Transforming Skins

The Kwermin people occupy a series of valleys in the Western Provence of Papua New Guinea. This ethnographic study examines the Kwermin concept of the production of 'knowledgeable skins' or 'skin-like knowledge', meaning the acquisition of knowledge that is vital for the growth of the social being. Following a discussion of the Kwermin cosmos, Eggertson discusses Kwermin mythology, the initiation rituals that men must go through, the dangers that face growth, such as sorcery, and beliefs associated with ancestors and death.