NEW GUIN A RESEARC UNI

BUL ETIN

New Guinea Res earch Unit Bull etin

Numb er 4

MMUNAL CASH CROPPING AMONG THE OROKAIVA

R, G. CROCOMBE

May 1 9 6 4

Published by the New Guinea Research Unit, Australian National University,

G . P . O. Box 4, Canberra , A. C . T. and P . O. Box 41 9 , Port Moresby, Papua-New Guinea

CONTENTS

Foreword . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Origins of the system ( 1 8 94 - 1 9 1 8) ..... . ............ 2

Native plantations as the mainstay of agr icultural policy ( 1 9 18 - 40) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

The Native Plantations Ordinanc e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Acquisit ion of land . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Planting under the ordinance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0 Product ion and income . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6

Post -war c ommunity plantations 2 1

C ommunity r ic e and c ocoa projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 9

C onclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3

Appe ndic e s: 1

A. Plantations e stablished in the Northern District on C r own land s et aside as Native Re s erves under the Native Plantations Ordinanc e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 7

B. Plantations e stablishe d in the Northern

c.

D.

E.

F.

Distric t on native land under the Native Plantations Ordinanc e . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 1

A s ample of c ommunity plantat ions e stablishe d in the Northern District s inc e 1947 ( not r e ­lated to the Native Plantations Ordinance) . ...

Native Regulation No. 12 1 ( providing for c om -puls ory planting of e c onomic tre e s ) . . . . . . . . . .

Extracts from Native Plantations Ordinance 1 9 2 5 - 34 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . ........ . . . .

The Orokaiva villager's experienc e of c ash c ropping ... . ............ . . ... ..... . ... . . .

4 3

44

4 6

4 9

Bibliography. . . . . . . . ................... , . . . . . . . . . . 5 1

Map: Plantations e stablished in the Northern Distric t under the Native Plantations Ordinanc e . . . . . . 5 3

Foreword

W e were aware b efore beginning this study that com­munal plantations in the Northern District had been a failur e.

Th e Res earch Unit is generally more interest ed in succes sful ventures than in unsuccessful on es and this is the only failed exp eriment to have b een included in our current land study pro­

gramme (which includes more than twenty s ample studies in various parts of the country) . Th e reason for this study was

that detailed comparative studies w ere being undertak en with other app roaches to cash cropping among the Orokaiva and a full comparison could not be made without the inclus ion of th e communal experim ent.

For assistance in the field I am particularly grateful to Mr. E dric Eupu and Mr. C romwell Burau as w ell as to the people of the many villages we visit ed in the cours e of the study.

Mr. Max Rimoldi kindly assisted with r esearch from early published r eports. The co-operation and int er est of the Distri ct Commissioner, Mr. L. Williams, and other officials,

mis sionaries and s ettlers is acknowledged with gratitude.

1

Ori gins of the System (1894 - 1 9 1 8)

From the be ginning of British administration in Papua in 1888, it was policy to encourage Papuans to engage in cash c ropping. MacGregor" the first Lieutenant-Governor, advocated cash c ropping to thos e villagers he met in his tours of the country, but such incidental advic e by an intin erant official was probably not v ery influential. The first legi slative provision

to promote cash cropping was a Native Regulation, introduced

by MacGre gor in 1894, which provided that magistrates could compel indi genous people to plant coconuts on penalty of a

fine. (1) Thi s was ext ended in 1903 by a regulation which pro ­vided for compulsory planting of other economic trees. Native agriculture was not, however, the main plank of agricultural poli cy for although government staff w ere trained to "treat natives justly " they w ere directed "above all to p repar e the country for d evelopment by Europeans. Ther e i s not, and there has not been, any other policy " . (2)

Planting under the regulations took pla c e slowly, and

only in areas which w ere under the clos e supervision of magi s ­trates . It appears that there was little plantin g of cash crops by Papuans other than under the compulsion of the r e gulation and at this stage it does not se em to have b e en a matt er of con­c ern to the Administration whether the people plant ed in ­dividually or in groups. It has not been pos s ibl e to d etermin e which pattern w a s most frequently follow ed in practic e, though the examples noted in th e literature mostly involved planting by village o r clan groups rathe r than by individuals . Coconuts w er e the main c rop planted under the regulations , but ric e, rubb er, kapok, p eanuts and fruit tre es w er e tri ed in smaller

,

( 1 ) Native Regulation No. 2 , 1 894. Miles ( 1 956: 31 8) regards MacGregor's technique

for promoting native agriculture as unusually enlightened, but in fact it seems to have

been almost universal in the Pacific at that period, and MacGregor had become

familiar with it while serving under Sir Arthur Gordon in Fiji. Similar regulations

were introduced by Germany to Samoa and New Guinea, by the United Kingdom to

Fiji and the Gilbert Islands, by New Zealand to the Cook Islands and by Holland to

Indonesia.

(2) MacGregor to Lamington 4. 10. 1 898 (quoted in Healy 1 962 : 84) .

2

quantities in s ome areas. (1)

After the turn of the c entury les s emphasis was giv en to the policy of expanding indi genous plantings of cash c rops and inst ead Papuans wer e persuaded to work as labour on European plantations. In 1906 the Lieutenant-Governor stat ed that not

only was staff inad equate to enforce the 1894 regulation, but that where it was enforc ed the resultant income attracted trade rs whom he felt to b e a bad influence on the Papuan people.

Employment on European plantations, on the other hand, was considered to be beneficial. (2) This policy remain ed until aft er the first world war, though s ome Resident Magistrates also applied the regulations in o rder t o extend native plantings.

( 1 ) For a more detailed study of the application of these regulations see Miles

1 956 : 3 1 9-23 .

(2) Territory of Papua Annual Report (hereafter abbreviated to P. Ao R.) 1 905 -6 : 9.

3

Native plantations as the mainstay of agricultural policy (19 1 8 - 4 0 )

After the 1 914 -18 war, a shortage o f labour, low produc e prices and high shipping costs made it very difficult to attract Europ ean s ettlers to Papua. The emphasis of agricul ­tural poli cy was therefore shifted and indigenous agriculture was s e en as the only hope for th e future. "If we cannot attract capital to develop the Territory", the Lieutenant -Governor w rote, "w e must d evelop it without capital - that is , by native agriculture " (P.A. Ro 1921 -2 : 6). He s aw two particular ad ­vantages in native agriculture over European; it did not require hired labour and i t did not require large amounts of capital . It was clear the c ountry would not b e d eveloped by the few European plantations then in operation (with a planted area of about 6 1, OOO acres in 1 923 ) and for the n ext decade at l east Murray gave great emphasis to the d evelopment of "native plantations " .

In the Northern DistrictO> ther e had b e en little plant ­ing under the r egulations s in c e the turn of the c entury, but with the outbreak of the fi rst w o rld w ar the R es ident Magistrat e gave p riority to expanding output by the compuls o ry planting of coconut, rubb er and cit rus trees, and 1 0, OOO coconut and other ec onomic trees w er e planted in 19 14 - 1 5 under the di r ect super ­vision of pat rol offi c ers (Pa A. R .. 1 9 14 - 1 5 : 49 ) . By 1 92 1 there w er e 46, 404 coconut trees in the Orokaiva area but over half (25, 642 ) had b een planted within the previous five years . Al ­most all the rubber trees had b e en plant ed in the previous five years (Pa A. R., 1 92 0 - 1 : 48 - 5 0).

