A woman’s hat from 1923 decorated with of paradise feathers. Photo from Women’s Hats / Il Cappello Da Donna (Bella Cosa) by Adele Campione, photo- graphs by Francesco Panunzio © 1994. Used with permission of Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA, www.chroniclebooks.com.

history and the birdsP of Surprising Connections from aradiseby stuart kirsch

www.museum.upenn.edu/expedition 15 ow can a woman’s hat made in New York City (ca. 1915) and decorated with iridescent bird of paradise plumes from New Guinea affect our understanding of history? What relationships were responsible for its cre- ation?H What do such relationships reveal about New Guinea and its connections to the rest of the world? How might the characteristics of a natural like the greater bird of par- adise influence human history? These questions arose while I was conducting ethnographic research in the lowland interior rain forests of southern New Guinea among the Yonggom people. The answers challenge how we think about history, including the commonly held view of New Guinea as a remote island that has remained isolated from the tides and currents of world history.

THE EFFECTS OF COLONIALISM AND THE HEIGHT OF FASHION

During the first two decades of the 20th century, hats deco- rated with bird feathers were in style among women living in the cosmopolitan centers of Europe and the Americas. Feathers imported from the tropics were the most desirable, perhaps none more so than the brilliant plumes of of paradise from New Guinea and the Moluccas. From 1905 to 1920, 30,000–80,000 bird of paradise skins were exported annually to the feather auctions of London, Paris, and Amsterdam. This demand for bird of paradise plumes inspired Malay, Chinese, and Australian hunters to seek their fortunes in New Guinea’s rain forests. One of several impor- tant hunting grounds during the international “plume boom” was the area between the Ok Tedi and Muyu Rivers where the Yonggom people live.

Above, Raggiana Bird of Paradise Amitav Ghosh’s histori- performing its mating dance. cal travelogue, In an Antique Right, the Yonggom people live Land (1992), describes how between the Ok Tedi and Muyu European expansion into Rivers in New Guinea’s Western Province. In 1876, Lawrence the Indian Ocean during the Hargrave panned for gold and cop- 16th and 17th centuries per in the Ok Tedi River. Although

gradually erased the mem- )

the source of these metals was w o l not discovered until almost a cen- ory of earlier movements e b (

h tury later, the Ok Tedi mine cur- c

of people and goods s r i rently contributes nearly 25 per- K

t

between Northeast Africa r a

cent of Papua New Guinea’s for- u t S

and India’s Malabar Coast. ,

eign earnings, although it is also ) e v responsible for severe environmen- o

This is a common conse- b a (

tal degradation downstream along r e

quence of colonialism— l h

the Ok Tedi and Fly Rivers. As a e e

that prior connections and B

result, birds of paradise no longer . M

fly along the Ok Tedi River. histories are forgotten. e c u r

Colonial intervention has B

16 volume 48, number 1 expedition n 1857, Alfred R. Wallace published the first scientific description of the mating prac- tices of the Greater Bird of Paradise in The IAnnals and Magazine of Natural History, in May and June they have mostly arrived at their full perfection. This is probably the season of pair- ing. They9 are in a state of excitement and incessant activity, and the males assemble together to exercise, dress and display their magnificent . For this purpose they prefer certain lofty, large-leaved forest-trees (which at this time have no fruit), and on these, early in the morning, from ten to twenty full-plumaged birds assemble, as the natives express it, “to play and dance.” They open their wings, stretch out their necks, shake their bodies, and keep the long golden plumes opened and vibrating— constantly changing their positions, flying across and across each other from branch to branch, and appearing proud of their activity and beauty. The long, downy, golden feathers are, however, displayed in a manner which has, I believe, been hitherto quite Women’s hats from 1912–23 decorated with bird of paradise feathers. unknown, but in which alone the bird can be seen Photo from Women’s Hats / Il Cappello Da Donna (Bella Cosa) by Adele Campione, photographs by Francesco Panunzio © 1994. Used to full advantage, and claim our admiration as the with permission of Chronicle Books, San Francisco, CA, most beautiful of all the beautiful winged forms www.chroniclebooks.com. which adorn the earth. Instead of hanging down on each side of the bird, and being almost confounded similarly affected the historical knowledge of New Guinea, with the tail (as I believe always hitherto repre- limiting what we remember about the international trade in sented, and as they are, in fact, carried during repose bird of paradise feathers. While hats decorated with bird of and flight), they are erected vertically over the back paradise plumes can still be found in museums and attics, we from under and behind the wing, and there opened no longer recall the details of the long-distance trade networks and spread out in a fan-like mass, completely over- that previously connected the rain forests of New Guinea to shadowing the whole bird. The effect of this is inex- the fashion capitals of the world. pressibly beautiful. The large, ungainly legs are no Birds of paradise have been the focus of scientific curiosity longer a deformity – as the bird crouches upon and aesthetic desire in Europe since 1522, when the only ship them, the dark brown body and wings form but a to complete Magellan’s circumnavigation of the world central support to the splendour above, from which returned with five skins of the lesser bird of paradise along more brilliant colours would distract our attention, with its cargo of cloves. Portuguese sailors later brought bird – while the pale yellow head, swelling throat of rich of paradise skins from the Moluccas (Indonesia) back to metallic green, and bright golden eye, give vivacity Europe. Their richly colored plumes captivated European and life to the whole figure. Above rise the imaginations, as did their unusual anatomy, for the legs of the intensely-shining, orange-coloured plumes, richly birds had been removed during their preservation. This gave marked with a stripe of deep red, and opening out rise to European speculation that the birds, unable to alight, with the most perfect regularity into broad, waving must remain perpetually in flight, suspended between heaven feathers of airy down, – every filament which termi- and earth. When Linnaeus published the first scientific nates them distinct, yet waving and curving and description of the Greater Bird of Paradise in 1758, he invoked closing upon each other with the vibratory motion the bird’s initial reception in Europe by naming the species the bird gives them; while the two immensely long apoda, the “footless” bird of paradise. filaments of the tail hang in graceful curves below.

