Head-hunters, black, white, and brown

by Alfred C. Haddon

There are three main groups of people in the region round Hall Sound, which are distinguished by marked dialectic as well as by various ethnographical differences. These are the Roro, Mekeo, and Pokao.

RORO.

The Roro plant their villages on the seashore or along creeks. The men live as much in their canoes as on their infertile soil. These fishermen collect in large numbers at the fishing seasons at the mouths of the Angabunga, Apeo, and other rivers. The fish are carefully smoked, and are bartered for the fine taro and enormous sweet potatoes grown by the Mekeo women.

According to the seasons, with their prevailing winds, these adventurous and trafficking mariners visit the coastal tribes to the north-west or to the south-east. In the Papuan spring, October and November, they repair to Toaripi for sago, which grows in inexhaustible quantity in the neighbourhood of the great rivers. Here they exchange the thin pots of Ziria, the main village of Rabao (or Yule Island), which are celebrated all along the coast, for bundles of sago. On the return journey the packages of sago are stacked in the bottom of the trading canoes, the latter being four or half a dozen ordinary canoes lashed together.

In March or April, after the heavy rains, the annual visit is paid to the jewellers of Taurama and Pari, who excel in the manufacture of necklaces of small shells, mobio (called taotao by the Motu), and of polished shell armlets, hoia, or ohea (the toea of the Motu).

The art of pottery-making was introduced into this district by immigrants of the Motu stock, who appear to have reached their furthest western limit at Delena. Not very long ago only one woman in Pinupaka had acquired this art; now all the women make pottery, but the clay is obtained from Yule Island.

These merchant fisher-folk have the reputation of being roguish and cajoling, and with a pretty conceit in flattery. When boats arrive they are greedy for news. They have been described as the Athenians of Papua. Their language compares favourably with the guttural tongue of the inland folk, being clear, musical, and distinct, with neither strain nor ridiculous contractions.

MEKEO.

The Mekeo group of people live mainly in the villages that cluster round the Angabunga (St. Joseph) River. There are also villages on the upper waters of the Biaru, and on the Apeo, Laiva, and other streams that flow into Hall Sound near the mouth of the Angabunga. They are an intelligent, interesting, and well-to-do set of natives, who present marked differences from their Gulf neighbours.

There are two great divisions, the Vee and the Biofa. The prolific and skilful Biofa have devastated the villages of the Vee, and according to the Sacred Heart missionaries, they have also strengthened themselves by alliance with “the sea-warriors, Lokou and Motu-Motu” (Toaripi), in order to crush their rivals. Unfortunately I have no further information to give concerning these two factions. It would be important to trace out the history and significance of this feud; it rather looks as if the Biofa was an immigrant tribe that was dispossessing the indigenous Vee. I regret I cannot mention which are the Biofa and which are the Vee villages. It is, however, a matter of recent history that Eboa has attacked Inawabui, and later Inawaia followed their example; but these feuds have now been settled by the Government. Inawa, an offshoot from Inawaia, is (according to Sir William Macgregor) the smallest and fiercest tribe in this part of the district. The late Bishop Verjus urged the Inawaia and Eboa to cease their quarrelling, and prevailed on them to build a new village on the left bank of the Angabunga, in which the Vee and Biofa were to live amicably side by side. He named this village “The Peace of Jesus,” Jesu baibua, or Yeku ngangau, according to two local dialects. The village is generally termed Yeku by the Government officials.