Although the regulations did not pres c ribe that plant ­ing was to b e either by individuals o r groups , in all the pos t -1 9 14 instan c es w e are aware of i n the Orokaiva area, each village or clust er of villages w as in fact di rected to plant as a

( 1 ) The Orokaiva area was included in the Buna and Kokoda Districts of the Northern

Division until 1 909 , then in the Kumusi Division until 1 920 , and in the Northern

Division (later termed the Northern District) since 1 920.

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group. (1) Group planting seems to have been the general pattern in other pa rts of the Territory too. In the Western

District in particular, the Resident Magistrate initiated schemes for cash crop plantations being owned and operated by each village as a whole. Profits were to be used for proj ects which would beofbenefit tothevillage community(P.A.R. 1913-14 :12). About fifty such plantations were established under the scheme.

During this post-war drive (and probably in 1920) a government officer assembled the people of the nine villages(2) of the northern branch of the Asigi tribe and inst ructed them to choose a site and plant an area of coconuts for the nine villages as a whol e . (3}

A central site was chosen near Ong.oho on land be­longing to the Akute ' undi sub -clan ( most of the members of which lived in Ongoho village), and about 500 coconuts were planted as a community proj ect by the men of the nine villages. (4) They were to be used exclusively for copra making (there were ample coconut trees in the villages for domestic us e ) and work and profits were to be shared equally among the abl e -bodied men . Small plots of rubber and citrus trees had

been es�ablished at Ongoho under the s ame scheme a year or

two earlier. The citrus was intended to be used primarily as a

latex coagulant for the rubber, and only secondarily as a cas h crop.

( 1 ) In some instances in the coastal villages of the Northern District each individual

planted his own trees , but all villagers planted in one 11village91 block on the land of

one man or of one descent group.

(2) Ongoho, Hongorata , Ivisusu, Sowa i , Weki, Ondahari, Oere, Girigirita and

Heherita . Sowai and Weki were later abandoned and today their populations live

together at a new village named Sotokoiari. Likewise Girigirita and Heherita have

amalgamated and moved to a new site . The new village is .called Girigirita .

(3 ) Data in this section of the report was collected by interview only in the villages

concerned during April-May 1 963.

(4) The annual reports show that in 1921 there were 518 coconut trees over five years

old and 1, 287 under five years old in the Asigi area. The nine villages listed above

comprise about half of the total Asigi population. The 518 mature trees were probably

those planted in the villages. Trees in the community block which did not survive

were not replaced, and as the ground has not been cleared since the second world war,

many have died. There were 1 98 trees still standing in 1963.

5

At the time of planting, copra prices were relatively high (ayeraging £ 32. 10. 0 per ton f. o. b. in 1920) but a fall in overseas prices and the introduction of the Navigation Act in

1921 (which resulted in exports to Europe having to go to Aus­tralia first) made copra production uneconomic. (1) No copra was ever made from the community coconut grove at Ongoho, nor w ere the s mall stands of rubber and citrus fruits ever ex­ploited . A ft e r the war the Akute 'undi, as landowners, claimed the trees as tlieir own on the ground that the community proj e ct had been abandoned long before. One Akute'undi man claims and us es about half of the trees. His father planted food crops

on that part of the land before the coconuts were planted and he now plants vegetables between the coconuts. Each of the resident Akut e'undi men claims the right to the produc e of several particular trees on the other half. Thre e trees are s et aside for the medical assistant at the local Aid Post, as he is a stranger. Most members of the other sub-clans question the right of the Akute'undi to the exclusive use of the coconuts as all groups participated in the planting. Occasionally some member of the other sub-clans asserts himself and collects nuts from the "community plantation" and the dispute which is normally quiescent flares up again.

Enquiries in fifteen other Orokaiva areas where coco­nuts were planted under the regulations show that most were never used for copra-making, though a few of thos e on the coast w er e s o used from time to time. Not one plantation was systematically exploited. The rubber was not tapped as there was no market for the latex, and most plantations were not cleared aft er planting . (2) The citrus fruits w er e never ex ­ploited commercially, again because there was no market.

(1 ) By 1 92 3 average f. o. b. price per ton had fallen to £19. O. 0 and by 1 930 to

£1 1 . 10. O. By 1 934 the price was £8. O. 0 per ton in London or about £4. 10. 0 f. o. b.

Papua , though Papuans had long since stopped se lling. The above prices were those

paid to e xp9rting traders , andnet prices paid to indigenous producers were probably not

much more than half those mentioned above .

(2) After 1 941 other arrangements were made for use of the rubber plantations. For

details see Rimoldi 1 964.

6

The Native Plantations Ordinance

In addition to the post-1918 drive for increased plant­ing under the regulations a n ew policy was introduc ed with the dual aim of increasing village production and government

revenue. (1) The old regulations had provided for compulsory

planting only, but the n ew ordinance provided for continuous

supervision and compulsory maintenance and harvesting of

gardens, as well as processing and marketing fa ciliti es . Under

the heading "Compulsory labour in the natives own interes t",

Sir Hub ert Murray claimed that "the most obvious, and possibly

the only s olution i s to encourage, o r if necessary to compel, the native to work for his ownbenefit"(P .. A .. R .. 1921-2: 16).

The new policy was embodied in the Native Plantations

Ordinance 1918 ( and amendments)(2) which provid ed for the es­tablishment of community plantations in which both the govern -ment and the villagers would ·participate. Profits were to be shared equally between the gove rnment and produc er s . ( 3 ) The Lieutenant-Governor w as empowered to direct that any Crown land could be set aside as a Native Res erve for the purpose of establishing a plantation . Alternatively, with the consent of the

land owners "whose property the land remains", plantations

could be established on native land.

The earlier Native R egulations which provided for compulsory planting of cash c rops were not repealed, but they s eem to have been used much less after the n ew Ordinanc e be ­came operative in the 1920's.

The available sources give little indi cation of the reasons for emphasi s being placed on group plantations rather

thq.n individual plots, though Miles (1956 : 323 ) hazards the view that it facilitated control and inspection, and that the indigenous

( 1 ) For a discussion of the emphasis on raising government revenue see Mair 1 948 88.

(2) The Ordinance of 1 9 1 8 was subsequently superceded by the Native Plantations

Ordinance 1 925-52 , extracts from which are contained in Appendix E.

(3 ) The Ordinance prescribed that "half or any other proportion" of the crop was to

belong to the villagers. In practice villagers were paid half the takings .

7

p eople p robably preferred it anyway. He gives no evidenc e for the latte r a s s ertion . It s eems equally pos sibl e that officials of the day c onsid e red the Papuan p eople to b e "naturally" adapted to communal patterns of work .

The fi rst action to implement the o rdinanc e i n the Northern Dis trict was taken in 1921 and 1922 when ins pections w ere made by officials "with a view to plantations being estab ­lished of such economic plants as will suit the s oil and promis e a profitable r eturn " (P.A .. R .. 1921-2 : 23). Similar action was taken in parts of the Central, Milne Bay and Gulf Districts at

the s ame time .

