The Incorporated What Group: Ethnographic,Economic and Ideological Perspectives on Customary Land Ownership in Contemporary Papua New Guinea

Land law and economic development in Papua New Guinea, by David Lea and Timothy Curtin. Cambridge Scholars Publishing, Newcastle, UK, 2011, 207pp. ISBN: 9-781443-826518.

The incorporated land group (ILG), created by the Land Group Incorporation Act (1974) in Papua New Guinea, was one of a number of results of the 1971 Committee of Inquiry into Land Matters that convened in Papua New Guinea just before Papua New Guinea independence in 1975. It allowed for the legal incorporation of customary land-holding groups and was designed to promote business and cash-earning opportunities in rural Papua New Guinea in the post-independence period of nation- and citizen-building.

In more recent times, the ILG however has been put under considerably more strain by being forced to acquire functions that were not envisioned by its architects in 1971—namely the receipt, distribution and investment of incomes from resource extraction projects. The ILGs set up by various resource projects (most significantly in the petroleum project areas of PNG) have all run into various and severe difficulties in meeting these requirements of resource income management and business development on a scale not ever anticipated in 1971. Using examples from Papua New Guinea's petroleum project area and elsewhere, I cast doubts on the capacities of contemporary indigenous landowning units to make incorporation work for them in the face of current organization and financial challenges.     

Mobility,Violence and the Gendering of HIV in Papua New Guinea

The links between gender, sexuality and violence hold serious implications for HIV transmission and its social and economic effects. In Papua New Guinea, enduring and pervasive patterns of male sexual behaviour involving coercion, violence and gang rape are highly conducive to the transmission of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections and have a critical bearing on women's sexual autonomy and health. The realities of violence are intensified by the widespread view that women are responsible for the spread of the virus. This paper engages the theme of mobility to consider the fluid and dynamic character of gender relations and sexuality in contemporary Papua New Guinea, and to gain perspective on constructions of modern masculinity and the discursive representations of gender violence in the context of the escalating HIV epidemic.     

Altitude,language, and class I HLA allele frequencies in Papua New Guinea

Class I HLA gene frequencies show considerable variation over short geographical distances in Papua New Guinea. Hypotheses to account for this invoke natural selection, population structure, the pattern of population movement, or past demographic changes. To determine the role of the various factors in shaping this distribution, we have studied correlations between HLA-based genetic distances, geographical distances, altitude, and linguistic differences in Papua New Guinea. Linguistic differences at the family or stock level within the Trans-New Guinea Phylum generally correspond to genetic differences. However, on the basis of their HLA gene frequencies, speakers of Austronesian (AN) languages do not form a distinct group of populations. Linguistic variation and spatial autocorrelation do not fully account for the altitudinal cline differences noted in gene frequencies, particularly at the HLA-A locus. We propose that the distribution of HLA gene frequencies in Papua New Guinea is partially under the control of selection operating differentially along the altitude gradient. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

The Mount Kare Python and His Gold: Totemism and Ecology in the Papua New Guinea Highlands

Lying between the Huli and Paiela peoples of the Papua New Guinea highlands, Mt. Kare, the site of a gold rush from 1988 to 1990, presently inspires millenarian speculations about an imminent cosmic revolution. Mt. Kare was traditionally a ritual site where pigs were sacrificed to Taiyundika, a totemic python, to promote the fertility of plant, animal, and human species. Today it is where gold is mined in pursuit of unprecedented riches and millenarian transformations. Although sacrifices are no longer conducted at Mt. Kare, the python still has some salience for Paielas, who consider the gold to be the flesh of the totemic python. Blending Christianity with traditional cosmology, Paielas interpret the finding of the gold as a millenarian sign. As an ancestral figure who guarantees the continuing fertility of the earth in exchange for pork sacrifices, the python stands at the core of Paiela constructions of nature and humanity's position within it. Paiela totemism is explored for what it can teach us about an indigenous symbolic ecology and how "local knowledge" or a "cognized model" can inflect capital-intensive resource development at a time of ostensible globalization. The ecology of Mt. Kare gold mining must be sensitive to intercultural processes and how global flows (of ideologies, technologies, and capital) are mediated by vernacular constructions. [Papua New Guinea, mining, totemism, symbolic ecology, place]     

