Pictures and the Picturegoer (Jan-Dec 1925)

JANUARY 1925 Pictxjre s and Pichure puer At Coira (Papua) when a woman loses her husband, she goefl into niouin ing by divesting herseli oi all attire save a ai.ilini; of white pipeclay. Th period of mourning coven more than a year and tin pipeclay is renewed as it rubs off. The WOOien of Kaimare use the shiny river mud instead of pipeclay, with still more horrible effect. The weird objects in the lower right hand corner are the taboo goblins of Urania. They are employed by the old men of the tribe to keep the villagers in control, and to guard certain fruits and vegetables for use at Festival time. The tribe fear and obey them when they issue from the " Dubru " (Men's club houses) and dance a strange " Ring-around-the-Rosey " through the villages and in and around the trees. The film forms an all-too-short 41 record of an amazing achievement and the pictures, especially some coloured slides, are unique and wonderfully beautiful. Captain Hurley's book, " 1'earls and iges" which is published by Putnama and contains eighty ilhr tions from the film, is something everyone who has enjoyed the movie will want to buy. One thing is certain, whether Dai win's Missing Link between man and beast existed or did not exist. The Missing Link between man and man exists in the form of the {Cinematograph camera. Can you doubt this as you watch primitive man outside his mud hut with his Stone Age weapons and realise that he could watch you in yo-ur cities at work and at play by the same means? Josie P. Leoerer. Left : Hamoji. chief of the cannibal Sambio tribe discovered near Lake Murray A native the worn industry, at which all en are proficient. trophies these savages collect so assiduously, but to carry away some fine specimens for the Australian museums. The three skulls seen on this page appear very grotesque with their false noses, and rows of bright red and grey seeds. These probably once belonged to the relatives of the men from whom Captain Hurley obtained them. Besides the skulls, there are the strange shields which represent the Spirits of the Dead, and the designs on them bear some resemblance to human faces. They are carved by means of a keen-edged shell usually, although knives are occasionally used, and are called Gope. After being carved, the Gope is decorated with red, black, and white pigment and the general effect is startling. Every man owns one of these shrines, and the more skulls, Gope, crocodile heads, spears, etc., he has, the higher his standing. With most of these Primitives, woman is very small beer indeed, she is seldom allowed inside the great Ravi, or communal dwelling, and is usually sent right out of the village when any Tribal dances, such as are shown in the movie, are performed. In New Guinea there are no "Merry' Widows. This one is a representative specimen. Crocodiles abound in tht steaming swamps of New Guinea.