This paper discusses the Kiwi Papuans of British New Guinea, as described in The Kiwi Papuans of British New Guinea, published by MacMillan and Co. in 1970. Anthropologists Gunnar Landtman, P.H.D., lived among them in April 1910 to April 1912, in order to study their anthropology and sociology.

The majority of the Kiwi Papuans inhabit the large island of Kiwai, which is about 50 kilometers long and 5 kilometers wide. In addition to Kiwai, they inhabit certain islands in the estuary of the Fly, a couple of villages on the northeastern bank of the river; the right bank of the estuary and the sea coast towards the west as far as Mabudavane. The Kiwai area lies exceedingly low, which explains why the country is primarily swamp land, and contains no hills, whatsoever. Along the shorelines there are few plots of cultivable land, except some covered with coconut groves. The finest display of tropical vegetation is along the riverbanks upstream from the nipa area.

The temperature of the region remains astonishingly constant. It is pretty much always between twenty eight to thirty degrees Centigrade. The temperature fluctuates so little even during the changes of seasons that it is hard

Rather unusually, there is no difference of rank among Kiwai people, whatsoever. No one has any authority over anyone else, as their community is completely socially coordinated. So, there are no rich and no poor people, since hardly any property exists that would segregate the people economically. While there are valuable possessions, like houses and canoes, they are usually jointly owned by a group of people. Similarly, other belongings, such as tools, household utensils, weapons, clothes, etc., no matter how plentiful are no great advantage to the owner. Every man does equal work, and no one possesses servants. In addition, it is custom for a fellow-villager to assist anyone who is involves in some particularly arduous work. In these cases, the person who lends aid is not expecting any sort of payment, although it is common for him/her to be entertained with food and tobacco. Likewise, the building of a house or any other great enterprise is always done as a community. It is somewhat of a rule that a man is not directly paid for anything he may make for somebody else.

While it is true that the marriage contract is supposed to last for life, divorces do occur. The causes of divorce are incompetence on the part of the wife as a worker, illhealth, or excessive quarreling between husband and wife, or between wives. Quite interestingly, adultery on the wife's part does not always bring about a divorce, but what it does bring about is a fight between the two men involved. If the husband survives the fight, he generally continues living with his wife, like nothing ever happened at all. In most cases, the husbands are reluctant to leave their wives because of the great value she represents. When a woman does leave her husband, she will often join another man, resulting in a fight between the two. If children are involved, they usually stay with their father.

Back in former times, any stranger was seen only as an enemy , and by wandering into a foreign village, he would put his life in grave danger. If a group of visitors is seen approaching a village, and an attack on them is being considered, it is bot uncommon for them to be warned by a personal friend of one of the visitors who happens to live in this village. Hereditary enemies, however, are dealt with much more seriously. They are almost always killed immediately after they are gotten a hold of. The same is done for many small parties and tribes, as long as it can be kept a secret, so as to not start a major conflict that would endanger the lives of many fellow villagers. When a visitor approaches a village, it is considered the most acceptable to approach casually and naturally, with no gestures of any kind.

The Papuans speak a language known as Kiwai. This language belongs to the agglutinative languages, which are somewhat unique. One example of their uniqueness is the pronouns, verbs, and adverbs are often combines in one and the same word. The language is considered to be extremely complicated, but the natives simplify it when they communicate with outsiders. The language comprises two dialects, one spoken in the east by the Kiwai islanders, and the other in the west. The vocabulary varies somewhat, although different groups can understand the two dialects rather easily.

In the Kiwai society, every person possesses only one totem. The totems from the vegetable kingdom tend to dominate all other types, and are regarded as characteristic of the people living on the Kiwai Island. The most common animal totems in Kiwai are the crab and the cassowary, which is somewhat of a mystery since these birds do not exist on Kiwai at all. On the whole, the non-vegetable totems are mostly found in the villages off the southwest coast of the island.

The method of courtship is rather interesting in the Kiwai Papuan culture. As in most cultures, it is the boy who takes initiative. Once the boy finds a girl who he is attracted to, he employs a go

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Approximate Word count = 3638
Approximate Pages = 15 (250 words per page double spaced)