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| Highlands Papuans | |
|---|---|
| Name | Highlands Papuans |
| Region | Highlands of New Guinea |
| Population | Various ethnolinguistic groups |
| Languages | Trans–New Guinea languages, Papuan languages |
| Related | Melanesians, Austronesians |
Highlands Papuans are the indigenous peoples occupying the central mountainous interior of the island of New Guinea, primarily within the highland provinces of present-day Papua New Guinea and the Indonesian province of Papua. They comprise hundreds of distinct ethnolinguistic groups with deep connections to highland environments such as the Wahgi Valley, Kainantu, Goroka, and the Sepik River headwaters; their social landscapes intersect with colonial histories including the German New Guinea administration, the Australian administration of Papua and New Guinea, and the postcolonial states of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
Highland inhabitants include prominent groups associated with regions like the Chimbu Province, Enga Province, Western Highlands Province, Eastern Highlands Province, and the Hela Province. Major cultural centers include towns such as Mount Hagen, Goroka, Lae, and Mendi. Colonial contacts involved figures and institutions like Friedrich Ratzel, Kathleen Mary Layard, Leigh Fermor, Australian troops in World War II, and administrative structures such as the Territory of Papua and New Guinea. Anthropological and ethnographic work by scholars including Margaret Mead, Adolf Bastian, Bronisław Malinowski, Donald Tuzin, Roy Rappaport, Reo Fortune, C. M. D. Mathews, and Ian Saem Majnep has shaped external understandings.
Archaeological and paleoclimatic research connects highland settlement to Pleistocene and Holocene dispersals examined by teams affiliated with the Australian National University, the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, the Australian Museum, and the University of Papua New Guinea. Evidence from sites near the Kuyu River, Lake Kutubu, and Ialibu links to broader histories involving the Lapita culture dispersals, interactions with Austronesian peoples, and genetic studies by consortia such as the Human Genome Diversity Project and researchers like Eske Willerslev. Missionary and colonial encounters involved entities such as the London Missionary Society, the Roman Catholic Church in Papua New Guinea, Methodist missions, and administrators including Sir Hubert Murray and Sir Edward Mulcahy, which reshaped trade networks connected to plantations in New Britain, New Ireland, and coastal ports like Port Moresby and Jayapura.
The highlands host many languages within the Trans–New Guinea languages family and independent Papuan isolates researched by linguists such as Stephen Wurm, Malcolm Ross, William A. Foley, Patricia Kaifu, and institutions like the SIL International and the Summer Institute of Linguistics. Linguistic surveys reference languages including Enga language, Huli language, Kuman language, Chimbu–Wahgi languages, and Melpa language, and studies intersect with comparative projects at the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History and collections in the British Museum and the National Library of Australia. Ethnographies document material culture such as bilum weaving noted in collections at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, body adornment paralleled in studies of the Sepik River arts, and performance traditions paralleled by festivals like the Goroka Show and the Mount Hagen Cultural Show.
Highland societies are organized through clan, lineage, and ritual structures examined in case studies by Roy F. Rappaport and Donald Tuzin; ceremonial life engages with practices studied alongside the work of Mariano G. J. Pineda, Edmund Leach, and Gregory Bateson. Ritual pig exchanges and feasting connect to regional trade nodes described in accounts involving coastal trade with New Guinea islands, markets in Wabag and Kainantu, and colonial labor recruitment documented in records of the Queensland Government and United States Armed Forces operations in World War II. Leaders and influential figures include local elders, "big men" studied in Melanesian political economy literature alongside Alexis de Tocqueville-style essays by anthropologists at the Australian National University and the University of Papua New Guinea.
Subsistence revolves around wet and dryland cultivation of crops such as sweet potato, taro, sago, and yams, introduced and spread through interactions traced by archaeologists from the University of Sydney and the Australian Centre for Ancient DNA. Hunting of montane fauna, horticulture, and exchange in pig-based economies connect to studies by Arthur Maurice Hocart and fieldwork archived at the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology and the Smithsonian Institution. Cash-crop engagement, wage labor in mines and plantations, and contemporary resource extraction involve companies and projects such as Ok Tedi Mine, Porgera Mine, Wafi-Golpu, and infrastructure linked to Highlands Highway development, along with associated legal and political controversies involving the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea and international NGOs.
Highland-lowland and highland-coastal interactions have included trade, marriage ties, and conflict involving peoples of the Sepik, Fly River, and Papuan Gulf regions, and have been mediated through ports such as Lae and Madang. Colonial-era labor migration references recruitment programs tied to Rabaul, Taurama, and plantations on Manus Island, while missionary networks connected highland communities to churches and schools administered by organizations like the Anglican Church of Papua New Guinea and the Lutheran Church of Australia. Military history during the New Guinea campaign involved locales such as Kokoda Track, Wau, and Gona, shaping demographic and economic shifts still referenced in contemporary regional planning by the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.
Public health and demographic research engages institutions like the World Health Organization, the Papua New Guinea National Department of Health, and academic centers at the University of Melbourne and the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. Health challenges documented include infectious disease surveillance by groups such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and programs supported by UNICEF; studies also address malnutrition, maternal health, and impacts of mining and development monitored by organizations such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch. Contemporary political and social issues involve provincial governance under leaders and bodies that interact with the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea, customary land rights adjudicated in courts including the National Court of Papua New Guinea, and cultural revival initiatives supported by museums such as the Papua New Guinea National Museum and Art Gallery and international research partnerships with the Australian Research Council.
Category:Indigenous peoples of New Guinea