Kambitipa originated in the fertile Kaumba (Kanba) River valley at a place called Konaita not far from Aimbatepa’s place of origin at Kaupa. For this reason, Kambitipa and Aimbatepa are often considered to be brother tribes. Kambitipa’s origin myth is a simple one:
In this land there was nobody and the land was covered with water. When some of the water dried up, a Yakilya plant sprouted out of the ground and gave birth to a rat. This was the kind of rat (yuii) that we all know, the kind that steals food from gardens. The rat gave birth to Kambitipa.
(Yamala Kuniapa, Kambitipa Laka clan, Lakalapa)
Like Aimbatepa, Kambitipa clans gradually spread out of the Kaumba valley to settle in their former hunting grounds near Lakalapa. Unlike Aimbatepa, they did not give up all of their land in the valley, allowing them to keep gardens both in low areas between 1800m and 2000m where taro, bananas and sugarcane thrive and in the higher areas around 2300m where the land was fertile for cultivation of sweet potatoes.
Unlike Aimbatepa, Kambitipa’s oral history is sparse and despite numerous interviews with groups of Kambitipa elders, we were able to get little more than scant information beyond Kambitipa’s origin, genealogy and the dispersal of Kambitipa’s clans. There is, however, one Kambitipa legend on the division of wealth between Kambitipa’s descendants that is worth mentioning. This division of wealth was said to take place between six and seven generations ago in the time of Kinupa and Katati, Kambitipa’s great grandsons:
One day Kinupa and Katati went out to slaughter a pig for a ritual. When they reached the ritual site, there lay a pig rope and a bamboo-tipped arrow. Katati snatched up the bamboo tipped arrow while his brother looked on. Kinupa was surprised because he thought that his brother would take the pig rope instead. However, seeing that his brother already had the arrow, he took the rope. From that time on they made a good pair. Since then, the descendants of Katati have been fierce warriors and a menace to surrounding clans, and the descendants of Kinupa are very successful in breeding pigs and are thus able to provide the compensation for the men killed by their brother’s clan.
(Yamala Kuniapa of the Kambitipa Laka clan, Lakalapa)
The theme of the distribution of wealth between sons is not uncommon in Enga history and similar legends exist for tribes such as Yanaitini and Sakalini. What is interesting about this legend though, is that it makes it clear that there apparently was warfare between groups in the Kandep area some seven generations ago when legends say that land was plentiful. Clans apparently fought to maintain their integrity and honor in the face of threat or insult by others, and when this was accomplished, relations were renewed through compensation and exchange, as is still the case today.
Most Kambitipa clans remained localized in the Lakalapa area except for two, Guta and Awape, which moved to Yaka near Yapuma on the north side of the Kandep swamps. This migration occurred when Kambitipa (or a Kambitipa man) married Andati, a woman from a part of the Walini clan from the Lawea area. Andati was the second wife of Kambitipa and the first wife was very jealous of her. In an attempt to drive her away, the first wife told Andati that their husband was planning to cut off some of her abdomen’s skin and fat to use in the Kone Teke ritual. At that time, it was said to be common practice to use parts of the human body in this particular ritual, so Andati fled in fear with her two sons Guta and Awape who now live as part of Walini at Yaka.
CLANS AND LOCATIONS
Kambitipa
| Clan | Location | Nearest school/aidpost |
|---|---|---|
| Laka | Lakalapa | Lakalapa |
| Etala | Timbaipaka | Lakalapa |
| Guta | Yaka | Yapuma |
| Awape | Yaka | Yapuma |
| Amane | Gina | Lakalapa/Kandep |
| Muape | Gina | Lakalapa/Kandep |
| Matalaini | Tambioko | Lakalapa |
| Peame | Gina | Kandep |
| Saupu | Toalya | Lakalapa |
Guta and Awape were the daughter and son of Kambitipa’s Walini wife who took them with her when she fled to her place at Yaka.
Peame and Matalaini were granddaughters of Kambitipa who married men in the Yandapo from the Sambe Matalaini clan and returned with their children.
Saupu was Laka’s daughter who married and returned home with her children.