Where all the rivers flow west: Maps, abstraction and change in the Papua New Guinea lowlands

Abstract

‘Abstraction’ has been often identified as a key element in social change. Analyses, however, have often conflated the ideas of abstraction as ‘object’ and as ‘process’. This paper discusses two maps drawn by or on behalf of Kubo men, of the interior lowlands of southern Papua New Guinea. They were drawn in the context of recent exposure to a vast Liquefied Natural Gas project initiated on the land of their neighbours and both, as abstractions from new observations and experiences, were intended as assertions of rights to land. They derived, however, from entirely different logics: one more compatible with ‘Western’ understandings of ownership, the other more in keeping with earlier Kubo understandings of belonging. By reference to these maps, we consider the role of abstraction in social change and argue that while, as object, abstraction is relative as a process it is universal.

Wild dogs and village dogs in New Guinea: were they different?

“…In 1986-87 we spent 15 months at the village of Gwaimasi on the west bank of the Strickland River, in the interior lowlands of Western Province, Papua New Guinea (latitude 5 o 54' S, approximately 100 m ASL; Dwyer and Minnegal 1992a). We revisited Gwaimasi in 1991Gwaimasi in , 1994Gwaimasi in , 1995Gwaimasi in -96 and 1998Gwaimasi in -99 and, since 2011, have conducted research among people of the same language group (Kubo) based at the Suabi mission station, 35 km southeast of Gwaimasi (Dwyer and Minnegal 2014). In 1986-87 the number of residents at Gwaimasi averaged 25 across months and the number of domestic dogs in the village varied but was usually of the order of 20.…”

Sustainability of Land Groups in Papua New Guinea

“…As a sequel to the answer to the first research question, the answer to the second research question is not far-fetched: The majority of the ILGs in PNG are unsustainable! The preponderance of evidence from many previous studies that are replete with concrete evidence indicating that ILGs are not sustainable is very crucial in this regard [18,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29]. What then is the way forward?…”

“…While many previous studies [18,[20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] on ILGs have examined most of the challenges facing the ILGs, there is a dearth of studies focusing particularly on the 'sustainability assessment' of incorporated land groups based on proven sustainability indicators that can make sustainability actionable for maximum performance under effective company leadership [30,31]. Furthermore, we are not aware of any previous study focusing on ILG sustainability reporting at the grassroots level.…”

‘We Are Fire Clan’: Groups, Names and Identity in Papua New Guinea

“…This paper explores some ways in which people from a small, lightly populated area in the northeast of the Western Province of PNG have responded to the incursions of colonial officers, missionaries, companies intent on resource extraction, and national government by altering ways in which they employed names to variously connote or denote particular assemblages of people. Their most recent efforts – since the mid‐2000s – have been prompted by the presence in their area of exploration and drilling camps associated with what became the multi‐billion dollar PNG Liquefied Natural Gas (PNG LNG) project (Dwyer and Minnegal ; Ernst ; Goldman ). Two case studies provide our primary illustrative material.…”