Aiamane is one of the largest tribes in the Kompiam area, and along with Inapini, one of the first Enga tribes to migrate to Kompiam from the valleys of the Lai and the Tsaka. Aiamane’s origin was in the Tsaka valley. Although Aiamane clansmen in Kompiam are aware that they were originally from the Tsaka valley, they know little about their past lives there. We were able to gather further information on their origins from brother groups in the Tsaka. Aiamane, like most other groups of Tsaka origin, trace themselves to one founding father, Tsaka Pembe. Pembe is said to have been originally from the Tambul area to the east but settled in the Tsaka early on. There he had four sons, Yambatane, Pauakaka, and Waimini with one wife and Sikini with another. Today these make up the major tribes of the Tsaka valley. Sikini in turn, had two sons and a daughter. The daughter married a man from the Mendi area in Southern Highlands and had three sons, Aiamane, Gipini and Ulidane. They were settled in the vicinity of Tsaka Laiagama.
Aiamane left the Tsaka after a fight with his brother Ulidane in approximately the seventh generation as is described in the following historical tradition:
One day a boy from the Ulidane tribe and one from the Aiamane tribe went to the bush to set cassowary traps. Later the Ulidane boy returned to check his trap, and finding it empty, he accused the Aiamane boy of stealing the cassowary from his trap. They started to quarrel and eventually the quarrel escalated into a fight. The father of the Ulidane boy saw his son fighting the Aiamane boy and came to his aid, hitting the Aiamane boy very hard. When the father of the Aiamane boy saw what was happening, he joined in.
The fight continued the next day and men from both sides joined in until the fight escalated into a tribal war. The Ulidane men drove Aiamane towards Kaipyamanda where Sikini Yopo gave them refuge. Ulidane was not content, however, to have Aiamane settled nearby with Sikini Yopo. He asked for permission to enter Sikini territory to drive Aiamane out of the area. Sikini gave Ulidane permission.
One night, Ulidane surrounded the house in which Aiamane men were sleeping and burned it down. A fight ensued in which Ulidane drove Aiamane towards Maepamanda where Kaekini clans lived. From there Ulidane dropped his pursuit and asked Sikini to chase Aiamane and his boys further away because they were troublemakers. Sikini agreed and drove Aiamane out of the Pina region towards Anditale in the Lai where Aiamane drilled a hole in the rock with his arrow that can still be seen today. From there Aiamane followed the Walema route from near Yaibosa to Kompiam where he was given land and welcomed by a man named Yalingini after whom Aiamane later named one of his sons.
(Musket Kutingi of the Ulidane Kalaua clan, Tangaimanda)
Musket Kutingi had heard this legend from his father who had traveled widely to research the history of the Gipini, Ulidane and Aiamane clans for his own interest. We were unable to find out who Yalingini, the man who gave them land at Kompiam, was. Although we interviewed many elders on Aiamane history at Kompiam, we could not find out if Aiamane clans had come to Kompiam in one wave of migrations as described in the above tradition or in several. Evidence from other tribal histories indicates that it was a series of fights, the last of which occurred in the fourth to fifth generations.
Aiamane tribes did not dwindle after their displacement from the Tsaka but settled near Kompiam station; from there they thrived and expanded. They also gave land to later migrants from the Lai valley, Lyongeni and Tinilapini. Some Aiamane clans remained clustered around Kompiam station while others migrated eastward to the Yaemanda and Luma areas. This expansion took place gradually as certain disgruntled groups left after fights or families ventured out seeking new land.
The following is one tradition telling of the migrations of the Aiamane Sauli clan from the region near Kompiam station to the Luma area and a brief description of how Sauli reestablished ties with other groups once settled in its new area. Each Aiamane clan undoubtedly has its own stories, but we have chosen the Sauli one as one example:
My name is Loke Itayango and I will tell you the legend of how the Sauli clan came to settle here at Luma. From here you can see the line of trees on the distant horizon. That is where I came from originally. My forefathers Sauli, Yaoane and Puikini were brothers. We lived together, and in the course of time the descendants of these brothers grew in number. They were clans of the Aiamane tribe. At that time there was a large monitor lizard called walea that lived in our land. My forefathers considered it to be a sign of good luck. Whenever we saw it, we would kill a cassowary, pig or possum and roast it in the name of the lizard so it would bring good fortune. The effect of the lizard worked only for the Sauli, Yaoane and Puikini clans; everybody in these clans knew that they should not harm it. This applied to women as well.
