Leaders and Speech-Making

Abstract

Duna male leaders are expected to be “men of speech” (anoa hakana) (Stewart and Strathern 2000c).1 They are called upon to use this skill in a variety of contexts, largely having to do with conflict resolution. This is especially the case in regard to their ability to make ceremonial speeches to mark the payment of wealth in compensation for killings and deaths that provoke, or can involve, further conflict between sets of people, particularly those of different territorial parishes. This category of speeches is known as tambaka, a shortened version of tamba haka, “speech for compensation.” In the neighboring Huli language area, the linguistically cognate term ndamba bi is translated by Laurence Goldman as “talk for closing down,” i.e., to finish a dispute (Goldman 1983: 62). Such speeches are still performed, and are carefully prepared in advance. The leader delivers such a speech in a rapid stylized and rhythmic form that gives it an almost musical quality, employing condensed metaphorical expressions, repetitions, lists of places, and aphorisms that give it a gnomic and ritualized aura suitable to the occasion. The aim is to achieve closure by definitely marking a settlement; or to open up an issue by making a strong claim. Speakers on either side of a dispute answer each other in this stylized way, after listening to debates and consulting with their peers.KeywordsCompensation PaymentMusical QualityGrowth RitualSenior GenerationCowrie ShellThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.