An annotated bibliography of West Sepik (Sandaun) Province folklore

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

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

• Anonymous (1980). “How My Clan Came to Be in the Supari Area (Southern Arapesh Language Speakers).” Oral History 8(9): 94-95. This article presents an origin legend from the South Arapesh People.
• Bercovitch, Eytan (1996). The woman who ran away: Gender, power, and place among the Atbalmin of the West Sepik, Papua New Guinea. Pacific Studies 19(4): 15-40. This article discusses the mythology of the Tifal People. *
• Boush, Al , ed. (1981). Nuuk awoon umi sang uta ko [Bird and Animal Stories], Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics, 72 pp. This book is about the Tifal People. * Out of print.
• Brumbaugh, Robert [C.] (1984a). “Telefol Weng Sang (Telefol Folk Stories).” Oral History 12(3): ii, 1-107. This article and Brumbaugh (1984b) present 37 myths of the Telefol People in Telefol and in English.
• Brumbaugh, Robert [C.] (1984b). “Telefol Weng Sang (Telefol Folk Stories Continued).” Oral History 12(4): ii, 1-101. This article and Brumbaugh (1984a) present 37 myths of the Telefol People in Telefol and in English.
• Brumbaugh, Robert C. (1987). “Rainbow Serpent on the Upper Sepik.” Anthropos 82: 25-33. This article discusses the mythology of the Mountain Ok (Mianmin, Telefol and Tifal) Peoples. *
• Brumbaugh, Robert (1990). “Afek sang": the old woman’s legacy to the Mountain Ok. In: Children of Afek: Tradition and Change among the Mountain-Ok of Central New Guinea (Craig, B. & Hyndman, D., eds.). Oceania Monograph 40. Sydney: University of Sydney, pp. 54-87. This chapter discusses the mythology of the Telefol People.
• Craig, Barry, ed. (1980a). “Legends of the Amto, Simaiya Valley. Part 1 of Two Issues on the West Sepik Province.” Oral History 8(4): 1-113. This article presents 16 myths of the Amto People (pp. 59-113).
• Craig, Barry, ed. (1980b). “Legends of the Abau, Idam Valley. Part 2 of Two Issues on the West Sepik Province.” Oral History 8(5): 1-92. This article presents 11 myths of the Abau People (pp. 59-113).
• Craig, Barry (1990). “The Telefomin murders: Whose myth?” In: Children of Afek: Tradition and Change among the Mountain-Ok of Central New Guinea. Craig, Barry & Hyndman, D., eds. Oceania Monograph 40. Sydney: University of Sydney, pp. 115-150. This chapter discusses the mythology of the Telefol People. *
• Futengim, A. (1977). “Telefomin Area, West Sepik Province.” Oral History 5(5): 73-74. This article presents a myth of the Telefol People.
• Futengim, A. (1981). “Why the Earth Shakes.” Oral History 9(4): 32-33. This article presents a myth from the Telefol People.
• Gardner, D. (1988). Mianmin women: myth and reality. In: Myths of Matriarchy Reconsidered Deborah Gewertz, ed. Oceania Monograph No.33. Sydney: Department of Anthropology, University of Sydney, pp. 144-169. This article discusses the mythology of the Mianmin People.
• Gell, Alfred (1975). Metamorphosis of the Cassowaries: Umeda Society, Language and Ritual. London: University of London Press, 366 pp., illustrated. This book presents the Pul-tod myth of the Sowanda People on pp. 347-359. Sowanda mythology is discussed throughout the book.
• Hanns, Peter (1982). “Mythologische Hinweise auf historische Kontakte der Gargar mit Nachbargruppen (West-Sepik-Province, PNG).” [Mythological references of historical contact of the Gargar with neighboring groups (West-Sepik Province, PNG).] Wiener Ethnohistorische Blatter 24: 37-56. This article discusses the mythology of the Yuri (Gargar) People. *
• Healey, Alan, and Healey, Phyllis, eds. (1981). Numi amalabal imi weng maak maak [Some of Our Parents’ Stories]. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics, 33 pp. This book is about the Telefol People. * Out of print.
