The individual in Simbari male initiation
Creators: name: Herdt, Gilbert H.
Publisher: name: Canberra, ACT : The Australian National University
Year: 1977
Subjects: subject: Initiation rites
subject: Anthropology Research Papua New Guinea
subject: Simbari

description: This thesis examines the experience of individuals in a male initiation among Simbari of Papua New Guinea. The data are drawn from actual observations of initiation rituals in 1975, and from extended case studies of individual novices collected between 1974-1976. I emphasize the subjective consciousness of participants as an element in understanding the behaviour of initiation, and the efficacy of ritual symbolism in influencing the behavioural development of males. Simbari are mountain-dwelling subsistence horticulturalists who practice intensive hunting. Their small population, cultural conservatism, Anga (formerly Kukukuku) traditions, and relative isolation set them somewhat apart from other Highland peoples. Warfare and aggressive behaviour are fundamental aspects of Simbari society, and they are institutionalized by a secret men's society through a long sequence of initiations as a part of the male life cycle. Male'values are viewed as giving rise to male dominance as a recurrent entailment of interaction between men, and this has major consequences for the male ethos, relationships between the sexes, and socialization practices. I take a behavioural approach in trying to describe and understand the nonverbal and verbal behaviour of participants in ritual. My observations of ritual reveal the antagonistic character of male and female relationships, the behavioural techniques for separating and radically re-socializing novices, and the beliefs and behaviours underlying the incorporation of novices into the male cult. Novices are introduced to prescribed homosexual relationships which dramatically influence their subsequent behaviour. I describe the particular and general historical and political aspects of the 1975 initiation. This leads to a general analysis of the Simbari male cult which is here viewed as a system of male dominance. I emphasize the capacity of collective male initiation to radically re-direct a boy's attachment behaviour, and to effect obedience to elders. I briefly sketch the system of beliefs underlying initiation and note the over-determined equivalence between the penis and breast, male notions of human sexuality, and male envy of female powers. Next I take a developmental approach in understanding subjective experience in ritual, and the feedback relationship between initiation, the formation of personal constructs, and subsequent experience. My data on individuals reveals the persisting importance of maternal attachment and identification, the emergence of homosexual behaviour and relationships, and the acquisition of aggressive social skills with which boys gradually adjust to the standardized warrior role. Finally, I examine the pattern of behaviour and subjective consciousness surrounding men's sacred flutes. I elucidate several hypothesized behavioural mechanisms established in ritual initiation, and correlated with a moodstate released by the flutes, which are suggested as being significant factors in the behavioural development of men. I note the strong empirical correlation between initiation, ritualized homosexuality, and male attachment behaviour, and these phenomena are viewed as entailments of the system of male values and initiations. I suggest that ritualized homosexuality effects a drastic, but incomplete, redirection of maternal attachment behaviour, and I consider several implications of this situation.