| Research Abstract |
An thropological researches in the Scpik Province have mostly focused on the peoples and cultures along the Sepik mainstream,and scarcely on those in the region between the Sepik's southern flood plain and the Central Range. However, the study of the cultures in the region is extremely important from the viewpoint of the development history of the highlands because these cultures would have some intermediate chiractors between the lowlands and the highlands dultures. There-fore,the main purpose of the study is to describe the etnhographies of the cultures.
On the basis of the field research which was done by the present 4 researechers in 1986, they prepared papers in /rder to submit them to academic bulletin through the discussion among them during this year. As a result, 7 papers concerning this topic have been published, and other 4 papers and a book will appear soonlater.
Yoshida are studying the culture of the Iwam people who live along the May River, and he tries to write an ethnogr
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aphy of the Iwam culture, especially on their tribal wars, magic, and the problems of marriage. On the other hand, he focuses on the Iwam magic in this year, and have written 3 papers on this topic. Saito mainly analyses the myth of the Yabio people who live along the Wogamush River, and a paper on their myth has been published in Pidgin. Then, he has written a paper on the analysis of their myth in terms of the creation of history. Kumagai has discussed acculturation of the Mianmin who live at the upper part of the May River, from the viewpoint of their cosmology. Yamada focuses on the music of the Waqe who live along the Korsameri River, and he has found that the music is closely related in their myth and social structure. A part of his study will be seen in his two articles.
The similalities and differences among the cultures in the region are also inreresting topics. Through the descussion of the problems of the migration in tne region with comparison with the data of each studied ethnic grup, it seems that where are some similar migration patterns among them and that the present ethnic groups are formed through mixing the poeples of different origins, although futher collection of other ethnic groups history is required. The tentative result is shown in the papers of Yoshida and Yamada. Less
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