Changing Contexts, Shifting Meanings: Transformations of Cultural Traditions in Oceania

Inventing Traditions and Remembering the Past in Manus

157 Inventing Traditions and Remembering the Past in Manus Ton Otto Societies remember the past in many different ways. There are historical narratives of various kinds, which keep track of past events that are relevant for the keepers of the histories (for example, descent groups, church groups, religious movements, political units). The past is also remembered in the passing on of ritual practices, social customs , practical knowledge, and material products. Traditions are forms of historical knowledge that elaborate on social practices and that are consciously orchestrated (e.g., as ceremonies or learning situations). A special kind of traditions put weight on an assumed continuity with the past. In Melanesia these traditions are often referred to as kastam or kastamwok. The regional focus of my presentation is Manus, in Papua New Guinea, where kastam ceremonies have become an important arena for social action, during which historical memory is negotiated. I will argue that kastam as an indigenous field of Manus Province in Papua New Guinea. 158 | Inventing Traditions and Remembering the Past in Manus action with reference to the past first originated in the 1960s as a result of “inventions” by a number of local leaders. This invention of tradition has to be seen against the background of the massive abolishment of indigenous ceremonies by the Paliau Movement in the 1950s, which thereby introduced the concept of tradition (as a negative category). The reintroduction of “traditional” ceremonies raises questions about social agency and the use of various forms of historical memories in the context of colonial and postcolonial modernity. Baluan Island in Manus Province. Otto | 159 Kastam Today on Baluan Baluan is a small island lying south of Manus, the largest island in the homonymous province in Papua New Guinea. When I began my field research among Baluan’s ca. 1,000 inhabitants in 1986, I soon found that the Papua New Guinea pidgin word kas­ tam—which I gloss as “tradition”—referred to an important social category. For example , in all the island’s six villages a discussion went on about traditional leadership. This discussion was initiated by the Provincial Cultural Council, which had suggested that all villages should identify their traditional leaders—or lapans as they are called in Manus. On Baluan this led to many meetings and even more informal discussions during which a lot of historical knowledge was presented, contested, and negotiated. This collective remembering has produced an interesting body of knowledge on leadership titles, hierarchies , lapan feasts, warfare, and lapan prerogatives (Otto 1994, 2006). Even more conspicuous were the great number of ceremonial exchanges organized at the occasions of birth, marriage, and death, which collectively were called kastamwok, that is “tradition work” (Otto 1991). The gloss “work” is appropriate as the exchanges cost a lot of energy and also caused stress for the organizers. Some people even compared kastamwok with warfare, as did the old Molean Pokasau, who after having completed a large ceremonial exchange visited me in a military outfit and claimed that he had won a battle. The belief that kastam could produce illness, and even death, was widespread. Why would people engage in these exchanges that were so demanding when, as I soon found out, there were alternatives? Not all people approved of kastamwok and some, especially members of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church, were strongly opposed to it. The most important motives for engaging in kastamwok can be summarized as competition for status, confirmation of land rights, maintenance of support networks, and excitement or entertainment. To start with the last point, for many participants, part of the attraction of kastam exchanges was that they could be compared to a game where one had to make a contribution in money or kind and could be lucky enough to get a higher return. In addition there normally was an abundance of cooked food, drumming, dancing, and the delivery of speeches in which people tried to impress and challenge each other. As the positions and obligations in the exchanges were determined by kin relations, the performance of kastamwok validated these relations, and distant relatives often made a contribution in order to refresh the memory of their common descent.1 Furthermore, kastam exchanges following a death could have an impact on claims to land; if a descent group did not carry them out or if they did it poorly, this would weaken their hold on their land property. The memory of past performances was...