Buka
Also known as: Kurtatchi; Tinputz
Buka is an island separated by a narrow strait from the larger island of Bougainville to the south. The people of Buka and of the northern coast of Bougainville speak related Austronesian languages, and form a cultural unit. The primary source on this culture, Beatrice Blackwood's "Both Sides of Buka Passage", is based largely on fieldwork carried out in the Tinputz-speaking village of Kurtatchi on the north coast of Bougainville.
Traditional Culture(1860-1885)Expand All +
Belief
+
Supernatural Beings |
| Nature Spirits | Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 462-543, 524-525 | |
| Nature god(s) | Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 462-543, 505 | |
| Ancestral spirits | Present, and a major focus of supernatural practice (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 477-478 | |
| Deified ancestor(s) | Absent (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 462-543 | |
| God(s) | Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 462-543, 505 | |
Supernatural Punishment |
| Supernatural punishment for impiety | Present (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 516-517 | |
Afterlife and Creation |
| One's actions while living can affect the nature of one's afterlife | One factor in determining one's afterlife (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 505-506, 513 | |
| Myth of humanity’s creation | Absent (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 37-40 | |
| Primordial pair | Absent (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 37-40 | |
| Culture hero(es) | Present, but not a major focus of supernatural practice (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 462-543 | |
General Features |
| Forces of nature are controlled by or imbued with the supernatural | Present (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 505 | |
Classes of Tapu |
| Kinship tapu | Present (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 64-65 | |
| Resource management tapu | Absent (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 298-543 | |
| Social hierarchy tapu | Absent (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 32-81, 462-543 | |
Mana |
| Mana as a personal quality | Absent (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 475 | |
| Mana related to social influence or technical skill | Absent (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 475 | |
| Mana as a spiritual or religious concept | Absent (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 475 | |
Practice
+
General Supernatural Practices |
| Headhunting | Absent (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935) | |
| Costly sacrifices and offerings | Present (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 278-279, 491 | |
| Size of largest ritual social group | Larger than a household, no larger than the local community (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 1-624, 278-279 | |
| Political and religious differentiation | Some overlap (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 50-51, 462-543 | |
Rites |
| Piercing | Present in the culture as a rite or feature of a rite (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 424-426 | |
| Genital cutting | Absent from culture (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 424-432 | |
| Scarification | Present in the culture as a rite or feature of a rite (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 426-432 | |
| Tattooing | Absent from culture (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 426 | |
| Tooth pulling | Absent from culture (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 426 | |
Social Environment
+
| Importance of Patrilateral descent | Low (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 32-33 | |
| Importance of Matrilateral descent | High (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 32-33 | |
| Kinship system | Iroquois (Source) |
| Ogan (1991), pp. 132 | |
| Polygamy | Limited polygyny (Source) |
| Ogan (1991), pp. 132 | |
| Marital residence | Matrilocal or uxorilocal - with wife's kin (Source) |
| Ogan (1991), pp. 132 | |
Conflict |
| Conflict with other cultures | Common, at least every five years (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. xxii-xxiii, 47-48 | |
| Conflict between communities of the culture | Common, at least every five years (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 47-48 | |
| Conflict within communities | Low (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 32-81 | |
Cultural Isolation
+
| Contact with other cultures | Frequent, through trade, warfare, travel, etc. (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. xxii-xiii | |
| Distance to closest landmass inhabited by a different culture (km) | 0.0 (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. xxii-xxiii | |
| Distance to African or Asian mainland (km) | 5070.1 (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. xxii Daft Logic Distance Calculator (2014) |
|
