Congrats Doc! Refreshing to see a story from you not ridiculing someone's religion. And the hallowed New Yorker is the one in the hot seat no less! Many thanks.

Hey, I'm a fair guy at heart.

I spent four years in that area.

Wemp may or may not have been bullshitting, however reality comes most often in the form of his first version of the story.

Revenge killings and protracted tribal battles over all social issues, whether major or minor, are the rule rather than the exception in PNG. It would be more rare to find someone who wasn't guilty of similar offenses than someone who had never lifted a finger against someone in the next valley.

How he found out he'd been used in the story is what amazes me, the New Yorker is not exactly mainstream press in that locale...

It would be more rare to find someone who wasn't guilty of similar offenses than someone who had never lifted a finger against someone in the next valley.

Should read:

It would be more rare to find someone who wasn't guilty of similar offenses than someone who had participated, due to deeply ingrained tribal traditions and peer pressure.

Sorry, just did 6+ hours on the expressway...

Beautiful day for a drive, low 70's and sunny with flowers and blossoms everywhere, and the mountains still capped with snow.

Just curious, what took you to New Guinea?

Just curious, what took you to New Guinea?

An airplane... *

...And a simple twist of Fate. I have a free-minded mother who wanted to use her writing skills somewhere interesting.

If you ever need to cook a pig to perfection without any modern technology whatsoever, I'm your man...

Must've been fascinating. I ran into a guy recently who's done (and is planning on returning to do more) missionary work in New Guinea. And a biologist who stayed in a hotel located within a walled compound and was advised not to go out and about without an armed guard. Exotic, so say the least.

By the way, on the porker, are we talking regular pig (e.g., Sus domestica) or long pig (Homo sapiens)?

One is enjoyed frequently and openly, while the other is a rumored and exotic delicacy.

It is said that by eating the parts of your enemy you gain the perceived strength of that part; ie. for his running strength you have some thigh, for his smarts the brain, for his manliness the balls.

I always stick to pork, don'cha know it's the other white meat...

Yes it was, and still is, fascinating. The dimension and depth gleaned from existing in that environment is unobtainable in any other venue; actually having lived in the stone-age provides amazing insight into the behavior of homo-sapiens, today.

"having lived in the stone-age provides amazing insight into the behavior of homo-sapiens, today."

I'm sure. As I recall, anthropologist Marvin Harris drew on some New Guinea goings on for his books Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches and Cannibals and Kings. I remember seeing some early---either late 1940s or early 1950s---film of two New Guinea groups facing off during a war; provided good insight into "primitive" warfare as a largely ritualistic activity.

"Pig thieves" was going too far.

Just wait till your Papua gets home!!!

#12 - FF for Prolix

Stealing a pig in PNG can have some serious repercussions. They are viewed as cash equivalent, but more like savings bonds, as they are painstakingly raised from piglets by the women of the village. They are held completely responsible for the welfare of the investment and beaten thoroughly if they fail in their duties.

I've seen PNG women using both their breasts at once, simultaneously nursing one of their own brood on one side and a piglet on the other.

Growing up that close to your wealth can naturally cause one to become quite attached to it.

Gay pig marriage?? I had no idea they were so enlightened.

I know there is a New York Guinea joke in there somewhere...

Guinea's, not just for pasta anymore.

Typical lib Pulitzter Prize winning fool doesn't realize when he's being put on by a native tribesman. Sounds like the lib fools on DR. Maybe they can give each other some more awards, Pulitzers, and Oscars.

"There is no fool like a lib fool."

Fool Watcher Thom

When Thom was born the doctor didn't just slap her, he cut her heart out with a trocar just to be sure THAT mistake didn't occur again.

I'm surprised that there wasn't a chapter devoted to how to shrink the head of your enemy...Although head hunting is banned in New Guinea, I've read stories about resurgences of the practice...It sounds like a great holiday retreat...

Fool Watcher Thom
#18 | Posted by fwthom at 2009-04-23 12:33 PM | Reply | Flag: Admiring Himself in the Mirror

I didn't think their images reflected in mirrors?

Don't these people use sea shells as money? Just settle out of court.

I'm glad they're certain about the pig part.

Sea shells as money makes more sense than the ugly worthless rags we pass around called dollars. At least you could make a nice necklace out of the shells. Shrunken heads hanging on your belt look good too. Unfortunetly, I had to get rid of my heads when they were made illegal.

"Sea shells as money makes more sense than the ugly worthless rags we pass around called dollars."

I don't know what you do for a living, but I bet if you get paid in sea shells and I get paid in dollars, I'll have a much easier life than you even factoring in Obama's mission to kick off massive inflation.....

The Samoans say that Margaret Mead was gulled and what she reported of their "customs" were the result of "put ons," people pulling her leg, having fun with a gullible young girl.

The lawsuit doesn't seem to have legs regardless of the veracity of the content of the article. I "confess" my "crimes" (which may not be crimes in a particular venue because of social tradition). You relate my claims in an article. I complain that I fooled you and what I told you about myself was not true. I demand money compensation because you depicted me as I said I was.

So, who makes out? A conspiracy theory fellow would wonder if the magazine wasn't just trying to increase circulation by generating publicity. After all, it is an era of declining circulation and advertising revenue.

Some poster did inquire as to how someone in that "outback" would even have learned of he article. All that said, there is a certain verisimilitude. Don't those folks suffer from an ailment supposedly transmitted by prions, and contracted by eating human brains?

But then, why should we value "our ways" more than theirs. Diversity is the value of he day, and they have adapted their existence in another way. With the particular demographic of readers of the New Yorker, the subjects of the article have not been maligned, but rather their "cultural activites" elicit admiration and profound respect.