WUNRN
Responses to Sorcery & Witchcraft Beliefs & Practices in Melanesia
Direct Link to Full 344-Page 2015 Publication
http://press.anu.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/whole.pdf
Miranda Forsyth and Richard Eves
Sorcery and witchcraft practices and beliefs are pervasive across
Melanesia. They are in part created by, and give rise to, a wide variety of
poor social and developmental outcomes. These include uneven economic
development, low public health, lack of social cohesion, crime, fear and
insecurity. A further very visible problem is the attacks on men and women who
are accused of being practitioners of witchcraft or sorcery, which can lead to
serious bodily harm, banishment and sometimes death. Today, many communities,
individuals, church organisations and policymakers in Melanesia and
internationally are exploring ways to overcome the negative social outcomes
associated with witchcraft and sorcery practices and beliefs. This book brings
together a collection of chapters written by a diverse range of authors, both
Melanesian and non-Melanesian, providing crucial insights both into how these
practices and beliefs are playing out in contemporary Melanesia, and also the
types of interventions that are being trialled or debated to address the
problems associated with them.
Foreword: Sorcery- and Witchcraft-Related Killings in Papua
New Guinea Gairo Onagi
The Problems and Victims of Sorcery and Witchcraft Practices
and Beliefs in Melanesia: An Introduction Miranda Forsyth and
Richard Eves
Part 1: Social, Economic and Cultural Dimensions to the Belief in
Witchcraft and Sorcery
1. The Spread of Sorcery Killing and its Social Implications
Jack Urame
2. Sorcery, Christianity and the Decline of Medical Services
John Cox and Georgina Phillips
3. Witchcraft, Sorcery, Violence: Matrilineal and Decolonial
Reflections Salmah Eva-Lina Lawrence
4. Sorcery and Witchcraft as a Negative Force on Economic and
Social Development in Solomon Islands Lawrence Foanaota
5. Huli Customary Beliefs and Tribal Laws about Witches and
Witch Spirits John Himugu
6. Talking Sanguma: The Social Process of Discernment of
Evil in Two Sepik Societies Patrick F. Gesch
7. The Haus Man Cleansing at Nahu Rawa Patrick
F. Gesch and Jonathan Julius
8. The Land Will Eat You: Land and Sorcery in North Efate,
Vanuatu Siobhan McDonnell
9. Sorcery, Poison and Politics: Strategies of Self-Positioning
in South Malekula, Vanuatu Laurent Dousset
Part 2: Legal Dimensions to the Belief in Witchcraft and Sorcery
10. The Courts, the Churches, the Witches and their Killers
Christine Stewart
11. The Western Legal Response to Sorcery in Colonial Papua New
Guinea Mel Keenan
12. A Pluralist Response to the Regulation of Sorcery and
Witchcraft in Melanesia Miranda Forsyth
13. Sorcery- and Witchcraft-Related Killings in Papua New
Guinea: The Criminal Justice System Response Ravunamu
Auka, Barbara Gore and Pealiwan Rebecca Koralyo
14. Sorcery Violence in Bougainville Through the Lens of Human
Rights Law: A Critical View Mark Evenhuis
15. The Belief in Sorcery in Solomon Islands Philip
Kanairara and Derek Futaiasi
Part 3: Positive Directions in Overcoming Violence
16. Kumo Koimbo: Accounts and Responses to
Witchcraft in Gor, Simbu Province Clara Bal
17. Practical Church Interventions on Sorcery and Witchcraft
Violence in the Papua New Guinea Highlands Fr Philip Gibbs