John Liep Papers
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego Library
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
Copyright 2022
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
spcoll@ucsd.edu
Descriptive Summary
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla 92093-0175
Title: John Liep Papers
Creator:
Liep, John
Identifier/Call Number: MSS 0782
Physical Description:
4.3 Linear feet
(10 archives boxes, 1 card file box, 3 oversized folders)
Date (inclusive): 1920-2007 (bulk 1971-1980)
Abstract: Papers of Danish anthropologist John Liep (1936-2014), who was known for his research on Rossel Island (or Yela), located
in the Louisiade Archipelago, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. The collection includes field notes and notebooks, slides,
negatives, sound recordings, writings, drawings, and correspondence.
Languages:
English
.
Scope and Content of Collection
Papers of Danish anthropologist John Liep (1936-2014), who was known for his research on Rossel Island (or Yela), located
in the Louisiade Archipelago, Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. The collection includes field notes and notebooks, slides,
negatives, sound recordings, writings, drawings, and correspondence. Liep traveled to Rossel Island in 1971-1972, 1973, 1980,
and 1989-1990.
Arranged in five series: 1) CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITINGS, 2) RESEARCH, 3) PHOTOGRAPHS, 4) MAPS AND DRAWINGS, and 5) SOUND RECORDINGS.
Biography
John Aage Liep was born September 20, 1936 in Horsens, Denmark. Originally a student of architecture at the University of
Copenhagen, Liep switched to social anthropology, completing a master's degree in 1970. He began his field studies on Rossel
Island (or Yela) in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea in 1971, often accompanied by his wife, Annette Liep, and their
two children. Liep was best known for his studies of Rossel Island economics and social systems. In particular, he described
the ranked exchange of shells on the island as displays of distinction and rank, rather than as a monetary system, in contrast
to the earlier studies of W.E. Armstrong.
Liep was a lecturer at the University of Copenhagen Institute of Anthropology from 1970 to 1978 and an associate professor
from 1979 to 2003, when he became associate professor emeritus. He was also associated with the Australian National University
in Canberra for his field studies in Papua New Guinea. In 2009, he completed his Ph.D. dissertation for the University of
Copenhagen, which was published as
A Papuan Plutocracy: Ranked Exchange on Rossel Island. Liep continued writing and attending conferences until shortly before his death on November 14, 2014.
Preferred Citation
John Liep Papers. MSS 782. Special Collections & Archives, UC San Diego.
Acquisition Information
Acquired 2015
Publication Rights
Publication rights are held by the creator of the collection.
Restrictions
Original sound recordings are restricted. Listening copies may be available for researchers.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Ethnology -- Papua New Guinea -- Rossel Island
Anthropology -- Melanesia
Louisiade Archipelago (Papua New Guinea) -- Social life and customs
Rossel Island (Papua New Guinea)
Liep, John -- Archives
CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITINGS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 1) CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITINGS: Liep's incoming correspondence with anthropologists and research institutions, arranged
chronologically. Correspondence with anthropologist Wallace Edwin Armstrong can be found in the RESEARCH series. Includes
drafts for two articles by Liep on Rossel Island culture. A small amount of materials are in Danish.
Box 1, Folder 1
Investigation and Processes of Social Reproduction in the Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea, with Special Reference to
Rossel Island (Yela) - Preliminary report
1980 October
Box 1, Folder 2
Ernæringens sociale og kulturelle rammer på Rossel Island, Papua New Guinea (The Social and Cultural Framework of Nutrition
on Rossel Island, Papua New Guinea)
ca. 1990
RESEARCH
Scope and Content of Series
Series 2) RESEARCH. Arranged in two subseries: A) Notebooks, and B) Notes and Data. Liep kept notes in English, Danish, and
Yélîtyne, the language of Rossel Island. When writing words in Yélîtyne, Liep chose spellings that reflected the language
as he heard it spoken near Pum village, and which may differ from spellings used by other researchers on Rossel Island.
A) Notebooks: Liep's field notebooks from his travel to Rossel Island and other locations in Papua New Guinea from 1970 to
1990, arranged chronologically.
B) Notes and Data: Notes kept by Liep on the people and culture of Rossel Island, particularly near Pum village, arranged
alphabetically by subject. Includes information on feasts, payments, shell money, language, myths, genealogies, census materials,
and agriculture. The subseries includes a file of notes, correspondence, and photographs regarding British anthropologist
Wallace Edwin Armstrong, who traveled to Rossel Island in 1921.
