Tanna Island films
odd: label: Local Numbers
content: HSFA 1975.1.2
name: label: Collection Creator
content: Müller, Kal, 1939-
setName: label: See more items in
content: Kal Muller films and photographs of Vanuatu (New Hebrides)
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 13 Film reels (color sound; 11,770 feet, 16mm)
unitdate: label: Date
content: 1973-1974
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: HSFA.1975.01, Series 2
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Full film shot on Tanna Island at various ceremonial grounds and house sites in the Yoohnanan village vicinity. Film includes extensive footage of the rehearsals of Tannese dances traditionally performed as part of ceremonial life at the Yoohnanan ceremonial grounds; the male nao and toka dances and the female napenapen (basket-basket) dance (performed in an atmosphere of "custom" revival); daily sessions of kava drinking illustrating the method by which kava roots are prepared as a beverage and imbibed by men; the sequestering and ritual associated with recently circumcised boys; documentation of a nekowair ceremony at which nao and toka dances are performed, rituals related to clan alliances of exchanges of kava roots, pigs, and "lap-lap" are made between village groups, and pigs are ritually sacrificed. The custom practices documented in this film record (including the traditional dances, kava drinking, and the wearing of penis wrappers) relate to the revitalization practices of the John Frum cargo cult.