Most of the Marient is inhabited by clans of the Kupatopa-Lyatepa clan cluster that originated in the area directly north of Mendi Township. These clans have been studied by D’Arcy Ryan and are called the Mobera Kunjop Cluster in his studies. We tried to coordinate Ryan’s clan histories with ours, but with no success because Ryan’s historical information generally begins later than ours – after Kupatopa-Lyatepa groups in the Marient had already left the Mendi area.
The first migrants to the Marient were Mamba and Akulya. They belong to the Kupatopa tribe, but do not claim to be direct descendants of Kupatopa, but rather of his “brother” who was settled in the western part of Kupatopa land. Little is known of the circumstances of their migration except that they came to the Marient for hunting and then decided to settle on the fertile land some 8-9 generations ago, not far from Kandep station. Hints of links with the Ima tribe suggest that they chose their current locations to be close to Ima. At that time, the Marient was said to be empty forest and swamp, full of pandanus and game. Through the generations, members of Mamba and Akulya married women from the north and northeast and became fully integrated into the Enga of southern Kandep. For instance, three of Akulya’s granddaughters married men from the Yandapo and one married a Kamani man from northern Kandep.
Approximately 6 generations ago, the descendants of Kupatopa and Lyatepa began to expand into the southern Marient. This expansion occurred gradually, and so different clans of these groups have somewhat different migration legends, all of which give the same reason for their settlement in the Marient – that they were drawn to the fertile and uninhabited valley. Here is one migration legend from Lyatepa:
The tribe, now known as Lyatepa was founded by Ipa and Tomba at Nali Kimindi, near Mendi in the Southern Highlands. Ipa was the mother and Tomba the father. Ipa and Tomba had two sons, Lyatepa the eldest, and Kupatopa, the youngest. Many descendants of Lyatepa and Kupatopa still live in their area of origin.
Lyatepa married and had two sons, Pee and Songo. When Pee and Songo grew up, they decided to make a journey to find out what the land was like on the Kandep side. They left home and headed northward toward Kandep, resting at Aigili and then continuing until they reached what today is the border of Southern Highlands and Kandep. From a mountain top near the border, they looked out over the flat land of the Marient, with pandanus trees swaying in the wind over the vast swamp. They realized that the region was uninhabited, and the sight of so much flat, unoccupied land impressed them. They decided to go on and take a closer look at the area below. They arrived at Pako and spent the night there. The next day they moved northwards to see what the land was like there. Finally, they decided to clear the land near Kambia and to build houses and make new gardens there. They found the land to be so fertile that they remained, married, and had many descendants who spread out in all directions in the valley.
(Maonde Wapena of the Lyatepa Pee clan, Kambia)
Other legends concerning the settlement of Kupatopa and Lyatepa in the Marient claim that Pee came to the Marient with a descendant of Kupatopa, Wakanaipu, not his brother Songo. Once they got their families and settled in the Marient, other relatives came and joined them some 5-6 generations ago. Finally, the tribe of Kambia has its own migration legend, very similar to that of other Kupatopa and Lyatepa clans:
Down in the land of Pingitipa, there lived a man named Pambau and a woman named Ipa. Pambau left Pingitipa and went north searching for new land. First, he settled at Suc Uoc near Pingitipa. There, his son Wep Naik was born. Wep Naik got married to a woman from Sup and settled in his wife’s place now known as Pura. From Pura, Wep Naik looked towards the Kandep side and saw the good land there, with many pandanus trees and wild birds in the vast swamps and lakes below. He thought that the soil looked fertile and decided to go and settle there. He followed the edge of the swamp towards Kambia and found that the land close to Kambia, known as Papali, was occupied by his uncle Kupatopa. The land further down known as Kolopa was occupied by his other uncle Lyatepa, so he decided to settle on the vacant land in the middle. He liked Kambia so much that he gave his former land at Pura to a man called Sup. At Kambia, he married a Waipa woman, a Bipi woman, and a Kaimb woman and a Sup woman. With these wives he had many children, and the clans descended from these wives bear their names today.
(Towanga Waa, Kambia clan, Kambia)
Lyatepa and Kupatopa remained more a part of Mendi than of Kandep and consider themselves as an extension of their groups of origin separated only by the artificial Provincial boundary. Through these groups, however, cultural traditions spread to Kandep, such as forms of dress worn on ceremonial occasions, and the mok ink pig killing festival which was called mena yae in the Kandep region.
members interviewed
Lyatepa and Kupatopa
- Yakopya Mabiu, Levi Kii and Alouse Ainiakane of the Akulya Wasanda clan;
- Yutipaki Kolai Kiange and others of the Mamba Kelya clan;
- Towanga Waa, Mandi Wape, Sambita Kuimbi and Sandala Soaka of the Kupatopa Kambia clan;
- Tom Nonga of the Kupatopa Apupi clan; Maonde Wapena of the Lyatepa Pee clan.
CLANS AND LOCATIONS
Lyatepa
Sons of Tomba and Ipa
- Lyatepa
- Kupatopa
Sons of Lyatepa
| Clan | Location | Nearest school/aidpost |
|---|---|---|
| Songo | Pako | Kambia |
| Pee | Pako | Kambia |
| Aipilya | Tulya | Kambia |
| Sai | Tulya | Kambia |
Kupatopa
Sons of Kupatopa (with first wife)
- Mamba
- Akulya
Sons of Mamba
| Clan | Location | Nearest school/aidpost |
|---|---|---|
| Lyo | Paindaka | Kandep Station |
| Kelya | Kanyaka | Kandep Station |
| Kolape | Alawaipa | Kandep Station |
Children of Akulya
| Clan | Location | Nearest school/aidpost |
|---|---|---|
| Kelya | Tinjipaka | |
| Kapi | Supi | Tinjipaka |
| Wasanda (f) | Yalu (Pulya) | Tinjipaka |
Sons of Kupatopa (with second wife)
| Clan | Location | Nearest school/aidpost |
|---|---|---|
| Totoma | Papali | Kambia |
| Apupi | Kolopa | Kambia and Angili |
| Pepelya | Pingitipa | |
| Ungu | Sangiso | Pingitipa |
| Wima | Sangiso | Pingitipa |
| Angalya | Kambia |
Sons of Ipa and Pambau
| Clan | Location | Nearest school/aidpost |
|---|---|---|
| Wapinaka | Wep Naik | Mendi |
| Other sons | S.H.P. |
Sons of Wapinaka
| Clan | Location | Nearest school/aidpost |
|---|---|---|
| Clans | S.H.P. | |
| Kambia | Kambia |
* Akulya and Mamba are closely linked to Kupatopa, although the exact connection is no longer known. Some say that Mamba’s father was Kolai, a relative of Kupatopa. Akulya and Mamba settled in Enga at least two generations before other Kupatopa groups.
** Kambia clans are considered part of Kupatopa. Although not one of his direct descendants, Kambia is linked to Kupatopa in different ways, according to different people. For example, some say that Ipa was also the mother of Kupatopa and Lyatepa, but with a different husband. Others say that Pambau was Kupatopa’s brother or father’s brother.