An annotated bibliography of Southern Highlands Province folklore

Below is an annotated bibliography of Southern Highlands Province folklore. See the main bibliography page for more details. Please send comments and corrections to me.

See also “An annotated Bibliography of the Huli People of Southern Highlands Province” by Chris Ballard. Research in Melanesia 19: 115-184 (1995).

A “*” following a reference indicates that I have not seen.

Allen, B. J. & Wood, A. W. (1980). Legendary volcanic eruptions and the Huli, Papua New Guinea. Journal of the Polynesian Society 89: 341-347. This article discusses the mythology of the Huli People. *
Ballard, C. (1998). “The sun by night: Huli moral topography and myths of a time of darkness.” In: Goldman et al., pp. 67-85. This chapter discusses the mythology of the Huli People and presents one myth (pp. 80-82).
Blong, Russell J. (1979). Huli legends and volcanic eruptions, Papua New Guinea. Search 10(3): 93-94. This article discusses the mythology of the Huli People. *
Clark, Jeffrey (1989). “Incredible shrinking men: male ideology and development in a Southern Highlands society.” Canberra Anthropology 12: 120-143. This article discusses the mythology of the Wiru People. *
Clark, Jeffrey (1993). “Gold, sex, and pollution: male illness and myth at Mt. Kare, Papua New Guinea.” American Ethnologist 20: 742-757. This article discusses the mythology of the Huli and Wiru Peoples. *
Clark, J. (1995). Highlands of history: images of deviance and desire. Papuan Borderlands: Huli, Duna, and Ipili Perspectives on the Papua New Guinea Highlands. Biersack, Aletta, ed. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, pp. 379-400. This article discusses the mythology of the Huli People. *
Collier, G., ed. (1975). Witu ali atoane laa kiti [Myths of the Witu People]. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics, 75 pp. *
Diaya, Iriye (1980). "A successful marriage at last.” In: Voices of Independence: New Black Writing from Papua New Guinea, Ulli Beier, editor, 251 pp. This Kewa tale (pp. 49-53) was reprinted from Rambi & Nimi (1977).
Dwyer, Peter D. (1990). The Pigs that Ate the Garden. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 241 pp., illustrated. This book presents 3 origin myths of the Biami People.
Ernst, Thomas M. (1991). “Onabasulu male homosexuality: cosmology, affect and prescribed male homosexual activity among the Onabasulu of the Great Papuan plateau.” Oceania 62: 1-11. This article discusses the mythology of the Onabasulu People. *
Feld, Steven. (1982). Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics, and Song in Kaluli Expression. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 264 pp., illustrated. This book presents many songs and discusses some of the mythological aspects. A second edition was published in 1990 (297 pp.). This was based on the author’s Ph.D. thesis (Indiana University, 1979, 544 pp.).
Feld, Steven (1991). Cockatoo, hornbill, kingfisher. In: Man and a Half: essays in Pacific Anthropology and Ethnobiology in Honour of Ralph Bulmer. A. Pawley, ed. Auckland: The Polynesian Society, pp. 207-213. This article discusses the mythology of the Kaluli People. *
Franklin, Karl ed. (1972). Akuanuna Iti Remaanu Buku: Kewa Myth Book Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics, 52 pp., illustrated. This book presents 14 myths of the West Kewa People in the Kewa Language.
Glasse, Robert M. (1963). “Bingi at Tari.” Jounral of the Polynesian Society 72: 270-271. This article discusses the mythology of the Huli People. *
Glasse, Robert M. (1965). “The Huli of the Southern Highlands.” In: Gods, Ghosts and Men in Melanesia, Peter Lawrence & Mervyn J. Meggitt, eds. New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 27-49. This chapter discusses the mythology of the Huli People. *
Goldman, Laurence [R.] (1983). Talk Never Dies: The Language of Huli Dispute. London/New York: Tavistock Publications, 341 pp., illustrated. This book presents and discusses several Huli myths.
Goldman, Laurence R. (1995). Make-believe play among Huli children: Performance, myth and imagination. Ethnology 34: 225-255. This article discusses the mythology of the Huli People. *