Acquisition of land

In 1 92 1 the Crown began to purchas e lands unde r the Lands Ordinance 1 9 1 1 -22 and to declare them under the Native Plantations Ordinan c e, as Native Reserves s et aside for the purpo s e of Native Plantations . Between 1921 and 1925, 38 such plantations w ere d eclared in Papua (33 of them in 1 922 - 3). Each plantati on was to be farmed by a group of n eighbouring villa ges . By 1932 , however, 18 of the Orders in Council by which the plantations had been established had been cancelled (there were no cancellations thereafter). Of the r emaining 2 0, 14 w er e locat ed in the Northern District and the other 6 in other parts of P apua . With the exc eption of small ext ensions to s everal plantations , no further land was bought by the Crown for this pu rpos e after 1925. The plantations established on Crown land in the Northern District are listed in Appendix A.

In 1 9 2 5 the policy changed to the extent that planta­tions wer e only established under the ordinan c e if p eople could be persuaded to set aside native land for the purpos e . The Cr,own did not buy the land, and residual ownership was not challenged, but for such time as the land was proclaimed und er the o rdinanc e it could only be us ed a s a native plantation for a particular group of villages. We have been unable t o a s c ertain the r easons fo r this change of policy. Betw e en 192 3 and 1 9 36 , 7 5 plantations were proclaim ed in Papua unde r this s ection of the o rdinan c e . B y 1 9 34 , 36 of the Orders in C ouncil s etting up the plantations had been cancelled. Of the remaining 39, 1 2 w er e locat ed in the Northern District. They are d etailed in

8

Appendix tablished .

No furthe r communal plantations w ere ever es -

Payment for the land purcha s ed by the C rown was made in tobacco, mirrors , b elts , knives and axes . The precis e cash value o f th es e goods i s not known, but the value of twist tobacco at that time was about 3/ - per pound, (o r 1 t penc e p er stick) and the various goods cho s en as payment by different in ­dividuals indi cat e the following values:

1 mirro r = 3 sticks tobacco = 4t pence 1 b elt 3 sticks tobacco

1 = = 42 p ence 1 small knife = 4 sticks tobacco = 6 pence 1 large knife = 16 sticks tobacco = 24 p enc e 1 axe = 29 sticks tobacco = 43t p enc e

The 16 blo cks listed in Appendix A contained 266 ac r es of land (with blo cks ranging from 10 to 30 acres) and were bought for 23! pounds of tobacco, 21 mirrors , 21 belts , 14 small knives, 6 large knive s and 1 axe, o r an approximate cash value of £5. 8. 11 o r just under 5 pen c e per acre of land . (1) The payment was divided equally betw e,en tho s e persons listed on the purchas e documents as the own ers .

The officers who negotiated the purchas e sign ed a d eclaration in each cas e to the effect that the land purchas ed was "unoc cupied at the time of s ale", though in s everal in­stanc es pres ent -day informants have named the famili es o r lin eages which were gardening there at the time the plantations project began . As the land was to be s et aside for the us e of the local people the offic ers were perhaps les s meticulous in this regard than they would otherwise have been, and in one in- ,

stanc e signed a declaration to the effect that the land was un ­occupied even though it was stated elsewhere on the document that the land had b e en under c rop for some years and remain ed s o� (2)

( 1 ) The first five blocks were purchased by an officer who paid one pound of tobacco

per five acres (e quivalent to 7d per acre) and the rest within a matter of weeks by

another officer who paid in a wider range of goods worth the equivalent of just over 4d

per acre There is no noticeable difference between the lands concerned. These

prices are much the same as the Crown was paying for land elsewhere in the Territory

at that time.

(2) Amboga plantation No. 26 (extension).

9

The purchase documents list the names of the vendors , who w er e des c ribed as "sol e o wn e rs 11 of th e land con­c erned . (1) There was an average of five ''own ers " per block, with a ran ge from on·e to eleven . All of them w er e men . Fro m the s ample checked i t appears that not all memb er s (nor even all male memb ers) of the ownin g sub -clans w er e included, but rather the heads of the owning sub - clan and of component lin eages . Mor eover, s ome h eads of neighbouring sub - clans which participated in the project, but w ere not memb ers of the owning sub-clans, w er e included . This suggests that the p eople may have viewed the negotiation as a decision by the signatories and their d es c ent groups to s et the land aside for a particular purpos e (with the cons ent of the occupying sub -clan), rathe r than outright s ale b y the occupying sub -clan .

L egally the blocks which w er e purchas ed b elonged to the C rown, but the Orokaiva people do 'not admit either the s ale or any other Crown rights . In the cou rs e of field wo rk in 19 63 w e ask ed villagers at each of 12 blocks, to whom the land on which the coffe e was planted belonged . Invariably w e w ere told that it b elonged to one or· other of the local sub -clans . In thre e ins tan c es w e suggest ed that it may have b elonged to th e Crown, but the people r eact ed so s trongly that w e did not p r e s s the point, ( though the strength o f their as s ertion may w ell have refl ected their uncertainty about precise rights to the land) .

At the time of purchase the offic ers concerned no doubt pointed out to the own e rs that the land would not be taken for u s e by the government, but would be s et a s id e for the col ­lective us€ of the villages concerned. The plantations w er e in fact established and it is understandable that the people consider that the landown ers w ere merely granting joint usufruct to members of n eighbouring sub - clans . The government has n e,ver as s e rt ed its legal rights to the abandoned plantations , and it s eems unlikely that it will eve r do so.

Planting und e r the o rdinanc e

Whereas the Native Regulations had b een implement ed by the R esident Magi st rates , provis ion was made in the

( 1 ) The vendors were illiterate and signed the documents by the putting of marks.

10

ordinan c e for th e appointment of officers as "controllers of native plantations 1 1• The first of these, Mr . G. H. Murray, was appointed in 1920 to s erve th e whole Territory (P. Ao R. 192 0 -1 : 28). It was not until 1923 that a permanent officer, Mr . A. T. Dawson, was posted to the Northern District. Neith er officer had b e en trained in agricultur e .

The people of the Northern District w ere report ed to be rec eptive to the idea of having their own plantations and "practically no compulsion" was applied in getting initial agree­ment to the principle (P.A. R. 1923 -4 : 1 6 ) .

Planting b egan in 1923 and by 1925 fourteen of the plantations had b e en planted. Owing to a d elay in obtaining

cocoa seedlings from Java, 3 0 acres of cotton w ere planted in 1925 (P.A. R. 1924-5 : 27). The cotton experiment was a failure and was not repeated. By 1926 there w ere only 50 acres of cocoa, 10 acres of coffee and 6 acres of oil palm in the dis­trict. ( 1) Eleven of the plantati ons w ere of cocoa, one of coffee and two of oil palm. A littl e rice was also tri ed. The cocoa, oil palm and ric e w ere soon abandoned by b oth government and the p eople owing to a drop in pri c e s , and only the coffee was pers evered with.

In 1 9 2 6 o r 1 9 2 7,, a further 1 1 6 acres of land w e r e cleared for coffee und er government instructions , but the rat e of expansion declined markedly thereaft e r . By 1936 there w e re 1 8 plantations totalling 242 acres under coffee in the Orokaiva area. 1 8 9 acres w er e then in b earing and the rest were ex ­p ected to b egin bearing by 1938. Plantings ranged in area from 4 to 30 acres .