• Iqinuc, Fisipe; Wayain, Yayangnuc & Lauver, Doug, eds. (1988a). Fat matanoni 1 [Our Stories-1]. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics, 46 pp. This book is about the Yau People. * Out of print.
• Iqinuc, Fisipe; Wayain, Yayangnuc & Lauver, Doug, eds. (1988b). Fat matanoni 2 [Our Stories-2]. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics, 40 pp. This book is about the Yau People. * Out of print.
• Jayatunge (2002)
• Jorgensen, Dan (1983). Some notes on the geography of the Afek myth cycle from the Telefolmin view. In: How long have people been in the Ok Tedi impact region?, Pamela Swadling, ed. Port Moresby: Papua New Guinea National Museum. Record No. 8, pp. 133-134. This appendix discusses the mythology of the Telefol People. *
• Jorgensen, Dan (1990). “Placing the past and moving the present: myth and contemporary history in Telefolmin.” Culture 10: 47-56. This article discusses the mythology of the Telefol People. *
• Jorgensen, Dan (1993). Magalim goes to work: history, mining and ideas about nature in Telefolmin. Washington, DC: American Anthropological Association. Working paper prepared for the session on “Colliding ecologies: changing perspectives on nature and the environment in Melanesia.” This paper discusses the mythology of the Telefol People. *
• Juillerat, Bernard (1981). Organisation dualiste et complémentarité sexuelle dans le Sepik occidental [Dual organization and sexual complementarity in the West Sepik]. Homme 21: 5-38. This article discusses the mythology of the Amanab People. *
• Juillerat, Bernard (1986). Les Enfants du Sang: Société, Reproduction et Imaginaire en Nouvelle-Guinée Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l’Homme, 568 pp., illustrated. This book presents several myths of the Amanab People. It was translated from French to English by Nora Scott as Children of the Blood: Society, Reproduction, and Cosmology in New Guinea (New York: Berg, 1996, 601 pp., illustrated).
• Juillerat, Bernard (1988). “‘Une odeur d’homme’: Évolutionnisme mélanésien et mythologie anthropologique à propos du matriarcat” [An odor of man: Melanesian evolutionism, anthropological mythology and matriarchy] Diogenes 144: 65-91. *
• Juillerat, Bernard (1991). Oedipe Chasseur: Une Mythologie du Sujet en Nouvelle-Guinée [Oedipus Hunter: A Mythology on the Subject in New Guinea]. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 292 pp., illustrated. This book discusses the mythology of the Amanab People. This book was reviewed by J. Galnier in “Freud, l’igname et la parole d’os” L’Homme 32: 385-390 (1992). *
• Juillerat, Bernard, ed. (1992). Shooting the Sun: Ritual and Meaning in West Sepik. Smithsonian series in Ethnographic Inquiry. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution Press, 310 pp., illustrated. This book discusses the mythology of the Amanab (Yafar) and Sowanda (Umeda) Peoples in relation to their ceremonies. Gell (1975) discusses his book Metamorphosis of the Cassowaries in contrast to Juillerat’s work on pp. 125-143.
• Juillerat, Bernard (1995). L’avenement du Pere: Rite, Representation, Fantasme dans un Culte Mélanésien. [The advent of the Father: Rite, Representation, Phantasm in a Melanesian Cult.] Paris: Éditions de la Maison de Sciences de l’Homme, 289 pp., illustrated. *
• Juillerat, Bernard (1998). “L’insoutenable légèreté de l’ego masculin ou la vengeance du casoar [The unbearable lightness of the male ego or the vengence of the cassowary].” L’Homme 146: 207-217. This article discusses the mythology of the Amanab People. *
• Kalipapung, Francesca (1980). “How Angel Island Came to Be, Aitape District, West Sepik Province (Austronesian Speakers).” Oral History 8(9): 98-99. This article presents a myth from the Ali People.
• Kapris, Lenny (1980). “Settlement Story from Supari Village, Southern Arapesh Language Speakers.” Oral History 8(9): 81. This article presents an origin legend from the South Arapesh People.
