Academic literature on the topic 'Sambia (Papua New Guinea people)'

This paper examines the historical, cultural, and biographical context of the work of the late UCLA psychoanalytic psychiatrist Robert J. Stoller, as narrated through the voice of anthropologist Gilbert Herdt, who worked with Stoller over a number of years as a postdoctoral fellow and then a junior colleague. The epistemological and professional goals of Stoller in opening up the field of psychoanalysis to the study of sexual excitement, human sexual variation, a radical revision of homosexuality dynamically, and especially the acceptance of divergent LGBT orientations is examined in the professional development and work of Stoller in the Department of Psychiatry at UCLA in the 1950s–1980s. The final section of the article examines the fieldwork collaboration of Stoller and Herdt in the context of Herdt's Papua New Guinea field site among the Sambia people, with whom he has been working since 1974. Stoller was instrumental not only in supporting LGBT analytic candidates, but in encouraging a more tolerant face-to-face inclusive attitude in research, education, mentoring, and the general Weltanschauung of psychiatry.

In 2015 Papua New Guinea marked its fortieth year of independence. But while the predictions of more pessimistic commentators in 1975 have been avoided, for many Papua New Guineans celebrations were muted; despite the country’s rich resource developments, for many people there has been little change in social and economic circumstances.

Papua New Guinea takes insect conservation seriously, and for 10 years now has involved hundreds of villagers in an innovative butterfly farming scheme, which benefits both people and wildlife. Angus Hutton, who was National Co-ordinator for the project at its inception, describes this successful integration of conservation with development.

This article provides an overview of Papua New Guinea (PNG)'s status on human rights. The author explores the human rights treaties that PNG has ratified, the available legal and administrative remedies for human rights breaches, the principle of the rule of law in PNG, and the culture and language of PNG. It is concluded that PNG has not made much progress in advancing or protecting the rights of its people, and must support all initiatives to educate people on their rights as a strategy to ensure that the people are not left continuously ignorant of human rights issues.

AbstractRelatively few species of zoonotic parasites have been recorded in humans in Papua New Guinea. A greater number of potentially zoonotic species, mostly nematodes, occur in animals but are yet to be reported from humans. Protozoa is the best represented group of those infecting man, withGiardia duodenalis,Cryptosporidium parvum,Cyclospora cayetanesis,Toxoplasma gondii,Sarcocystisspp.,Entamoeba polecki,Balantidium coliand, possibly,Blastocystis hominis. The only zoonotic helminths infecting humans include the trematodeParagonimus westermani, the cestodesHymenolepis nana,H. diminutaand the sparganum larva ofSpirometra erinacea, and the nematodesTrichinella papuaeandAngiostrongylus cantonensisand, possibly,Ascaris suum. Other groups represented are Acanthocephala (Macracanthorhynchus hirudinaceus)), insects (Chrysomya bezziana,Cimexsp.,Ctenocephalidesspp.), and mites (Leptotrombidiumspp. and, possiblySarcoptes scabiei, andDemodexsp.). One leech (Phytobdella lineata) may also be considered as being zoonotic. The paucity of zoonotic parasite species can be attributed to long historical isolation of the island of New Guinea and its people, and the absence until recent times of large placental mammals other than pig and dog. Some zoonotic helminths have entered the country with recent importation of domestic animals, in spite of quarantine regulations, and a few more (two cestodes, one nematode and one tick) are poised to enter from neighbouring countries, given the opportunity. Improvement in water supplies, human hygiene and sanitation would reduce the prevalence of many of these parasites, and thorough cooking of meat would lessen the risk of infection by some others.

Papua New Guinea is famous for its religious diversity, innovation, and role as the intellectual home of the “cargo-cult.” Contrary to the dominant contemporary trend toward localized and syncretized forms of Christianity, one of the fastest-growing new religious movements in Papua New Guinea is the not so “new” religion of Islam. From 2000–2012, the Muslim convert population grew more than 1,000 percent, and data from fieldwork between 2007 and 2011 suggests that globalization factors, especially missionaries and media, are contributing to increased conversion rates. Transition from traditional life to modernity is sparking a range of social and personal crises leading people to search for new religions more closely aligned with traditional, local, cultural and material dimensions. This makes future conversion growth in Papua New Guinea likely.

This paper explores matrilineal kinship in the Buka area, in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, from the perspective of saltwater people on Pororan Island. In Bougainville and elsewhere in Melanesia, anthropological research has highlighted the importance of joint work in the gardens, of sharing and exchanging garden food, and of negotiations of access to land for kinship and relatedness in the region. Where does this leave saltwater people, who often have only small areas of land of their own, take little interest in gardening and depend on traded sweet potatoes or imported rice for meeting their subsistence needs? In the first part of this paper, I indicate “landed” bias in anthropological research on kinship, including matrilineal kinship. I then suggest complementary descriptive and analytic terms that may be useful for researchers who want to understand kin relations among saltwater people, based on my experiences among Pororan Islanders in Bougainville. Finally, I indicate the theoretical contribution that these terms can make to research on kinship in landed settings, as well.

This paper explores matrilineal kinship in the Buka area, in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, from the perspective of saltwater people on Pororan Island. In Bougainville and elsewhere in Melanesia, anthropological research has highlighted the importance of joint work in the gardens, of sharing and exchanging garden food, and of negotiations of access to land for kinship and relatedness in the region. Where does this leave saltwater people, who often have only small areas of land of their own, take little interest in gardening and depend on traded sweet potatoes or imported rice for meeting their subsistence needs? In the first part of this paper, I indicate “landed” bias in anthropological research on kinship, including matrilineal kinship. I then suggest complementary descriptive and analytic terms that may be useful for researchers who want to understand kin relations among saltwater people, based on my experiences among Pororan Islanders in Bougainville. Finally, I indicate the theoretical contribution that these terms can make to research on kinship in landed settings, as well.