Eve ry able -bodi ed man betw een the ages o f 1 6 and 3 6 years who lived within five miles of a plantation ( exc ept thos e employed by government, mis s ions o r European plantations ) was requir ed, by regulations under the o rdinanc e, to wo rk 60

(1) This figure included some private plantings in addition to those under the .

ordinance - P.A. R. 1926-7 10. Coffee seed was supplied from the government

station at Higaturu.

11

days per year on the plantation of his village . (1) Thos e who worked 60 days or over were ther eby exempted from head tax (then t en shillings per year) . Thos e who didnot wer e liable not only to head tax but als o to a fine of £ 2 or impri s onment with hard·1 lahour for a period of thre e months .

Evidenc e is inconclus ive as to how much work was requi red in practi c e . . Despite the r eferenc e to sixty days' wo rk per year, c rops like coffee n e eded constant att ention and if only sixty days per year w ere to be performed by each man, either w o rk days would need to be staggered or w o rkers ro stered . At first government o ffi c ers required 1 20 half-days , but in most villages onc e the c rops w ere in bearing all men w er e requi red to att end every morning from Monday to Friday throughout the year. (2) None of the foremen had watches and it is impos s ible to know how long men worked in .fact, but informants in widely separated parts of the area claim that they were requi red to work until noon in the coffee gardens. In addition, men took turns to carry the produce on foot to the government base at Higaturu every Saturday . This involved a walk of about fifteen miles in each direction from the Ongoho (Asigi) community block .

Women took no part in cash cropping, but they did most of the gardening. Men sometimes helped in the food gar ­d ens in the afternoons.

Reports of the period contain many refer enc es to the p eopl es ' lack of enthusiasm for the s cheme and h eavy s anctions w er e appli ed by government offic ers to have their p ro gramme enforc ed . In 1 9 25 the Resident Magistrate tried to extend the

(1 ) Men who had been away as indentured labourers were exempt from this require ­

.ment for three months after their return to the village .

(2 ) At several places near Higaturu people claimed that they were required to work

afternoons also during busy periods. After such periods they would be allowed a week

or more off with no plantation work. It seems likely that this was done in the villages

close to Higaturu which were under closer supervision by the officer in charge of the

plantations. In the more distant areas the officer seems not to have delegated any

authority to vary the regular pattern. Humphries ( 1944 3) notes that the specified

period of 60 days {he says three months) was not observed in practice and that 19in fact

men were called upon to work whenever circumstances required them".

1 2

s cheme to Ioma and other areas . At Ioma "it was only wh en fac ed with the alt ernative of going to gaol for failure to pay tax that they were induced to work on th e plantation . . . . In other districts the natives elected to pay thei r taxes in money "

(P. A,, R .. 1925-6 : 52). The s cheme survived, according to Captain Humphries (1944 : 2) who was at one stage responsible

for it, "only b ecaus e of the gaol that loomed in the background. "

The standard p enalty for failure to work was three months' imprisonment which was s erved by working on the government coconut plantations at Euna or Ioma, o r on the gov ­ernment rubber plantation at Kokoda . Th es e plantations were worked entirely by pri son labour� (apart from supervisory and speciali st staff) and many of the older men we spok e to had s erved s entences for breaches of this o rdinanc e . In fact, as Mair (1945 : 83) notes , the existence of government plantations whi ch had no provision for paid labour acted as an inc entive to pros ecute for breaches of this and other law s .

Daily work on the community coffee gardens was supervi s ed by the village constables who w ere thus in a position of considerable autho rity . Nevertheles s, this rol e may not have b e en particularly congenial for the constable was as likely as anyone to be punished for failure to k e ep the work up to standard. There was not a constable for each village, and th e constable at Ongoho, for example, was r es pons ible for the nine Asi gi villages which work ed th e Ongoho block . ( 1) The con ­stables in turn were sup ervi s ed by Papuan foremen known as "coffe e bos s es 1 1, each of whom was responsible for a number of c ommunal gardens. The "coffee boss es 1 1 in turn w ere respon ­sible to the European Controller of Native Plantations who was bas ed at Higaturu .

Such was the difficulty of getting labour to carry the produc e from the factory at Higaturu to the port of Sanananda (near Euna) that a special regulation was pas s ed r equiring all able -bodied men to carry p roduc e when ever instruct ed to do s o. (2)

(1) For supervision of the plantation and normal police se rvices he was paid ten

shillings per year.

(2) Native Plantations (Notthern Division Carrying) Regulations 1 928.

1 3

No payment was pres c ribed, and none was made for carrying from the plantations to th e depot at Higaturu . Sometimes pay­ment was mad e for carrying produce the 16 miles fromHigaturu to the port (usually in twist tobacco according to informants ), but at other times persons convict ed of breaches of the or ­dinance w ere required to carry as punishment. Mul es were later introduc ed to carry the produce from the factory to the port, and in the lat e 19 30's a truck was acqui r ed to transport it from Popondetta to Sanananda. The ·mule train .. was :stilLus.ed b etw e en Higaturu and Popondetta until 1940.

Offi cial r epo rts of the period consider the r eluctance of the villagers to have been due either to a lack of understand ­ing of the benefits they would derive from the scheme or to innate lazin es s . C . . T. Wurth, who was Resident Magistrat e in 1926, con sidered that the p eople "had not grasped the advantages of the plantation and the benefits they will eventually reap " and noted that many men from the villages with plantations had gone off to work as labourers els ewhere (P.AoR .. 19 2 5 - 6 : 5 0 ) . Hi s succ es so r des cribed the "toil and dis appointments " entailed in supervising the plantations and stated that the village people ''have to be driven to it by the fear of gaol " . (1) He was aware that there was no cash return during the first four years aft er establishment of plantations and hoped that attitudes would change as soon as the trees came into bearing and income was d erived .

As noted on page 7, half the produc e of the plantations was to belong to thos e who produc ed it and the othe r half to the government . But in practic e in the Northern District, pro­ducers w er e required to deliver all produc e to the government d epots at Higaturu, Popondetta and Buna . ( 2 ) The half of the

( 1 ) P .A. R. 1 926-7 : 53 . A later magistrate followe d a policy of "incessant talking 1to the village councillors . • • for even if they do not think his [ the magistrate 's] ad­

vice worth, following, they may be glad to take it as the only means of kee ping him

quiet" - P�A. R. 1 933-4 : 29.

(2) The main depot was at Higaturu until 1 941, but in that year new machinery was

installed at Popondetta to handle pulping , drying and hulling. (Since 1933 the coffee

had been shipped in the pa·rchment stage to Port Moresby where it was hulled at the

government rice factory) . Before the Higaturu depot was closed , however, war broke

out and all three depots were destroyed.

14

proc e eds to b e retain ed by the government was paid into the Native Taxation Account (which was compo s ed of revenue fro m h ead tax and native plantations ) . Average annual government r evenue from the plantations was £ 1, 0 8 2 and from head tax

£ 1 4, 0 0 3 . After costs o f c oll ection had been met the balanc e remaining i n the Native Taxation A c count w a s trans ferred to two funds which w er e entitl ed, somewhat inac curat ely, the Native Education Fund and th e Native Benefits Fund .

