Paul Wirz films
odd: label: Local Number
content: HSFA 1976.6.1
name: label: Creator
content: Wirz, Paul, 1892-1955
place: label: Place
content: South Asia
label: Place
content: Southeast Asia
label: Place
content: Indonesia
label: Place
content: Vārānasi (Uttar Pradesh, India)
topic: label: Topic
content: Shamans
label: Topic
content: Dance
label: Topic
content: Funeral rites and ceremonies
label: Topic
content: Weaving
label: Topic
content: Fishing
acqinfo: label: Provenance
content: Received from Dadi Wirz in 1976.
creator: label: Creator
content: Wirz, Paul, 1892-1955
physdesc: label: Extent
content: Film reels (3 hours 24 minutes, black-and-white silent; 4950 feet)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1930
custodhist: label: Custodial History
content: Previously titled "Paul Wirz Research Footage of New Guinea and Indonesia ca. 1930."
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
identifier: label: Identifier
content: HSFA.1976.06
objectType: label: Type
content: Collection descriptions
label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
label: Type
content: Silent films
processinfo: label: Processing Information
content: Titles are supplied by the archivist for untitled films.
genre_format: label: Genre/Form
content: silent films
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Outtakes shot during travels in the Humbolt Bay and Lake Sentani areas of Dutch New Guinea (Irian Jaya), Nias and Mentawei, Sumatra (Padang Highlands), Borneo, Bali, and India. People documented include the Papuan inhabitants of Lake Sentani and Humbolt Bay, Balinese, the Batak (Sumatra), and the Dayak, Banto, and Barito (Borneo). Documentation features: male dances, tapa (barkcloth) manufacture, pottery making, chewing betel, a fish drive with men in canoes, and a funeral service which includes consultation of the Korwar oracle (Lake Sentani, Irian Jaya); a Batak shamanic performance (Sumatra); funeral preparations and men working on looms (Benares, India); sequence of the warrior ceremony and bird dancers (Nias); various dance sequences (probably Irian Jaya); and rice planting, house and architectural structures, and aftermath of an earthquake (Bali).

Collection also includes notes and published articles.

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 As an historical document, its contents may be at odds with contemporary views and terminology and considered offensive today.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.
relatedmaterial: label: Related Materials
content: DVD copy of documentary film based on Paul Wirz' work in Papua New Guinea, "The White Savage: A Family Saga Without Ending" by Renatus Zurcher is in the Smithsonian Institution's Anthropology Library.