Description
Book SynopsisWhen Leopold Pospíšil first arrived in New Guinea in 1954 to investigate the legal systems of the local tribes, he was warned about the Kapauku, who reputedly had no laws. Skeptical of the idea that any society could exist without laws, Pospíšil immediately decided to live among and study the Kapauku. Learning the language and living as a participant-observer among them, Pospíšil discovered that the supposedly primitive society possessed laws, rules, and social structures that were as sophisticated as they were logical. Drawing on his research and experiences among the Kapauku—he would stay with them five times between 1954 and 1979—Pospíšil broke new ground in the field of legal anthropology, holding a professorship at Yale, serving as the anthropology curator of the Peabody Museum of Natural History, and publishing three books of scholarship on Kapauku law. This memoir of Pospíšil’s experience is filled with charming anecdotes and thrilling stories of trials, travels, and war told with humor and humility and accompanied by a wealth of the author’s personal photos from the time.
Table of ContentsI. Introduction: How I Became an Anthropologist II. Language III. Data Gathering IV. The Participant Observer V. Becoming One of Them VI. Collecting VII. Non-horticultural Food Quest VIII. Kapauku Culture and the Concept of “Primitive Society” IX. Kapauku Personality X. Kapauku Mathematics XI. Quantity Obsession XII. Economy Ceremonies XIII. Life Cycle Ceremonies XIV. Law XV. Two Kapauku Legal Cases XVI. Theft of Pigs and Embezzlement XVII. Rape and Adultery XVIII. War XIX. Magic and Religion XX. Health, Sickness and Medicine XXI. Changes Introduced by the Encroaching Western World XXII. My Research and the Dutch Administration XXIII. Departure from the Kamu XXIV. Afterword: Leopold Pospíšil, Anthropology, and the Kapauku (Jirík & Soukup)
