Register of the Mary Clifton Ayres Fieldnotes and Recordings
MSS 113
Finding aid prepared by Mandeville Special Collections Library
Mandeville Special Collections Library
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California, 92093-0175
858-534-2533
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Copyright 2005
Descriptive Summary
Title: Mary Clifton Ayres Fieldnotes and Recordings
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 113
Contributing Institution:
Mandeville Special Collections Library
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, California 92093-0175
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
1.25 Linear feet
(2 archives boxes, 1 card file box)
Date (inclusive): 1979 - 1983
Abstract: Fieldnotes and recordings of Mary Clifton Ayres, ethnographer and professor of anthropology, made during her ethnographic
fieldwork (1979-1981) in the Morehead District, Western Province, Papua New Guinea. Ayres' research formed the basis for her
doctoral dissertation entitled
This Side, That Side: Locality and Exogamous Group Definition in Morehead Area, Southwestern Papua.
Creator:
Ayres, Mary Clifton
Scope and Content of Collection
The Ayres Papers contain data collected during anthropological research conducted in the Morehead District, Western Province,
Papua New Guinea between October 1979 and September 1981 by Mary Ayres. Included are photocopies of fieldnotes and copies
of tape recordings made in the field. The collection is arranged in three series: 1) WRITINGS, 2) FIELDNOTES and 3) CASSETTE
TAPES.
SERIES 1: WRITINGS
The WRITINGS series contains a photocopy of Ayres' dissertation entitled
This Side, That Side: Locality and Exogamous Group Definition in Morehead Area, Southwestern Papua.
SERIES 2: FIELDNOTES
The FIELDNOTES series is arranged in six subseries: A) Volume I - Rouku; B) Volume II - Western Villages; C) Volume III -
Eastern Villages; D) Stories; E) Genealogies; and F) Marriage Exchanges. Ayres organized and described the materials as follows:
A) Volume I Fieldnotes - Rouku: Data recorded from the people of the kamundjo tjokwasi dialect group (total population: approx.
100). I lived in Rouku (Tjevethak) village in this area. This volume represents the most detailed data recorded during my
research. The notes are filed chronologically, in the order collected.
B) Volume II Fieldnotes - Western villages: Data recorded among the dialect groups in the western part of the Morehead area.
The volume is subdivided according to dialect group/locality, and the notes are filed chronologically within each section.
C) Volume III Fieldnotes - Eastern villages: Data recorded among the dialect groups in the eastern part of the Morehead area.
The volume is subdivided according to dialect group/locality, and the notes are filed chronologically within each section.
D) Stories: Non-secret/sacred stories for groups throughout the area. Pagination follows from Volume III of fieldnotes. The
stories were tape recorded. No literal transcriptions into native language were made. Rather, assistants played the tapes,
pausing every sentence or so to give me a loose translation into English, which I then wrote down. An index of stories, and
an index of tape recordings is provided.
E) Genealogies: Genealogies for groups throughout the area. Each page is numbered for easy cross-referencing. Each marriage
is also numbered. This number refers to the list of marriage exchanges, in which exchange partners are identified.
F) Marriage Exchanges: A list of marriage exchange partners. Individuals are cross-referenced to the genealogies. The back
section of this volume of notes contains explanatory notes on particular marriage exchanges.
SERIES 3: TAPE RECORDINGS
The TAPE RECORDINGS series contains copies of all the recordings Ayres made in the field as well as an index of contents.
Biography
Mary Clifton Ayres was born on August 17, 1953. She received her Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Chicago in 1983.
Her dissertation was entitled
This Side, That Side: Locality and Exogamous Group Definition in Morehead Area, Southwestern Papua.
Ayres conducted research in Papua New Guinea from October 1979 through October 1981, with funding from the National Science
Foundation. Her fieldsite was in the Morehead area of Western Province, Papua New Guinea. This is the same area in which F.
E. Williams, a government anthropologist, conducted fieldwork from 1926-1932. Williams' fieldwork results were published in
his book,
Papuans of the Transfly (Clarendon, 1936). Williams' work, however, was among Nambu dialect speakers, while Ayres' work concentrated on speakers
of the Tonda dialect. Thus, Ayres' work provides an important complement and contrast to Williams' earlier description of
the area, as well as providing an important ethnographic description of present-day culture in the Morehead area.
Preferred Citation
Mary Clifton Ayres Fieldnotes and Recordings, MSS 0113. Mandeville Special Collections Library, UCSD.
Acquisition Information
Not Available
OFF-SITE STORAGE
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE: ALLOW ONE WEEK FOR RETRIEVAL OF MATERIALS
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ethnology--Papua New Guinea--Morehead River Region
Ethnology--Papua New Guinea--Western Province
Box 1, Folder 1-2
Ayres, M.C.
This Side, That Side: Locality and Exogamous Group Definition in Morehead Area, Southwestern Papua (1983) [dissertation]
Box 1, Folder 7-8
Volume II - Western Villages
Box 1, Folder 9
Volume III - Eastern Villages, Part I
Box 2, Folder 1
Volume III - Eastern Villages, Part II
Box 2, Folder 8
Index to cassette tapes recorded in Papua, New Guinea
1979 - 1981
Box 3, Folder 1
Rouku - Tjumbke, Sambui and Daughter Waiambu Crying at Reunion, 1979. Tjiekar - Dance 11/79 (starts on side A)
Box 3, Folder 2
Rouku - Njurna Dance (Practice), 1980. Kauwethethe - Mbesi Dance
Box 3, Folder 3
Fira Dance (Mborembor)
1980
Box 3, Folder 4
Wemenevre Dance (Mborembor), Masu Dance (Mborembor)
1980
Box 3, Folder 5
Place: Savis Dance (Njurna), including Towasi
1980
Box 3, Folder 6
Weni - Tarar Patrol (story), Ausiwewe's Burial - Crying, 1981. Terumbo: Sukipatrol Sarau: Ndunguseri Forak: apc. work
Box 3, Folder 7
Maiti Stories: Fira. Weni - Yethama Story
1981
General note
Yethama Story continued on #8
Box 3, Folder 8
Stories: Yethama; Karua, Taiso, Yafra and Yator
1981
Box 3, Folder 9
Maiti: Mbiri Story. Weni: Ndokre Story. Singoi: Kavaryeveu Story
1981
Box 3, Folder 10
Story of "Big Asshole." Story of Kwaikar Mentj
1981
Box 3, Folder 12
Weni tells story. Mibini Stories
1980 - 1981
Box 3, Folder 13
Paini - Kamunojo Tjokwasi. Mibini Stories
1979 - 1981
Box 3, Folder 14
Ausi Tjumbke Crying. Mibini Stories
1981
Box 3, Folder 15
Mibini Stories. Gubam Stories
1981
Box 3, Folder 16
Gubam: Brum Story Cont'd from tape 15. Rouku: Tukum Tells Story of Wesarwesar; Abraham: Story of Njurna; Maru Story
Box 3, Folder 17
Mbesi Dance. Karama Dance - Savis. Jimakari Dance - Yetkume
1981
Box 3, Folder 18
Tjiekar - Sambui. Yarma - Wando (songs). A. Taiso - Rouku - Njurna Story
1981
Box 3, Folder 19
Oldmen's Secret Myth Songs - Natjethi. Women's Secret in Itiahon Songs - Tjevet
1981
