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Critical Book Review on Ancestral Lines
The book Ancestral Lines was written by John Barker. The novel depicts his fieldwork
researches on the Maisin people along with their way of living. In the novel there are two
significan concepts, society as well as Maisin culture. These two concepts connect the cultural,
spiritual, and momentous tapa cloth by the Maisin people. Through reading Barker’s book the
reader may possibly observed that the Maisins culture keeps on the same and society changes
through the invention of tapa cloth. Rich worldwide companies struggling to extract the Maisin’s
vital and natural resources may possibly share most of the culpability for this process.
The major trademark for the Maisin people is tapa cloth and it possibly assist to depict
their way of living. After reading the novel, one may possibly truly see the culture within the
tapa cloth. No other tribe may perhaps come close to contrasting. Certainly, with something so
extraordinary and a section which has one of the world’s last intact rainforests, greedy hands
may constantly attempt and acquire a portion of the pie (Toner 2015: 107). The Maisin people
have several threats from other tribes. For case in point, there were million dollar companies,
who struggled to acquire advantage of them with briberies or pinky promises. Regardless of
whom you are or where you exist, we all exist in a world which is continuously evolving whether
it is through technology, economics, or healthcare like a hospital in your community. These are
precisely a few good examples of what the Maisin aim to have when global companies want their
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sacred tapa cloths, or even the old trees that are very important to the Maisins, as it links their
heritage. Colonialism instigates the Maisin to want to take advantage of their natural resources so
they too can enjoy the luxuries that we Canadians take for granted. There are always multiple
outlooks on each situation; some are completely for it, while others are strongly against it as it
could result in the Maisin culture and society changing for the worst.
In the course of writing a critical book review on Ancestral Lines I spotlight on each
chapter separately and discover how it’s linked towards the Maisin’s tapa cloth. In the first
chapter; Fieldwork among the Maisin, Barker travels to the Maisin people, in order to complete
his job. Fieldwork is first-hand, detailed, systematic, and long-term research with members of
another society, usually conducted alone (Barker 2008: 3). In the beginning the community, there
were extremely mistrustful of John along with his spouse Anne, but soon they warmed right up.
“While Anne sat on a low platform, women, children, and men came forward to position shell
ornaments around her neck plus fragrant leaves into the coconut husk bracelets adorning her
arms and legs” (Barker 2008: 6). Barker main responsibility was to help them out with anything
the community needs, and keeps a clear mind with learning their ways of life. With the
assistance of his informants, he was capable to learn the lengthy process of how the Maisin
people make Tapa cloth “My ‘informants’ became my mentors and, as my knowledge grew, my
collaborators” (Barker 2008: 19). In chapter two “Making a living” there are no real big
businesses and the economy is very straight forward. For most people it was seen as pretty much
surviving and living day to day. Additionally, chapter two of the book also demonstrates how
Maisin culture changed from one generation to the other. This chapter indicates that the men
went out hunting and fishing and were accountable for building numerous things, whereas,
women generally took care of the family. Women also had a responsibility of making tapa cloth.
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Moreover, “women work mostly with pliable “soft” materials to make cloth, mats, and string
bags. Men worked with wood and shells to make dancing ornaments, drums, canoes, and houses.
They were also responsible for making the primary tools for beating Tapa (Barker 2008: 42). The
tools were constructed by the men, but the difficult part was done by the women and that was the
continuous, stressful, and time consuming beating of the tapa cloth.
