THE POLITICS OF TRADITION IN BALUAN: SOCIAL CHANGE AND THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PAST IN A MANUS SOCIETY

Discussion and synopsis of PhD Thesis
(Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific Studies, The Australian National University)

By Ton Otto

My PhD research and dissertation have to be seen in the context of the recent anthropological discussion about the politics of culture and tradition. My main concern was to trace the origin and development of the contemporary revival of Stradition in a Papua New Guinean community and to contribute to the theoretical understanding of such processes of cultural change. In the dissertation I present an analysis and description of cultural change in Manus and particularly on Baluan from the late 19th century to the present. This illustrates the complementary nature of anthropological and historical approaches and leads to a rethinking of certain aspects of cultural theory. The dissertation is an extended case study rather than a theoretical essay, but the theoretical implications of the analysis are far-reaching.

I collected the material for this study during more than two years of fieldwork in Manus, a province of Papua New Guinea, especially on the small island of Baluan. This is the birth-place of Paliau Maloat, the great Manus leader whose exploits in the 1950s are described by Margaret Mead in 'New Lives for Old' and by Theodore Schwartz in 'The Paliau Movement in the Admiralty Islands, 1946-1954'. Because of these books the Paliau Movement became an important case in comparative studies. Paliau died only recently and my dissertation includes the history of this movement up to 1988.

The analysis of Baluan culture provides compelling evidence that this culture cannot be adequately represented as a coherent totality. The sphere of cultural phenomena comprises opposition, paradox and conflict. There are as many potential versions of a culture as there are participants in that culture. However, in social practice and discourse people negotiate a certain order in their cultural relations. This order is never fixed nor comprehensive: it remains a contested space.

When Baluan people reflect on their society, discuss choices of action, or analyse conflicts of interest, they distinguish several 'ways of doing things'. Most Baluan people agree that there are three main 'ways of doing things' which they label as the ways of gavman, lotu and kastam (I return to these later). I propose to conceive of these 'ways' as distinct cultural domains which consist of loosely interrelated institutions and connected idioms. The relative coherence between the institutions and idioms within one domain is based on semantically constructed cognation and depends on the mutual articulation of domains in historical practice.

The three domains do not cover all possible cultural activities and their boundaries are often a matter of political dispute. The (re)construction of these boundaries is a political activity since it affects the authority and the field of influence of different kinds of leaders. In the dissertation I present some cases of political conflict that affected the definition of domains and others that did not.

Cultural domains should not be understood as clusters of institutions performing a certain function. The functionalist view which divides a society into economic, political and religious spheres is not applicable since the cultural domains overlap from a functional perspective: institutions belonging to different domains may all perform similar economic, political and religious functions. Rejecting the functionalist approach of Peter Lawrence and others, I argue that my conception of cultural domains is cognate to the 'sub-universes of meaning' presented by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann (1967), and especially to Pierre Bourdieu's analytical concept of 'universes of practice and discourse' (Bourdieu 1977).

The dissertation deals with the cultural history of Baluan: I investigate the genesis and development of the different cultural domains in relation to economic, political and demographic changes. In order to analyse and describe cultural change I develop a conceptual framework in which I distinguish three aspects of social praxis: individual action, cultural patterns, and non-cultural 'circumstances'. This framework guides the presentation of case material in the dissertation and is elaborated upon in the conclusion. Bourdieu's concept of 'habitus' is invoked in order to understand how individual action is constrained by cultural patterns, but I also demonstrate the importance of consciousness and individual creativity in processes of cultural change. The relationship between 'circumstances' of different kinds and cultural patterns I see as mediated by social praxis. By focussing upon individual action and group practices I attempt to avoid essentialising the concepts of culture and structure.

Since I trace cultural change from the late 19th century to the present, the dissertation is an exercise in both anthropology and history. A thorough study of contemporary cultural forms is the basis for the interpretation of the past. Important evidence for the reconstruction of past events derives from Baluan oral tradition. I analyse this tradition both as a contemporary discourse and as a source of information about the past. Interestingly, there is a considerable variety of contemporary historical forms which are related to the three main cultural domains on Baluan. Different types of oral histories are characterised by their form and content as well as by the groups of people who know or have access to them.

In addition to oral history I use a range of published and unpublished sources which include travel literature, administrative documents (German, Australian and Papua New Guinean), patrol reports, missionary letters and journals, census figures, and ethnographies. These sources give some evidence about past cultural forms in Manus, especially the ethnographies and some missionary writings. In addition they provide information about political, demographic and economic developments which form the background of my interpretation of cultural change. Contemporary reports about the economic, demographic and political situation are supplemented by my own survey of Baluan Island.

