Lagaip Overview

In the beginning, just after heaven and earth were created, there were two men. They were sitting on the bank of the Lagaip River near the road junction at Mamale (Laiagam). They became involved in a heated discussion over which direction the river flowed. They argued and argued but could not reach any conclusion. Finally, one of them had an idea. He got up and went over to a waima tree that stood by the riverside and chopped it down and cut off all of its branches. Then he hollowed out the trunk and squeezed into the hollow, telling the other man to seal the opening of the log and push it into the river. Just before the log was launched on its journey, the man inside the log said, “Now we will find out in which direction the river flows and where it goes.”

This excerpt from the Monaini origin legend reflects the age-old fascination with the Lagaip River. The Lagaip has its headwaters in the high country of the Yandap. From there its tributaries converge above Laiagam. At the place where the two boys were sitting, the valley floor lies between 2100 and 2200 m above sea level. Some 30 km to the west where the Meso River meets the Lagaip near Tumundane, the valley floor drops to 1500 m. Another 60-70 km beyond Laiagam, where the Porgera River joins the Lagaip, the valley floor lies at about 1300 m. The Lagaip River then flows westward out of the province, takes a sharp turn to the south near Lake Kopiago, and empties into the Strickland River, the Fly, and eventually into the Gulf of Papua.

Near Laiagam, the Lagaip Valley is relatively wide, and the slopes have tracts of level land suitable for gardens. Further to the west, beginning around Mulitaka, the valley becomes narrower and steeper with poorer soils. To the north of the Lagaip lies the Central Range with mountains rising to over 3500 m and gradually dropping into very rugged country with steep slopes towards the Sepik. Beyond the central range is Maramuni area, where lower altitudes allow for the cultivation of a wider range of crops, although the terrain is rugged. To the south are also high uninhabited mountains which separate the Lagaip from the Tari basin and Kandep.

The deep valley cut by the Lagaip provides its inhabitants with resources from several ecological zones. In many areas, the land near the valley bottom is suitable for the cultivation of taro, sugar cane, bananas, and other crops that grow at lower altitudes. Higher up on the slopes is good land for the cultivation of sweet potatoes, while at altitudes of 2300 m and above, the forests abound with possum and pandanus. For this reason, most tribes today have land extending from the valley floor into the high country, allowing them to take advantage of all the resources the valley has to offer.

The Tayato Enga of the Lagaip share one dialect, though they can be divided into two groups, although there are no clear boundaries between them: those living to the east and west of the Keta River. The tribes on the eastern side have strong ties with the Lai and Ambum Valleys, while those on the west side have stronger associations with the Huli and the Ipili. Most Tayato Enga interacted regularly with tribes in the northern Kandep area.

The Tayato Enga engaged in limited trade and intermarriage with the Nete, Penale and Hewa to the north, though in general, the Lagaip Enga kept some distance between themselves and their northern neighbors. The Enga of the Mulitaka area were known to the Nete and Penale as ‘food seekers’ because of their visits to the north in times of food shortage caused by frost, drought, epidemics, fire, or plagues of taro beetles.

The origin traditions of tribes located on the south side of the Lagaip, particularly groups with origins in higher altitude areas, are rich and detailed, blending myth, legend and historical memory. In contrast, historical traditions of north-side tribes appear to be sparser, often giving little more than an outline of tribal origins and dispersals. However, this might be in part because we had limited road access to groups on the north side where clans were highly dispersed. As a result, our interviews were largely conducted with elders when they came to markets near the road.

Early historical traditions describe a variety of ecological adaptations before the arrival of the sweet potato. In the high country south of the Lagaip, groups, such as Bipi and Kuu relied, largely on hunting and gathering, exchanging forest products for horticultural produce from communities in the valley bottoms. As far as we could ascertain, the arrival of the sweet potato set off a downward movement of tribes from the high country into the Lagaip Valley, as horticulture became more secure with the new crop. Subsequent relations were often marked by conflicts, leading to the displacement of sub-clans northward into the Maramuni and Yeimareas.

We were unable to conduct fieldwork in these remote areas. There are Maramuni clans including Wawini, Yangi and Kamani that we could not cover at all. We did hike into Walya to trace the route through which the sweet potato was said to have arrived. This was no easy trip! Much work remains to be done on the north side.

While conflicts between clans and sub-clans were numerous in Lagaip history, two significant ‘hotspots’ stand out. One was in the Laiagam area, where Sambe and Kunalini fought major wars in the fifth generation. These wars completely uprooted Kunalini, resulting in the dispersal of the tribe in many directions, with some segments moving to Kandep, others to Sirunki and the Ambum Valley, and still others to Porgera and Maramuni. The second major conflict zone was around the salt springs at the Keta River, the principal source of salt for western Enga, where Sakate ousted Pumane and Wau to Porgera where they are settled today, known as Waiwa and Pulumani.

As elsewhere in Enga, ritual institutions were developed in the Lagaip to mitigate conflict and foster cooperation among larger groups. The most significant of these in western Enga is the Kepele Cult for the ancestors, held by most clans of Kandep, the Lagaip, and Porgera and extending to a few groups in the Ambum and Lai valleys. The cult network is described as a snake with its head in Kandep and tail in the Porgera Valley. (Chapter 2).