In chapter three Barker explains the different types of designs that may possibly
approached on the Tapa cloth. The designs may enlighten a lot concerning the creator of the
cloth. A number of them may possibly be pretty bland with next to no eye catching colors or
designs where others may possibly be absolutely breathtaking. Furthermore, family ties
including kinship and social networks were also explained in this chapter along with what makes
a true Maisin person moral. A good example of being a moral and good individual comes from
Barkers book stating that “Good persons respect and follow the advice of their elders and, when
they themselves become elders, care for those who are younger by providing the necessities of
life and sound advice (Barker 2008: 85). The Maisin word marawa-wawe is one of the aspects of
a Maisin person because it shows that you care. As a result, it positions someone in a state of
caring and putting others before you. Reciprocity is another characteristic heavily discussed
throughout this chapter. Conversely, “reciprocity is essentially giving something to another
person in the expectation that something will be given in response (Murphy 1989: 149). The
Spiritual Realm chapter is consistent with Maisin horoscopes. It was generally what they figured
would happen if something was not done the right way. The churches, missionaries, spirits, and
sorcery are also discussed in this chapter in relation to Maisin culture, society, and even tapa
cloth. “As far as I observed that, the Maisin regarded tapa as something entirely free of religious
associations. She explained that if men were present or children were running around and
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making noise, the dun may possibly hang out to dry” (Barker 2008: 114). In this instance the
dun was the ink used when making the tapa cloth.
Chapter five; Community, has to carry out the rules and policy of the Maisin community.
Leadership, political figures, and citizens all fit into this category of this chapter because they
help to describe the changes to the community or society, either in a positive or negative way. It
is basically described how snug fit into the community and how individuals may possibly follow
the social norms of Maisin individuals. An instance of this is Barkers “falling down rule”, it is as
soon as a poling worker falls into the water and later on everyone else working in the same place
also fails within the similar water. Following that the person who gets rescued usually rewards
everyone who helped him with a feast (Barker 2008: 149). Finally, within chapter six Barker is at
home communicating with some Maisin people through letters. With the generated controversy
about the Maisin rainforest being sold towards foreign logging industries, he returns to Uiaku in
1997 for a little while. Barker articulates that there might be an exhibition of tapa cloth at the
Berkely Art Museum in collaboration with Larry Rinder, the Curator for Contemporary Art
(Barker 2008: 171). Greenpeace International as well as the International Convention on
Biological Diversity both struggle and help the Maisin sustains their rainforest untouched. As a
result, this causes a dilemma with logging companies because some people signed small under
the table contracts in regards to the area of the land they may possibly log. Numerous radio and
television companies start showing up to Uiaku to film and document the controversy. This
chapter is pretty much about the battle of the Maisin people trying to keep the untouched
rainforest and the tapa in good hands, despite the fact that global companies are trying to do the
exact opposite “Companies seeking to start up new projects elsewhere in Papua New Guinea not
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only increased their royalty payments to the landowners but promised significant investments in
roads, schools, medical facilities, local development initiatives, and other services in order to win
and maintain support” (Barker 2008: 178).
Some of the conceptual tools that anthropologists have at their disposal are participant
observation (Toner 2015: 5), and the willingness to learn and explore when doing their
fieldwork. They are helpful in understanding the Maisin culture and society by taking a look at
the big picture through the Maisin people’s eyes. Anthropological concepts relating to culture
and society help us to understand the Maisin life by being in their shoes or sandals and seeing
what it means to be a good and moral person in their culture and society.
I hope that after reading my essay one may possibly get an understanding of how outside
factors like global companies changed the Maisin culture and society. This is bad news for the
Maisin people who wish to sustain their sacred traditions. It may possibly have a big impact on
the tapa cloth because it probably not be done as precisely as it used to be. This is disappointing
because tapa cloth is a symbol of Maisin culture and heritage, just like the Canadian flag is
meant for Canadians (Toner 2015: 14). At the end of the day, I really wish I knew what the
eventual outcome of the Maisin’s tapa cloth and rainforest was as Barkers book is roughly seven
years old now. I am happy that I was capable to read such a great anthropological piece that
sheds light on the Australian Maisin people.
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References Cited
Barker, John. 2008. Ancestral lines: the Maisin of Papua New Guinea and the fate of the
rainforest. Toronto, Ontario: Higher Education University of Toronto Press.
Murphy, Robert F. 1989. Cultural and Social Anthropology: An Overture. Englewood Cliffs, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
Toner, Peter. 2015. Key Concepts in Social and Cultural Anthropology: A Textbook for ANTH
1013 - Introduction to Cultural Anthropology. Fredericton: St. Thomas University.