2. Faces of Melanesia

Dobu Is, D'Entrecasteaux Islands

View of Dobu Island, Normanby Island, sailing outrigger, bewitched man, warriors of Dobu Island, portraits of Dobu Island peoples, Kula artifacts, Bromikow memorial
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Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG<br /> <br /> You can see the ancient volcanic cone in this photo.
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Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG

You can see the ancient volcanic cone in this photo.

  • Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG<br /> <br /> You can see the ancient volcanic cone in this photo.
  • Outrigger-sailing-off-Normanby-Is-1,-D'Entrecasteaux-Islands,-PNG
  • Outrigger sailing off Normanby Isl-2, D'Entrecasteaux Is, PNG
  • Outrigger-sailing-off-Normanby-Is-3,-D'Entrecasteaux-Islands,-PNG
  • Outrigger canoe sailing off Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG<br /> <br /> The Melanesians have been building and sailing outrigger canoes long distances for thousands of years and this photos shows a good example of one of their double ended sailing outrigger canoes. It has a boomed lateen rig and this, combined with the double end, means it can be sailed in either direction. It is steered by using the paddle as a rudder (see the technique at large sizes). The sail is made of some kind of polypropylene.<br /> <br /> Another view of the canoe and other Dobu Island photos can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/VXOdw">http://goo.gl/VXOdw</a><br /> <br /> Re the comments about perspective, I was standing on the deck of our ship when the outrigger sailed by.<br /> 250 mm, 1/250 sec, f 11, ISO 250
  • Villagers sailing an outrigger, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG
  • Welcoming warriors, Dobu Is, D'Entrecasteaux Island, PNG
  • Welcoming warriors-2, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG
  • Warrior amusing villagers with mock attack, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG
  • Portrait of a young girl in a tree, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG<br /> <br /> This girl caught my eye, not only for her perch in a tree, but for her bright dress that picked up the colours of the leaves behind her, and for her wide eyed expression of interest in our party of visitors.<br /> <br /> Arctangent remarked that many of the villagers are wearing western clothing. William Henry Bromilow, an Australian, was the founder of the Methodist mission in British New Guinea in 1891. Because of its central position, and the prestige of its inhabitants among their neighbours, Dobu Island was chosen as his headquarters. Bromilow established mission stations throughout the D'Entrecasteaux and Trobriand Islands and the Louisiade Archipelago, as well as boarding schools for girls and boys, and a training institution for local teachers and pastors. Like so many missionaries in those days, he did not approve of many of the values and customs of the Melanesian peoples and he helped to destroy traditional customs wherever they conflicted with his own moral standards. We noticed a negative correlation in the various islands between the presence of women with bared breasts (which is traditional) and the 'civilizing' influence of missionaries.<br /> <br /> The Bromilow Memorial is located on Dobu Island and a couple of photos of it can be seen here: <a href="http://goo.gl/23cF1">http://goo.gl/23cF1</a>. These are the last of the photos from Dobu Island; next stop the Trobriand Islands, the famous 'love' islands of Margaret Mead. <br /> <br /> 112 mm, 1/125 sec, f 6.3, ISO 640, flash fill
  • Portrait of a father and child, Dobu Island, PNG<br /> <br /> Besides the male sorcerers, the Dobuan women also had a reputation for casting powerful witchcraft. Reo Fortune wrote in 1930 "The women of Dobu do actually possess…incantations which they believe enable them to fly by night to make mischief, to kill, to dance upon the graves of their former victims, to disinter their victims and in spirit hold ghoulish feasting on them. Meanwhile, the woman as 'an empty skin' stays asleep in her house."<br /> <br /> See other new photos from Dobu Island here: <a href="http://goo.gl/I69Pt">http://goo.gl/I69Pt</a><br /> <br /> 100 mm, 1/100 sec, f 6.3, ISO 640, Flash fill
  • Bewitched man, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG (see below for explanation of why he was bewitched, and to see a photo of Dobu Island and some Dobu warriors click here <a href="http://goo.gl/iuu5r">http://goo.gl/iuu5r</a>)<br /> <br /> Dobu Island is one of the D'Entrecasteaux Islands, which are a group of active volcanic islands north of Papua New Guinea. In the past, Dobu Island was known throughout Melanesia for its witchcraft, headhunting and cannibalism. It was viewed with fear and awe; its people were envied for their power and influence, but also despised as barbarians. <br /> <br /> Dobu Island has always been a critical link in the kula trade that knits together the Melanesian Islands. The Kula Ring is a fascinating tradition where participants travel hundreds of miles by canoe in order to exchange Kula valuables, which consist of red shell-disc necklaces that are traded with islands to the north (circling the ring in clockwise direction) and white shell armbands that are traded in the southern direction (circling counterclockwise). All Kula valuables are traded solely for the purposes of enhancing one's social status and prestige. You can read more about this fascinating tradition, first documented by the anthropologist Bronislow Malinowski, here <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kula_ring">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kula_ring</a>.