Dobu

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Lore & Background

First contact with Europeans was established in the mid-nineteenth with visits by whalers and pearlers, and later, in 1884, by blackbirders who forcibly recruited some men and killed those who resisted. They were followed by copra traders and in 1891 by missionaries. The natural vegetation is lowland rain forest. The region is tropical with two main seasons: the southeasterly winds from May to November, and the northwest monsoon from December to April, which brings heavy squalls. Average annual rainfall is about 254 centimeters, with occasional droughts. The population of Dobu Rural LLG in the 2011 national census was 22,781, but this includes people living on other islands. Communities are organized into village clusters, each of which contained a number of smaller villages, usually constructed as an inward-facing circle of houses. Villages are surrounded by coconut, betel, and other fruit trees. Houses are traditionally constructed with a steeply pitched roof and are built on piles. The island has mainly a subsistence economy. The main crop is the yam, with other important crops being bananas, taro, sago, sweet potatoes and coconuts. Fishing is an important subsistence activity, and there is some hunting in forested areas. Copra provides a limited source of income.

In Their Own Story

The people of Dobu, who have a matrilineal lineage system, were the subject of a seminal anthropological study by Reo Fortune. He described the Dobuan character as "paranoid", obsessed with black magic, and as having extremely unusual attitudes toward sex and violence. Fortune's account was reiterated by Ruth Benedict in her popular work Patterns of Culture. However, many later anthropologists expressed skepticism. Fortune's analysis was significantly challenged by Susanne Kuehling in her 2005 title Dobu: Ethics of Exchange on a Massim Island, Papua New Guinea. In particular, Kuehling's interest lies at the intersection of ethics and personal conduct.

Reader's Guide

Dobu Island is an extinct volcano in the D'Entrecasteaux Islands of Papua New Guinea, located in Dawson Strait between Fergusson and Normanby Islands. It is administered by Dobu Rural LLG. The Dobu language is shared with neighbouring islands in the group. The island participated in the kula ring ceremonial exchange system, trading with the Trobriand Islands to the north and Milne Bay to the south. European contact began in the mid-nineteenth century with whalers and pearlers, followed by blackbirders in 1884 who forcibly recruited men and killed resisters. Copra traders arrived later, and missionaries came in 1891. The climate is tropical with two main seasons: southeasterly winds from May to November, and the northwest monsoon from December to April bringing heavy squalls. Average annual rainfall is about 254 centimeters, with occasional droughts. The 2011 census population of Dobu Rural LLG was 22,781, including people on other islands. Villages are organized into inward-facing circles of houses, surrounded by coconut, betel, and other fruit trees. Houses have steeply pitched roofs and are built on piles. The economy is subsistence-based, with yams as the main crop, along with bananas, taro, sago, sweet potatoes and coconuts. Fishing is important, with some hunting in forested areas. Copra provides limited income. The matrilineal society was studied by Reo Fortune, who described the Dobuan character as "paranoid" and obsessed with black magic. Ruth Benedict reiterated this in Patterns of Culture, but later anthropologists expressed skepticism. Susanne Kuehling's 2005 work Dobu: Ethics of Exchange on a Massim Island, Papua New Guinea significantly challenged Fortune's analysis, focusing on the intersection of ethics and personal conduct.

Did You Know?

• Dobu Island is an extinct volcano, part of D'Entrecasteaux Islands in Papua New Guinea.
• The island was called Goulvain Island on early maps and is also known as Watoa Island.
• First contact with Europeans occurred in the mid-nineteenth century with visits by whalers and pearlers.
• In 1884, blackbirders forcibly recruited some men and killed those who resisted.
• The people of Dobu have a matrilineal lineage system and were the subject of a seminal anthropological study by Reo Fortune.