The Connection with Biak Mythology

Summary

All the elements which form the principal myth are frequently found in the Biak-Numfor mythology, to wit:

• 1. The disguised figure, accepted or rejected.

• 2. The contact with the ancestors and the “land of the dead”.

• 3. The important function of the coconut palm.

• 4. The voyages from the West to the East and the grouping into generations.

• 5. The function of the moon, the sun and the Morning Star.

• 6. Various animals which appear in the myths.

• 7. The acts of creation by the principal figures.

• 8. The function of the clan sanctuary as a center of mythical power and its moveability.

The identification of the mythical and the geographical West created the possibility to transport the West and everything connected with it into the mythical sphere and to subject it to a mythical interpretation.

“Every society is held together by a myth-system, a complex of dominating thought-forms that determines and sustains all its activities” (Robert M. Maclver, cited in 38, 296).