This non-traditional ethnobotanical guide presents anthropologist Dr. Carolyn Cook’s research and recollections gathered over 30 years of working and living with the Amungme people, New Guinea Highlanders of Papua, Indonesia.
Described as “a substantial contribution to the New Guinea literature,” this book provides a deeper level of insight into the Amungme people—their traditional way of living, and how they interpret and react to the rapidly changing world around them—than has been previously documented and published. It sheds light on the interactions of the Amungme with their tropical montane rainforest environment, their traditional subsistence lifestyle and self-sustaining agricultural practices, their use of plants for food, medicine, tools, weapons, and construction, and their interpretation of the importance of these plants in their traditional culture, customs, economic system, and beliefs.
Written and illustrated in an accessible and practical style, the work aims to be an informative and usable archive of information for the Amungme people, those who work with them, and anyone with an interest in tropical botany, ethnobotany, anthropology, and cultural change and transition in New Guinea.
Described as “a substantial contribution to the New Guinea literature,” this book provides a deeper level of insight into the Amungme people—their traditional way of living, and how they interpret and react to the rapidly changing world around them—than has been previously documented and published. It sheds light on the interactions of the Amungme with their tropical montane rainforest environment, their traditional subsistence lifestyle and self-sustaining agricultural practices, their use of plants for food, medicine, tools, weapons, and construction, and their interpretation of the importance of these plants in their traditional culture, customs, economic system, and beliefs.
Written and illustrated in an accessible and practical style, the work aims to be an informative and usable archive of information for the Amungme people, those who work with them, and anyone with an interest in tropical botany, ethnobotany, anthropology, and cultural change and transition in New Guinea.