To it's great credit, A Celebration of Origins evokes the contested nature of ritual. It demonstrates how ritual performance implicates delicate political relationships based on pragmatic alliances, festering antipathies or developing jealousies.
Conflict is the thread that weaves together the disparate themes of the film.
Society For Visual Anthropology commendation 1993. A monograph on the religion of the Ata Tana 'Ai and the ceremonial system of the domain of Wai Brama is in preparation.