Museum Metadata Exchange

Names

Name PrimaryKenneth Thomas North Sepik Collection

IDs

ID LocalSAMA 5

ID UriOffline Only

Descriptions

Brief Description184 objects collected during Thomas's service as a Patrol Officer for the Administration of the Territory of New Guinea. These include defensive and offensive weapons, tools, paddles, body ornaments, skirts, household items, string bags, canoe models, masks, carved figures, headrests, ritual objects. About half the collection has been on display in the Pacific Gallery since 1947.

NoteResearched by Barry Craig (including field trip in 2002). Copies of 2000 pages of Thomas's diaries, notes, field reports, maps etc obtained from originals held by Thomas's daughter, including a few photographs. All the objects have been photographed. Publication: Craig, B. 2002 'A Stranger in a Strange Land': Kenneth Thomas in the North Sepik Region of Papua New Guinea. In, Anita Herle, Nick Stanley, Karen Stevenson and Robert L. Welsch (eds), Pacific Art: Persistence, Change and Meaning. Adelaide: Crawford House Publishing. Pp. 191-207. Photographs and archival material in SA Museum Archives under AA336.

Subjects

pontAnthropological specimens; Bags; Ceremonial objects; Clothing; Domestic equipment; Figures; Masks; Models; Ornaments; Paddles; Tools; Weapons

localArchives; Ethnographic; Kenneth Thomas; New Guinea; Photographs; Sepik coast

scotArtefacts; Body adornments and alterations; Ceremonies; Indigenous peoples; Water transport

aptEthnology; Indigenous artefacts; Photography

person_orgKenneth Thomas

Coverage Spatial

TextPapua New Guinea; lower Sepik River area, Papua New Guinea; North coast and hinterland of East Sepik Province; North coast and hinterland of West Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea

Coverage Temporal

From1927

To1934

Related Collections

Dates

Date Record Updated2012-05-30 23:41

Date Created in MME2011-03-18 17:38