Contested Knowledge, Contingent Classification: Animals in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea

New Guinea highlanders appear to conceive of animal taxonomy in a way that is simultaneously familiar to a scientist, yet different. This is often attributed to interaction between natural ecology, which constrains content, and cultural context, which conditions the structure of any taxonomy. The evidence presented here confirms this view, although the considerable, and initially disconcerting, disagreements between persons over taxonomic issues raise the question: To what extent is Wola classification of natural phenomena analogous to Western hierarchical classification? The stateless political environment conditions the Wola constantly to challenge hierarchy, obfuscate boundaries, and think in terms of "fuzzy sets," confounding the assumption of agreed classes and threatening intellectual anarchy. However, their taxonomic regime offsets this, facilitating discourse in the absence of authorities to adjudicate in disputes. No formal classificatory scheme devised so far can adequately represent such an oral tradition's ever negotiated ordering of animals; whatever framework we adopt will somewhat distort it. [Keywords: Papua New Guinea, ethnozoology, taxonomy]     

Elevation,space and host plant species structure Ericaceae root-associated fungal communities in Papua New Guinea

Our study aimed to identify significant predictors (spatial distance, elevation, host plant taxonomy) which shape the structure of endophytic fungal (ENDF) and putative ericoid mycorrhizal (ErMF) communities associated with roots of Ericaceae in Papua New Guinea. Roots of five Ericaceae together with one non-Ericaceae species were sampled at an experimental site and one common Ericaceae species was chosen for sampling along an elevation gradient. ENDF and putative ErMF communities were determined using the 454-sequencing approach. ENDF as well as putative ErMF communities were affected by interacting host plant. While the putative ErMF community was structured by host plants at the genus level, the ENDF community was affected by host plant subfamily level. Composition of ENDF as well as putative ErMF communities were affected by elevation. Non-Ericaceae plant species (Hypericum sp.) harbored similar communities of ENDF as well as putative ErMF as Ericaceae plants. Our study provides a first insight into ErMF and ENDF community ecology of Ericaceae in Papua New Guinea.     

Ethnobotany of WopkaiminPandanus significant Papua New Guinea plant resource

Pandanus is well represented in Papua New Guinea with over 66 species growing from sea level to 3,000 m. The territory of the Wopkaimin, who live at the headwaters of the Ok Tedi in the Star and Hindenburg Mountains, is particularly rich in wild and domesticated species ofPandanus. Detailed analysis of the species in classification, ecology, subsistence, ritual and material culture not only establishesPandanus as a locally significant plant resource but also contributes to the comparative understanding of ethnobiological systems. A close correspondence with botanical taxa of generic and specific rank and an absence of the most inclusive taxon term for plant are 2 cross-culturally important findings substantiated in WopkaiminPandanus taxonomy.     

Musaespora,a genus of pyrenocarpous lichens with campylidia,and other additions to the foliicolous lichen flora of New Guinea

Abstract: The new lichen genus Musaespora is described from Java and Papua New Guinea. It is the first known pyrenocarpous lichen genus with campylidia, and appears to belong to the Aspidotheliaceae. Three species are described, two foliicolous species from Papua New Guinea and one corticolous species from Java. In addition, a list is given of the foliicolous lichen flora of the site in Papua New Guinea, where the foliicolous Musaespora species have been found, two more new foliicolous species are described, Echinoplaca hispida and Sporopodium lucidum, and 19 species are recorded for the first time form Papua New Guinea.     

Ndumba Folk Biology and General Principles of Ethnobotanical Classification and Nomenclature

Brent Berlin's proposed "general principles of classification and nomenclature" are examined as they apply to folk biology in Ndumba, a Papua New Guinea highlands society. Focusing on Ndumba folk zoology, supplemented with a previous analysis of their folk botany, Berlin's analytical schema for ethnobiological classification is supported, but principles of nomenclature in ethnobiology appear to be in need of reconsideration. [ethnosemantics, folk biology, language universals, Papua New Guinea]     

Fasu Solidarity: A Case Study of Kin Networks, Land Tenure, and Oil Extraction in Kutubu, Papua New Guinea

