Down at the foot of Kaijende Mountain in Porgera, the tribe of Kapini originated. It began with a man and his pig. Every day the pig used to go out and root for worms in the bush and return to the house at night. However, one day the pig didn’t come home, so the man went out looking for it. He looked everywhere but couldn’t find him so he went home and slept. The next day, he went out again in search of his pig and found it in a rock shelter at the foot of Mt. Kaijende. To his amazement, there were four piglets and one human child suckling milk from the pig’s teats. He built a shelter beside the rock shelter and looked after the pig and the child for some time and then took them home.
(Kopale Waliama, Kapini, Kandep)
That Kapini was born from a pig near Tipinini in Porgera is agreed upon by Kapini informants at Kandep and those from Kapini and Kundiki near Kapini’s origin place in Porgera. Some versions of the Kapini origin myth say that Kapini’s father was a python (Molopai) and others, that he was a dog. According to those interviewed at Porgera, Kapini married a woman from Tari named Tomalikaile and she gave birth to two sons and one daughter, Kale Yumbini. Kale Yumbini married a Kundiki man and settled at his place near Karekare. Later, Kapini’s son fought with a neighboring group called Ipakuni according to the following legend:
The fight which broke out between Ipakuni and Kapini was over a woman. She was said to be the ‘only woman around at that time’. Both Kapini and Ipakuni wanted to marry her and so they quarreled. Ipakuni said to Kapini, “You were born from a pig, while I am the son of a woman, so I will marry her. You were suckled from a pig’s teat while I was suckled from a woman’s breast.” When Kapini heard this, he became very angry and they fought. Kapini then left and went to Kandep where he settled. The woman’s name was Wamale Kaiale and she was a Huli woman from Tari.
(Yakenda Uluokone, Kapini of Porgera)
The fight is said by some to have escalated to such an extent that the two fought all the way to Karekare where Kapini’s son took refuge with his sister’s people. He remained at Karekare for some time and then married a woman from the Margarima or Tari area and moved to Panduaka. There he had two sons, Makisa and Kakati, whose descendants make up the Kapini clans in the southwest Kandep area. Ipakuni and some Kapini remained at Porgera. Their descendants are dispersed in other tribes today.
Because of Kapini’s complex history and the fact that Kapini names and genealogy are sometimes given in Enga and other times in Huli, we were unable to work out a consistent genealogy. Kapini clans today are centered at Lumbipaka near Titipa and Lakaiyu near Panduaka, Southern Highlands Province (S.H.P.), where they are closely associated with Yamape.
members interviewed
Kapini
- Kopale Waliama, Kaine Ame, Yumbilya and others at Lumbipaka, Titipa, Kandep,
- Lombalia Yange and Yakenda Uluokone, Kapini, Porgera.