The Solomon Islanders
odd: label: General
content: Local Number: HSFA 2004.10.30
name: label: Collection Producer
content: Ushiyama, Jun'ichi, 1930-1997
setName: label: See more items in
content: Man TV
physdesc: label: Extent
content: 1 Film reel (color sound; 1800 feet, 16mm)
unitdate: label: Date
content: circa 1975
dataSource: label: Archival Repository
content: Human Studies Film Archives
objectType: label: Type
content: Archival materials
label: Type
content: Film reels
scopecontent: label: Scope and Contents
content: Film crew spent 20 months in four filming expeditions from 1972-1975 in the British Solomon Islands. On the Island of Malaita film documents a festival of ancestor worship which is held once every few years (skulls are removed from the village's taboo house and displayed in the public grounds inviting the ancestors' spirits to visit during festival time); use of custom money in wedding ceremonies; divination used for treating disease; and a secondary funeral called festival of the death's-skull. On San Cristobal and Ulawa they film a two-part initiation into adulthood; one taking place on Cristobal where a wave-like pattern is created on the face by scarification and on Ulawa the youth attend a ceremony associated with bonito fishing. On Savo, Malaita and New Georgia film shows shark fishing and reconstruction of canoes formerly built and used by Solomon Islanders. On unidentified islands, filmmakers document specially prepared shelters in which women give birth and harvesting and cooking of yams and taro for the inauguration of a new chieftain.

Legacy Keywords: Rites and ceremonies ; Rites of passage manhood ; Initiation rituals ; Language and culture ; Wedding ; Oceania ; Solomon Islands