The Mailu : a study of the changing structure of local groups

Abstract

This study is concerned with the description and analysis of the social structure of the Mailu people of Papua who have been under the political and administrative control of Europeans (at first British and later Australian) since about I89O. It seeks in particular to describe the changing structure of Mailu local groups since their incorporation into what is now the Territory of Papua and New Guinea, politically controlled and administered by the Commonwealth of Australia. Though focused on the structure of local groups, the study has two general aims: first, to gain insight into the nature of the interdependence between different parts of contemporary Mailu social structure; secondly, to assess continuity and change in that structure as a social process moving through time.