The Marind
The Marind
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| Publication Date | March 6, 2025 |
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| No. of Pages | 276 |
€58.00
The Marind ethno-linguistic culture stands out in several respects. It became infamous towards the end of the 19th century for well-organized head-hunting raids from its home territory in Dutch New Guinea to areas around the distant Fly River. This means that the Marind were cutting off British-administered heads. Complaints to the Dutch authorities resulted in establishing a Dutch military post at Merauke that stopped the raids into British territory, and eventually closer to home. Yet, secret, small-scale head-hunting continued into the 1950s.
Roman Catholic missionaries of the fraternity of the Sacred Heart arrived to attempt to evangelize the Marind. Not successful, especially initially, the proselytizers began studying the complex Marind language and writing Dutch-Marind dictionaries and eventually a grammar. While the priests were interested in the Marind culture, it took a trained Swiss anthropologist, Paul Wirz, to study the culture in depth during his 1916 to 1919 field work when he immersed himself totally in the Marind Society and took a series of excellent photographs some of which illustrate this book.
While the missionaries published their reports of the Marind in Dutch, Wirz printed all his research only in German. It took a Dutch scholar and administrator, Jan van Baal, to compile all the available information on the Marind in a huge book called Dema, in the English language. Most of this current book on the Marind is based on Van Baal great work, published in 1960.
We have added a few other publications for a better sense of perspective. These include some essential history of Dutch New Guinea, a text on the history of the Roman Cathodic Church among the Marind, a study of a pandemic that devastated the Marind and some information on the most recent travails of this culture.
| Author | |
|---|---|
| Series Title | |
| ISBN | |
| Publication Date | March 6, 2025 |
| Size | |
| No. of Pages | 276 |
Table of Contents
Preface 1
Introduction 3
1
Introduction ………………………………………………………………..9
• Sources
• A survey of Geographical, Material and Demographic
Conditions
2
Social Organization ……………………………………………………17
• Local Organization
• Clan Organization
• The Clan Organization of Related Tribes
• Kinship and Family Organization
3
The Life Cycle …………………………………………………………….25
• Birth and Infancy
• Youth
• The crucial ‘aroi-patur’ grade
• The ‘ewati’ stage: reaching adulthood
• The ’miakim’ stage: ready for marriage
• Marind marriage: ending in too much sexual
intercourse
• Daily life of Marind couples
• Treatment of the old: burial alive
4
Religious Concepts and Outlines of Worldview ………….37
• Religious Concepts: Déma
• Religious Concepts: Totemism
• Other Religious Concepts
• Mythology
• Some Notions of Marind-anim Cosmology
5
The Mythology of the Geb-zé Phratry ………………………..45
• The Myths of the Geb-zé-ha
• The Mayo Myths of the Geb-zé
• The Mayo Myths Continue
• Other Myths. The Geb-zé Phratry as a Whole
6
The Mythology of the Phratry or Aramemb ……………….53
• Myths of the Mayo and Aramemb
• Further Myths of the Aramemb
• Myths of Clans and Subclans
7
The Mythology of the Mahu-Zé Phratry …………………….63
• Myths of the Diwa-rek
• Mythology of the Manu-Zé
• Myths of the Wokabu-rek
• The Myths of the Loam Clan
• The Composition of the Manu-Zé Phratry
8
The Mythology of the Bragai-Zé Phratry ……………………75
• The Mayo Myth of the Bragai-Zé
• The Other Myths of the Crocodile Clan
• Myths of the Yorm-end and the Fish Boan
• The Myths of the Kidub-Boan
• Basik-Basik Mythology: The Myths
• Basik-Basik Mythology: the Pig and the Déhévai
• Basik-Basik Mythology: Diwazib, Kambara and
Conclusion
9
Principles of Classification in Myth Reviewed ……………95
• Introduction
• Classificatory Principles in Mythical Journeys
• The Deviations from Pattern
• Résumé of the Classificatory System
10
The Great Cults: The Cults of the Mayo People …………113
• The Sosom-Cult
• The Mayo Cult. Setting the Stage and Entry of the
Neophytes.
• The Mayo Cult Continued: a Long Series of Ceremonies
• The Meaning of the Mayo Ceremonies
11
The Great Cults; the Rapa, the Upper Bian Cult
and the Imo ……………………………………………………………..133
• The Rapa-Cult
• The Cult of the Upper Bian People
• Boadzi and Upper Bian Cults Compared
• The Imo Rites: a Collection of Miscellaneous Data
• The Episode of the Imo-Canoe as described by Verschueren
• Aili and Arih
• The Initiation Rites of the Imo
• Mayo and Imo. Initiation and Seclusion
12
Headhunting ……………………………………………………………155
• Conflict and War in Marind Society
• Traditional Headhunting Parties
• The Participants
• Some Ceremonial Implications of Headhunting
13
Other Rites and Ceremonies …………………………………….167
• The Dead: Burial, Taboos and Mourning Customs
• Ceremonies for the Dead
• Sexual Rites
• Dances, Minor Rites and Ceremonies
• Feasts
• Feasts Continued
14
Private Rites ……………………………………………………………..187
• Private Rites Performed by Non-Specialists
• Private Rites Performed By Specialists
• The Private Rites In The Context Of Marind-Anim
Religion
15
The Bright Glory And The Dark Secret …………………….199
• The Good Life And The Mystery Of The Dema
• The Basic Orientation Of The Classifiatory System
• The Dark Secret
• Epilogue
ESSENTIAL HISTORY ………………………….. 209
KM RC HISTORY ………………………………… 213
THE TIK MERAUKE ……………………………. 221
BAAL IN HERDT CH. 3 THE DIDACTICS
OF SEX IN MARIND-ANIM CULTURE …….. 235
FINAL MIFEE ……………………………………. 241
MIFEE RECENT …………………………………. 247
GLOSSARY ……………………………………….. 251
MARIND WORDS USED IN THE TEXT (DEMA PP. 979-984) ……………………………. 255
MARIND BIBLIOGRAPHY ……………………. 259
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