Box 1, Folder 3-9
Rossel Island field notes and table of contents
1971-1973
Box 2, Folder 1-3
Primary notes (question notes) and patrol notes
1971-1973
Box 2, Folder 4
Notes taken in Ukarumpa, Misima, and Cheme, Rossel
1971
Box 2, Folder 5
Copy of Father Earl's genealogical notes. Copy of government census (Wulanga Bay area)
1971-1972
Box 2, Folder 6
Genealogies - Primary notes
1972
Box 2, Folder 8
Journal - Pumu activities
1972-1973
Box 3, Folder 1
Notes on pig feasts, mortuary feasts, and marriage transactions
1972-1973
Box 3, Folder 4
Kula conferences
1978, 1981
Box 3, Folder 5
Travel notes, Milne Bay Province
1980
Box 3, Folder 6-8
Rossel Island rough notes
1980
Box 4, Folder 5
Brideprice payments
1971-1980
Box 4, Folder 6-10
Census materials and genealogies
1930-1990
General note
Includes Catholic Mission, Rossel Island, Wulanga Bay, and government census data.
Box 4, Folder 11
Collection of ethnographics from Rossel Island by John and Annette Liep
1973
Box 4, Folder 12
Dances and sing-sings
1972-1996
Box 10, Folder 3
Food rules, etc.
1980-1990
General note
Includes slides.
Oversize FB-016, Folder 10
Box 4, Folder 15
Groups/clans/land tenure
1972-1980
Box 5, Folder 2
Local council/tax
1972-1973
Box 5, Folder 3
Miscellaneous notes
1973-2005
Box 5, Folder 4-5
Mortuary feasts and payments
1971-1990
Box 5, Folder 6
Myths and legends
1972-1980
Box 5, Folder 8
Other production
1972-1980
Box 10, Folder 7
Other valuables/trade
1971-1980
General note
Includes photographs.
Box 5, Folder 9
Patrol reports - Notes for 1908-1933
Box 10, Folder 8
Rossel Island census division area study
1971
Box 5, Folder 12
Rossel Island plants
1973-1977
Box 5, Folder 14-16
Shell money, ndap and kö
1971-1989
Box 5, Folder 17
Sorcery, magic, and healing
1972-1990
Box 5, Folder 18
Wallace Edwin Armstrong - Notes, correspondence, photographs, and genealogies
1920-1993
General note
Includes photographs of W.E. Armstrong taken on Rossel Island ca. 1921.
Box 11, Folder 1-3
Wulanga Bay ward hamlet and household files, and biographical notes - Index cards
1971-1973
PHOTOGRAPHS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 3) PHOTOGRAPHS: Slides and negatives taken by Liep on Rossel Island and other locations in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia,
and his lists of the images. The slides were numbered by Liep starting in 1971; the numbering system starts over in 1980.
Includes images of John Liep and his family on Rossel Island.
Box 6, Folder 1-7
Rossel Island - Slides #1-700 and image list
1971-1973
Box 7, Folder 1-4
Rossel Island - Slides #701-1069
1973
Box 7, Folder 5-7
Rossel Island, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, and Trobriands - Slides #1-200 and image list
1980
Box 8, Folder 1-5
Rossel Island and Trobriands - Slides #201-650
1980
Box 8, Folder 6
Negatives and image list
1972-1973
Box 9, Folder 1
Pictures of some Rossel people, by John Lamonga and James Henderson (in Rossel and English) - Small publication
1979
MAPS AND DRAWINGS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 4) MAPS AND DRAWINGS: Drawings of shell money by Liep, annotated maps of the Louisiade Archipelago, and diagrams of
villages on Rossel Island.
Oversize FB-016, Folder 10
Oversize FB-016, Folder 11
Maps and diagrams of Louisiade Archipelago, Rossel Island, and villages
Oversize MC-012, Folder 06
SOUND RECORDINGS
Scope and Content of Series
Series 5) SOUND RECORDINGS: Audio recordings of singing, talking, and drumming on Rossel Island and other locations in the
Louisiade Archipelago in 1972 and 1973. Includes a short speech by Liep to the Rossel Islanders. On reel-to-reel tapes and
audiocassettes.
Box 9, Folder 2
Pyilewe, Mbwode, Ndawa Island, and Rossel Island - Reel-to-reel tape
1972 July 13-14
Box 9, Folder 3
Ndama, Yimawie, Yemnaikela, Rossel Island - Reel-to-reel tape
1972 July 19-20
Box 11, Folder 4
Band I. Ndama, Yimawie, Yemnaikela, Rossel Island, Pyilewe, Mbwode, and Ndawa Island - Audiocassette (110 minutes)
1972 July 13-20
General note
Includes John Liep saying farewell to the Rossel Islanders. Side 2 starts at 8 minutes.
Box 11, Folder 5
Band II. Pyilewe, Mbwode, Ndawa Island, Rossel Island - Audiocassette (side 1, 52 minutes)
1972 July 13-14
Box 11, Folder 6
Tpilewe chambe - Audiocassette (side 1, 60 minutes)
1973 August 15
Box 11, Folder 7
Pig feast, Tumnbwye, and Pyilewe - Audiocassette (120 minutes)
1973 September 9
Box 11, Folder 8
Ptilewe chambe - Audiocassette (102 minutes)
1973 November 11