Cette thèse analyse la manière dont les relations de paternité, de fraternité, de conjugalité, de genre et d'altérité qui construisent l'univers de vie des Fasu de Haivaro (un village situé dans les basses-terres au nord-ouest de la Province du Golfe, en Papouasie-Nouvelle-Guinée) ont été - et sont toujours - renégociées et reconfigurées dans le contexte de leur engagement avec de multiples expressions de la modernité, et plus particulièrement avec une compagnie forestière implantée sur leur territoire. Cette recherche montre comment ces transformations entrainent un processus d'incarnation, de désincarnation et de réincarnation de ces relations. / This thesis analyses ways in which the relationships of fatherhood, brotherhood, conjugality, gender and otherness that build the lifeworld of Fasu people of Haivaro (in the northwestern lowlands of Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea) have been and continue to be renegotiated and reconfigured in the context of their engagement with multiple expressions of modernity, in particular with a logging company operating on their land. I show how these transformations entail processes of embodiment, disembodiment and re-embodiment of those relations.

Professional development of beginning teachers through induction and mentoring has been commonly viewed as important for teachers' success and continuation in the teaching profession. Induction and specifically mentoring programs focus attention on transitions from one stage of teacher development to another. The three phases of teacher development are initial teacher education, known as pre-service, the induction phase and the ongoing teacher in-service education. The move from student to teacher is the most demanding change in learning to teach. The beginning teacher in this change must adjust from thinking and acting as a student, absorbed with his or her own learning and performance, to thinking and acting as a teacher, accepting responsibility for the learning and performance of others. Beginning teachers are fully engaged in this essential development, and mentoring programs are purposely intended to support them through this period of change. This study has established that beginning teachers in Papua New Guinea (PNG) do experience challenges in the first few months of teaching but these issues lapse over time with the support and assistance of mentors/supervisors. Mentoring has great potential for group effort and transformational teacher learning within schools as professional learning communities. In order for mentors to perform their tasks well and draw benefits from mentoring, appropriate support and training for mentors is recommended. As well as support and training, other incentives for mentors such as salary increments and reduced teaching loads would be a welcome step to enhancing induction and mentoring programs in PNG primary schools.

The research aim was to gain a more detailed understanding of the operation of different key segments for fresh produce supply chains originating in the Highlands Provinces in Papua New Guinea (PNG). The research investigates a number of supply chain dimensions of effectiveness which include, value creation and integration of processes, logistics, quality, information, relationship/vertical integration and overall effectiveness. These were linked together in SC framework. Two potato chains were investigated, one formal, the other informal. The informal potato chain involves small holder farmers, input suppliers and local markets including kai bars and the urban market. The chain originates and ends within the Western Highlands Province. The formal potato chain has farmers, input suppliers, wholesaler/marker, transport companies (trucking and coastal shipping agents), supermarkets, hotels and kai bars. This chain originates in Mt Hagen, Western Highlands Province and ends in Port Moresby, National Capital District. The effectiveness of both the formal and informal chains was identified, and comparisons were made to see how each chain differed. The informal chain was found to have different problems to the formal chains. However, participants to both chains demonstrate a high entrepreneurial behavior. A key finding of the study was that the chains spread their risk by operating in multiple market segments and this can help to solve issues with variable quality. The marketers in each chain position themselves in these different market segments. It was clear from this work that focusing on functions and not the whole chain can lead to a distorted view of chain performance. For example, for the informal chain, a focus on logistics issues, particularly poor roads and problems with availability of seeds, can misrepresent the effectiveness of this chain. Therefore, it was concluded that it is important to look at the overall performance of each chain rather than looking specifically at particular chain functions in isolation.