Goldman, Laurence [R.] (1998b). “A trickster for all seasons: The Huli Iba Tiri.” In: Goldman et al., pp. 86-124. This chapter discusses the mythology of the Huli People, comparing the Huli trickster to that of neighboring groups in Southern Highlands Province. A synopsis of Huli trickster myths is given on pp. 117-121.
Goldman, Laurence R. (1998c). Child’s Play: Myth, Mimesis and Make-Believe. London/New York: Berg. This book discusses the mythology of the Huli People. This book discusses primarily Huli mythology in the context of children's play, and includes sections on ogres and tricksters.
Josephides, Lisette (1982). “Kewa Stories and Songs.” Oral History 10(2): iv-vi, 1-86. This issue presents 16 myths and songs of the Kewa People.
Josephides, L[isette] (1998). “Myths of containment, myths of extension: Creating relations across boundaries.” In: Goldman et al., pp. 125-141. This chapter discusses the mythology of the Kewa People, and presents 5 myths.
Kelly, Raymond C. (1980 [1977]). Etoro Social Structure: A Study in Structural Contradiction. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2^nd edition, 328 pp., illustrated. This book presents 2 Biami myths.
Kelly, Raymond C. (1993). Constructing Inequality: The Fabrication of a Hierarchy of Virtue among the Etoro. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 604 pp., illustrated. This book presents and discusses several Biami myths.
Kera, Pulumbi (1983). “Amu Temane (True Pandanus Story).” Oral History 11(4): 11-13. This article presents a myth from the Hagen People.
Lepi & Bowers (1983)
LeRoy, John D. (1975). “Siblings in Kewa myths.” National Museum of Man, Canada 28: 30-46, illustrated. Proceedings of the 2^nd Congress, Canadian Ethnology Society. This article discusses the mythology of the Kewa People. *
LeRoy, John (1977). “Kewa Legends.” Oral History 11(1): 54-119. This article presents and discusses 22 myths of the Kewa People.
LeRoy, John, ed. (1985a). Kewa Tales. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 251 pp., illustrated. This book presents 81 Kewa Tales which are interpreted in LeRoy (1985b). Some of these stories appeared in Oral History 6(4): 2-75 (1978).
LeRoy, John (1985b). Fabricated World: An Interpretation of Kewa Tales. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press, 319 pp., illustrated. This book interprets the tales in LeRoy (1985a).
MacDonald, Mary N. [Noelene] (1988a). “Playing Possum: Marsupials in Myth.” Catalyst: Social Pastoral Magazine for Melanesia 18(3): 281-303. This paper compares mythology of the Kewa People with other cultures. One Kewa myth is presented (pp. 290-292).
MacDonald, Mary Noelene (1988b). Exchange and Change in Mararoko: A Study in Melanesian Religion. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Chicago, 669 pp. This thesis discusses the mythology of the Kewa People. *
MacDonald, Mary N. [Noelene] (1990). Mararoko: A Study in Melanesian Religion. Series: Anthropology and Sociology 45. New York: P. Lang, 591 pp., illustrated. This book presents 188 myths of the Kewa People (pp. 223-545).
May, Jean; Loeweke, Eunice & Ware, Akisawa, eds. (1974). Namo aporomo makata anane popasane oyapo [Stories about Fasu Life]. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics. Translated by Jeffrey Bailey and Ian Davidson. In Fasu, Tok Pisin and English. 95 pp. *
Nanape, Karunda; Christensen, Rosalie & Christensen, Ana (2001). Where the Rains Come From. This is a story from Ialibu (Kewa People). This story is a sample from a large, as yet unpublished collection by Rosalie Christensen.
Ogale, Mandea (1977). “Pupai/Kolgi Clans, Southern Highlands.” Oral History 5(9): 16-63. This article presents and discusses origin legends from the Wiru and Kewa Peoples (pp. 45-57).
Pius, Ripason Kilipia (1983b). “Happiness Solves Problems.” Oral History 11(3): 35-39. This article presents a myth from the Kewa People.
Pius, Ripason Kilipia (1983c). “Why Dogs Can’t Talk.” Oral History 11(3): 33-34. This article presents a myth from the Kewa People.
Rambi, Stephen; Nimi, Frank & Beier, Ulli (1977). Kewa Stories from the Southern Highlands. Port Moresby: Institute of Papua New Guinea Studies, 56 pp. This book presents myths from the Kewa People. The story “A successful marriage at last” was reprinted in Diaya (1980). * Out of print.