• Kumagai, K. (1989). Resources lost by the ancestor: Myth, migration and warfare among the Mianmin. [in Japanese] Hannan Ronsyu (Bulletin of Hannan University) 25: 146-164. This article discusses the mythology of the Mianmin People. *
• Lawrence, Marshall, ed. (1983). Pohon i hapti meng [Stories by Various Oksapmin Men]. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics. Translated into English by Kisa Seth Hanye. In the Oksapmin and English languages, 59 pp. * Out of print.
• Lawrence, Marshall, & Bek, Guhyem (1976). Erer meng-sang-oh [Oksapmin Stories], Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics, 64 pp. *
• Lewis, Gilbert (1980). Day of Shining Red: An Essay on Understanding Ritual. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 233 pp. This book presents and discusses several myths of the Gnau People.
• Lock, Arjen & Lock, Maija (1985). Back ground [sic] Study. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Summer Institute of Linguistics. The mythology section ("Abau myths with interpretations") is by David Bailey. This book discusses they mythology of the Abau People. *
• Manari, Mary (1980). “How Yams and Mamies Came to Akasamei Village in the Nuku District, West Sepik Province, as Told by Amos Melasa.” Oral History 8(9): 52-56. This article presents a myth from the Kwanga People.
• Mantovani, Ennio (1984b). “Celebrations of Cosmic Renewal.” In: Mantovani, An Introduction to Melanesian Religions, pp. 147-168. This presents a Christian interpretation of the Olo People’s mythology. It reports one myth on pp. 152-153.
• Mato, Augusta (1980). “How Angel Island Came to Be, Aitape District, West Sepik Province (Austronesian Speakers).” Oral History 8(9): 96-98. This article presents a myth from the Ali People.
• Nouso, Imon (1980). “How the Moon Came to Be -- As Told at Klapei No. 2 Village, Nuku District, West Sepik Province, Mehek-Tama Stock - Sepik Sub-Phylum.” Oral History 8(9): 56-7. This article presents a myth from the Mehek People.
• McGregor, Don E. (1969). “Learning from Wape mythology.” Practical Anthropology 16: 201-215. This article discusses the mythology of the Olo People. *
• McGregor, Don E. (1978). “Learning from Wape mythology.” In: Smalley, William A., ed. Readings in Missionary Anthropology. South Pasadena, CA: William Carey Library, pp. 333-347. This article discusses the mythology of the Olo People. *
• McGregor, Donald E. (1982). The Fish and the Cross: A Description and Interpretation of a Fish Festival Held at Teloute village, Papua New Guinea, through which the Wape Participants of the Lumi area are Discovered as People, with a Discussion of Problems Met in Bringing Christianity to these People. 2^nd ed. Revised by Oswald G. Fountain. Point Series no. 1. Goroko: Melanesian Institute, 139 pp., illustrated. This has mythological information on the the Olo People. It is a study of the Niyl curing festival. *
• Mitchell, William E. (1987). The Bamboo Fire: Field Work with the New Guinea Wape. 2^{nd ed.} Prospect Heights, IL: Waveland Press, 271 pp., illustrated. There is some discussion of Olo mythology in this book. *
• Morren, G. E. B. (1991). The ancestresses of the Miyanmin and Teklefolmin: sacred and mundane definitions of the fringe in the Upper Sepik. Man and a Half: Essays in Pacific Anthropology and Ethnobiology in Honour of Ralph Bulmer, Pawley, A., ed. Auckland: The Polynesian Society, pp. 298-305. This chapter discusses the mythology of the Mianmin and Telefol Peoples.
• Ouwinu, Mankas & Price, Dorothy, eds. (1986). Firaomp Ka [Animal Sories: 5^th Reader]. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics, 1^st edition, 26 pp. This booklet is about the Karkar-Yuri People. *
• Ouwinu, Mankas & Price, Dorothy, eds. (1988). Firaomp Ka [Animal Stories: 5^th Reader]. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics, 2^nd edition, 26 pp. This booklet is about the Karkar-Yuri People. *
• >Perey, Arnold (1973). Oksapmin Society and World View. Columbia University, Ph.D. Thesis. * This thesis reports several myths of the Oksapmin People. Excerpts of the thesis, but not the myths are online.
