Attitudes toward the sick

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7.2.1 Attitudes towards family and the aged

Three examples of attitudes displayed by certain Rotokas people give an overview of respect towards different age groups starting with the youngest. The councilor of Togarao village had five daughters when we came to live next door. His wife was expecting their sixth child. He was very hopeful that it would be a son. When his wife gave birth to another daughter, he was very angry. Unfortunately, the little girl was born with a deformed foot and a cleft palate. Because of these physical conditions and his desire for a son, the man reminded us from time to time that the child was a great disappointment. Over the years, we saw this attitude change, and today the teenage girl is a very happy part of the family. This same man would often see our tape recorder in operation during language analysis sessions. We would record his children’s voices and play it back for the family to hear. One day the father came to me and wanted us to buy a tape recorder for his children. He indicated that he actually wanted to buy a radio, but the children had asked for the tape recorder, so that was what he intended to buy. In those early years, tape recorders were not in common use and were very impractical. This fact did not seem to affect his commitment to satisfying the children’s desires. He was going to buy the recorder for the children’s sake. As it turned out, he lost interest after learning what the price was for tape recorders. The children seemed to love him just as much. It is interesting that in the years since, with income from cocoa and the popularization of tape recorders, there is no lack of expensive portable stereo sound equipment in Rotokas villages today. An expatriate nurse told us of an incident which reflected the attitude towards the very aged at that time 1968. While visiting a neighboring village, the residents asked her to look at a “sick old woman.” The nurse found the woman and guessed that they had left her to die. She was very hungry and thirsty, being too ill to get her own food. None was being supplied for her. She was living a short distance from the village in a hut with a meager supply of firewood. The old woman was seen lying on a banana leaf out in the village one day. I asked if she were sick. Another woman replied that she was and that she had said that her legs were too weak to walk to the Government Aid Post. The old woman knew that she would die soon. Someone else said to just leave her alone; that she would, in fact, die in the near future. No efforts were made to carry her to the Aid Post. Not a great deal of concern was shown for her as she lay there. The old woman somehow survived that ordeal and lived on. Some time later, she was again near death. She was considered past the recovery stage. A coffin was made for her. Again, however, she recovered to everyone’s surprise. As recently as 1982, the coffin was still unused. The old woman was as healthy as ever, carrying firewood and babysitting. In contrast to these examples of attitudes towards aged women, at the same time, there was a well-cared- for older woman living in Togarao village. Being strong enough to continue bringing firewood and gathering food for herself, she was no burden on the family. I believe it is important to note that in the early 1980s, as an effect of the “spiritual renewal” in the several Rotokas villages located in the upper Wakunai river valley, the attitude towards older people changed remarkably. Groups of young people took it upon themselves to gather firewood for the elderly. If an older person were unable to handle gardening chores, the young people would organize themselves to spend a day or more preparing a garden area, cleaning the garden, harvesting, or whatever was necessary. There was agreement among them that this was the right thing to do, according to the Bible.

7.2.2 Attitudes toward the sick

In several Rotokas stories, the man who was disliked very much was “the man with the sores.” He was always depicted as being unwanted by the women and disregarded by the men. One of the continuing health problems in the area is that of grille severe ringworm. The attitude of some parents is that their own children should not be handled by other children who have this skin infection. The councilor, in the early days, would not allow children with grille into his own house, and tried to forbid them to enter ours. The children themselves seemed to be unaware of any sanctions, since they played freely with infected children, wrestling and playing in close contact. We have heard some joking, or possibly even insults, with regards to adults whose skin is infected by grille. There was laughing and an embarrassed response. 81 Medicine to heal grille is available, although quite expensive, and the disease may recur. A neighbor boy took the course of medicine only to stop before its completion. In a short time, the grille had returned. An older girl took the course and was diligent to keep it under control. Eventually, it was cleared from her skin. The care of the mentally ill has been observed, but not closely nor to any extent. There are at least two kinds of insanity: one brought on by supernatural evil power called tutue the bush spirit associated with Mt. Balbi and one which covers the range from drunkenness, to foolishness, to being crazy. The term covering this range of behavior is kokoro. A crazy man is a kokoropato. In one instance, a young husband with either mental problems or spirit-related problems was patiently cared for by his wife. A clansman took it upon himself to spend time with the young man and to pray for his healing. This observation was over a two-week period only. In another village, an older woman with mental problems was living in the jungle. She had been asked to come into the village and to stay with her husband. She refused to do so, although she did leave her garden area and came in from time to time with food for her husband. An older acquaintance was plagued with spells of either insanity or spirit possession. He would “terrorize” the Asitavi Mission station by climbing into the bell tower to ring the bells in the early morning hours. One morning, around 3 a.m., he rang the breakfast bell. He had prepared rice for the High School girls living in dorms nearby. This man was considered “safe.” However, the children in the village would purposely aggravate him, causing him to chase them with a spear or with bow and arrows. At times, he was quite certain that the American Armed Forces would hear his “short-wave radio broadcasts” and come to his aid. The unfortunate fate of this old man was to die alone deep in the jungle. He had disappeared for some time when his bones were discovered by pig hunters. An identification was located nearby. Although people were concerned about his behavior, it appeared that no one was obliged to be responsible for his wellbeing during the final weeks of his life.

7.2.3 Attitudes towards marital relationships and adultery