Finally, in the presentation of data in this dissertation, I also attempt to integrate anthropological and historical approaches. I alternate structurally orientated descriptions and analyses with narrative forms. The overall scheme of the dissertation is chronological, but chapters and parts of chapters concern overlapping periods because I describe developments from different perspectives. A number of detailed case studies are included in which I analyse the diverging descriptions by different participants (or their descendants). Indigenous histories play an important role in my presentation. I have included a number of them in translation to illustrate the variety of historical forms and to give space to the voices of indigenous historians.

Chapter outline:

In the Introduction I explain the context and background of my research which I depict as multifarious journeys: geographical, cultural, temporal and theoretical.

Chapter one, 'Domains, discourse and histories', begins with a case study of three brothers who exemplify leadership roles in three different cultural domains. Their conflicts of interest serve to introduce and to illustrate the central theme of the dissertation, namely that Baluan cultural practice cannot be conceived as an undivided and coherent whole. Rather, it should be characterised as comprising three main cultural domains, namely gavman (the cluster of institutions pertaining to Western style government, education and economic development), lotu (the sphere of institutions identified with the Christian churches) and kastam (cultural entities which are considered part of Baluan's tradition). Next, I discuss the theoretical conceptions which are used to analyse and describe this cultural diversity. An example of how cultural boundaries may be negotiated in practice introduces a section on the place of discourse in Baluan society. The chapter ends with a discussion of some characteristics of historical knowledge on the island.

The second chapter is a reconstruction of leadership practices in the period before colonisation began to have a major impact on Baluan society. The three cultural domains of contemporary Baluan culture had not yet developed. Pre-colonial Baluan society was characterised by other cultural discriminations and oppositions, such as those between ascribed and achieved status, between feasting and warfare, and between original residents and newcomers. The primary sources for my reconstruction are oral histories which are part of the contemporary cultural domain of kastam. I present and analyse these histories both as a contemporary discourse with bearing on issues of land ownership and political leadership, and as historical source material.

Chapters three to five deal with the colonial history of Manus and Baluan until about 1950 and trace the genesis of the three contemporary cultural domains. In chapter three, 'Overture to Gavman', I first describe the indigenous political and economic system at the time of colonisation. Next I discuss the nature of early contacts between Manus people and foreign traders. The establishment of the German colonial state in the 1880s began with a number of punitive expeditions by the colonial administration to avenge the killing of white traders. One such expedition is described in detail from three different perspectives, namely that of the leaders of the German expedition, and those of two different indigenous groups involved in the events. The voluntary acceptance of colonial peace by Manus people and the consequent introduction of some colonial institutions marks the beginning of a domain of gavman within Manus cultural praxis.

Chapter four, 'The advent of lotu', examines the origin of the contemporary cultural domain of lotu. The adoption of Christianity as a new 'way of doing things' was not initially a success story. There was little interest at first, in the missionaries' message, but then conversion took place on a large scale. I begin by considering the reports of missionaries about the difficult beginnings of their work in the first and second decade of this century. This introduces their point of view and provides some clues for an explanation of their final success. Next, I look at indigenous representations of the events. These take a completely different perspective and suggest some other reasons for the spread of the lotu. In order to comprehend the attraction of the new creed, I discuss some aspects of the traditional religion. Continuity on the level of basic dispositions (habitus) partly explains the enthusiasm at the time of conversion. Finally I look at the introduction of lotu and gavman from a sociological perspective: both domains offered not only new ideas but also new institutional opportunities for aspiring leaders.

Chapter five plays a central role in the dissertation in investigating the creation of 'tradition' as an objectified category. It places this development in the context of colonial power relations. Of special importance was the contract labour system which brought young men from different ethnic groups into close contact with each other and with westerners. The contract labour experience facilitated the conceptualisation of a generalised indigenous 'way of the ancestors' as opposed to a generalised 'way of the white people'. In the late 1930s some young Manus leaders developed plans for the modernisation of their culture in order to overcome colonial inequalities of power and wealth. Their project, first opposed by the older generation, was greatly helped by the overwhelming events of the second world war, especially the presence of a huge American army. After the war Paliau Maloat from Baluan arose as the great leader of a modernisation movement in south and east Manus. The social reforms of Paliau's 'new way' were so radical that his movement may be considered truly revolutionary. One of the central points of his program was the complete abolition of the 'way of the ancestors'. As a result the cultural domain of kastam was explicitly formulated. In practice, however, it was allowed to exist only as a negated or suppressed category.

