Reflections on Borneo Ethnography, A Memorial Volume in Honor of George N. Appell
Amity A. Doolittle, Laura P. Appell-Warren, and Charity R. Appell, Editors
This volume, number 17 in the Monograph Series, focuses on the life and work of George N. Appell, and because they were both life partners and research partners, includes the work of his wife, Laura W.R. Appell. Collectively the chapters in this volume document George Appell’s intellectual life, his love of anthropology and the natural world, and his passion for the ethnographic study of the indigenous peoples of Borneo. The authors continue the dialogue started by and with Appell, which highlights the critical importance of preserving indigenous knowledge. Also reflected in the writings is the fact that all too often indigenous peoples have not been allowed to express full self-determination in shaping the pace at which they are incorporated into modern life. In this volume, we also see some glimpses of the complexity of the engagement between colonialists, missionaries, anthropologists, and indigenous peoples. Readers of the volume will not only learn about the work and life of George Appell but will be rewarded with the rich ethnographic data presented in the chapters.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Poems by George N. Appell
Contributors
Preface by Amity Appell Doolittle
PART I: Reflections on the Life, Work, and Intellectual Legacy of George and Laura Appell
Chapter 1: The Impossible Dream, Vinson H. Sutlive, Jr.
Chapter 2: Randolph, New Hampshire: Remembrances of the Founding of the Borneo Research Council, Alfred and Judy Hudson
PART II: The Sabah Oral Literature Project
Chapter 3: A Retrospective on the History and Methodology of the Sabah Oral Literature Project, Charity Reynolds Appell
Chapter 4: The Future of Rungus Oral Literature, Anton Ploeg
PART III: Research Papers on Societies in Borneo in Conversation with George and Laura Appell
Chapter 5: How Humans became Mortal: A Bulusu’ Creation Myth, Amity Appell Doolittle
Chapter 6: Religious Change and Spirits as Agents of Conservation and Longhouse Sociality, Clifford Sather
Chapter 7: Sharing Experience in a Shared Landscape in Sarawak, Malaysian Borneo, Jayl Langub
Chapter 8: Iban Egalitarianism and Sexual Antagonism, Michael Heppell.
Chapter 9: Christian Missionaries Among the Rungus Momogun, Laura P. Appell-Warren
Chapter10: Reflections on Musical Instruments and Instrumental Music among the Rungus of Sabah, Jacqueline Pugh-Kitingan, and Paul Porodong
Bibliography of writings by G.N. Appell and L.W.R. Appell