Hulling, marketing and administrative costs incurred in running th e plantations s cheme w ere paid from th e Native Education Fund . The s ame fund provided a coffee pulpin g machin e fo r each of the plantations which was more than about tw o hou rs w alk from Higaturu, the produc e o f the clos er garden s b e in g pulp ed a t Higaturu Station . In fact n o money was spent directly on native education in the Northern District, though s ome small subsidi es w ere granted to mis sion s chools. The Native B en efits Fund provided fo r the s alary of a Government Anthropolo gist, medi cal s ervic es , b onus es to large famili es and oth e r mis c ellan eous expens es . Only about a qua rt er o f the mon ey in the two funds was spent on edu cation ( all in the fo rm of subsidi e s ) and much was simply l eft to ac cumulate . Wh en the war broke out the r e was an uns p ent balance o f £ 2 6, 1 9 9 in the Native Education Fund . The whole plantation s s chem e ( in ­cludin g Native E ducation and Native B en efit s ) was admini stered by the Di r ecto r of Native Taxation .

The producer ' s half of the income from the coffee was paid, not o n d elivery, but at the end o f e ach y ear . The official in cha rge of the s cheme visited each village to make the payments . The o rdinanc e required that payment was to be made in proportion to days w ork ed and, as the village c on stabl e

who w a s in charge of the plantation w as almo st invariably illiterate, s ome o f th em kept an "attendan c e stick " fo r each man . A notch w a s cut in the sti ck fo r each day of ab s ence oth e r than that c aus ed b y illn ess o r the d eath of a clos e relativ e . When the government offic e r vi sited the village t o make the payments th e constabl e p ro duc ed the attendanc e stick of each man as he came up for payment. Some c on st abl e s relied on memo ry to inform government offi c ers of abs ent e e s , but the few lit erate ones ( e . g . at Sombo ) w er e p rovided w ith att endan c e books .

1 5

Production and income

While offic ial r epo rts give lazines s or mi sunde rstand ­in g as the rea s on for th e lack of willing c o -operati on w ith the s ch em e, th e reas on giv en today by the p eopl e th ems elves i s that the income was inad equate fo r the effo rt requi red .

Table 1 shows the total production of coffee from plantati ons establis hed under the o rdinance in the Orokaiva area for the t en year period 1 9 3 1 - 40, and the amounts paid to pr,o ­duc er s for it . The pric e per pound has b een calculated and ranged from 4 . 5 p enc e ( in 1 9 3 2 ) at the hi gh est to 2. 1 p enc e (in 1 9 3 8 ) at the low es t . T h e ave ra ge pri c e for the period w a s 2 . 6 penc e per pound . (1 )

Table 2 shows that output p e r ac r e of land planted in coffee und e r the s cheme averaged 6 8 1 pounds, which is a rel a ­tively high yi eld . A t 2 . 6 p enc e per pound this would have given an income of £ 7 . 7 . 5 p er acr e . Th e total work for c e on all th e

plantati ons is estimat ed to have b e en about 700 , s o payment w ould have averaged £ 1 . 1 1 . 0 p e r work er p e r year , o r less than 2 p en c e per day wo rk e d . Th e l 5t acres of coffee in the Ongoho blo ck(2 ) would, a s s uming average yi eld s , have given an annual income of £ 1 1 4 . 5 . 0, or just over £ 1 . 0 . 0 per worker, but in ­formants today maintain that payment at Ongoho was usually 8 I -to 12 / - per man per year with young lads b eing paid 5 / - .

Only on on e o r two occasions did the payout exc e ed £ 1 . Th e total labour forc e in th e nin e villages which participat ed in the Ongoho blo ck was p robably clo s e on 1 0 0 and yi elds per acre w ere appar ently low e r than average . Enquiri es at other com ­munal plantations show that higher pri c es w e re paid in plac es where a s maller labour fo rc e was working an equally large ar_ea . In Hohota, fo r exampl e, £ 6 to £ 9 w as paid per man in s ome years, but th e re th e hours of w o rk are s aid to have b e en 6 a . m . to noon six days a w e ek, plus aft e rno on work at harvest -

(1) The world trade depression had begun about the time the first coffee was coming

into full production. The crop was marketed in Australia where it met strong com­

petition from Java coffee .

(2) Our measurement of the planted area shows i t t o have been just over 15! acres ,

though the area gazetted was only 15 acres .

1 6

T able 1

Production of coffee in the Orokaiva area from plantations established under

the Native Plantations Ordinance for ten years 1 93 1 - 40 (1)

( 1 ) Derived from Territory o f Papua reports 1 932 - 41 .

(2) Net payment to producers in £ Australian.

(3) Calculated to the nearest tenth of a penny.

Year

Acreage

---...... co

Total output

(lbs)

Output per acre

Output per acre of coffee in the Orokaiva area from plantations established under

the Native Plantations Ordinance for five years 1 936 - 40 0 )

1 936

1 89

1 2 3 , 000

651

1 93 7 1 938 1 939 1 940

2 1 8 242 242 242

1 2 7, OOO 1 71 , 5 95 187 , 300 1 63 , 3 1 9

582 709 774

( 1 ) Derived from Territory o f Papua reports 1 936 - 41 .

Acreages for the years 193 1 -5 are not available .

675

Total Yearly

average

22(5. 6

772 , 2 14 154, 443

681

ing time . Humphries (1 9 44 : 3 ) estimates the annual payment per man to have ranged from a few shillings to £ 4 per yea r .

A t that time s ome o f the youn g singl e men w e r e going out to w ork on plantations in return fo r food, acco mmodation and a cash wage of £ 6 p er year . All plantations had to supply tobacco, s oap, suga r and meat each w e ek - end, and s ome paid wages eve ry month (usually 1 0 I - ) . But payment in cash and kind was not the only inc entive to taking employment outside the distri ct . Perhaps the main reason was the exp eri en c e involved, for it s eems to have b ecome a nec es s ary prerequis it e to man ­hood that a youth should have been away to work . The income acqui red was us ed at l east partly to supply his b riqe ...;w ealth on his r eturn .

From dis cussions with many Orokaiva p eopl e who w er e involved in the plantations it s eems tnat they rega rded the s cheme as an imposition whereby the p eople w er e required to plant coffe e whichthe government commande er ed and sold to its own p ro fit . The annual cash payment was not vi ew ed as a pri c e p e r pound but as a token payment b y government for their labour . ( 1 ) Offi cial reports ( e . g . P . A o R . 1 9 3 3 -4 : 2 7 ) not ed that the p eopl e "complain loudly " when the payment was not up to expectations and in 1 9 3 9 a demonstration occurred wh en th e money paid out at Higaturu was thrown on the ground by the r e ­cipients .

The plantations w er e undoubtedly ove rstaffed and w o rkers should not have b een under any strain to compl ete their task s . With 7 0 0 wo rk e rs fo r the 2 42 ac res of coffee ther e was an average of n early three w o rk er s to the ac r e, though allow ­anc e must b e mad e for their having t o carry the produc e to the d epot and in s ome cas e s to pulp it als o . At Ongoho ther e w er e six t o the acre, though walking t o and from the j ob mus t have

( 1 ) It is still quite widely held that produce prices are fixed by government, and that

in the same way as Europeans are paid higher wages , they receive higher prices for

their coffee . Humphries ( 1 944 2) noted that the people regarded "working for the

government' ° on native plantations as much less remunerative than working for a

planter.

