507 



The Neirjlihours of the Mailu. — As the Mailu — and especi- 

 ally the Mailu islanders — came under the influence of their 

 neighbours, it seems advisable to say a few words about these, 

 though I cannot give much information about the intercourse 

 which takes plac^, or did take place in the past, between the 

 mainland Magi and the tribes of the hinterland. There were 

 a few things traded, such as some kinds of feather ornaments, 

 bamboo, etc., which the inland tribes could easily obtain in 

 exchange for the shell ornaments that were only accessible to 

 people on, or near, the seashore ; one or two Mailu dances also 

 were said to come from the inland tribes (comp. chap. vi.). 

 But on the whole the mutual influence does not seem to have 

 been of great importance. I am not able to say anything 

 about how far the sociology and material culture of the inland 

 peoples resemble or differ from the Mailu. 



The western neighbours of the Mailu, the Aroma people, 

 possess a similar type of village, the same style of houses, and 

 the same system of clans with paternal descent. They are, 

 as far as I am able to judge, very much akin to the Mailu, 

 and they were apparently always on friendly terms with the 

 Mailu villagers, who yearly visited Aroma on trading expedi- 

 tions, importing shell ornaments and exporting pigs. The 

 cultural influence could not have been very great, owing to 

 the great similarity of the two peoples. The Aroma were the 

 link uniting the Mailu with other Western Papuo-Melanesians 

 and, in that way, their contact with, and influence upon, the 

 Mailu was important. The Mailu use the drums of the Hood 

 Bay type, and they have adopted a dance — the Jiara — 

 originally coming from Kerepiinu in Hood Bay. 



With their eastern neighbours, the Southern Massim, the 

 Mailu were also in constant intercourse, and the influence of 

 their culture upon the Mailu is more conspicuous, if only 

 because of the fundamental difference between the two — the 

 Mailu being Western Papuo-Melanesians, with definite com- 

 munities, patrilineal clans, patrilocal marriage; and the 

 Massim having their own different forms of social institutions 

 and material culture, as well as many different beliefs and 

 ideas. The influence of the Massim on the Mailu was both on 

 the side of material culture and artistic production, but I could 

 not trace any influence upon the social institutions of the tribe. 

 Thus the tattoo of the Mailu women is identical with that 

 found among the Southern Massim. Again, their technique 

 and ornamentation in pottery is the same as that of their 

 eastern neighbours. Some of their beliefs are parallel to those 

 of the Massim, and they also dance a considerable number of 

 dances originating from the east end. These simJlarities will" 



