Man Blong Custom (Outtakes)
odd: label: Local Number
content: HSFA 1975.5.1
name: label: Producer
content: British Broadcasting Corporation
label: Host
content: Attenborough, David, 1926-
label: Director
content: MacIntyre, Michael
place: label: Place
content: Oceania
label: Place
content: Vanuatu
label: Place
content: Solomon Islands
label: Place
content: Malekula (Vanuatu)
label: Place
content: Guadalcanal (Solomon Islands)
topic: label: Topic
content: Television programs
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Received from the British Broadbasting Corporation in 1975.
creator: label: Producer
content: British Broadcasting Corporation
label: Host
content: Attenborough, David, 1926-
label: Director
content: MacIntyre, Michael
setName: label: See more items in
content: Man Blong Custom (Outtakes)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: Film reels (color sound; 29,600 feet, 16mm)
label: Extent
content: Linear feet
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1974-1975
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: HSFA.1975.05
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
label: Type
content: Sound films
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: Sound films
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Collection consists of outtakes from an episode of The Tribal Eye, a seven-part BBC documentary series on the subject of tribal art, written and presented by David Attenborough. Man Blong Custom, the sixth episode in the series, was hosted by David Attenborough and filmed in Melanesia on the islands of Aoba, Malekula, Uripir in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu) and on Sulufo, Cassi-Cassi, Adigege, Malaita, and Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Footage features: hungwe (major pig killing) on Aoba; Small Nambas namal (men's house) on Malekula with display of ritual art including undandadi (shields) and rambaramps (life-sized effigies), used as cavorting puppets in funeral ceremonies; Ambryn slit gong drummers and dancers on Uripir; turtle fishing on Sulufo; "custom" wedding on Cassi-Cassi; funeral on Adigege; Lau men and women engaged in the manufacture of shell money on Malaita; "custom" house of the Moro Cult on Guadalcanal (includes pipe players, speech-making, and various dances); building, decoration, and operation of a Tomako war canoe on Malekula; and sea spirit dances and tower jumping in a lagoon on Malekula. Included are helicopter views over Malekula.  

Collection also includes associated texts, sound recordings, production logs, and field notes.

Legacy Keywords: Ceremony feasts ; Dance drumming singing ; Music ; Animal Husbandry ideas about ; Authority bigmanship ; Animal sacrifice pigs ritual ; Music ; Aerial views ; Art effigies ; Money shell money Melanesia ; Funeral rites and ceremonies ; Marriage customs and rites g ; Canoes dugouts outriggers as transportation ; Language and culture ; Melanesia ; New Hebrides ;  Malaita (Solomon Islands) ; Lao Lagoon ; Makaruka Island ; Somilita ; Port Adams ; Ambryn New Hebrides ; Small Nambas ; Big Nambas ; Mbotgate

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.