Cultural politics among the Siassi, Morobe province, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

This article deals with relationships between, on the one hand, Papua New Gui?ean public institutions at the state and provincial levels and statewide organizations such as churches and, on the other hand, groups of rural Papua New Guineans. The article is subdivided into four parts. In the first part, I discuss principal features of the state-subject relationships in Papua New Guinea as they developed over the course of the colonial era. In the second part, I focus on how the Kovai in Morobe Province perceived these relationships and attempted to shape them so as to better their lot. In the third section, I relate their efforts to other similar Papua New Gui?ean efforts, and in the fourth section, I discuss the applicability of the concepts of 'nation' and 'nationalism' to Papua New Guinea.1 As for ethnography, this paper is based on my reading of Papua New Gui?ean literature and my own field research there. I refer in particular to my work among the Kovai, one of the ethnic groups on Umboi Island, located in the straits separating New Guinea and New Britain, where I worked in the late 1970s. I also use results from still earlier research among settlers, petty rural businessmen, in settlement schemes near Lae and in New Britain.