The Okams Sound in Bongu

Abstract

In preparing for folklore research in the Papuan village of Bongu, I carefully examined everything pertaining to the folklore of New Guinea in the diaries and ethnographic articles of N. N. Miklukho-Maklai. My findings were totally unexpected. Essentially, no one had previously attempted to look at his works with the eyes of a folklorist. Yet scattered through the pages of Miklukho-Maklai's works are exceptionally interesting information and very valuable observations and comments on Papuan folklore - the musical entertainments and tastes of the Papuans, their songs, dances, games, theatrical performances, and particularly, their musical instruments. These materials, assembled and organized, made it possible to picture Papuan folklore as a well-defined system. Of course, much was lacking and much was fragmentary. One might, for example, regret that the scholar left so few transcriptions of the texts of Papuan songs, and that he described few typical instances of the performance of songs in everyday rural existence. However, his most important merit lay in the fact that he included folkloric subject matter in the program of his ethnographic studies. Miklukho-Maklai was the discoverer and first investigator of the music and musical practices of the Papuans. Let us add: a sensitive, keen-eyed, and as in everything else, precise scholar. He approached folklore as an ethnographer and wrote about only what he had himself seen and heard, without recourse to conjectures, guesses, and reconstructions. For this reason his notes and observations, however fragmentary - and not always systematic - they were, inspire the fullest confidence. For the scholars of today they are a guiding thread and contain material providing the point of departure for current investigations.