New Guinea

New Guinea is an island in the South Pacific Ocean, just off the northern coast of Australia. Remote and isolated, the indigenous tribes living there were, for several years, the subject of frequent investigations by anthropological investigations researching human culture untouched, for the most part, by “civilizing” influences of, among other things, western economics, religion, politics, and philosophy.

The Sepik River

This actually existing long river runs through New Guinea, and was the real-world home for the tribes studied by the above-mentioned anthropological investigations. In the novel, the primary tribes investigated (the Mumbanyo, the Kiona, and the Tam) are all constructed around the river.

The Tam Tribal Settlement

Unlike New Guinea and the Sepik River, the Tam settlement is a fictionalized setting, based on actual historical research but ultimately an invented, shaped community. It is where the book’s central characters – Bankson, Nell, and Fen – conduct much...