Highland Papua New Guinea

1. Highland Papua New Guinea

2. -PNG is divided into four regions (Highlands, Islands, Momase and Papua Regions) and these into a total of 20 Provinces

3. - the Highland Region is composed of five provinces: * According to the census in 2000. Note: the census is said to be unreliable and there is considerable variation between different sources

4. Basic geographical facts: - The Highland region is composed of a long string of valleys separated by mountains - Highest regions receive snowfall, which is unsual in the tropics - the highest mountain is Mt. Wilhelm (4 509 metres, located at the intersection of Simbu, Western Highland and Madang provinces) - Enga is the highest province with altitudes of about 2000 metres

5. Basic geographical facts: urban centres • Kundiawa (capital of Simbu): population about 5000 • Goroka (capital of Eastern Highlands): population about 25 000 • home of several national institutes, for example The University of Goroka and the PNG Instute of Medical Research • Wabag (capital of Enga): population about 3 300 • Mendi (capital of Southern Highlands): n/a • Mount Hagen (capital of Western Highlands): population about 40 000 • third largest city in PNG

6. Demographic facts: • Papua New Guinea is ethnically and linguistically a very diverse country • Over 850 indigenious languages are spoken and there are at least as many traditional societies, with only about 7000 speakers per language on the avarage • note: only Vanuatu has a higher language density • This applies also for the Highlands region • Major languages: • Tok pisin: creole language and the lingua franca of PNG • Enga: both a linguistic and ethnic group • Enga is a unique case in the PNG, since it is the only major group in the province • other minor ethnic groups in the Enga province are the Ipili and Nete speakers • Other languages and ethnic groups: • Melpa (Western HL), Huli (Southern HL), Wiru (Southern HL), Kuman (Simbu)*, etc. *Trivia: The term "Simbu" comes from the Kuman language and mean roughly translated: "Thank you!"

7. History • oldest human remains found in PNG are ca. 50 000 years old and the colonisation is assumed to have happened some 60 000 years ago • agriculture invented independently ca. 9 000 years ago • traces of drainage ditches found at the sc. Kuk site in the interior Highlands • possibly for cultivating taro (Colocasia esculenta) • skilled techniques of agriculture: adapted to high population density, hilly terrain, frost, heavy rain and earthquakes • indigenous crops: sugarcane, Pacific bananas, yams, taro, sago and pandanus • followed later by the sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas) in the 17th century • tropical horticulture or permaculture • silviculture • deliberate planting of a native ironwood tree (Casuarina oligodon) ironwood sweet potato taro

8. History: colonial adventures • first Europeans to come to PNG were Spanish or Portuguese navigators in the 16th century • formal colonisation by the British in various stages from 1883 and placement under the Australian Commonwealth in 1902 • Germany colonised the northeast quarter of the island in 1884, during WWI Australia occupied it and held it until 1921 • under Australian administration until independence in 1975, with the exception of WWII during which the island was occupied by the Japanese (1941-45) • however: the Highlands remained largely unexplored up until the 1930's • 1933 Leahy brothers find the Wahgi valley in Western Highlands

9. Economy: agriculture • agriculture supports the majority of the Highlands population (80-85% of the whole population of PNG) • subsistence farming, i.e. farmers produce enough for themselves to subsist, but not products for the market • pig-keeping important, both economically and culturally • exchange of pigs in compensation and bridewealth payments and in large festivals, such as the Melpa moka or the Enga tee • today also cash-cropping, the most important cash crops being coffee and tea

10. Economy: mining • PNG is very rich in natural resources, especially minerals • these, most notably oil, gold and copper account for 72% of the export earnings and 26.3 % of the GDP • remember: first Europeans in the Highlands were gold prospectors • besides of being a major contributor to the GDP, mining is also a big source of both environmental and social problems • case: Porgera mine in the Enga province • operated since 1990 by a group of companies called Porgera Joint Venture • release of (treated) waste directly into the Lagaip river system (which flows into Strickland river) • the waste has according to environmental organisations negative effects on fish stocks, water plants and community health on large area along the rivers • deaths in the mine area have lead the local landowners to call for the closure of the mine in 2005 until deaths are properly investigated

11. Porgera mine B&W photos (c) Jerry Jacka

12. Further reading: Classics, ceremonial exchange & warfare: Meggit, Mervyn,1969: Pigs, Pearlshells and Women: Marriage in the New Guinea Highlands. Englewood Cliffs (NJ): Prentice Hall Meggit, Mervyn, 1977: Blood is Their Argument: Warfare among the Mae Enga Tribesmen of the New Guinea Highlands. Mountain View (CA): Mayfield Strathern, Andrew, 1971: The Rope of Moka: Big-men and Ceremonial Exchange in Mount Hagen, New Guinea. Cambridge: Cambridge UP Strathern, Andrew & Strathern, Marilyn, 1971: Self-Decoration in Mount Hagen. Toronto London: University of Toronto Press Environment and current issues: Diamond, Jared, 2005: Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. New York: Viking Strathern, A. & Stewart, P., 2000: Arrow Talk: Transaction, Transition and Contradiction in New Guinea Highlands Society. Kent (OH): Kent UP West, Paige: "Environmental Conservation and Mining: Between Experience and Expectation in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea", The Contemporary Pacific 18.2 (2006) 295-313