Afek's last son: Integrating change in a Papua New Guinean cosmology

This article explains millenarism as a cultural response to a range of soci al, economic, and ecological changes that occurred during the past few cent uries in Oksapmin society. The assumption is that Oksapmin cosmology has al ways been dynamic and self-innovating toward both endogenous and exogenous factors of change, tending to integrate emergent elements by modifying its inner: structure and outer practice. The following analysis focuses on four main examples of radical transformations due to exogenous causes. All the changes discussed herein were originated, directly or indirectly, from cont act with the European world (here defined as white-skinned individuals who came from the "Western" world in a broader sense) under the form of physica l persons or material and ideological items. This does not mean that Oksapm in society has found Vectors of change only in its confrontation with the W estern world. The choice to analyze the interaction between this indigenous culture and different manifestations of European culture has been made acc ording to the anthropologist's ethnographic focus.