mamus

mamus

Personal name: ‘Mamus’.

The term mamus, in English usually ‘mamoose’, originated in pearling days in Torres Strait. In PNG, Western Province villagers used mamus in colonial times for their government appointed village head men.

Chester (1878) gives a full explanation of the origin:

‘Towards sundown Mamoose returned with a number of men, including the chief [of Boigu], who also answers to the name of Mamoose; in fact, this name is now applied to the chief of any island, and has been adopted by the natives, although previously unknown. It may not be uninteresting to trace the origin of this novel application of a word foreign to their language. In 1870 I visited Darnley island, and having studied with much interest ‘Jukes’ Voyage of the ‘Fly’, I surprisied the natives by recalling the names of people who were then living but who have long since ‘gone over to the majority,’ and by repeating a number of words in their language. The simple natives would have it that I was Jukes himself, and told me that during the Fly’s visit I had changed names with a man called ‘Mamoose’ (signifying red hair) and from that time they never spoke of me by any other name. In the following year I visited Marbiak [Mabuiag], where the chief, whose name was ‘Genai’ [Ganaia], insited on my changing names with him; since which time, even among his own people, he has always born the name of Mamoose. When the pearlshellers arrived in the Straits, Marbiak offered a fine field for recruiting labour, and finding the chief was called Mamoose, they concluded it was the native word for chief, and from hearing it so often the natives have gradually adopted the word.’