1 9

taken as much time as the wo rk its elf fo r s ome of them. (1 )

Und er id eal conditions each wo rker could probably have handl ed one to two acres working mornings only. Such, however, was the government ' s enthusiasm for instilling regular w o rk habits (or at least regular attendan c e at the plac e of work ) that no roster system s eems to have b een work ed out to ensure that wo rk e rs attended for the minimum time nec e s sary to com ­plete their tasks . It i s not di ffi cult to und e rs tand that, though fear of imprisonment k ept the proj ect going, there was little enthusiasm for it in the villages .

( 1 ) Girigirita and Oere were about a n hour1s walk each way from the coffee block.

2 0

P ost -war c ommunity plantations (1 9 45 - 6 2 )

Sho rtly after the outbreak o f w a r with J a pan, govern ­ment s ervic es w ere reduced to a minimum, coffee buying c eas ed and the community cash c rop gardens w ere soon abandoned . The Orokaiva area b ecame th e s c ene of int ens e fi ghting b etw e en J apanes e and Australian -American Fo rc e s during 1 9 42 and

1 9 43 and civilian government was not resto r ed until 1 9 4 5 . No further C ommi s sioners fo r Native Plantations w e r e ev er

appointed but towards the end of 1 9 44 an A gri cultur e Offi c e r

( Mr . F . Shaw ) was pos t ed to Hi gaturu . One o f his tasks was to get the pre -war plantations into production again . Most in ­formants today s ay they had no w ish to r e sume wo rk on the plantations owing to the low payment s made pre -war, whi ch they a s s umed would continu e . Their a s s ociation with Amerci an for c e s had l ed them to c on s i d e r their labour to be worth con ­siderably mo re than pre -war rates . How ever th e military administration (Ao N. G. �- U. ) was th en still in charge of the

Territory, and they were instru ct ed to recommenc e work on the plantations .

The pre -war syst em whereby every man work ed on the coffee each morning from Monday to Friday was r esumed, though sup ervision was transferred from the village constable to a "coffee bos s ", one of whom was appoint ed by the govern ­ment to over s e e each plantation .

P enal s anctions w er e l e s s s evere than pre -war, the usual punishm ent for failure to attend work b eing one month ' s impri sonment instead of three, but befo re long the s anctions w ere r elaxed and few p eople were c onvi cted . Income was higher , for wh er eas before the war the villagers w er e paid only half of the pro c e eds of the c rop, aft e r the war they w ere paid the full p ri'c e . (1 ) Ongoho p eopl e info rm us that annual payouts aft e r the war w ere £ 6 to £ 9 per man p e r y ear, and in addition

( 1 ) The Native Plantations (Papua) Ordinance of 1 952 provided for the total value of

the crop to be paid in cash to the producers. In practice , the policy had been followed

for several years before that.

2 1

the men who c a rri e d the coffe e to Hi gaturu each Saturday w ere each given a stick of tobac co . By 1 9 5 0 th e basis of payment had b e en changed and producers w er e paid immediately and in cash fo r th ei r produc e .

The post -war d riv e d id not last long and wh en official pres sures w e re r elaxed p roduction dropp ed mark edly . Duri n g

1 9 49 - 5 0 ext en s ion staff mad e a furth er att empt to r evive the s cheme : s even plantations in the Higatu ru area w er e fully re ­habilitated and similar work was propo s ed fo r t h e plantations east of Popondetta . N ew proc e s s ing equipment w as purchas ed and a n ew coffee facto ry built at Hi gaturu , but it was hardly complet ed w h en Mt . Lamington erupt ed early in 1 9 5 1 d e st roying

the factory an d many of th e plantations as w ell . P roduction from the plantations s ch eme c eas ed as a r e sult of th e e ruption, but it is doubtful wh eth e r i t would have c ontinu ed for lon g in any c a s e . The p ri c e was low , (1 ) no ext ernal s an ctions w ere im ­pos ed (and the p eopl e w e re not permitt ed to impos e their own

s anctions ) and in many instan c es the r e was dispute ove r the shares to be given to landown ers, sup ervis o rs , and oth e rs . In 1 9 5 5 ext ens ion staff made a thi rd and final attempt to revive the s cheme, but it too met with littl e long t erm succ es s .

No preci s e production figur es are available fo r the plantations s cheme in the No rth e rn Dis trict, but as this scheme produced mo s t o f the coffee export ed from Papua, total exports from the c olony give an indi cation of the patte rn whi ch appli ed in the Northern District . Thes e are lis t ed in Tabl e 3 b el9w .

( 1 ) In 1 950 coffee was being bought in cherry a t 2 d per pound which i s equal t o about

per pound for parchment coffee . Data published in P. A. R. 1 949-50 1 7 show

that 40, 1 60 man-hours were worked on::the 56 acres of coffe e then in production and

that £76 7. 1 2 . 3 was received from coffee sales. Making no allowance for establish­

ment costs , this represents 4!d per hour worked.

2 2

1 938--39

1939-40

1 940-41

1 941 -42

1 942 -43

1 943-44

1 944-45

1 945-46

1946-47

1 947-48

1 948-49

1 949-50

1 950-51

1 95 1 -52

1 952 -53

1 953 -54

1 954-55

1 955 -56

1 956-57

1 957-58

1 958-59

1 959-60

1 960-61

1 961 -62

1 962 -63

112

77

69

Nil

Nil

1

6

20

2 1

1 2

19

24

1 3 1 2

1t 2t 4

5

11 7

1 7

24! 30

35

Table 3

Coffee production in Papua 1 939-63( 1 )

tons (Of which 84 tons came from Orokaiva native plantations)

tons {Marketing and supervision affected by war)

tons (Marketing and supervision affected by war)

(Japanese occupation)

(Japanese occupation)

ton (Australian military occupation)

tons (First attempt to revive scheme)

tons (First attempt to revive scheme )

tons (First attempt to revive scheme)

tons

tons

tons (Second attempt to revive scheme)

cwt. (Owing to Mt. Lamington eruption)

ton (Owing to Mt. Lamington eruption)

tons (Owing to Mt. Lamington eruption)

tons

tons (Third attempt to revive scheme)

tons (Third attempt to revive scheme)

tons

tons

tons (Includes first exports of coffee from individual plots sponsored

by agricultural extension on land registered under Higaturu

Council land registration scheme)

tons (Including 7 tons from indigenous producers in Northem District)

tons (Including 24! tons from indigenous producers in Northern

District)

tons (Including 26 tons from indigenous producers in Northern

District)

49( ?) tons (Including 41 tons from indigenous producers in Northern

District)

( 1 ) These figures had to be derived from a variety of sources , for the Annual Reports for Papua do not include exports made via Lae in New Guinea. They must be taken

as approximate only.

2 3

Aft er 1 9 5 8 most of th e coffee p ro duc ed by indigenous grow ers in the Northern Dis t rict came from plots which w ere planted by individuals (largely as a result of agricultural ex ­t ension s e rvic es ) and r egistered under the Higaturu Loc al Government C ouncil land r egi st ration schem e . The communal proj ect was formally abandoned in 1 960 with the r epeal of the Native Plantations Ordinance . ( 1) C rown lands r evert ed to the C rown and native lands to their owners . Th e Government has t reated the C rown lands as re s erves fo r the local people and has not tak en any action to rest rict their us e as c ommunal plan ­tations . Today, however, only H of the 1 6 pre '"".w ar plantations which w e visited are producing at all , and they at only a fraction of thei r potential output .

