The last seven days of fund-raising

For the past month I've been contacting all my friends and colleagues with the news of the upcoming  "Across Generations" kickstarter project that Shiva has initiated in Australia. 

 

It has been wonderful to touch in with people whose lives have touched mine over the whole span of my life till now, to learn what they are up to and to feel their encouragement for this project.  

I've spent a great deal of time on my computer, and have looked over equipment that I had with me in Papua New Guinea in 1964.

My Pentax camera, my field notebooks, and the bilum bag I made out of good nylon fishing line we had brought into the Bismarck Mountains from a trade store down on the coast in Madang.  Some of the women of Gunts taught me this wonderful skill.  I hope I'll have time to relearn and practice it again.  I'll take a digital lightweight camera this time,  and new notebooks  -  but for sure paper notebooks ....  and the bilum.

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A bridge between past and future

My granddaughter, Shiva, has just launched a crowd-funding project!!!

She got excited about my long-ago life as an ethnographer in Papua New Guinea and is joining me in hopes of finding some of the people I photographed in 1963 - 1964.  She'll be bringing her training as an artist to bear on the creation of workshops and exhibits where we will develop collaborative work using the photographs in village schools and in universities. 

We'll be taking back memories of my husband and her grandfather, Marek, who died in 2002.  He would have loved to go back to meet the little children who, by now, are all old people themselves, and meet their grandchildren.

Maybe YOU would be interested in supporting this project!

 

 

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Fifty Years Ago Today - Bridges

Wednesday, November 13, 1963

We are walking back from the Rappaports' field location after the kaiko celebrations.  The Kiap road, which is supposed to be maintained by each clan along the Simbai Valley, is in rather bad repair. Several bridges are out.  

 I do not find it pleasant to inch my way over a log or  to leap from boulder to boulder.  

We are always glad when we can cross a good bridge.  

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Fifty Years Ago Today - KAIKO

Saturday, November 9, 1963

Kaiko today!  It is the culmination of the Tsembaga clan ritual cycle that started almost two decades ago.  Guests from other clans are pouring into the tiny hamlet of Dikai and moving up onto the singsing ground above Roy and Ann Rappaport's house, where we spent the night. We all go out early in the day to record with notes, photographs and 16 mm. film as much as we can of this important occasion.

The dance ground, cleared and leveled from the side of a steep hill,  is filled with visitors from allied clans. I keep to the edges, as do the small boys - trying to see as much as possible while keeping out of the way.

Once the massed dancing and drumming begins, I switch to color film.

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Fifty Years Ago Today - Pigs for the Ancestors

Friday, November 8, 1963

Numengump Ritual Grove, Simbai Valley, Papua New Guinea

For a whole year now,  Roy Rappaport has been studying the ritual cycle of the Tsembaga clan. Marek and I have spent a day walking to his field site in Dikai in order to photograph and film the closing rituals of this cycle. 

Today, the pigs that have been raised over the preceding years have been brought to the ritual grove where they are presented to the ancestors with invocations.

Marek films the proceedings and Rappaport takes notes of the details as the pigs are killed and butchered by the men. 

The women are busy cooking, and the children  run around, watching every detail of the action as they play among the busy adults. 

 The pork is destined to be distributed among the Tsembaga's allies who will gather on the next day and receive gifts of meat and fat in recognition of their help in previous battles with enemy clans.

**In future years, as Rappaport worked with what he learned, the ceremonies of this day and the next provided keys to an understanding of Maring culture as a whole**

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Fifty Years Ago Today - The beloved outsider

Tuesday, November 5, 1963

Walking along the path through Koinambe, Marek and I came across Maia and several of the smaller boys.  They leaped into his arms - simultaneously joyous and teasing. 

 He put them down gently.

Nearby women chuckled and the smaller children looked on.  Were they envious?

Rungwa, Maia's little sister, turned to look at me as I was taking one of the photos.

We had been living in their area for eight months, so she was not longer afraid or shy. But the nearest she came in direct interaction was the big smile she gave me.

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Now

In September, as I was going through my photos and reliving my memories of Papua New Guinea fifty years ago, I became more aware of my life in Europe today.  Running water, boughten clothes, central heating, car, plenty of books and food available in stores - all taken for granted since I was born.

My life has expanded to include new things. Computer (since 1985). Internet (since 1992). Cellphones by the rest of my family though I remain a hold-out (since 1998).

The accelerating pace of the new impresses me, though I live my daily life as much as possible in its margins.  My landscape is unmarred by skyscrapers. Overnight, wild boars can root out a nicely laid path through the woods. I cut the autumn chill in the house by building a fire in the fireplace with wind-fallen branches from the surrounding oaks. I can eat apples, chard, figs, zucchinis grown locally.

Yet the concept and reality of globalization is omnipresent.  I appreciate my colleagues who diligently pursue research around the world  -  who are "our eyes and ears" and narrate the stories we all need to know as life moves on.

Here are my recent favorites:

The Noodle Narratives

Follow the Things

Where Underpants Come From: From Cotton Field to Checkout Counters - Travels Through the New China and Into the New Global Economy

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