• Philsooph, H. (1990). “Open Structures: Aspects of Cross-Cultural Influence in the Sepik in Relation to Southeast Asia, India, and the Middle East.” In: Lutkehaus et al. Sepik Heritage., pp. 87-115. This discusses a myth of the Au People in the context of external linguistic influence in the Sepik region (p. 106, 113-114).
• Poole, Fitz John P. [Porter] (1982). Symbols of Substance: Bimin-Kuskusmin Models of Procreation, Death, and Personhood. “Revised version of paper presented in the Session on Conception Theory in Oceania, at the 1982 Annual Meeting of the Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania, Hilton Head.” Melanesian Manuscript Series 0077. La Jolla, CA: University of California, San Diego, Melanesian Studies Resource Center, 76 pp. This paper discusses the mythology of the Bimin People. *
• Poole, Fitz John P. [Porter] (1983). Cannibals, tricksters and witches: anthropophagic images among the Bimin-Kuskusmin. In: The Ethnography of Cannibalism, Brown, Paula & Tuzin, Donald, eds. Washington, DC: Society for Pschological Anthropology, pp. 6-32. This chapter discusses the mythology of the Bimin People. *
• Poole, Fitz John P. [Porter] (1994). Ethnohistorical and mythological traditions of places of origin, paths of migration, and formations of communities among the Bimin-Kuskusmin, West Sepik Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea. Migration and Transformations: Regional Perspectives on New Guinea, Strathern, Andrew J. & Stürzenhofecker, G., eds. ASAO Monograph 15. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, pp. 179-208. This chapter discusses the migration myths of the Bimin People.
• Powe, John (1980). “How the World Came to Be - As Told at Serra [Serai] Village, West Sepik Province (Austronesian Speakers)." Oral History 8(9): 99-100. This article presents a myth from the Sera People.
• Quinlivan, Paul J. (1954). “Afek of Telefolmin: a fabulous story from New Guinea which lead to a strange tragedy. Oceania 25: 17-22. This article discusses the mythology of the Telefol People. *
• Scorza, David (1972). “Classification of Au myths.” Practical Anthropology 19: 214-218.
• Scorza, David, ed. (1975). Him Me Nipaa Ein: Tuwei (Myths from the Past). Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Summer Institute of Linguistics, 36 pp., illustrated. “The first volume of traditional tales written for the Au speakers.” * Out of print.
• Scorza, David & Peter Yamene (1980). Tiwei mit nekinaam 1 [translated Folktales]. Ukarumpa, Papua New Guinea: Southern Institute of Linguistics, 36 pp. *
• Sowei, John (1980). “How the Moon Came to Be - As Told at Mukili Village, Nuku District, West Sepik Province (Beli - Maimai Stock - Torricelli).” Oral History 8(9): 73-74. This article presents a myth from the Beli People.
• Sufali, Cathy (1980). “How the Yam Came to Nuku Village, West Sepik Province - Mehek - Sepik Phylum.” Oral History 8(9): 57-58. This article presents a myth from the Mehek People.
• Swadling (1980b)
• Takra, Robert (1980). “How the Dadi River near Vanimo, West Sepik Province Began (Sko Language Speakers).” Oral History 8(9): 101-102. This article presents a myth from the Sko People.
• Waisi, Paschal Yolwo (2000). The Lau’um: A Historical and Philosophical Analysis of their History and Traditions. Port Moresby: University of Papua New Guinea, 118 pp., illustrated. This book gives a worldview from a Lau’um Village perspective. The book gives 3 important myths of the Olo People from La’um Village.
• Wamer, Margaret (1980). “How Mountain People Came to Live at Suain, Aitape District, West Sepik Province (Austronesian Speakers).” Oral History 8(9): 100. This article presents an origin legend from the Ulau-Suain People.

© 2007 by Thomas H. Slone.

Last modified November 18, 2007.