Rule, Murray (1993). The Culture and Language of the Foe: The People of Lake Kutubu, Southern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea. Mereweather, New South Wales: Chevron Niugini. This book discusses the mythology of the the Foi. Out of print.
SSchieffelin, Bambi B. (1990). The Give and Take of Everyday Life: Language Socialization of Kaluli Children. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 278 pp., illustrated. Studies in the Social and Cultural Foundations of Language 9. This book gives one Kaluli myth and briefly discusses their mythology.
Schieffelin, Edward L. (1976). The Sorrow of the Lonely and the Burning of the Dancers. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 243 pp., illustrated. This book presents 3 myths of the Kaluli People.
Schieffelin, Edward L. (1982). “The Bau A Ceremonial Hunting Lodge: An Alternative to Initiation.” In: Herdt (1982), pp. 155-200. This chapter reports 1 myth of the Kaluli People (p. 178).
Sillitoe, Paul (1979). Give and Take: Exchange in Wola Society. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 316 pp., illustrated. This book presents 3 origin myths of the Mendi (Wola) People.
Sillitoe, Paul (1993). A ritual response to climatic perturbations in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Ethnology 32: 169-185. This article discusses the mythology of the Mendi People. *
Stewart, Pamela J. & Strathern, Andrew (1983). Remaking the World: Myth, Mining, and Ritual among the Duna of Papua New Guinea. Smithsonian Series in Ethnographic Inquiry. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institute Press, 219 pp., illustrated. This book discusses the myths associated with Duna rituals in response to culture change. *
Stewart, Pamela J. & Strathern, Andrew (2005). Duna Pikono: A popular contemporary genre in the Papua New Guinea Highlands. In: Stewart, Pamela J. & Strathern, Andrew, eds. Expressive Genres And Historical Change: Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, And Taiwan, pp. 83-108. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing.
Strathern, Andrew (1983). Wiru Stories (Southern Highlands Province). Port Moresby: Institue of Papua New Guinea Studies, 179 pp. *
Strathern, Andrew (1998). “Sacrifice and sociality: A Duna Ritual Track.” In: Goldman et al., pp. 31-42. This chapter discusses the mythology of the Duna Peoples, and presents Ambua narrative.
Tavali, Thomas (1980). “The History of Fugwa Swamp, Koroba Area, Southern Highlands.” Oral History 8(6): 80-81. This article presents a myth of the Huli People.
Weiner, James F. (1986). “Blood and skin: the structural implications of sorcery and procreation beliefs among the Foi.” Ethnos 51: 71-87. This article discusses the mythology of the Foi People. *
Weiner, James F. (1988). The Heart of the Pearl Shell: The Mythological Dimension of Foi Sociality. Berkeley: University of California Press, 322 pp., illustrated. Originally presented as the author’s Ph.D. thesis at Australian National University. This book presents many myths of the Foi People. Also available free on the Web.
Weiner, James F. (1991). The Empty Place: Poetry, Space, and Being among the Foi of Papua New Guinea. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 218 pp., illustrated. This book presents many folk songs. Chapter 8 (pp. 182-195) is on the mythopoesis of the men’s longhouse.
Weiner, James F. (1994). The origin of petroleum at Lake Kutubu. Cultural Anthropology 9: 37-57. This article discusses the mythology of the Foi People. *
Weiner, James F. (1995). The Lost Drum: the Myth of Sexuality in Papua New Guinea and Beyond. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 199 pp., illustrated. This book discusses the mythology of the Foi People. *
Weiner, J[ames] F. (1998). “Hand, voice and myth in Papua New Guinea.” In: Goldman et al., pp. 15-30. This chapter discusses the mythology of the Foi and Kewa Peoples, and presents 3 myths.
Williams, Francis Edgar (1977a). “Natives of Lake Kutubu, Papua.” In: Schwimmer (1977). This chapter (part III, pp. 161-330) presents 16 myths of the Fasu People (subpart V, pp. 302-323). It was originally published in Oceania 11: 121-57, 259-94, 374-401; 12: 49-74, 134-54 and was reprinted as Oceania Monograph no. 6.

Last modified December 31, 2007.