ART IN PAPUA

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 563, 16 January 1929, Page 4

ART IN PAPUA

ment. Besides Dr. Constance Davey, who is the State psychologist and ad-' vises the department. Dr. Gertrude Halley is the principal medical officer while Dr. Helen Mayo, chief honorary medical officer to the South Australian Babies' Hospital, frequently gives valuable aid in kindergarten problems.

AMONG PRIMITIVE TRIBES THOROUGH SURVEY COMPLETED Dr. Brooke Nicliolls and Mr. GPrice Conigrave, who have spent two months in a survey of native arts and crafts in the central division of Papua, have returned deeply impressed with the artistic standard reached by one of the most primitive peoples in the world. The survey was begun at Yule Island, which supports 20,000 of Papua’s native population of 250,000, says the Sydney “Morning Herald.” From there the party went to the mainland, where investigations were begun in the huge Mekeo district, and from the flat country trips were made inland to regions 4,000 and 5.000 feet above sea level. Kabuna. Fofofofo, Djennie, Dilava and Deva Deva were reached after journeys over treacherous mountain paths, where landslides, knee-deep mud and almost impenetrable jungle made each mile a hazard. In every district visited there was striking evidence of the native’s adaptability to his environment. Tattooing reached the level of the finest Maori work; delicate bridges of cane were found spanning wide streams; canoes, drums, personal ornaments, fishing nets, clothing of grass, hunting equipment, pottery, even primitive musical instruments showed, in an astonishing fashion, the groping of the native mind toward artistic expression. On board the Montoro, by which the investigators returned recently to Sydney, they had filled two tons of space with a collection of almost every specimen of native art. This will later be used for educational purposes in Australia. Many customs sounding strangely inverted to civilised ears were found in the native villages. Clothing, for example, was found to be a fairly sufficient covering among the coastal peoples. Inland, more and more was discarded as altitude increased, until in the coldest regions the natives were

practically naked. Again, the Papuan was found to have inverted the custom of personal adornment. In the tiny villages it was the boys, and not the girls, who strove :.o attract attention by decking themselves with armlets, anklets, ear and nose ornaments, and blossoms of frangipanni and °i.^ auC * ei " Many j’ouths of marriageable age were found wearing tiglitlylaced belts of bark. They ate little at feasts, and generally showed mode™tion where food was concerned. This was done, they explained naively, to impress upon the eligible women of the village how easy they would be to keep. The onus of proposing marriage thus devolved almost automatically on the women.