The Yongom live in the lowland rainforest of Papua New Guinea. This study will attempt to understand the significance of ritual knowledge and beliefs in this little-known society. Specifically the student will look at divination ceremonies and see how individuals resolve illness by applying social pressure to persons suspected of sorcery and how knowledge is transmitted through initiation ceremonies. The student will focus on the way in which religious knowledge helps to organize Yongom daily life. This study will help us understand how ritual knowledge is organized, taught, and used in a society. It will enable us to understand the role of beliefs and ritual in everyday situations as well as ritual contexts. Religious knowledge is used in all societies in everyday situations: this research will provide new information on how a belief system is integrated with practical and strategic knowledge and provides a framework for events faced everyday.
