Wopkaimin subsistence : cultural ecology in the New Guinea Highland fringe

Abstract

This is a cultural ecological study of a traditional subsistence system of a community of Mountain Ok-speakers in the Highland Fringe of Papua New Guinea. The initial chapter surveys the literature on the Wopkaimin and other Mountain Ok-speaking peoples, reviews the literature relevant to the subsistence ecology of hunter-horticulturalists in New Guinea and discusses the population sink problem of Highland Fringe demography. The second chapter presents a description of the Wopkaimin population and their socioeconomic system. Wopkaimin small stature, low density, malaria and protein energy malnutrition are features shown to be held in common by numerous regional populations inhabiting the Highland Fringe. The third and fourth chapters concern ecosystem heterogeneity and give detailed descriptions of the resources found in the various Biotopes or microenvironmental zones. Chapters five and six on food accessibility and acquisition reveal the complex interplay of cultural and biophysical factors in the system of Wopkaimin subsistence ecology. Chronic health problems associated with nutrition and malaria is the focus of chapters seven and eight. The conclusion suggests that successful human adaptation in the Highland Fringe is made possible only through diversified hunter-horticultural subsistence.