From Tourism to Bandi and Naven Rituals

This chapter first describes the kinds of interaction between people in Kanganamun, tourists, and tour operators, and then discusses a mock ritual display enacted as a spectacle for tourists. This mock ritual provides a context not only to engage with Harrison's most influential essay on ‘ritual as intellectual property’, but also serves as a prelude to a description of men's initiation (bandi) and ritual moieties in Central Iatmul. Finally, the chapter compares naven and bandi rituals, and considers the notion of ‘ritual condensation’ proposed by Houseman and Severi (1998).