| Pre-Austronesian population | Present: Clear evidence of human occupation prior to Austronesian settlement (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 109 | |
| Hindu / Buddhist influence on supernatural belief | No evidence of influence and not in region of known contact (Source) |
| Cribb (2000), pp. 2.21 | |
| Islamic influence on supernatural belief | No evidence of influence and not in region of known contact (Source) |
| Cribb (2000), pp. 2.23 | |
| Christian influence on supernatural belief | No evidence of influence but in a region where contact is likely (Source) |
| Ogan (1991), pp. 131 | |
Subsistence and Economy
+
Land-based means of subsistence |
| Animal husbandry as a source of food | Minor (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 271-297, 281, 284 | |
| Land-based hunting performed by individuals | Minor (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 284, 317-326, 326 | |
| Land-based gathering | Medium (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 271-297, 276, 277-278, 283-284 | |
| Land-based hunting performed by one or more groups | Minor (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 284, 317-326, 326 | |
| Agriculture / Horticulture | Principal (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 272 | |
Water-based means of subsistence |
| Fishing and water-based hunting performed by one or more groups | Major (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 272, 284, 326-358 | |
| Fishing and water-based hunting performed by individuals | Major (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 272, 284, 326-358 | |
| Water-based gathering | Medium (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 271-297, 276, 284-285 | |
Commercial Activity |
| Trade / wage labour as a source of food | Major (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. 272-273, 284 | |
| Metalworking | Absent (Source) |
| Bellwood et al (1975) | |
Physical Environment
+
Geographical Range of Culture |
| Number of islands inhabited by culture | Two (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. xix, xxii | |
Features of Island with Largest Culture Population |
| Latitude | -5.5 (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. xxii Google Maps (2014) |
|
| Longitude | 154.8 (Source) |
| Blackwood (1935), pp. xxii Google Maps (2014) |
|
| Island type (island with largest culture population or largest island if unknown) | Volcanic high island (Source) |
| Yule (1995), pp. 507 | |
| Island Size (km²) | 8600.0 (Source) |
| Yule (1995), pp. 507 | |
| Maximum elevation (meters) | 2743.0 (Source) |
| Encyclopaedia Britannica (Bougainville Island) (2015) | |
Post Contact History(1885-2014)Expand All +
Religious History
+
Conversion |
| Resident missionary involvement in conversion process | Present, and from non-Austronesian societies (Source) |
| Regan & Griffin (2005), pp. 126, 318 | |
| Adoption of a world religion | Present and predominant (Source) |
| Regan & Griffin (2005), pp. 318 | |
Secular History
+
Economic Changes |
| Exportation of goods to other cultures | Present and substantial (Source) |
| Regan & Griffin (2005), pp. 240-258 | |
Loss of Autonomy |
| Loss of political autonoomy | High (Source) |
| Regan & Griffin (2005), pp. 77-108, 168-199 | |
Current Culture(2014)Expand All +
Belief
+
Religious Demographics |
| Dominant world religion | Christianity (Source) |
| Regan & Griffin (2005), pp. 318 | |
External Links
References
Bellwood, P., Ayres, W. S., Clune Jr, F. J., Craib, J., Durbin, T. E., Young, F. A., ... & Green, R. C. (1975). The Prehistory of Oceania [and Comments and Reply]. Current Anthropology, 16(1), 9-28. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2740946
Blackwood, B. (1935). Both Sides of Buka Passage: An Ethnographic Study of Social, Sexual, and Economic Questions in the North-Western Solomon Islands. Oxford, England: Clarendon Press.
Bougainville Island. (2015). Encyclopaedia Britannica Online Academic Edition. Retrieved from http://academic.eb.com/EBchecked/topic/75436/Bougainville-Island
Brunton, R. (1989). The Abandoned Narcotic: Kava and Cultural Instability in Melanesia. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Buka Island. (2015). In Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved from http://www.britannica.com/place/Buka-Island
Cribb, R. (2000). Historical atlas of Indonesia. Surrey, UK: Curzon Press.
Daft Logic Distance Calculator. (2014). http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-distance-calculator.htm.
Google Maps (2014). Retrieved from maps.google.com
Ogan, E. (1991). "Kurtatchi". In T.E. Hays (Ed.), Encyclopaedia of World Cultures (Volume II: Oceania) (pp 131-133). New York, NY: G.K. Hall & Co.
Regan, A. J. & Griffin, H. M. (2005). Bougainville Before the Conflict. Canberra, ACT, Australia:Pandanus Books
Yule, C.M. (1995). Benthic Invertebrate Fauna of an Aseasonal Tropical Mountain Stream on Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea. Marine and Freshwater Research, 46 (2), 507-518. DOI: 10.1071/MF9950507