Naven: A Survey of the Problems Suggested by a Composite Picture of the Culture of a New Guinea Tribe Drawn from Three Points

This is a wonderful book. Bateson is writing in the mid-1930's about his stay a few years earlier with the Iatmul, a tribe of recently subdued headhunters, on the Sepik River in the mandated territory of New Guinea. The people are fierce, yet ultimately they are people like everyone else. Bateson seems to have arrived at an easy working relationship with them, and he sets about defining the mechanics of their society, with an eye on the similarities and differences in Iatmul and European approaches to life. Bateson leaves it to us to combine this information with the premise that all of us are made of the same stuff, in hopes of learning things that would otherwise be denied us. The aspect of Iatmul culture which interests Bateson most is the eponymous "naven." Although descent is patrilineal in Iatmul society, there is also a strong matrilineal element. Every male, and to a lesser extent every female, has a "wau", a maternal uncle, who from the day of his birth goes to great lengths to build an ongoing relationship with him. This includes gifts of food, support during the painful initiation process, and in former times assistance with early homicides. The recipient of these favors is known as a "laua". Whenever the "laua" accomplishes something for the first time, his "wau" dresses up like a shabby old woman, parades, dances, and acts like a buffoon to commemorate the event. It is this display which is known as the "naven." Qualifying events include building a canoe, killing a crododile, killing an inhabitant of one of the other villages, or luring such an inhabitant to the Iatmul village under friendly pretenses, allowing others to kill him. Not only does the "wau" put on this display, but he is joined by other males who are not quite as closely related to the "laua", and women who are related in various ways dress up as men to commemorate the achievement. Bateson's primary question is why do these people do these things? To answer his question, Bateson has to tread lightly between the competing "functionalism" of Bronislaw Malinowski and the "structural" approach of Reginald Radcliffe-Brown. He seems to address both viewpoints satisfactorily, simultaneously showing us how the "naven" allows the members of a Iatmul village to get what they want out of life, and how the custom itself is the consequence of the structure of Iatmul society, and how it contributes to the structure of that society. Basically, both "wau" and "laua" get strong allies for life, something not to be taken lightly in the violent internal and external environment of a Iatmul village. They also get a relationship which can be a source of personal pride to both of them. Bateson thinks that given the contentiousness of the individual Iatmul men, it is surprising that they can live in villages of two hundred to one thousand inhabitants. He attributes their ability to do so to the "naven" customs, which in conjunction with patrilineal and initiatory affinities bind memb

Author of this book died in 1980, about twenty years after the book has been published. Have things changed? You should read this book and see! The book covers Rites and Ceremonies, Iatmul (Papua New Guinea People), Ethnology, Social life and Customs.