W e tra c ed the history of the Ongoho c ommunity block in d etail in a s eri es of s eparate intervi ews at each of the villages which had participat ed in the p roj ect . (2 ) The collaps e o f th e proj ect there was c aus ed by disagreement over land rights, apportionment of work and distribution of income . The disputing parti es w er e the various sub - clans which had partici ­pat ed in the p roj ect . The sub -clans may b e roughly equat ed with villages . ( 3 )

B efore the w ar, stri ct c ontrol by the Administration preclud ed the emergen c e of the s e particular problems : the land had been d emarcat ed and th e trees plant ed under clos e super ­vis ion , fixed patterns of wo rk w ere impo s ed, and the money was paid to each man b y a government offi cial. By the lat e 1 9 40 ' s how ever, th e s anctions for failure to w o rk w ere not in fact b eing exe rcis ed, and att endanc e was irr egular . Th e Ongoho "coffee bos s " who had b e en r es pons ibl e fo r local sup ervision from about 1 9 45 found the dis s ens ion too much to control and r e ­s i gned in 19 48 . Littl e work was b ein g done and the govern -

( 1 ) The Native P lantations (Papua) Repeal Ordinance 1 960.

(2) This was necessary because the issue is still very contentious and feelings about

the disputes over the community gardens are still strong.

(3) In fact each village is regarded as being that of a particular sub-clan, despite the

existence of smaller enclaves of other sub-clans in most of them. Marriage is usually

(but not exclusively) between sub-clans and almost invariably within the Asigi tribal

group.

24

ment coffee pulping machin e was withdrawn . Supervision of the coffee was taken over by the village constable (who had b e en in charge of the coffee b efor e the war ) but no records of attendan c e w e re kept . Lat er, at the constabl e ' s suggestion, a Pat rol Offi c er i s s aid to have appoint ed one Haruma (who is a clas s ifi c atory brother of th e constable ' s wife ) as c offe e bos s . Thi s must have b e en an uno ffi ci al appointment as he was not paid. There was by this time a continuing di s put e about the distribution of income from the coffee .

The Hoi w o 1undi sub - clan, on whos e land the Ongoho coffee was plant ed, claimed a larger share of the p roc eeds b ecaus e th e land was "theirs 11 • A s no agre em ent was r eached, the Hoiw o 'undi forbade memb ers of other sub - clans to ent e r the coffe e garden s . This p rohibition was respected even though many p eople felt it to have b e en unjust . L egally of cours e n either Hoiwo 'undi no r any othe r sub - clan had any right to the land, b ecaus e the whol e garden a r ea had b e en purchas ed by the C rown in 1 9 2 2 and s et aside as a res erve for the purpos e of a native plantation in 1 92 3 . But s ecurity of t enur e is d ependent much mor e on b eliefs than it i s on law and in fact the people do not conc.ede the government ' s right t0 th e land . All are agr e ed that it i s Hoiwo'undi land, though the other sub -clan s cons ider that as everybody cleared the bush and planted the trees, it is unjust that Hoiwo 'undi should have deni ed them acc es s . No ­body, how ever,, s eems to deny thei r ri ght to do s o . In fact Hoiwo 'undi people had b e en using the front part of the area for a food garden b efore the community coffee plantation was es -tablish ed . One family of Akute 'undi sub - clan had als o b e en gardening there with the approval of Hoiwo 'undi . The coffee boss (Haruma ) was als o the l eader of the Hoiwo 'undi sub -clan .

Fo r a time th e c ommunity garden was ab andon ed

altogether, but 1at er s ome Hoiwo 'undi p eople harvest ed coffee there spasmodically . The inc ome w as shared within Hoiwo 'undi. No w eeding, pruning o r other maint enanc e w o rk was c a rri ed

out at thi s p eriod . At the time of th e Mt. Lamington eruption in 1 9 5 1 all w o rk c ea s e d . The government coffee factory and buying c entre was destroyed and so w ere s everal of the com ­munity plantations . (1 ) Du e to the t rauma caus ed by the di s as t er

In fact the coffee trees grew again from seed which had been lying in the ground

and which was not affected by the eruption. These self-sown trees have not been tended or thinned, however, and their productive potential today seems to be very low.

2 5

and a lack of buying faciliti es, no c offe e was picked at Ongoho until 1 9 5 2 .

In that year a local company (R F . Bunting & Co . Ltd . ) b egan buying c offe e . The market price w a s higher than it had b e en wh en the gove rnment w as buying (i. e . up to 1 95 1) and it continued to inc reas e . Some H oiwo 'undi resumed harvesting coffee from th e Ongoho community block, but th ere was constant tension betw e en them and the oth er sub - clan s , Akute 'undi in particular . Only a little of the coffee w as picked, most of it by the village constable and the coffee bo s s and their clos e kin (1 ) I n 1 9 5 3 they took two s acks o f c offe e t o the D epartment o f A gri ­culture �n ord er to buy a c offe e pulpin g machin e worth £2 1. 0 . 0 . The machin e did not function p rop e rly and aft er s everal years a pas sing Patrol Offi c er took it to Popondetta for repai r . The Patrol Offic er was lat e r transferred and the machine was never l o cated again . Th e owners s till harbour a gri evanc e on this account .

A gricultural extension s ervi c es in the distri ct were expanded during 1 9 5 5 - 6 at the s ame time as th e Higaturu Local Government C ouncil was b eing formed . ( The council area embrac es all exc ept one of the community plantati ons ) . Al ­though agricultural policy at that time was to enc ou rage future planting by individuals rather than groups , efforts w ere made to inc reas e p roduction from existing community plantations . Ext ension wo rkers vis it ed every community plantation and wherever pos sible enli sted loc al co - op e ration to have under ­growth cleared and trees prun ed . Not all the p eopl e at Ongoho worked, but factional differences w ere sufficiently contained for s everal sub - clans to work together under the sup ervision of extens ion workers . Onc e the major task was compl eted and the

,( 1 ) The village constable was a member of Akute 1undi sub-clan but was married to

the most senior woman of Hoiwo'undi sub-clan. She has a very forceful personality,

is married within her own village and is the only member of her family to have borne

children. They will therefore acquire some land rights from her. The land on which

the community coffee is planted was previously used for gardening by her father and

her brothers. Her husband was village constable and he and his lineage pick coffee ,

but other lineages o f his sub-clan do not and h e is a s forceful a s his wife in denying

their right to do so . In fact the constable and the coffee boss (who is a classificatory

brother of the constable 's wife) seem to have co-operated throughout to maximise their

j oint advantage .

2 6

extension staff l eft, the internal tensions re - as s erted them ­s elves .

