"New Guineans are well aware that the culture of their fathers is gone forever and can never be reconstituted. They may still respect old traditions, perform tribal rituals, and honor their ancestors, but in an essential sense, the old way is lost, if only because there has been a transfer of political and economic power,...

"What [tourists] bring to New Guinea, reinforced by the travel brochures, is clearly imaginary, that is, it is not based on any real assessment of the New Guineans, but is rather a projection from Western consciousness, with the reminder that the only way to explore the real is through one's symbolic system. The tourists say...