ETHNOLOGY. The term 'Papuan,' which is of origin ( pi 'frizzled'), is applied by modern ethnologists to the type of man found in its greatest purity in certain parts of New Guinea (often called 'Papua') and some small islands to the east and west of it. Some writers use 'Papuan' and 'Melanesian' as equivalent terms, but most authorities divide the negro-like race in question into a Papuan proper and a Melanesian section. It would seem best to re strict the term Papuan to the assumed antoch thones of the great island of New Guinea and the peoples closest akin to these. Physically, the Papuans are of rather short stature, dolicho cephalic, frizzly-haired. dark-skinned. This gen eral type is not, however. without Variations due to Ala lay. 1\lelanesian, Negrito, and Polynesian influences. The Papuans are, as a rule. sedentary, with pile-dwellings about the coast, and may he said to lie in the 'Stone Age.' Tree-dwellings, especially for purposes of refuge. are common. The Papuans generally are good fishermen. boat users, and boat-builders. hut not facers into the open sea like the Malays and Polynesians. Their characteristic vessel is the one-trunk canoe. In matters of government they seem to he less com munistic than the Australians, for private prop erty inn nunMer of things (land. fields. houses, besides ornaments and weapons) exists, while the general tune is quite dimmer:1th.. subjection to chiefs tieing rather a matter of popular recogni tion than of individual imposition. Shamanism is, however, a powerful factor. The position of woman varies in diverse p:u•ts of the Papuan do• main, hut is generally not low. In disposition and temperament the Papuans vary from the less and very hospitable peoples of Gemini' New Guinea like the In the savage and warlike tribes of SOille regions of the British territory and the ennnibals of various seetions.
The Papuans are an imaginative people, and possess numerous myths and an abundant folk lore; they possess a remarkable form-sense, and are skillful in ornamental work. Their art has been treated by Prof. A. C'. Haddon, in his Evolution in Art (London, 1895). The re ligion of the Papuans includes ancestor-worship. shamanism, 'temple-eults,' and spiritism. Among their customs are head-hunting_vendettas, secret societies, and the duk-duk of New Britain. In intellectual ability the Papuans arc ranked above the Australians and 1)elow the African negrocs. The chief Papuan tribes of New Guinea are the peoples about Geelvink Bay and its islands; the Arfaks of the extreme western interior—the Ramps of the Adak hills are by some said to be Negritos; the Onimes of Maclure Inlet, and far ther south, the Kovai; the Talandjang of Hum boldt Bay; in German New Guinea the peoples of Astrolabe Bay, Einschhafen. the Bismarck Archipelago; in British New Guinea the tribes in the region of the Fly River (Dandai, Kiwai, eta.), and the Gulf of Papua (Orokolo, Toaripi), the tribes of the southeastern interior (Koitapu, Kupelel, the Moresby region and the terminal peninsula (Kerepunu, Loyalnpu, Aroma, Mas sim), the peoples of the Entrecasteaux and Louisi ade archipelagoes (Samarai, ete.). Papuans are also to be found on the Amu group and the isl ands of Salawatti, \Vaigu, etc., to the northwest of New Guinea, and there are probably Papuan elements in the population of the Ke and Tenim her islands, and some slight traces elsewhere in Malaysia.