Preface

This is the third and fourth of a series 1 of papers on the culture of the Arapesh people of the Sepik-Aitape District of the Mandated Territory of New Guinea. These people were intensively studied by Dr. R. F. Fortune and myself from December to August, 1931–1932. For the comparative discussions I have drawn upon our subsequent field experience among two tribes of the Sepik River basin, the Mundugumor and the Tchambuli, and upon the collections from the regions anterior to the Arapesh and the Sepik River, which are now in the Museum. My part of the investigation was undertaken in regular pursuit of my duties in the American Museum and was financed by the Frederick G. Voss Anthropological and Archaeological Fund. Therefore, I owe particular thanks to the American Museum of Natural History, and especially to Dr. Clark Wissler, for the opportunity to make this two-year expedition to New Guinea.