First impressions of the Fore

On this day of celebration and historical memories I thought it would be interesting to reflect on what I had written in my field diary during the first few weeks of anthropological research, which Robert Glasse and I began in July 1961. What were our first impressions of the Fore, and what were the first interactions between the Fore and ourselves? After we stopped overnight at Okapa in the North Fore, Mert Brightwell, the district officer, lent us his driver and Landrover to explore the South Fore, where we hoped to choose a suitable field site. Epidemiological reports had indicated that this was where the incidence of kuru was at that time the highest. Leaving Okapa we passed over the ridge dividing North and South and continued for several miles until we found the road blocked by a party of men. Alerted by the rare sound of an approaching vehicle, which could be heard for approximately 20 min before it reached them, they wanted to know who might be entering their region. After several minutes of animated conversation, during which we conveyed why we had come, they announced that we should go no further. We should stay with them at Wanitabe in the central South Fore. This first impression of the Fore eager to engage with new people, new things and new sources of information was one that would last. The Fore never wavered in their welcome, weaving us into their community through the exchange of food, goods and labour, and the sharing of information. As we visited the hamlets small groups of inquisitive young men tagged along. Women, young and old, were always busy in the gardens. We benefited, perhaps, by being in the ambiguous category of outsiders—not government officers or missionaries, who they had encountered already, but people who wanted to learn about their lives. At first, they called us ‘story masta’ and ‘story missus’, and later by our names, which were soon given to several infants (eliciting birth gifts from us). After the road stop, we accompanied them to their village settlement where we were shown a small bamboo and thatch structure they had just built for Sunday church services. This is where we lived for several weeks until, with their help, we constructed a more permanent house with a large outer room open to all. Here, people came to talk, shelter from the rain, and roast sweet potatoes on the pot-bellied stove. So, what did I write in my diary? My first entries record the supplies provided for us by the Department of Health, a list that will evoke nostalgia for old field hands in today’s audience: four large and one small patrol boxes; two boilers; one large and one small camp oven; one hurricane lamp; three patrol tables; two canvas chairs; one shower bucket; one tin dish; two bedsails; one saucepan.