¶ … Sing with the Pigs is Human
According to the dictionary, 'anthropology' is the social science that studies the origins and social relationships of human beings. The Kaulong peoples of Papua New Guinea devote their lives to moving from the lowest status to political "big men" and "big women," by displaying their accumulation of knowledge at all-night singing competitions ending in pig sacrifice and feasting. In the course of her fieldwork with the Kaulong, who live on the island of New Britain in Papua New Guinea, Jane Goodale discovered and catalogued that everything of importance to them - every event, relationship, and transaction - was rooted in their constant quest for recognition as human beings. Goodale takes considerable time to determine both the Kaulong definition of 'human' and catalogue the tribal rituals and relationships that build into the Kaulong definition.
Her book is the result of her field work, living with the Kaulong for over 10 years. She addresses questions central to Kaulong society: What is it that makes an individual human? How is humanity, or personhood, achieved and maintained? In their consuming concern with their status as human beings, the Kaulong mark progress on a continuum from nonhuman (animal-like) to the most respected level of humanity - the political "big men" and "big women." Knowledge is the key to movement along the continuum, and acquiring, displaying, and defending knowledge are at the heart of social interaction. At all-night "singsings," individuals compete through song in their knowledge of people, places, and many other aspects of their forested world. The sacrifice of pigs and distribution of pork to guests completes the ceremonial display and defense of knowledge and personhood.
In her work, Goodale identifies that which the Kaulong held as important to their identity as human. As every culture and society has its own scale by which to measure the worth of a human being, the Kaulong are no different. Existing in the jungles of New Britain with little to no contact with modern society, the Kaulong social system evolved into its current structure by meeting the challenges of the environment, and overcoming the obstacles to provide for themselves in the same way any people group would develop. Goodale's work begins without any presumption, or comparison to the 'outside world.' She brings no prejudice to her study, or comparison between the Kaulong and 'modern' culture. She begins with the central question of 'Within this culture, what is the identity these people use to determine their own self-worth, and their own position within the tribe." Once determining what is important to the Kaulong, Goodale is able to catalogue the methods, ceremonies, and traditions within the group that build on these beliefs.
Goodale's desire was to identify, catalogue and study group life habits without disturbing them with outside influences, so she lived among the Kaulong people for a significant time during her field research. She walked, ate, slept, and became a part of the community. Early in her work, Goodale writes that gathering cross cultural information is a process that required work on both end of the information exchange. The people whom she studied needed to trust her, and desire to communicate with her as if she belonged to the group. In return for their willingness to 'take the risk of communication', Goodale had to reach out and learn the tribes methods and language in order to be able to communicate. This proved an early challenge. She writes candidly about the first successful communication, how it brought joy to both herself, and the women with which she spoke. Throughout the book, Goodale introduces the reader to different words and phrases used by the people. Common words for houses, plants, family members and ceremonies are described in her work, and some will be included in this paper.
The Benefit of Goodale's Research
The benefit, of stated goal of anthropology is two fold. Researchers like Goodale desire to discover and learn about other people groups through their work, and Goodale's book provides a provocative look into the Kaulong peoples. The second goal of her work is to learn more about ourselves by evaluating the similarities between the study's subjects / findings and our own lifestyles. Between the Kaulong and 'civilized' peoples there are many similarities, which will be discussed throughout this paper also. Without outside religious influence, the Kaulong arrive at a tri-une nature of many which is similar to Christianity's perspective that a man is made up of Body, soul and Spirit, and Freud's concept of id, ego, and superego. The Kaulong struggle with surrendering to the elements of nature which they cannot control, and live within a developed, intricate belief system which tries...
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