The Stigma of New Guinea — Reflections of Anthropology and Anthropologists

Abstract

This examination of Margaret Mead, by an anthropologist from Papua New Guinea, whose people have been the focus of Dr. Mead's research, provides a sorely needed indigenous viewpoint that will benefit western anthropologists.

Rising scholars in Papua New Buinea regard Margaret Mead's published studies, and those of most western anthropologists, as being more a reflection of western culture than of the people under study. The distortions created by anthropologists have stripped the indigenous people of their dignity and right to determine their own future.