"By Aeroplane to Pygmyland" Accounts of the 1926 Smithsonian-Dutch Expedition to New Guinea

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Journal of Stanley Hedberg
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October 11, 1926 : Agintawa District


Monday
October 11
1926

Another clear brite morning. Everything was quiet and no trading [was] done early. It was the first time. They are getting a pig from a distant village and he should be here today. Not so many visitors today, but presume they will arrive later. Dick and I with 2 of Egoon’s men and a Jap boy for a guide went up trail and shot some new movie scenes, got some good stuff. Pygmies in new houses, stone axes, a good view of a distand [sic] pygmie [sic] village on the mountain side. It was a several hour trip and we enjoyed it. Our guides were from Tombay. We had [a] lunch of potatoes ground [sic, = around] a fire in one of the houses. This house was different in some respects from the others. It was newer and was built up on poles. It also had a front porch which is a novelty as far as the other houses are concerned. There was also a vine covered house and another typical pygmy house with a skull hung out over it. We returned and shortly afterwards a group of 10 or 12 natives of Bigiciga arrived, headman and wife and children. They were all painted up and profusely decorated. We shot many pictures of them. {F4.26} They had brought a huge pig which we purchased for 10 cowries. [sic] and they put on an impressive ceremony. The afternoon passed very quickly for they had brought much new interesting material and were anxious to trade to Matt, [who] was busier than a hen on a tin roof. The head man here tried his best to gum matters but they didn[’]t listen to him very much for he seemed not to be able to influence them. The chief was a going fellow and rather hard boiled. Phootewee put him up to demanding some of the pig so he wouldn’t have to feed them, but when Matt told them he wouldn’t give them half of the pig unless they returned half of the cowries he had paid them for it, they backed away and a big argument resulted. It finally turned out all rite and the new chief said everything was O.K. He saw his bluff wasn’t working and he was afraid we would be angry. He offered to snap fingers as a friendly end to the argument he had started. I gave him a red tobacco tin and he was pleased. Phootewee sent him and his gang up trail to a neighbor[’]s house to sleep. Soon all was quiet. It rained of course.




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