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Juan Obarrio made his first research trip to the country in 2000, when the Mozambican state reversed the ban on the customary, a juridico-political reform recognizing so-called traditional authorities and incorporating them into contemporary local governance and development projects. Insofar as it is an anthropology of the state, his study eschews dichotomous views of the state and society, arguing a Foucauldian position that the state is a relation rather than a structural apparatus. At the same time state agents and development-aid donors see custom and customary authorities - through which traditional spirituality is manifested - as key components of a distinctly local form of democratization and decentralization. [Extracted from the article]

This article is driven by the equivocal possibility of doing analytic justice to the cosmo-ontology of the Motu-Koita, of Papua New Guinea, as it was when early missionaries and colonial officers credited south-east-coastal indigenes only with unsystematized beliefs and superstitions about invisible forces. It focuses on an incident in which traditional 'sorcerers' were put to the test by the early colonial administration, which was trying to destroy local beliefs in sorcery. By interrogating the discursive stereotypes brought to this episode by the administration, and problematizing the translation and understanding of some Motu-Koita terminology, it attempts some first steps toward a more nuanced understanding of the pre- European-contact lifeworld of the Motu-Koita. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Courts of law in Melanesian countries, particularly in the aftermath of the colonial period, have attempted to accommodate 'custom'. In Papua New Guinea they commonly hear land claims under terms of reference that acknowledge the wide variety of customs among the many ethno-linguistic groups comprising the nation. A corollary of this liberalism is that, in theory, they admit 'traditional evidence' including legends and myths. Yet as courts of law they are required to apply some criteria of proof and to search for the 'truth' by examining the 'facts'. A long-running land case from Papua New Guinea and its aftermath raises interesting questions about what happens when oral history encounters these legal imperatives, and may help us appreciate why Melanesians often do not regard a court's decision as final. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genomic selection ( GS) is a powerful method for exploitation of DNA sequence polymorphisms in breeding improvement, through the prediction of breeding values based on all markers distributed genome-wide. Forage grasses and legumes provide important targets for GS implementation, as many key traits are difficult or expensive to assess, and are measured late in the breeding cycle. Generic attributes of forage breeding programmes are described, along with status of genomic resources for a representative species group (ryegrasses). Two schemes for implementing GS in ryegrass breeding are described. The first requires relatively little modification of current schemes, but could lead to significant reductions in operating cost. The second scheme would allow two rounds of selection for key agronomic traits within a time period previously required for a single round, potentially leading to doubling of genetic gain rate, but requires a purpose-designed reference population. In both schemes, the limited extent of linkage disequilibrium ( LD), which is the major challenge for GS implementation in ryegrass breeding, is addressed. The strategies also incorporate recent advances in DNA sequencing technology to minimize costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the 1970s the Motu-Koita, traditional inhabitants of what is now the National Capital District of Papua New Guinea, inaugurated a yearly cultural festival thematically based on traditional coastal trading voyages known as hiri. Contestation over the location and commercialization of the festival in the capital city developed in the new century as one distant village claimed to 'own' the hiri. The Motu-Koita view of their past and their identity has been affected by their encounter with Christianity, colonialism and its aftermath, and the rhetoric of the villagers' claims drew on criteria of authenticity, cultural purity, and exclusiveness which are arguably contemporary rather than 'traditional'. This article reviews Motu-Koita history, the story of the origin of the hiri, and the local politics of the cultural festival. It attempts to understand the way the past, which was formerly mythopoeically invoked, is being historicized and thereby fixed in new local discourses of cultural and heritage rights and ownership, as Melanesians come to terms with the effects of global processes on their traditions and other resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses a recent and popular rhetoric in academic literature that women are discriminated against, often in the name of 'custom', in the male-dominated village courts of Papua New Guinea. The rhetoric is interrogated with reference to academic research findings and reports since the early days of the legislatively introduced village court system, and to data from the author's own research in recent years. On the basis of these two sources, it is argued that the evidence does not support the rhetoric, and further that the latter does less than justice to grassroots women in Papua New Guinea by portraying them as relatively passive victims of village courts. On the contrary, fieldwork research findings indicate that women are confident and reasonably successful disputants and that village courts are a community-level resource which is becoming increasingly useful for grassroots women with limited avenues for seeking justice and recompense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Motu and the Hula, two south coast Papua New Guinea societies, are linguistically related, have similar social organisation and were economically linked before European colonisation. They were both introduced to Christianity by the London Missionary Society in the late 19th century, and each appeared to incorporate the new religion into their social life and thought quickly and unproblematically. More than a century later, however, generalities about the similar adoption of Christianity by the Mom and the Hula are no longer possible. Nor are generalities about the engagement with Christianity within one or the other group, as individual Motu and Hula villages have unique histories. In this regard, while Christianity has now arguably become part of putative tradition among the Motu, some Hula are experiencing conflict between Christianity and their sense of tradition. In particular, while in the Motu village of Pari Christian virtues are appealed to as part of Pari's conception of itself as a 'traditional' Motu village, the situation in the Hula village of Irupara is more or less the contrary. Many people in Irupara are now lamenting 'tradition' as something lost, a forgotten essence destroyed or replaced by Christianity. Based on fieldwork in both villages, this paper discusses some differences in their engagement with Christianity and compares contemporary perceptions of religion, tradition and identity in both societies, informing a commentary on notions of tradition and anthropological representations of the Melanesian experience of Christianity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the appropriation of a village court into community sociality and individual aspirations for status in an urban settlement in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Background on the village court system and its practical operation; Discussion on the urban context of the Erima village court; Role of village court magistrate Andrew Kaduello.

Argues that the structure of the traditional inhabitants Motu-Koitabu society called iduhu in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea was threatened by missionisation and colonialism. Reexamination of the nature of iduhu; Interpretations in the notions of leadership; Account of disputes that prove on iduhu resiliency.

Discusses the Village Court system in Papua New Guinea whose mission included the favoring of custom in the dispensation of justice. Binary notion on the relationship between law and custom; Case from a Port Moresby village court involving an accusation of attempted sorcery; Issues in the case.

An obituary for professor and benefactor Michael Dunmore Monsell-Davis is presented.