The Incorporation of Foreign Culture Elements and Complexes by Ritual Enclosure Among the Biak-Numforese

Abstract

Daily bie routineBefore giving an account of the enclosing or hemming-in of foreign elements in the culture of the Biak-Numforese, we have to give an account of the daily life routine and problems, and of the role of ritual in that context.The people concerned live on islands and along the beaches of the mainland of the vast island of lrian (formerly named New Guinea).They build houses, mostlyon stilts or poles, located in bays or along quiet stretches of coasts of the Pacific Ocean, protected by reefs and lagoons against the pounding surf during the westerly storms and gales.Their subsistence economy revolves around two axes: fishing and hunting, mainly performed by men, and gardening in which most of the time wamen take part.A strictly kept patri-clan system, the cu stom of bride-wealth and indirect exchange, offering the possibility of both close cooperation and competition, are directly connected with the core and the focus of the whole culture, viz. the rituals and ceremonies performed by the ever present partners and competitors: the father and his clan members on the one hand and the mother's brother and his relatives on the other.The social economy is furthermore very aften marked by stressing rivalry and keeping it alive; by pursuing honour and famous deeds in order to outwit competitors, even during dramatic and religious performances, by which they hope to outshine their partners.But his is done in a playful way: the "homo ludens" is never absent.The struggle of daily life is mostly concerned with the endeavour to come to terms with the following problems: 1.The geographic environment: the overwhelming forests and the merciless ocean.2. The human beings: "friend and foe".3. Time: the process of growth and decay, aId age and diminishing life-power.Freerk C.

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