In the Fasu region of Papua New Guinea's fringe highlands, the oil extraction industry has imposed development values and the identification of corporate groups as beneficiary landowners. In response, Fasu males have tightened the boundaries of their agnatic descent groups to become exclusive patriunits. Cash royalties are incorporated into sociopolitical exchange, so the formation of exclusive kin groups allows males to expand social networks to other regions, whilst ensuring continuing wealth for future generations. Consequently, males are becoming isolated from pre–oil exchange networks, and females are becoming isolated within villages. In this article, I map the transition of Fasu kin networks from an ideology of descent to a dogma of descent and patrilineal solidarity, locating the transition in the symbolic codes that inform kin categories. I aim to highlight some consequences of "development" and to advance knowledge on the link between kinship and descent in a postcolonial, industry-dominated Papua New Guinea.     

Etolo hunting performance and energetics

Analyses of nearly 3000 hr of hunting for mammals by Etolo people of Papua New Guinea reveal that older hunters were more successful than younger hunters, that increased success was due, in large part, to higher rates of capture for only two of 24 prey species, and that access to a good hunting dog accounted for the increase in rate of capture for one of these two species. A comparison of Gadio Enga and Rofaifo mammal hunting with that of Etolo reveals a marked decline in energy and protein yields with increase of altitude. This is attributed to altitudinal changes in the composition of the available fauna within Papua New Guinea and to reinforcing effects from increased human population density.     

The impacts of dependent development on community and resources in Kilenge,Papua New Guinea

In recent years, many rural Third World communities have suffered from the gradual degradation of the natural resources on which they depend. The Kilenge people of West New Britain, Papua New Guinea, offer such an example. The paper examines some of the nutritional, economic, social, and political impacts of these changes on the individual, on the household, and on the community in one Kilenge village. It argues that there may be alternatives to dependent development for this community. It concludes that redirected priorities can assist indigenous communities like Kilenge to achieve sustainable selfdirected economic improvement.     

The invasive cane toad (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Bufo marinus</Emphasis>) in West New Britain,Papua New Guinea: observations and potential impacts on native wildlife

Since the introduction of cane toads (Bufo marinus) to East New Britain 75 years ago, they have spread rapidly across Papua New Guinea and several of its offshore islands. Their dispersal was thought to be limited by habitat constraints such as primary rainforest and altitude. However, during a scientific expedition into the Hargy Caldera and Nakanai Mountains in 2011, we made several observations of B. marinus existing within undisturbed primary rainforest habitat and at altitudes greater than 800 m above sea level. Given their propensity to reach considerable population densities and threat towards naïve predators, these amphibians have the potential to have negative adverse effects on native Papua New Guinean wildlife. Future research on the potential ecological impacts of B. marinus in Papua New Guinea should be prioritized.     

Why Alewai village needed a church: Some reflections on Christianity,conversion, and male leadership in south‐east Papua New Guinea

In the Vula'a villages of south‐east Papua New Guinea, the experience of more than a century of Christianity has been incorporated into local understandings of identity and tradition. Church‐building (in both the architectural and ideological sense) is at the centre of village life. Even though it was a general policy of the London Missionary Society to build a church in every village in which conversion was undertaken, they did not build a church in the Vula'a village of Alewai. In 2001 the fact that Alewai did not have a church initiated a chain of events that draws attention to a situation of current relevance for Papua New Guinea, as evangelists no longer work to convert the ‘heathen’ but to convert Christians from one denomination to another. As a case study the article is focused on the pastors and deacons of the United Church and thus also serves to document some of the changes that have occurred in male leadership since the early colonial era.     

The Strongylophthalmyiidae (Diptera) of Papua New Guinea,with descriptions of five new species and a world checklist

Eight species of the Strongylophthalmyiidae are reported from Papua New Guinea. Of these, five species (Strongylophthalmyia gigantica sp. nov., S. papuana sp. nov., S. rubella sp. nov., S. sedlaceki sp. nov. and S. shatalkini sp. nov.) are described as new to science. Strongylophthalmyia puncticollis Frey is recorded for the first time from Papua New Guinea. Faunistic remarks, a key to the species of the Strongylophthalmyia in Papua New Guinea and a world checklist are provided.     

