Unity in duality : social and ritual organization of the Ilahita Arapesh
type: CreativeWork
description: This study analyzes the growth and organizational elaboration of Ilahita, an unusually large village (population: 1490) in the Maprik area of the East Sepik District, New Guinea. Two general questions are posed, the one historical, the other structural-functional: how did Ilahita come to be so large? and, more important theoretically, by what organizational means has it retained its size over the years? The village's social organization is based on a complex system of dual structures defined by residence, ritual categories and, somewhat contingently, descent. These structures are analyzed as an integrated system of cognitive categories and social activities, interrelated at a higher systemic level with the secret men's Tambaran Cult, and with culturally patterned behaviour of a more mundane kind. The former gives dramatic expression to the dual organization; the latter yields disruptive tensions which are regulated and absorbed by the dual organization. Thus, the ritual system sacralizes the dual organization, while the behavioural vicissitudes stimulate the innovation and elaboration of dual structures. That the social system of Ilahita is largely in tact and accessible to study is the result of recent pacification (compared to much of lowland Australian New Guinea) and a strongly conservative attitude toward social, economic and political change. The historical background of Ilahita is inferred from oral tradition, comparative ethnography and linguistic evidence. The antecedents of the present-day Ilahita Arapesh were among those peoples displaced by Middle Sepik groups whose predatory expansion continued until relatively recent times. These groups concentrated themselves into large villages (structurally imitative of Middle Sepik settlements) which became formidable enough to prevent further territorial encroachment. Because of its advantageous geographical position, Ilahita emerged larger and more secure than other villages in the culture, thereby attracting to …
abstract: This study analyzes the growth and organizational elaboration of Ilahita, an unusually large village (population: 1490) in the Maprik area of the East Sepik District, New Guinea. Two general questions are posed, the one historical, the other structural-functional: how did Ilahita come to be so large? and, more important theoretically, by what organizational means has it retained its size over the years? The village's social organization is based on a complex system of dual structures defined by residence, ritual categories and, somewhat contingently, descent. These structures are analyzed as an integrated system of cognitive categories and social activities, interrelated at a higher systemic level with the secret men's Tambaran Cult, and with culturally patterned behaviour of a more mundane kind. The former gives dramatic expression to the dual organization; the latter yields disruptive tensions which are regulated and absorbed by the dual organization. Thus, the ritual system sacralizes the dual organization, while the behavioural vicissitudes stimulate the innovation and elaboration of dual structures. That the social system of Ilahita is largely in tact and accessible to study is the result of recent pacification (compared to much of lowland Australian New Guinea) and a strongly conservative attitude toward social, economic and political change. The historical background of Ilahita is inferred from oral tradition, comparative ethnography and linguistic evidence. The antecedents of the present-day Ilahita Arapesh were among those peoples displaced by Middle Sepik groups whose predatory expansion continued until relatively recent times. These groups concentrated themselves into large villages (structurally imitative of Middle Sepik settlements) which became formidable enough to prevent further territorial encroachment. Because of its advantageous geographical position, Ilahita emerged larger and more secure than other villages in the culture, thereby attracting to …
author: Tuzin, Donald Francis
language: en
date published: 1973
date modified: 2026-07-24T00:54:30Z
provider: Australian National University
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: Australian National University

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: http://hdl.handle.net/1885/116833