This thesis examines how the Kamoro (also known as the Mimika) people of the south-west coast of Papua (former Irian Jaya), Indonesia have adapted to major political and economic changes over a long history of interactions with outsiders. More specifically, it is an ethnohistorical analysis of Kamoro strategies of engagement dating back to the seventeenth century, but focusing on the twentieth century. Taking ethnohistory to most generally refer to the investigation of the social and cultural distinctiveness of historical consciousness, this thesis examines how perceptions and activities of the past shape interpretations of the present. Though this thesis privileges Kamoro perspectives, it juxtaposes them against broader ethnohistorical analyses of the “outsiders” with whom they have interacted. For the Kamoro, amoko-kwere, narratives about the ancestral (and eternal) cultural heroes, underlie indigenous modes of historical consciousness which are ultimately grounded in forms of social reciprocity. One key characteristic of the amoko-kwere is the incorporation of foreign elements and their reformulation as products of indigenous agency. As a result of this reinterpretation expectations are raised concerning the exchange of foreign material wealth and abilities, both classified in the Kamoro language as kata. Foreign withholding of kata emerges as a dominant theme in amoko-kwere and is interpreted as theft, ultimately establishing relationships of negative reciprocity between the Kamoro and the powerful outsiders. These feelings are mirrored in contemporary Kamoro conceptions of their relationships with the Indonesian State and the massive PT Freeport Indonesia Mining Company who use a significant amount of Kamoro land for deposition of mining waste (tailings) and for the development of State and company infrastructure.

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Methods were developed for the determination of methylmercury in natural waters and sediments based on steam distillation and aqueous phase ethylation followed by gas chromatography-atomic fluorescence spectrometry. The methods were shown to be free from measurable artefactual methylation of inorganic mercury and offered improved sample throughput over existing methods. Improvements were made to existing methods for the determination of total mercury in biota, sediments and natural waters and dissolved mercury species in natural waters. These methods were applied to the study of mercury cycling in two remote field sites. The cycling of mercury species was studied in Lake Murray in Western Province, Papua New Guinea, which has been historically noted as a region of high mercury concentrations in fish. Concentrations of methylmercury and total mercury in the water column were found to be variable and consistent with non-contaminated lake systems. Concentrations of methylmercury and total mercury in the sediments were also found to be low, except for in the south of the lake, which was influenced by an intermittent supply of water and sediments with elevated mercury concentrations from the Strickland River. Methylmercury concentrations in the sediments were generally higher in the backwater areas due to littoral processes. The low concentrations of methylmercury in the sediments and waters were inconsistent with other systems previously studied in the northern hemisphere, showing a link between high mercury concentrations in fish and high concentrations of methylmercury in waters or sediments. Therefore, the biota of Lake Murray were studied in order to account for the differences between this and other systems. A study was conducted of the stable isotope ratios of carbon and nitrogen in biota from Lake Murray to elucidate key food-web interactions. This study revealed that the dominant carbon source for fish in the lake is plankton, although algae and macrophytes may also be involved in the food-web. The methylmercury bioaccumulation factors between trophic levels were similar to those measured in temperate systems of the northern hemisphere. The high concentrations of methylmercury, observed in piscivorous fish, were shown to be a consequence of the complex food-web and the number of trophic levels in the food-chains. The cycling of mercury species was studied in Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder in southwest Tasmania, which has recently been identified as being in a region of high mercury concentrations in trout and eels. The concentrations of total mercury were found to be reasonably uniform in the waters of both lakes, spatially and temporally. The concentrations of methylmercury in the waters were seasonally variable, and were consistently lower in Lake Pedder than in Lake Gordon. Dilution of methylmercury concentrations by precipitation direct to the lake surface, probably accounts for the most of the difference in methylmercury concentrations between the lakes. Owing to the long residence time of water in Lake Gordon, this reservoir mixes inputs of water with varying methylmercury concentrations. Concentrations of total mercury and methylmercury in submerged soils were low and depth profiles of mercury species in the water column did not show evidence of a gradient of mercury concentrations due to releases from the sediments. The concentrations of methylmercury observed in the water column are consistent with the concentrations observed in the fish. A budget of the mercury inputs and outputs to Lake Gordon showed that in-lake processes and sources in the catchment areas both contributed significantly to the concentrations of methylmercury in the lake. The methylation of mercury in Lake Gordon appeared to mainly occur in the surface waters (< 10 m) and was not consistent with processes leading to the methylation of mercury at the oxic/anoxic boundary observed in seepage lakes in Wisconsin. The concentrations of total mercury and methylmercury in bogs in the catchment areas of Lakes Gordon and Pedder, were high and governed by the concentration of organic matter in the sediments. The processes involved in the supply of mercury species from the Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder catchments appear to be similar to those in drainage lakes in the temperate and boreal regions of the northern hemisphere. The formation of the Lake Gordon and Lake Pedder reservoirs appears to have had little impact on the mean annual concentrations of methylmercury released to the downstream environment.

