Sanguma and scepticism: questioning witchcraft in the highlands of Papua New Guinea

Abstract

Some anthropologists prefer clear-cut depictions of the societies they study, preferring to ignore differences of opinion, failures of belief, and expressions of scepticism and doubt. This tendency is increasingly being challenged, and an emerging literature now explores scepticism. Contributing to this literature, I discuss the scepticism towards witchcraft expressed by my interlocutors in the Papua New Guinea highlands province of Chimbu. I do not juxtapose witchcraft to science, for witchcraft must be taken seriously -especially since accusations often have severe consequences. Expressions of scepticism bring into doubt the absolute certainty of witchcraft as the explanation for misfortunes such as illness and death, and its study provides a more nuanced picture of a society, showing how cultural norms can be transformed and the foundations of violence can be disrupted. This applies to the scepticism I heard expressed, because the challenge it poses to witchcraft accusations may help prevent further violence. An anthropology of scepticism could usefully be applied more broadly to many aspects of culture, since study of scepticism is one way of reaching an understanding of how social change occurs.People regularly deal with the uncertainties of life, and particularly with misfortunes such as illness and death, by seeking explanations from within their own culture (Buyandelgeriyn 2007;Calkins 2019;Niehaus 2013;Whyte 1990;. These cultural explanatory frameworks seek to impose order on those uncertainties, making them understandable and possibly preventable. In examining these explanatory frameworks, it is important not to over-systematize, thus giving coherence to occurrences that may be subject to considerable contradiction and contestation. Goody, for example, argues that such counter-narratives are often downplayed by ethnographers in tidily construing their object of study. The 'holistic approach to custom, to normative situations and to moeurs' , he writes, 'tends to exaggerate … [one] side of the situation and to neglect absences or failures of belief, and the existence of doubt' (1996: 677; see also Niehaus 2013: 654; Pelkmans 2013: 11). 1 Here I take up Goody's call, being interested in the ways in which scepticism sometimes arises in relation to witchcraft as an explanatory framework for illness and death. Other scholars have also addressed the issue of scepticism, including in relation to witchcraft. Much like Goody, Ashforth argues that 'it is a mistake to presume

Graun Em Pulap Long Pipia: Rubbish, Sorcery, and Spiritual Healing, Papua New Guinea

“…Equally, she voices passages and names from the Bible in Tok Pisin. Although, at the end of the video we see Edi's leg still swollen, we are convinced that it will sooner or later be back to normal (Eves, 2021). Edi is free of the social tensions and can fully recover, concludes Bapra (Vávrová, 2020, 20:58 -21:16).…”

“…Witchcraft allegations tend to happen along lines of social tension. They erupt in waves, 'crazes' (Moro, 2018), and allegations of sorcery and witchcraft are deeply entrenched in gender-based violence, especially in the Highlands (Jolly et al, 2012;Eves, 2021). There are several current studies about sorcery and spiritual practices in PNG and elsewhere, and they all look at the negative aspects of those practices (Forsyth & Eves, 2015;Rio et al, 2017;Kauli & Thomas, 2020).…”