Note on the Kuni People
Father Egedi, who has studied the Kuni people, and has written a series of articles about them in numbers of Anthropos, told me that he regarded them as being a cross between the Papuan-speaking Mafulu and the Melanesian-speaking Papuo-Melanesians of Mekeo and the adjoining coast. Whether or not this is absolutely and strictly correct is a question upon which I will not venture to express an opinion.
In general physique and appearance the Kuni are distinctly and strongly of the type of the Mafulu, whilst their language is Melanesian; and, as regards other matters, they in some respects resemble and in other respects differ from the Mafulu.
As regards physique, Father Egedi distinguishes the Kuni from the natives of the adjoining coast by their slighter development, slender limbs and darker colour of skin, in which respects they resemble the Mafulu; but he regards them as being lower-statured than the tribes of the interior, which term includes the Mafulu,[1]with greater regularity of features, and of lighter colour, all of which tallies, I think, with my own observation of them. But the fact that they are shorter in stature than the Mafulu, who are themselves shorter than the coast natives, is perhaps a matter for surprise, if they are a cross between the two. I have not measured any Kuni heads; but I should be disposed from general observation to say that they are very similar to those of the Mafulu, being predominantly mesaticephalic, with tendencies to brachycephalism.[2]
Many of the Lapeka people, who are Kuni, but are on the borders of the Upper Mekeo district, seemed to me to have distinctly flattish faces, with remarkably delicately cut features—some of the women in particular being exceedingly pretty in profile—and very bright sparkling eyes. Where these local characteristics came from I cannot say, as it could hardly be the result of an intermixture of Mekeo blood.[3]
The oblique eye, which is occasionally found on the coast,[4] but which I never saw in Mafulu, is, according to Father Egedi, present, though only rare, among the Kuni. His large amount of opportunity for observation, and his known care and ability in this respect, compel me to assume his accuracy; but I can say that I saw a good many of these eyes among them, and indeed once, having about twenty of these Kuni people squatting in front of me, I observed that about half of them had distinctly oblique eyes.
Father Egedi speaks of their hair as being “generally black, rarely bright, and more rarely chestnut”; and as to this, I would refer to the fact that the predominating colour of hair among the Mafulu is dark or darkish brown, so that in this respect the Kuni apparently tend more to the black-haired coast type of native than do the Mafulu.
Concerning matters other than physique and language, as I only passed through the Kuni district, and did not attempt serious ethnological investigation there, I can say but little beyond what I learn from Father Egedi’s articles and a few other sources; and the material thus available only deals with a few questions.
It would appear from Father Egedi’s observations that the relationship between villages arising from the splitting up into two or more of an original family village is not so permanent as I believe it to be among the Mafulu. Dr. Seligmann says[5] that among the Kuni Father Egedi “could find no trace of intermarrying groups, or groups of clans claiming common descent,” which statement applies to my investigations among the Mafulu. He further says[6] that “The Dilava folk” (Dilava is a Kuni village) “marry into all the surrounding villages; and when a death occurs it is the head of the family of the deceased who says when mourning shall cease”—statements of which the former, and I believe the latter, could hardly be correctly made concerning the Mafulu. He also refers[7] to Kuni war chiefs, an office which does not exist among the Mafulu, and apparently understands that the office of these war chiefs is non-hereditary, a statement which could not be made of any Mafulu chief; and he refers[8] to a funeral ceremony which is quite unknown in Mafulu. But his statement[9] that the kufu (club-house) system seems less developed than in Mekeo would apply very strongly to the Mafulu.
The Kuni superstitious remedies for illnesses, as described by Father Egedi, are quite different from those of Mafulu, and their food restrictions, as enumerated by him, are in some respects substantially distinct from those of the Mafulu, though some of them are more or less similar.
According to him Kuni women, though they may not enter the village kufu or club-house, are allowed upon its platform, which is not the case with the Mafulu emone; and eldest sons of Kuni influential people may not enter into the kufu until their parents have given a specific feast, which custom is apparently not identical with that of the Mafulu above described by me, and which applies to all sons of all members of the village, and not merely to those of influential people.
The Kuni houses differ from those of the Mafulu, being more or less round or oval in apparent shape, even though the floor is rectangular. Also according to Father Egedi, Kuni kufu are of several various sorts, and some of them are constructed in specific ways, and have specific carved and painted decorations, some of which are imitative of animals and objects held in veneration; and these different types of club-house, which include one used only by elderly bachelors and widowers, have specific names—all of which is quite different from what is found in Mafulu. Among these club-houses Father Egedi includes one built at feast times higher up the ridge, outside the village, for guests’ accommodation, which, though apparently somewhat similar in purpose to the guests’ houses at a Mafulu feast, differs from them in form. Indeed, as regards building construction, the only point of strong similarity between the Kuni and the Mafulu which I can trace is the long fireplace extending from front to back of the building, which with the Kuni is apparently very like that of the Mafulu.
Father Egedi’s statement as to Kuni cannibalism, that speaking generally it appears to be confined to the bodies of people killed in war or in private vendetta, and that, though other cases are recorded, they are regarded as a violation of a custom and are detested, might be equally well said of the Mafulu; though I did not actually hear of any known record there of the other cases mentioned. Again his statement that the actual killer must not share in the feast holds good with the Mafulu; but I believe that this idea exists elsewhere also.
Concerning the Kuni implements I can only refer to Dr. Seligmann’s statement,[10] that they do not appear to use bows and shields—which, if correct, is a point of difference between them and the Mafulu—and to a few other things referred to by Father Egedi in his articles. From his descriptions I should imagine that the Kuni pig-bone implements and their bamboo cutting knives are similar, and that their wooden vegetable dishes are somewhat similar to those of the Mafulu. But the Kuni have cooking pots (which they get from the coast), and use forks and spoons and various other implements and utensils which are not found in Mafulu, and their mode of producing fire is quite different from the Mafulu mode.
I recognise that the above comparative notes on Kuni culture are only of a very fragmentary character; but Father Egedi expresses the general opinion that, though the language of the Kuni people is Melanesian, their habits and customs “may be considered as making one with those of the Mafulu people.”
On the whole question of Kuni relationship it can, I think, hardly be doubted that the Kuni have some characteristics which are clearly those of the Mafulu and other central mountain tribes, and others which are obviously those of the Papuo-Melanesians of the adjacent plains and the coast beyond; and the only question seems to be the nature and origin of the Kuni relationship to these two types of people. It may be, as suggested by Father Egedi, that they are actually a cross between these two mixed types; or, if the suggestion in my concluding chapter as to the possible presence in these Mafulu and other mountain people of Negrito blood be correct, it may be that the Kuni people are merely another result of the general Negrito-Papuo-Melanesian intercrossing, in which the Papuan and Melanesian elements have been more predominant than they have been with the Mafulu.
[1] Dr. Seligmann puts their average stature at 60.5 in. (Lancet, Feb. 17th, 1906, p. 427), which is less than the Mafulu average of 61.1 in. given by me above.
[2] Dr. Seligmann puts their average cephalic index calculated from fifteen measurements at 78 (Geographical Journal, Vol. XXVII., p. 234), which is below the Mafulu average cephalic index of 80 given by me above.
[3] Father Egedi thinks that the Lapeka people have some Pokau blood in them. Their language is a mixture of Kuni and Mekeo.
[4] Seligmann’s Melanesians of British New Guinea, p. 16.
[5] Geographical Journal, Vol. XXVI I., p. 235.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Geographical Journal, Vol. XXVII., p. 235.
[8] P. 236.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Geographical Journal, Vol. XXVII., p. 235.