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It is important to know what kind of a person the carver was in Raymond Firth's earliest articles, 'The Maori Carver'. What position he and his work occupied in the social scheme, and the seriousness with which both he and his labour were regarded. This chapter examines the artist in his society with reference to the Abelam tribe of New Guinea. They live in large villages from 300 to 800 in population, and have a vigorous art. They are also distinguished for a cult of long yams; single yams of up to twelve feet long have been recorded. The Abelam artist works within fairly narrow stylistic limits sanetioned by the total society in which he lives; any work he produces cannot be shown outside the tambaran cult, and will only be accepted for that if it satisfies the criteria of magico-religious effectiveness. Abelam artists do not slavishly reproduce the work of their predecessors.
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