Melpa Dream Interpretation and the Concept of Hidden Truth

Abstract

Dreams are widely considered to be important in Melanesian societies, mostly as a means of understanding the present or foreseeing the future (Trompf, n.d.). In seeking to penetrate beyond this pragmatic context, which the people themselves enunciate, anthropologists have often borrowed the ideas of Freud in order to decode the supposed unconsciously coded communications of dreams (Berndt 1951; Eggan 1966; Schneider 1969). However, before reaching for this putatively universal level, it is desirable first to examine how dreams are shared and interpreted in their indigenous, or emic, context, a point which is currently well recognized (Tedlock 1987: esp. ch. 3). This paper attempts to do this for the Mt. Hagen (or Melpa) people of the Western Highlands Province in Papua New Guinea, starting from the people's own concepts of hidden truth and uncertainty. In my conclusion I discuss the further relationship of these concepts to the issue of consensus in social life. In considering the interpretations which people place on dreams, we can begin by looking at their ideas of knowledge in general. A good proposition to start with is our own adage is believing. In waking life there is a strong emphasis on this idea in Mount Hagen. The matter often comes up in court cases, where rules about hearsay do not simply stem from recent experience with western-style courts but are intrinsic to the people's own way of thinking. Skepticism may be expressed even about such wellestablished cultural constructs as ghosts, and it always goes with the phrase, Are you in the habit of seeing these things or not? People recognize that in disputes the truth may be concealed and it is necessary for it to be revealed if the matter is to be resolved. The relevant terms are mo ronom