On the cover this month
Sarah Chinnery (1887-1970)
Scene from the Dukduk Ceremony, New Britain 1929
Phorograph reproduced courtesy of the Chinnery family
This ceremony, performed on the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain, Papua New Guinea, is a ritual of the Dukduk Secret Society.
The Dukduk is supposed to be a spirit of the forest, and wages a
powerful influence in native life. Women, children and uninitiated are
not permitted to see it, and there were death penalties for those who
infringed its rights or discovered its secrets unlawfully ... There are
two deities in the ceremony: one is called Timbuan ... the mother of
the Dukduk; and the other is called Dukduk. Both these deities - bad
tambarans or debildebils - completely hide their identity behind huge
conical masks that fit straight on to their shoulders. No trick or
personal turn of the head can betray their identity - just as the heavy
enveloping mask of leaves hanging from the shoulders completely
conceals the shape of the body beneath.
- diary entry for May 1929, from Malaguna Road: The Papua and New
Guinea Diaries of Sarah Chinnery, the National Library's latest
publication.
(See story 'The Remarkable Mrs Chinnery', pp 7-10 this issue.)
July 1998 Volume VIII Number 10
RELIGION AND REBELLION IN CHINA: THE LONDON MISSIONARY SOCIETY COLLECTION
Andrew Gosling highlights a key holding from Asian Collections
THE REMARKABLE MRS CHINNERY
Kate Fortune introduces the woman at the centre of the Library's latest publication
SOME AUSTRALIAN LETTERS OF LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP
John Thompson looks at the art of letter writing in Australia, including some fine examples held in the National Library
JAMES NORMINGTON RAWLING: 1898-1966
Stephen Holt profiles a pioneering Australian radical
CHINESE AUSTRALIAN ORAL HISTORY PARTNERSHIP
Diana Giese describes a new initiative for an ongoing National Library project
FRIENDS
A regular news page about the activities of the Friends of the National Library of Australia
UPCOMING SEMINAR
Malthus and His Legacy: 200 Years of the Population Debate
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