www.museum.upenn.edu/expedition 17 tified a new bird of paradise species with ruddy plumes, which he named Paradisaea raggiana after his friend the Marquis Raggi of Genoa. The interest generated by his discovery enabled D’Albertis to raise funds for two more expeditions, including the longest river journey into the island’s unexplored southern interior. In 1876, D’Albertis and his crew followed the Fly River north for five weeks, traveling about 580 miles upstream, until it became too shal- low for the steamship Neva to con- tinue. On his return journey, D’Albertis ordered the crew to turn the ship up the Ok Tedi River, a trib- utary of the Fly. On the evening of July 4, the Neva anchored beside a small island in the lower Ok Tedi River. The following morning, a group of Yonggom men appeared on the western shore, staring at the ship with curiosity. Exhausted from the long journey and ill with “B for the famed Bird of Paradise rare,” from the fever, D’Albertis sat on board and ABC Book of Birds; drawings by Will F. Stecher and peered back at them through his text by Carolyn S. Hogman (Rochester, NY: Stecher Lithographic, 1916). binoculars. Suddenly one of the Yonggom men turned away from the ship and slapped the back of his Europeans knew little about the behav- thigh. Correctly interpreting the ior and biology of the birds of paradise until gesture as an insult, the temperamen- 19th century voyages of exploration made it tal D’Albertis erupted in anger. The possible to carry out first-hand observations of the birds in the men disappeared into the forest, but when they returned wild and to make scientific collections of specimens. Among for another look, D’Albertis ordered his reluctant engineer, the naturalists who studied New Guinea’s birds of paradise Lawrence Hargrave, to fire an exploding rocket over was Alfred R. Wallace, who produced the first scientific their heads. description of their mating practices. Charles Darwin may In his two-volume account of his expeditions to New well have been thinking of them when writing about sexual Guinea, D’Albertis described seeing five birds of paradise fly selection in The Descent of Man and Selection in Relation to Sex across the Ok Tedi River. “The last rays of sun gilded the long (1871): “When we behold a male bird displaying his graceful yellow feathers of their sides for an instant. Never until today plumes or splendid colours before the female . . . it is impossi- have I been able to contemplate the magnificence of this bird ble to doubt that she admires the beauty of her male partner.” [in flight].” The following day the crew of the Neva returned from a foray into the rain forest with a “magnificent specimen FIRST CONTACT ALONG THE OK TEDI RIVER of Paradisaea apoda, the greater bird of paradise.” Although D’Albertis’s expedition along the Fly River claimed its legiti- Scientific interest in the birds of paradise was responsible for macy in terms of scientific discovery, it paved the way for com- the events of first contact between Europeans and the merce. Several decades later the first bird of paradise hunters Yonggom. During an expedition to New Guinea’s west coast in followed D’Albertis’s path to the area between the Ok Tedi and 1873, the Italian explorer and naturalist Luigi D’Albertis iden- Muyu Rivers.

