Jan Verschueren's Description of Yel-Nan Culture: Extracted from the Posthumous Papers (Verhandelingen Van Het Koninklijk Insti
Jan Verschueren's Description of Yel-Nan Culture: Extracted from the Posthumous Papers (Verhandelingen Van Het Koninklijk Instituut Voor Taal-, Land- en volkenkunde, No. 99) by Jan Verschueren
English | Mar. 1, 1983 | ISBN: 9024761859 | 123 Pages | PDF | 10 MB
English | Mar. 1, 1983 | ISBN: 9024761859 | 123 Pages | PDF | 10 MB
Joannis Cornelis Verschueren (1905-1970) worked as a Roman Catholic missionary in southern Irian from 1931 until 1970. In the 1950s he wrote a number of papers on the Yei. These papers, based on older field notes and a research trip through the area, are recapitulated in this volume. Verschueren provides genuine inside information and his data are new and authentic. The four papers in this volume create a picture of a typical lowland culture with a surprising emphasis on headhunting, an uncommon way of segregating the sexes, and a highly elaborated system of phallic symbolism. Topics discussed in this volume are territorial, clan and moiety organization; kinship, marriage and conjugal life; the founding myths of Yei-nan ritual and other rituals; initiation; sickness and healing; death, burial and mortuary feasts; other ceremonies."