Ethnography Project

Environment and Human Adaption

Since the Abelam live in the foothills to the north in the east Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea, they in a an are of landforms, altitudes, also annual rainfalls, and also live where there soil is thick secondary vegetation. Since the rainfall is an annual thing I don’t think that culture has any problems with it. They live in a more green area where it is easy for there crops to grow. The Abelam culture has adapted to the weather changes, which they the same weather changes as we do Fall, Spring, summer, and winter and they have survived this far.

They live in a rural area, land where they have a lot of room to farm; they picked a perfect part of the soil because of the crops. Abelam culture, in subgroups, I believe that they are near each other, but they have there distances, and room to have homes built, and a good area of room to grow crops. No, other cultures other than the Abelam are at quite some distance. That is a good thing because there won’t be any fight or issues that may happen. The Abelam are well known for their yams, that they grow, so we know that the Abelam are big farming culture. They are also good at hunting. So by them growing there own crops and hunting for there meats, this is a healthy culture. Some crops they do grow are of course the giant yams, taro, bananas, and also sweet potatoes. For the meat section there is: chickens, pigs, which are raised, and they also hunted smaller edible things such as: marsupials and cassowaries.

One would be if they got a lot of rain, by this happening, there could be sickness, the crops drowning, not being able to hunt much because of the animal not out as much. Not only the crop drowning if it rained so hard, but replanting could be at some trouble. If their animal are not kept with some shelter that could cause the animals to get sick, and there is a possibility they could die. Working outside would be a hard task if it were pouring rain none stop. Environmental stress could be an cause some trouble things, like there live stock, could die out, there hunting will be less, there crops will be no good. Sickness, and even death would be some of them also. After being in this climate for so long that they have adapted to make sure thing didn’t get worse. Houses and make warm clothes, make shelter so the animal, and crops. These are all thing I believe have adapted in there culture as the years went by.

Two physical adaptations that the Abelam had, and took care of was there, one dark skin, there dark skin was such help because, they produce more melanin, then a lighter person, and that actually helps from the sunrays. Another one would be there thick hair, there hair is so thick believe it or not but it actually keeps their scalp collier. This also helps with not burning the scalp. Three cultural adaptations that the Abelam has is, the yams, the biggest thing that the Abelam, looks forward doing every day, as a matter of fact they would spend most of their day working on there yams. The bigger the yams the more powerful and spiritual it is. Second would have to be the thing they do in just on day, you would think of gathering food hunting nope, they actually only hunt of two hours out of the whole day. Not only that but they sleep for ten hours, now that’s a tribe I would like because I am lucky if I fours hours a day. The third would be gardening, because if most of there time is those giant yams than a lot of that time is working and making sure that the garden is growing well.

Language and Gender Role

The Abelam language is ran from the Ndu Language, which is the top of all twelve languages. The Ndu is another meaning for, “man.” The family that started the language from the beginning is the Kirschbaum, which was in the 1922. Some of the other languages are Nagaia, Latmul, Abelam, and also Manambu, and there are many more. There are 45,000 Abelam tribes that speck these languages, well depending on what tribe you are at or if it was a different tribe, the language could be one of the twelve.

There are only two specific genders when it comes to this tribe, and that is, a man and women, sorry but there are no aliens. Well in every culture there are important roles that very gender plays, the women have every duties that every culture has, laundry, cooking, kids, making sure there husbands are happy pretty much. The men had the hard labor like, building, hunting, teaching the kids when the get old but just the boy kids. As a tribe they all work on the garden together, because of the yams. I am sure that if you do something as a gender role that wasn’t normal, you may have problems with some of the tribe members. If something isn’t done right for example if a man messes up a trap, this can cause some serious issues. It is always the mans job to teach the young boy, what is duties will be, that way he knows them and how to do them when they get older. The same goes for the female there gender role is, cooking, cleaning taking care of the man of the family, and etc. She most likely wont because she is more interested in the Native Americans, not the Abelam or even a tribe like the Abelam.

Subsistence and Economy

The Abelam has art, and there painting is seen to be magical that gives life a piece of there activities on a daily basics. These painting are never life giving but life taking all throughout these tribes the painting from these tribes are all around the world. Their crops have to be the number one for there diet because they grow good bananas, yams, and also swat potatoes, etc. These crops are mostly seasonal but they do have some that are yearly. The men and women have separate labor, which I explained early, and the garden is a culture effort, where they all work together on that, to keep the crops healthy. They maintain their meat, and have a lot of crops; I think there diet is very well controlled. I think it would be sometime difficult to maintain the seasonal crops.

This tribe has no surplus coming to them, and they don’t get any. They have just the food they hunt or crop; it’s an all-natural thing. Only the yams would be a specialization, because they are super taken care of. Once again about the yams the bigger the yam, the wealthier you are, if you have a same no good one, then you will be looked down upon. When you give a yam to your enemy, and that shows you are the man, and if your enemy grows a bigger one then that then that shows you aren’t the man, unless he has a small one or you out beat his big one.

