Manus Canoes. Skill, Making and Personhood in Mbuke Islands (Papua New Guinea)

Anders Emil Rasmussen

This book portrays a small ethnic group who until recently rarely set foot on land, but who nevertheless dominated trade and exchange in their entire region by possessing and protecting one single technology. The richly illustrated first part of the book documents the actual craft of building and rigging Manus canoes, while the second part provides anthropological reflections on concepts and practices of skill, making, and personhood among the skilled canoes builders of Mbuke Islands in Manus, where the author has lived for two years.

• This publication may be purchased from the Kon-Tiki Museum