Scope and Contents
Edited film made by the United States Department of Agriculture during an expedition to locate disease resistant varieties of sugar cane in the Territory of Papua and Mandated Territory of New Guinea. Footage was shot during 57 flights in what was ostensibly the first European exploration of sites in the interior. Locations and documentation include: aerial shots of coastal villages between Samarai Island (southeast of Milne Bay) and Port Moresby; villages along the Lower Fly and Strickland rivers, Lake Murray, and areas of the Upper Fly; a dubu (communal men's house) in a village on Lake Murray; Negritos on the Upper Fly and a Pygmy "tree house" village at the confluence of the Ok-Tedi and Fly rivers; sites on the Kikori and the Sepik rivers between Lae and Ambunti which includes shots of an Ambunti haus tambaran (ceremonial house) and Sepik Papuans making sac-sac from the sago palm; and scenes in the coastal village at Hula (near Port Moresby) which show stilt houses, outriggers, and missionized natives being put through military drill. Shots from the embarkation phase of the expedition include scenes in New York City and the Panama Canal and aerial shots over Mount Hood, Oregon, on return to Washington D.C. Film has intertitles.
Supplementary materials: 57 glass lantern slides from the Papua New Guinea expedition and 59 glass lantern slides from, we believe, Cuba that are associated with this expedition.
Legacy Keywords: Aircraft monoplane ; Canoes dugouts outriggers as transportation ; Agriculture agricultural crops gardens ; Barter ; Adornment shells feathers boar tusks ; Houses tree houses ; Cannibalism skull ; Weapons bows spears ; Cookery ; Settlement patterns ; Missionaries ; Crops agriculture ; Art men's houses ; Clothing acculturation ; Tools ; Language and culture ; Papua New Guinea ; Samari ; Point Hood ; Port Moresby ; Fairfax Harbor ; Lae (New Guinea) ; Kikori River (Papua, New Guinea) ; Fly River (Papua New Guinea) ; Sepik River (Papua, New Guinea) ; Juarangei ; Hula (New Guinea) ; Australia ; Queensland ; Panama Canal (Panama) ; Lake Murry (Papua, New Guinea) ; Oceania ; Strickland River, New Guinea ; Ok-Tedi River, New Guinea
Please note that the contents of the collection and the language and terminology used reflect the context and culture of the time of its creation. As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today. The information within this collection does not reflect the views of the Smithsonian Institution or Anthropology Archives, but is available in its original form to facilitate research.