Marriage and Kinship

This culture is the polygynous, this is where the men have many women, and the women cannot have many men, it’s just the way the culture is. There is no cross cousin, or parallel cousins. The women find the man, but it’s the man who says yay or nay. Oh yes they practice exchange and that is with the father’s sister and the brother in law’s sister exchange to see if they like a new wife. Those men have more of a right then women when it comes to marriage. It had endogamy, which marriage stays within that group, there 70,000 people in just one village. The only one would be the exchange, with the father’s sister and the brother in law’s sister. That is not expected in this culture, you will be pretty much disqualified from the group.

The practice is having multiple wives, and how the wife’s have to obey the husband with every request. The women with never have multiple husbands, but if the relationship doesn’t work the wife has to go back home to the kin family. They don’t ignore that situation, but they don’t really keep they in the family. The father and the husband, if you are with your parents, your father is the one, but if you are married your husband is the number one.  There is no problem with there inheritances, this culture keeps that organized. This was going to be mother father, brother, sisters, children, but not so much of the aunts and uncles, because I didn’t read anything about a part in the family, probably because they have there own.

Social and Political Organization

My culture is a general egalitarian, where everyone in the tribe is treated equally, the power is in a equal way, and even some different people in the culture has a chance to that the power. Every single person in the tribe is equal, like every female has the same duties, and all the men have the same duties, and also the children have to learn at the same age, and are all treated equally, and I believe that’s way they get along so well. This is one reason why they have such little problems there are no favoritism, so no one should have a problem, and if they did, they should be punishment.

There is a chief of any tribe, but like individual power is all in the yams, and how large and healthy they are. If the yam is the largest out of everyone’s yams, than you have the power, but you give your large yam to your enemy, to see if he can grow a large one, to see if you with hold the power next time. This all depends on who grow the better yam, which is the one who holds the power for the next season. The chief is the one with the laws, which he is the one who holds that power in his hands. This all depends on what you did in order to get punishment; I believe that each crime is linked to a different punishment.

Being a thief that no culture likes, and that is a result of cutting of your thief hand, to teach you a lesson, I am sure they wont kill you for something like that. If you had got into a fight with another person, for whatever the case maybe, if you strike at him and cause death know the chef has to make that big point in life, ether banish you, or have you executed. These punishments are debated whether or not it was for the negative or the positive, that is something of there own tribe’s decision. So every punishment is linked to something different and the one who carries that law has to decide what to do to that person, for whatever he had done.

Belief Systems and The Arts

They are not so much religious with, a certain god, but they are very spiritual with the Ngwallndu spirits. No this is one of there own spiritual culture has, there than that other culture have there own religious god or spirits. They are very monotheistic, where they are the only one that believes in their spirits, the Ngwallndu spirits that mostly come for an after life. They founded the Ndu family about 1,000 years ago, which is when they started the Ndu language, and started the Ndu spiritual rituals. The important ritual is the after life, because when the Ngwallndu come they take you to there heaven, but the body need to remain in the Korambo, which is the ceremonial house, and this has to go on for a day and night for the ritual to happen. This is very thing to them, the function with this, if they didn’t have this what or who would they look up to. They wouldn’t be afraid of death because of the Ngwallndu spirits, but if they didn’t have them then what would they think when death came along.

Abelam had a great painting technique. They would paint and this meant so much to them that they felt it was magical, powerful, and soon would become active. Even though these paintings were just a metaphor, to them it was very real. There music was very soothing, to the people and calm, they used a flue and wind noises, nothing bumping and jumping around, and my culture is very peaceful and calm. There religious arts was when they had there ceremonies at the korambo, and this was more like there circle of life, such as a girl becoming a women, and when death is sent to heaven. There weren’t much performances nothing big just the rituals.

Culture Change

The Western culture is one that has be somewhat affected, because of the more modern cultures, but also they were trying to bring the Abelam traditions to a stop, and bring their own traditions in. By this happening the bad impact would be, because that they are so use to what they have their rituals, and tratitions in., so by changing what they know would become a problem. The great Impact would be that, some people are trying to still believe in everything they have learned and looked up too.

The Abelam culture would get the influence of losing their identity, if any other culture would come invading, or being different out looks. With the Western culture, they would come in and change things, because they know they can, and believe it or not they will. Even though that the Western Culture will come and bring new things, the Abelam will not stop using there culture doings.

The Abelam is very small and isn’t to big with the modern culture, I mean well there is a small variety of information on them. With the food, rituals, and traditions, in time sooner or later they will become market economy.

Sources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abelam_people

http://www.art-pacific.com/artifacts/nuguinea/yammasko.htm

http://www.everyculture.com/Oceania/Abelam.html