The Architecture and Ceremonies of the Abelam

Cover image of: The Abelam/Brigitta Hauser-Schaublin

Nggwal Mindsha, antiphony to the ancestral spirits is a ceremonial song by the Abelam of Papua New Guinea to be sung in the context of the building of a new ceremonial house. In the commentaries it is argued that songs like these should not be considered music because there is no entertainment value and that songs like these can't be separated from, in this case, the architecture they are dedicated to. The song is an integral part of the architectural process. (The architecture, b.t.w., is spectacular.) A description of the song (in the liner notes) mentions alternating voices of a man and a woman, but I really only hear one (I think it's a man's voice.) Beside the recordings found on the CD, Brigitta Hauser-Schaublin also wrote a monograph on the architecture of the Abelam and the larger Sepik River area in Papua New Guinea.