18 volume 48, number 1 expedition THE YONGGOM AND THE BIRD The mating patterns of the birds of paradise thus influenced OF PARADISE HUNTERS the relationships between the two parties, making the foreign hunters dependent on indigenous knowledge. The Yonggom called the hunters ono dapit, from ono, their By evoking Euro-American interests in science, and later in name for the greater bird of paradise, and dapit, which referred fashion and commerce, the birds of paradise attracted out- to the light color of the hunters’ skin. The name ono dapit was siders to the region, shaped their interactions with the still occasionally used to refer to Euro-Americans during the Yonggom and their neighbors, and led to the incorporation of 1980s. The hunters established camps near Yonggom settle- New Guinea into the global economy. In effect, the natural ments and engaged local guides to take them hunting, provid- characteristics of this bird and its behavior influenced the ing steel axes and knives in exchange for the birds they killed. course of human history, including relationships between These tools were highly valued by the Yonggom because they Euro-Americans and the people of New Guinea. reduced the labor involved in clearing trees for gardens and building houses. The hunters also traded tobacco and white THE BIRDS OF PARADISE AND GLOBAL porcelain beads for food. Yonggom stories about the bird of ENVIRONMENTALISM paradise hunters depict these interactions in a positive light. Years later, an Australian patrol officer attributed the “friendly New Guinea is sometimes described as “the land that time for- disposition”of the Yonggom to their familiarity and good rela- got” because of its remote location and marginal position in tions with the foreign hunters. the global economy. This characterization ignores the The primary bird species hunted in this region was the exchange networks that once connected its rain forests to the greater bird of paradise, which has neon yellow and orange fashion districts of the West,as well as subsequent demand for tailfeathers. The hunting season ran from April until its copra (dried coconut), gold, copper, timber, and coffee. The September, during the bird’s mating season when the males were in full plumage. At this time of year a group of mature males will congre- gate regularly in an estab- lished canopy tree, participat- ing in a communal display of courtship that attracts poten- tial mating partners. The only efficient strategy for hunting these birds in large numbers is to locate their display trees and wait for the birds to assemble. As Wallace observed, the birds become so immersed in their perform- ance that they become vul- nerable to predation by hunters. The success of the foreign hunters was therefore contingent on the coopera- tion of local residents who could lead them to the display trees located on their land. h c s r

i A Yonggom man wearing a bird of K t r paradise headdress dances in front a u t

S of the author’s house

www.museum.upenn.edu/expedition 19 G 70s. p andestablishing animportant banning feather imports 1913, theLacey passed Act in theU.S. Commons in 1908, House of inBritain’s failed legislation anti-plumage Although dise. para- including birds of rare andexotic birds, the plumage of forwould term thegeneric nolonger wear “osprey feathers,” announced thatshe Queen Alexandra, years later hiswife, andtwo Birds, royal for theProtection to charter theSociety of Edward a VII granted In 1904, modern Audubon Societies. Club including andthe theSierra organizations, conservation local Audubon intheU.S.—precursors Societies to today’s in Great (1889)andfrom Britain of 1896theorganization t e t a w 20 sig w p Left, dancerspreparefor the dles ofimmat to view their performance. The oftheplumesandrhythmic sublimebeauty nature ofthedancecontributetodesiredeffect ofseduction. metronomes. Like themalebirdsthatcongregatein display trees,thedancersseektoattract theamorousattentions ofeligiblefemales whohave come displa steps. Right,wearing headdressesthatfeature plumesfromthegreaterbirdofparadise, Yonggom dancersmimicthemovement ofthesebirdsintheir h salsmn fteSceyfrtePoeto fBirds for theProtection theSociety of o theestablishment of ional cooperation on conservation issues and legislation that issues andlegislation ional on cooperation conservation etal utie h lbltaei idfahr.This in inbird trade feathers. theglobal ventually curtailed dise t eeetfrteEdnee pce cso the1960sand recedent for theEndangered Species Acts of e o id ie’ id fprds,resulted inunprecedented interna- paradise, uinea’s birds of r nificanc r Op I c esp n thelat ld alsoimpliesthate e Britain passed similar legislation in1921. similarlegislation passed Britain y trees. The dancers’ headdressesincludeapairofwhitefeathers fromthesulfur-crested cockatoo, which move againstoneanotherlike opposing p volume 48, number 1 expedition number volume 48, oiint h luhe fwl id,including New birds, wild to of theslaughter position r t r a io ea d n thatN e s d slaug e ure palmfrondsthatriseandf e 19thandear ug lse g w ests othe ht he e unawsioae rmters fthe w Guinea wasisolated from therest of e r r of wild birds for the millinery trade led trade birds for wild themillinery r of e. H yok rwise. v wvr h itr ftebr fpar- thebird of of thehistory owever, e l y 20thc nts w dance by decoratingtheirbodieswithcharcoal, redochre, andwhiteclay. Tied totheshouldersofdancersarebun- hic e h o ntur all withe ccurred there little had ies, c very steplikevery thebeatingofwings. Tucked intotheirbarkbeltsareseedrattles thatmarktheirdance oncern aboutthe tur me the ap N A and Gia hats ac L Paris, thewomening theirof dance with performances to comparewhile Yonggom wear men thesefeathers who dur- bird feathers for decoration? Would worth- itbe and theuseof on human species history. natural theinfluencelight of high- andthey exchange anddistance, thanseparation rather Theseunderstandings and emphasize interaction tory. New Guinea’s his- can suggest alternative understandings of plumes we paradise bird hatsdecorated of with production of By attention to paying therelationships responsible for the par me no,andNew York wore who the same feathers intheir ondon, rc,teiae ffashionable Euro-American women and theimages of frica, wGie acr aenvrbe utpsd Although ew Guinea dancers have never juxtaposed. been IMA What else might we learn from the bird of paradise trade paradise What from we learn thebird might else of n le nt—o ntalism—and ap a dise asanint preciation and use of bird of paradise feathers crossed paradise bird of preciation anduseof d t entury ago? likeWhereasentury Picasso artists 20thcentury LENTV UNDERSTANDINGS: ALTERNATIVE IIGDFEEC N SIMILARITY AND DIFFERENCE GINING cometti freely borrowed from designs thePacific and ne o o thef f the ear o e r mat r nat p r io liest manif io o p n o nal sy r iat f e the modern conservation move- conservation the modern y h lvto fthebird of of theelevation ly, mb estat lo conservation. ol of io ns o f global environ- global f

