Biak Native Homes 5

Biak Native Homes 5

Homes

Huts

Native peoples

"Native homes on stilts over the water. Outrigger canoe with at least 10 people going by" From "Darkroom Soldier": "Homes at Parai. 'Off limits' for soldiers, Hill and Casey hitchhiked down the coast to Parai on August 23. In his letter, Hill described the village: 'The huts are built on pilings out from the base of the cliff a hundred feet or so. Walkways connect most of the houses. Palm trees grow between the ridge and the huts....' The men photographed two types of traditional houses: 'rum som, a house of blood relatives... occupied by parents (Father and Mother) and their son who was married

rum sram, a youth house...occupied by young men [and]...used...as a traditional educational centre...for [learning] warfare, hunting, fishing, gardening, etc.' At one house, Hill photographed an enterprising native woman drying GI laundry on a hand railing." ("Darkroom Soldier" caption authored by George Venn)

Hill, Fred

8/23/1944

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2010.1.295

Biak, New Guinea

From the Collection of Fred Hill