After describing the process of the objectification of tradition I analyse the main features of the early Paliau Movement. One of them was the important role of knowledge as a source of power. In order to understand this I investigate the underlying indigenous concepts of an epistemological nature. In the last part of chapter five I deal with the reactions of government and missions to the powerful movement and with the subsequent adaptations within the movement.

Chapters six to eight concern the recent history of Baluan and Manus from about 1950 to the present. Whereas the previous three chapters combine the description of cultural change, of economic and political developments, and of indigenous historical representations, I have separated these aspects in the last chapters. Chapter six, 'The story of development', depicts post-war political, religious, educational, demographic and economic developments from a Western point of view. It deals, among other things, with local government councils and later political institutions, with the co-operative movement and with the introduction and success of schooling. One of the most important economic developments was the large increase of migrant labour in the 1960s, 70s and 80s. Mostly this concerned well-educated people who had to leave Manus to find a job. These people sent remittances home; in the 1980s, this money constituted about half the cash income of Baluan islanders and even more than half for most other Manus villagers.

In chapter seven, 'The force of kastam', I follow the revaluation of tradition from a negative to a positive category and the gradual extension of the cultural domain of kastam. The first revival of tradition took an innovative form: truly an invention of tradition. It was initiated by local leaders who wanted to reassert their traditional claims to authority which had been denied in the Paliau reforms. Although the performance of traditionalist ceremonies was a heterodox activity at first, the revaluation process was (unintentionally) reinforced by some independent developments: government policies concerning land rights and education, the genesis of a nationalist discourse, and the increase of migrant labour. The last development created two groups of Manus people connected in a kind of symbiosis, namely residents and emigrants. The latter possessed wealth which the former coveted. And residents had knowledge of local customs and land ownership which emigrants needed if they returned to the village. As few emigrants had a genuine chance to retire in town, villagers exercised real power over their urban kinsfolk. Traditional beliefs about health and illness actually increased this power. As a result a continuous stream of remittances went from town to village; and 'traditional' exchanges were prime occasions for such redistributions of wealth. At the end of the chapter I discuss both the articulation of the three contemporary cultural domains and the likelihood that a fourth one may develop, namely bisnis. At present bisnis is still an ambiguous and contested term, but I argue that it may gain force as a cultural domain if more local people become entrepreneurs and if the importance of remittances decreases.

In chapter eight, 'The politics of representation', I analyse indigenous representations of the post-war developments. As part of its efforts to create a new society the Paliau Movement had also created a new type of history. I compare an early form of this religious history with representations in the 1980s when the movement experienced a revival under the name Makasol. As the movement had adopted a positive attitude towards tradition by that time, historical representations needed considerable adaptation. In addition the politics of presentation and propaganda changed from the intentional demonstration of secrecy to the ceaseless production of 'new knowledge'. Contemporary histories about the movement vary widely according to the present position and involvement of the narrator. For some it is a divine history of redemption and the revelation of true knowledge, for others it is a record of human deception in superhuman matters. Most narrators, including present opponents of the movement, stress the enormous beneficial impact Paliau has had on the self-confidence and political emancipation of indigenous people. Interestingly, the contemporary revival of tradition was generally ignored or represented as a continuum in histories of the movement.

In the conclusion I elaborate on the theoretical model used for the analysis and presentation of the data. Finally I discuss some of the epistemological premises of the study especially the relationship between cultural praxis and knowledge.

References:

Berger, Peter and Thomas Luckmann, 1967, The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge, Harmondsworth: Penguin Books.

Bourdieu, Pierre, 1977, Outline of a theory of practice, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Lawrence, Peter, 1971, 'Introduction', in R.M. Berndt and P. Lawrence (eds), Politics in New Guinea, 1-34, Nedlands: University of Western Australia Press.

Mead, Margaret, 1975 [1956], New lives for old: Cultural transformation - Manus, 1928-1953, New York: William Morrow and Co.

Schwartz, Theodore, 1962, 'The Paliau Movement in the Admiralty Islands, 1946-1954', Anthropological Papers of the American Museum of Natural History 49:207-421.

The PhD dissertation of Ton Otto was submitted on 15 March 1991 and the degree was officially awarded on 4 October. The dissertation has been reproduced by the Centre for Pacific Studies and may be ordered from:

Dictatencentrale Directoraat A-faculteiten
Thomas van Aquinostraat 2
6500 HK Nijmegen The Netherlands. Code: 4.20.08