Stuart Kirsch (left), Keith Zang (right) Stuart Kirsch (left), Keith Zang (right) define where conservation efforts are efforts focused. define where conservation to geographically thisislandendemic asabiodiversity species “filter” of range restricted CIusesthe Province—is for flagship ourMilne Bay animportant uplandforests project. C conservation international decora b we andenvironmental political offer debates contemporary if s AnthropologyReverse As Isuggest in plumes. paradise bird of of sublime beauty the such asourmutual appreciation of experiences we share, thanthe rather theworld, differencescultural from therest of its New of interms Guinea primarily We thinkof still Guinea. New independence andhistorical of distance, geographical Euro-American difference, aboutthecultural assumptions thetwo images have to helps perpetuate thissimilarity Ignoring remained separate. lines, andracial gender, cultural, the P U tuart kirsch egin by acknowledging theconnections between us. by acknowledging egin niversity of Michigan, where he specializes inMelanesia where hespecializes and Michigan, of niversity cfc His research current interests indigenous include acific. —ofndt h pad fFergusson andNormanby Islands inMilne Bay )—confined to theuplandsof h e unargo.Frisac,Gli’ ido Paradise ( Goldie’s Bird of For instance, the New Guinea region. forest habitat in critical of for to theconservation buildship species support flag- asimportant paradise have organizations conservation thebirds used of andlocal national, (CI)andother international, International onservation is A h epeo New Guinea have much to of thepeople , ssatPoesro Anthropology atthe ssistant Professor of (http://www.conservation.org andhttp://www.cimelanesia.org.pg) Ne worked asamillinerin mother author (533). Library The mission oftheBritish (Nov. 1912):267; by per- paradise inthe hat withyellow birdof A WearJournal Trade ers fromNe bird ofparadisef may well have handled the plumeboomand dv BueM Beehler, —Bruce M. w e rtisement for black Y ork Cit ’s lategrand- , HelenZigler w Guinea. y during Ladies eath 2-9 , - Conservation International Conservation America Thanks toMichaelHathawayfor sharing mer CuratorEmeritusoftheOceania SectionatthePennMuseum. This essayisdedicatedtothememory ofWilliamH.Davenport,for- Acknowledgments Islands until1920 Southeast AsiaandTheirImpactonNewGuineaNearby D’Albertis, LuigiMaria. Scientific American Beehler, ofParadise.” BruceM.“TheBirds For FurtherReading (S Swadling, Pamela. to JamesR.Mathieuforseeingthis essaythroughtofruition. association withRober Social andEnvironmentalSocial Relations A of Paradise Discover Konrad, Gunter, andSukarjaSomadikarta.“TheHistoryofthe 2nd ed.London:SampsonLow essa e and onlandrights widely has consulted He mining. andtheethnography of rights, cultural property movements, political Price, Jennifer. 12-30. vrnetlise ntePcfc This inthePacific. issues nvironmental nthropology: Indigenous Analysis of Indigenous Analysis nthropology: tanfor y is derived from hisbook y isderived 9 . NewYork: BasicBooks,1999. y oftheBir d U Paradisaea ApodaNovaeGuineae.”Irian ni Paradisaea v Flight Maps:AdventureswithNatureinModern e . Boroko:PapuaNewGuineaNationalMuseumin r sit Plumes fr ds ofParadiseandCour www 262-6 (1989):116-23. y P t BrownandAssociates,1996. New Guinea:WhatIDidandSaw r s,2006). ess, .m om Paradise:Trade CyclesinOuter use , Marston,Searle,andRivington,1881. um.up R e everse The ABCBookofBirds nn.e tship oftheGreaterBird d u/expedition Photo by KatherineClahassey. A Yonggom portraitoftheauthor. 4-3 (1975): . and 21