Three new Indo-Australian species of the sciaenid genusAtrobucca,with a reevaluation of generic limit

Three new species of the sciaenid genusAtrobucca are described:A. kyushini from off Borneo, differs from all known congeners in having no swimbladder appendages enveloplng the bladder, no forward directed branches from the ventral limbs of the appendages, a long tube-like last appendage parallel to the bladder wall and a pale mouth lining;A. brevis from off northern Australia and Papua New Guinea, is distinguished by its short pectoral fin (less than 23% SL) and pleural rib on the 11th vertebra;A. adusta from Papua New Guinea, is distinctive in having a low dorsal soft ray number (23–24) and long caudal peduncle (27–30% SL).Atrobucca Chu, Lo et Wu is redefined to accommodate the new species: the genus is principally characterized by the swimbladder appendages divided into developed dorsal and ventral limbs, and the only slightly curved sulcus tail of the sagitta. A key and diagnoses are provided for all known species ofAtrobucca.     

Church Festivals and the Visualization of Identity in Collingwood Bay,Papua New Guinea

In Collingwood Bay, people celebrate the individual saints after which each Anglican church is named. These church festivals are a combination of Christian worship and traditional music and dances. They vary from small, village-based happenings to large regional performances in which objects and food are exchanged. For the Maisin people, the festivals not only express dedication to the church, they also embody the spirit of past clan festivities that connected clans and commemorated clan ancestors. This article ¹ The research on which this article is based was financed by the Netherlands Foundation for the Advancement of Tropical Research (WOTRO) and the Radboud University of Nijmegen, Netherlands. An earlier version of this article was presented as a paper, “Performing Bodies—Constructing Identities: Church Festivals in Collingwood Bay, Papua New Guinea,” at the Annual Conference of the Australian Anthropological Society (AAS) in Melbourne in 2004. I thank the anonymous reviewer for Visual Anthropology for providing useful comments and suggestions. discusses how, for the Maisin people, church festivals provide a contemporary arena in which various identities, emotions, and knowledge as well as affiliations are actually embodied and expressed visually.     

Two unusual species of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Physalacria</Emphasis> (Basidiomycetes,Agaricales) collected in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea during mycological expeditions by the National Science Museum,Tokyo

Two unusual species of Physalacria from New Zealand and Papua New Guinea are described and illustrated. Physalacria pseudotropica from South Island in New Zealand and P. tropica from Papua New Guinea are recorded for the first time.     

Characterization of population structure from the mitochondrial DNA vis‐à‐vis language and geography in Papua New Guinea

Situated along a corridor linking the Asian continent with the outer islands of the Pacific, Papua New Guinea has long played a key role in understanding the initial peopling of Oceania. The vast diversity in languages and unique geographical environments in the region have been central to the debates on human migration and the degree of interaction between the Pleistocene settlers and newer migrants. To better understand the role of Papua New Guinea in shaping the region's prehistory, we sequenced the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) control region of three populations, a total of 94 individuals, located in the East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. We analyzed these samples with a large data set of Oceania populations to examine the role of geography and language in shaping population structure within New Guinea and between the region and Island Melanesia. Our results from median‐joining networks, star‐cluster age estimates, and population genetic analyses show that while highland New Guinea populations seem to be the oldest settlers, there has been significant gene flow within New Guinea with little influence from geography or language. The highest genetic division is between Papuan speakers of New Guinea versus East Papuan speakers located outside of mainland New Guinea. Our study supports the weak language barriers to genetic structuring among populations in close contact and highlights the complexity of understanding the genetic histories of Papua New Guinea in association with language and geography. Am J Phys Anthropol 142:613–624, 2010. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Paraplagusia longirostris,a new flatfish (Cynoglossidae) from Australia and Papua New Guinea

A new species of tongue sole,Paraplagusia longirostris, is described from 59 specimens (83.0– 276.2 mm SL) collected off the northern coast of Australia and southern coast of Papua New Guinea.P. longirostris is easily distinguishable from otherParaplagusia by its long, obtusely pointed snout and its high counts for dorsal and anal fin rays, caudal vertebrae and mid-lateral line scales.