This thesis seeks to describe the indigenous realities, meanings, and perspectives that are central to the music and dance practices of the Lak (Siar) people in Southern New Ireland, Papua Now Guinea. The insights recorded here are those gained through the experience of twenty-three months living in Rei and Siar villages as a participant in many aspects of Lak social life. The music and dance practices of the region are examined in the context of the wider social and cultural setting. Lak performance realities, are indivisible from kinship structures, ritual proceedings and spirituality. By contextualising Lak music and dance within the frame of the extensive and socially defining mortuary, rites my intention is to show how music and dance not only reflect but also create Lak realities. By examining the ethnographic materials relating to music, dance and performance in the context of mortuary sequence broader elements of Lak society are brought into focus. In these pages I argue that Lak society is reproduced literally and symbolically in these performances.

Zugl.: Diss. Universität Basel, 1991. / Based on the author's thesis, Universitaet Basel, 1991. Originaltitel: Falsch gehandelt - schwer erkrankt. Includes bibliographical references (p. 313-325) and index.

Culture Change in a Local Cultures of Papua New Guinea Author: Julie Grúzová Abstract The subject of this dissertation is the study of the local Nungon community living in Papua New Guinea. It focuses mainly on those sociocultural changes, which occurred as a result of the environmental protection in this area, and on their impacts on the cultural identity of the local inhabitants. Special attention is devoted to the study of visualization and representation of culture, nature, biodiversity protection, social and cultural changes and the future of the community. A partial objective is also to present ethnographic data and facts about the local Nungon community. A range of methods has been employed in the effort to fulfil the set objectives; the work is based on field research in the observed local community and on the techniques associated with it. The specific technique used to study cultural identity is a native drawing which was used to analyze cultural representations and visualizations of culture. Analyses of native drawings enable uncover a native understanding of the phenomenon of biodiversity conservation and related cultural changes. The thesis represents a unique visual material, which served as the basis for the analysis and interpretation of the sociocultural changes that are taking place in the...

The present study investigates the gender systems of 20 languages in the New Guinea region, an often overlooked area in typological research. The languages were classified with five criteria used by Di Garbo (2014) to classify gender systems of African languages. The results showed that the gender systems were diverse, although around half of the languages have two-gendered sex-based systems with semantic assignment, more than four gender-indexing targets, and no gender marking on nouns. The gender systems of New Guinea are remarkably representative of the world, although formal assignment is much less common. However, the gender systems of New Guinea and Africa are very different. The most significant difference isthe prevalence of non-sex-based gender systems and gender marking on nouns in Africa, whereas the opposite is true in New Guinea. However, gender in Africa is also less diverse largely due to the numerous Bantu languages. Finally, four typologically rare characteristics were found in the sample: (1) size and shape as important criteria of gender assignment, with large/long being masculine and small/short feminine, (2) the presence of two separate nominal classification systems, (3) no gender distinctions in pronouns, and (4) verbs as the most common indexing target. / Denna studie undersöker genussystemen hos 20 språk i Nya Guinea-regionen, vilken ofta förbises i typologisk forskning. Språken klassificerades utifrån fem kriterier som användes av Di Garbo (2014) för att klassificera genussystem i Afrika. Resultaten visade att genussystemen var varierade, men ungefär hälften av språken har könsbaserade genussystem med tvaå genus, semantisk genustilldelning, fler än fyra genusindex och ingen genusmarkering på substantiv. Genussystemen är anmärkningsvärt representativa för världen, men formell genustilldelning är mycket mindre vanlig. Jämfört med genussystemen i Afrika är dock Nya Guinea väldigt annorlunda. Den viktigaste skillnaden är den större utbredningen av icke-könsbaserade genussystem och genusmarkering på substantiv i Afrika, medan motsatsen gäller i Nya Guinea. Genus i Afrika är dock till stor del mindre varierat på grund av de talrika bantuspråken. Slutligen hittades fyra typologiskt sällsynta karaktärsdrag i urvalet: (1) storlek och form som viktiga kriterier för genustilldelning, där stort/långt är maskulint och litet/kort feminint, (2) närvaron av två separata nominalklassificeringssystem, (3) inga genusdistinktioner i pronomen och (4) verb som det vanligaste genusindexet.