, Australia
Donald F. Tuzin University of California-San Diego, La Jolla, USA
John Wasori East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea
Jürg Wassmann Universität Basel, Switzerland
Florence Weiss Universität Basel, Switzerland
Margaret Williamson Mary Washington College, USA

ORGANIZER’S STATEMENT: The idea of the conference, as gradually developed and eventually expressed in its subtitle “The Study of Sepik Cultures in and for Modem Papua New Guinea,” was to offer a framework for reflecting, through precirculated papers, discussions, and this publication, on the role that the anthropological research done so far or planned for the future in the Sepik might play in the young nation of Papua New Guinea. This was not, of course, seen as a matter of reducing anthropology to economic development, social work, or politics. Rather, the idea was to consider what the study of traditional Sepik cultures, including historical questions, could contribute to an understanding of the present situation and, from a broader perspective, to the building of a multiethnic nation.

This topic might have been treated by a small group of scholars on the basis of examples drawn from their own or other people’s research, but because there was so much anthropological fieldwork going on in the Sepik we considered it more appropriate to put the question implied by the phrase “in and for modern Papua New Guinea” to everyone who had done research in the Sepik in recent times. By doing so, we felt, we could highlight the national framework within which all anthropological research now takes place and at the same time obtain a relatively complete picture of the state of Sepik research that would also be of interest to the Papua New Guinea authorities.

It was decided that every anthropologist, geographer, art historian, and linguist who had done fieldwork in the Sepik since about 1960, published about it, and remained actively in contact with the discipline would be invited. We defined “Sepik” as covering the whole triangle between the north coast (including the Schouten Islands), the border with Irian Jaya, and the lower northern slopes of the central mountain range, thus excluding the Telefomin area even though it is part of the West Sepik Province but going beyond the East Sepik Province into the Ramu area of Madang Province.

(excerpt from “Sepik Heritage” prologue by Meinhard Schuster)

Wenner-Gren Symposium #95