At a place called Awasamanda, the Sauli clan had their lizard. Sometimes they would take it to the forest to find its food, but most of the time it just lay around in the men’s house at Makupumanda. One day when the lizard was in the house beside the fire warming its body, a Yaoane man entered the house. He saw the lizard lying lazily by the fire and did not realize that it was the one that brought the Sauli clan good luck. He took a pronged stick and killed it.
Sauli came into the house and found that Yaoane had killed and eaten the lizard. He was very upset and said:
“You have killed the creature that brings us good luck. You have broken the spell, so we will leave.”
Having said this, he left for Luma, never wanting to see his brother again. He went down by the Tandi route until he reached Mt. Awasamanda. He looked down this way and saw all the land covered only by thick forests. There was no sign of human life. As he looked down, he saw the rock walls of Selemanda. Sauli came to this place and claimed the land. From there he looked further down and saw the place which is now called Lenginasa. It was covered with dense forest. My forefathers cut down all the trees, burned them and then settled in this area.
It was not so long ago that Yaoane killed the lizard that brought good luck. However, we brought another lizard with us to Luma, and it was a good thing that we did because it still brings us good luck. Until recently, we still roasted food ritually for it in the Nuli ritual. This allows us to go to the forest and kill wild pigs and cassowaries with little effort. Whenever we go to the forest, we never return empty-handed. It is not the same in Yaoane’s land. There are no wild pigs and cassowaries there because their forefather killed their lizard that brought good luck.
All the land occupied by Kitapani of the Lyongeni tribe belonged to us. Our forefather Sauli was the first man to come this way. He claimed all the vacant land when he came. However, as time went on, my forefathers were pushed further down as the population increased. After we settled here, we began to open trade routes. When stone axes came from Kola, we exchanged them for pigs through traders who were middlemen between us and the Kola people. All trade goods came from people living in the Lai valley or in the Wabag area. We did not trade with people from the east, because at that time there were few people to the east of us.
Trade became more frequent and widespread as we got to know people on the trade routes better and as we developed ties through marriage. Then the Yae Tee exchange cycle came from the Kola area and the Tsaka Valley and ended up here. We began to raise many pigs to give away in the Tee. We consider ourselves closer to the people of the Wapenamanda area than to the people at Wabag.
(Loke Itayango of the Aiamane Sauli clan, Luma)
Sauli elders like those in other Aiamane clans claimed that the Kompiam area was largely uninhabited when they arrived. However, it was mentioned that Sauli found large stone mortars in the Luma area when they first moved there and that these had been used by tribes who used to live around Luma but had moved to the north and east. Sauli men filled these with water and used them as mirrors to shape their wigs. We brought one of these mortars back to Wabag and deposited it in the Enga Take Anda.
Once settled in new areas, Sauli, like other Kompiam clans, became part of a much larger network of Enga clans through the trade and later joined the Yae Tee ceremonial exchange cycle.
CLANS AND LOCATIONS
Aiamane
| Clan | Location | Nearest school/aidpost |
|---|---|---|
| Sambe | Alukuposa | Kompiams station |
| Yalingini | Yaemanda | Yaemanda |
| Sauli | Lengenasa | Yaemanda |
| Yaoane | Poomanda | Kompiam station |
| Walumuni | Yulipa | Kompiam station |
| Pinai | Kipilimanda | Kompiam station |
| Puikini | Kepakanda | Kompiam station |
| Kaimbakini | Auilitesa | Kompiam station |
| Lakakini | Kalokomanda | Yaemanda |
| Tangaipu | Kaindane | Kompiam station |