Francis Edgar Williams

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Francis Edgar Williams (born February 9, 1893 in Malvern , Adelaide , South Australia , † May 12, 1943 in Papua , Papua New Guinea ) was an Australian anthropologist .

Life

He worked for the Australian government in the former Australian Territory of Papua from 1922 to 1943 . Williams conducted important studies in seven different and widely dispersed cultures: the Vailala ( Purari Delta , 1922-23), Orokaiva (Northern Division, 1923-25); Keraki ( Morehead River , 1926-32); Koiari (Central Division, 1929-31); Elema ( Gulf Division , 1923-37), Foi ( Southern Highlands , 1938-39), and Keveri (Eastern Division, 1940). He carried out minor investigations on a dozen other companies. The finds he brought with him are now part of the Papua Official Collection (POC) initiated by Hubert Murray in the National Museum of Australia .

His descriptions of cargo cults among the Orokaiva and Vailala are classics of anthropology.

Works

  • The collection of curios and the preservation of native culture. Port Moresby 1923. (Territory of Papua, Anthropology Report 3).
  • Orokaiva magic. London 1928. With a Foreword by Robert Ranulph Marett . (Territory of Papua, Anthropology Report 6-8; Reprint London: Oxford University Press, 1969).
  • The Vailala Madness and the Destruction of Ceremonies. Port Moresby 1923. (Territory of Papua, Anthropology Report 4).
  • The Vailala Madness in Retrospect. In: Essays presented to Charles Gabriel Seligman . London 1934.
  • The Vailala Madness and Other Essays. University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu 1977, ISBN 0-8248-0519-4 . (Edited with an introduction by Erik Schwimmer, first St Lucia, Queensland, University of Queensland Press 1976).
  • The Natives of the Purari Delta. Port Moresby 1924. (Territory of Papua, Anthropology Report 5).
  • Native education; the Language of Instruction and Intellectual Education. Port Moresby 1928. (Territory of Papua, Anthropology Report 9).
  • Customs of the Orokaiva. 1928
  • Rainmaking on the river Morehead. In: Journal of the Royal Anthropological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. London. 59, 1929, pp. 379-397.
  • Orokaiva Society. Oxford University Press 1930. (Territory of Papua, Anthropology Report 10).
  • Sentiments and leading ideas in native society. Port Moresby 1932. (Territory of Papua, Anthropology Report 12).
  • Depopulation of Suau District. Port Moresby 1933. (Territory of Papua, Anthropology Report 13).
  • Practical education: the reform of native horticulture. Port Moresby 1933. (Territory of Papua, Anthropology Report 14).
  • The Blending of Cultures: An Essay on the Aims of Native Education. Port Moresby 1935. (Territory of Papua, Anthropology Report 16).
  • Papuans of the Trans-Fly. Oxford University Press 1936.
  • Bull-roarers in the Papuan Gulf. 1936.
  • The natives of Mount Hagen, Papua: further notes. In: Man. 37, pp. 90-96.
  • The grasslanders. In: Annual Report of the Territory of Papua. 1938/39.
  • Drama of Orokolo: The Social and Ceremonial Life of the Elema. Oxford University Press 1940.
  • Natives of Lake Kutubu, Papua. Melbourne 1940. ( Oceania Monographs 6) (Reprint 1966).
  • Mission influence among the Keveri of South-East Papua. In: Oceania. 1944

See also

literature

  • Jonathan P. Batkin: Francis Edgar Williams, Government Anthropologist in Papua, 1922-1943. University of Denver 1980 (Thesis (MA)).
  • An anthropologist in Papua: the photography of Francis Edgar Williams, 1922–39. (... exhibition Eye to Eye. Observations by FE Williams, Anthropologist in Papua 1922-43, developed by the National Archives of Australia in 1999 ...). University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu HI 2001, ISBN 0-8248-2528-4 .
  • Sylvia Schaffarczyk: A "Rara avis": FE Williams, the Government Anthropologist of Papua, and the Papuan Official Collection. In: Susan Cochrane (Ed.), Max Quanchi (Ed.): Hunting the Collectors: Pacific Collections in Australian Museums, Art Galleries and Archives. 2nd Edition. Cambridge Scholars, Newcastle upon Tyne 2011, ISBN 978-1-4438-2660-0 , pp. 191-214.
  • Michael W. Young : Williams, Francis Edgar (1893-1943) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Volume 12. Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1990, ISBN 0-522-84437-5 (English).
  • Diedre Jean Fyfe Griffiths: The career of FE Williams, government anthropologist of Papua, 1922–1943 . Canberra, March 1977 - Available online at openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michael W. Young : Williams, Francis Edgar (1893-1943) . In: Douglas Pike (Ed.): Australian Dictionary of Biography . Volume 12. Melbourne University Press, Carlton (Victoria) 1990, ISBN 0-522-84437-5 (English).
  2. ^ Sylvia Schaffarczyk: Australia's Official Papuan collection: Sir Hubert Murray and the how and why of a colonial collection . In: reCollections: Journal of the National Museum of Australia. Volume 1, No. 1, 2006, pp. 41-58. English, accessed February 18, 2012.
personal data
SURNAME Williams, Francis Edgar
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Williams, FE
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Australian anthropologist
DATE OF BIRTH February 9, 1893
PLACE OF BIRTH Malvern , Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
DATE OF DEATH May 12, 1943
Place of death Papua , Papua New Guinea