<br /> <br /> An important aspect of the Kula Ring is that the kula objects have to keep circulating. Because of the prestige associated with the objects, however, there is a temptation to try to keep them. This man was bewitched by a local sorcerer as a punishment because he broke the Kula Ring by keeping an important kula object (hence preventing it from circulating). He certainly appeared to be off his rocker, and I was told that he was expected to die within a few months from the curse. He was always on the move, muttering to himself, and hard to photograph, but I spoke a few words to him in his local language (Kagutoki sinabo'ana gosega'a, meaning roughly 'good morning, friend') and for an instant he focused on me, allowing me to get this photograph.<br /> <br /> 82 mm, 1/100 sec, f 5.6, ISO 450, flash fill
  • Village gathering, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG
  • Warriors resting before performance, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG
  • Warrior making mock attack, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG
  • Portrait of a warrior-8, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG
  • Warrior dance where local girls are 'kidnapped', Dobu Is, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG<br /> <br /> Sorry, my day got away from me (I was triple booked!), so not much time left for comments!<br /> <br /> See more photos from Dobu Island here: <a href="http://goo.gl/XU5VS">http://goo.gl/XU5VS</a><br /> <br /> According to the anthropologist, Nancy Sullivan: "Relations between men and women were managed almost entirely by magic. Without a love charm to arouse and create desire, desire does not exist to the Dobuan. Men and women mate, he (Reo Fortune) reported, only because men are constantly exerting magical power over women, and women over men. But this custom made men and women wildly jealous of each other. If their own natural charms were not enough to draw and hold a mate, then they were constantly searching for and testing out counter-magic to deflect competitors and win over the wayward affections of their mate. Needless to say, the pursuit of happiness was anything but peaceful. It created malicious rivalries with suspicions of poisoning and even death between rivals, lovers, spouses and their families.<br /> <br /> 82 mm, 1/100 sec, f 6.3, ISO 640, flash fill
  • Dobu warrior, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG<br /> <br /> The warriors hold a decorated boar's tusk between their teeth in such a way that it lifts their eyelid on that side. Don't know why, other than it make them look fierce.
  • So this is what all the fuss is about! (more photos from Dobu Island can be seen here <a href="http://goo.gl/kiJTu">http://goo.gl/kiJTu</a>)<br /> <br /> Shirley Campbell with kula necklace (center) and two bracelets (either end). Shirley is an anthropologist who is a notable expert on the Kula Trade; she wrote the book "The Art of Kula". The valuable (kula) parts of the necklaces are the two round shell arm bands (which are male), and the red beads on the necklace (which are female). The rest of the stuff is attached decorations. Over time a man gains fame and prestige by transacting shells of high quality (= high rank). The oldest, largest, highest rank Conus shells have unique names. Only large shells can move up through the ranks to achieve fame and unique personal identities. You can tell their age by their color. New shells are white and the older ones gather a yellow, then red patina as they are handled. So the shell on the right of the photo is more valuable since it is larger and darker coloured. The necklaces are made of red spondylus shell. A high ranking shell string is very thin and very smooth from repeated handling. Some high ranked name shells have been circulating continuously for 100 years or more, and serve as a medium for fostering relationships between people. OK, enough about the kula stuff, already; Dobu has some cool witches that I'll tell you about in another post.<br /> <br /> I'm really chuffed that some of my work is profiled in the new issue of Jim Zukerman's Photo Insights Magazine. Jim is a world-renowned professional photographer, and I can certainly recommend his on-line magazine for all the wonderfully helpful tips that he gives to photographers each month. There is a link to all the previous issues near the back of this month's issue. <a href="http://issuu.com/jimzuckerman/docs/june__13">http://issuu.com/jimzuckerman/docs/june__13</a> edit
  • Young girl, Dobu Island, D'Entrecasteaux Islands, PNG

  • worldofwonder

    on May 21, 2013

    Lovely scenic.

  • MorganFractals

    on May 20, 2013

    Very nice shot.

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