The p eopl e mad e an attempt to k e ep the garden wo rk ­ing as the price of coffee was th en 3 I 3 per pound . P ersons from s everal sub - clans participated in harvesting, pulping and drying and a cons i gnment of c offe e was tak en on foot to Popon ­d etta ( a dis t an c e of about s event e en mil es each way by the paths then in us e ) . For the first time w omen and children help ed with the harve sting. The income from s ales was dis tributed by the coffee bo ss , but di sputes aros e over the proportions due to the "landown ers 11 fo r the us e of the land and to the coffee bos s fo r his supervision, a s w ell a s the relative share s t o b e given to thos e who had done the work, fo r some had not worked as many days as oth ers . Memb ers o f other sub - clans again with ­drew from the p roj ect . The coffe e bos s hims elf and some memb ers of Hoi wo 1undi sub -clan o c casionally harvested a little coffee to p rovide money for particular needs, but most of it was left untouched . No further maint enance w a s done . When the Higaturu C ouncil and its supervising o ffic er, Mr . Normoyle, strongly advo cated planting by individuals rath e r than groups , a number of p eopl e took s eeds fro m th e community garden and established their own individual coffee plots .

When the Higaturu Council erected a coffe e factory in Popondetta lat e in 1 9 5 9 , councillors w er e encouraged to maxi ­mis e coffee p ro duction in their areas . The Ongoho councillor (who is a half-brother of the ex -village constabl e)O ) was abl e to p e rsuad e s ome peopl e to start harvesting again. On this occasion each family was to be allow ed to harvest, pro c e s s and s ell whatever coffee its memb ers picked . (2 ) P eople w ere to b e allow ed to pick anywhere and at any time . N o maintenan c e w a s done exc ept o n o n e occasion a t the beginning when all p eopl e w o rked together to cl ear the undergrowth . Thi s system

( 1) When the council was formed all village constables were compulsorily retired.

(2) The produce was still taken to P opondetta on foot . The Higaturu Council pro­

vided a tractor and trailer to collect coffee from various points along the main Saiho­

Popondetta road, but Ongoho was about eight miles from the nearest point. As a flat

rate of one penny per pound was charged for the service , the Ongoho people did not use

it. They used to leave Ongoho at dusk and carry all night and arrive at the factory

early the following morning.

2 7

operated for s everal months but broke down when the Hoi wo 'undi, who felt that they w er e entitled as landown ers to s ome extra share of th e pro c eeds , again forbad e memb e rs of other sub ­clans to ent er the coffee garden .

Sin c e that time only the coffe e bos s and hi s family have ever picked th e coffee, and they only occasionally . No maint enanc e has b e en carried out fo r som e years . The Hoi wo 'undi peopl e s ay they w ould like to tak e full c ontrol of the blo ck and divide it into indivi dual plot s - on e fo r each of the s ix men in the sub - clan . They would b e prepared to grant a po rtion of the blo ck to the relat ed Akut e 'undi of Ongoho village who w er e planting food c rops on some of the land at the time the coffee p roj ect was start ed . Some Akut e 'undi claim that the land is , in fact, theirs exclusively . Th e other sub - clans want s eparat e and equal divisions for each of the participating sub ­clans , arguing that all cleared and planted the coffee . It i s un ­likely that agr eement will b e reached .

We subs equently paid bri ef vis its to s ixt e en other plantations which had b e en gaz ett ed pre -war to d et ermine the. natur e of the problems which had l ed to their abandonment. As time did not p ermit of d etail ed investi gations , we regard the results as indicative rather than d efinitive . D etails of the situation are s et out in Appendix A .

2 8

Community ri c e and c o c oa p roj ects

In 1 9 48, the Chri s tian C o - op erative Mov ement w as fo rm ed by Father Clint of th e Angli c an Mis s ion at Gona . The movement s pread s pont an eou sly throu ghout th e Orokaiva c ount ry, though most of the co - op e rative s w er e only nominally link ed to th e mis sion . (1 ) The main activity of th e co -operative s was the growing of ri c e, but s om e gr ew sub si st enc e foods als o, and oth e rs mad e c opra . Although th e movement was r eferr ed to as a co -op erative, its agricultural activiti e s w e re in mo st cas es c ommunal : all participants w e r e suppo s ed to wo rk at the s ame time and to unde rtak e what ever wo rk was allott ed to th em by the group l ead ers, and the b enefits d erived w er e to have b e en shared equ ally . Mo reover, at least s ome villages r equi red all r e s i d ent adult mal es to parti cipat e in the s ch eme .

In mos t instan c e s th e village w o rk ed as th e unit of

p rodu ction, but in s om e cas es s everal neighbouring villages w o rk ed togeth e r . S ome larg e villages w ere divid ed into on e o r more groups fo r the purpo s e of the community ri c e ga rden . Each group had a committee of mana gement and a chai rman .

In gen eral Monday and Tu es day of each w e ek w e r e s et

aside fo r work on th e c ommunity gard en s . Offi cial patrol r e­po rt s noted that the movement had tak en on many asp ect s of a cult . All stages of w o rk w e re as s ociat ed w ith an unusual amount of reli gious activity and the tools and buildings of the co - op eratives w e re t reat ed with gr eat veneration . K e e sing (1 9 5 2 : 7 ) s p e aks of an "ab s o rbin g mysti c al c ont ext ' ' and of rumours that Europ eans w ould leave Papua as a r e sult of the co - op e ratives . An offi cial ob s e rver stated that the p eopl e considered "me re participation in the co - ope ratives w ould, magic ally o r mystically, quickly rai s e their status in all r e ­spects to that of Europ eans

1 1 • O rokaiva pe opl e have point ed out to us that cash c ropping proj ects initi at ed by the govern -ment had inva riably failed . They felt that a mi s s ion proj e ct

mi ght b e mo re s uc c es s ful. Mo r eover, wh ereas th ey w er e un ­c e rtain of the gov e rnm ent ' s motive s they felt th e mi s s ion to b e "on the side o f the p eopl e 1 1 ,, fo r by int roducing th em to co -

/

( 1 ) The co-operative movement in this area i s described in more detail in Dakeyne , 1 963.

2 9

operatives they had given them th e k ey to Euro p ean pro s p e rity .

Loc al enthusiasm was strong and a large a c r ea ge o f ri c e w a s grown . How ever, no marketin g faciliti es had b e en provided and although the mi s s ion had promot ed the c rop mainly to suppl ement t raditional sub s ist en c e foods , mo s t Orokaiva s e em to have r e gard ed it as a c ash c rop . They already had a pl entiful range and volume o f s ub s i s t en c e foods, and ric e was not only hard er to grow but als o mo r e diffi cult t o prepare than the exi stin g c rop s . Mo st of the ric e grown was neither sold nor eat en.11 but was l eft to rot in the storehous es .

It is int e r esting to not e that at On goho, d es pit e the unfortunate exp e ri enc e with othe r community c rops , all in ­

habitants of the s ame nin e villages came t o geth e r to plant a s ingl e ric e plot. Th e p roj ect w a s organi z ed by Haruma, the coffee bo s s , and the ri c e was plant ed on the land of the Akut e 'undi sub - c lan . The c rop was plant ed in 1 9 49, and the ric e w a s sto r ed in a hous e built fo r the purpo s e . Non e o f the ric e w as s old, a littl e was us ed for food, but mo st was l eft to rot The exp e riment was not r ep eat ed . Wh en asked w,hy everyon e c ombin ed to grow th e ri c e in st ead of growin g it in ­dividually, the p eopl e claimed that they had not realiz ed at that time that c ash c rops c ould b e grown by individuals . This vi ew may s eem inc redibl e to a Europ ean, but w e hav e h eard it quot ed in many part s of the Orokaiva ar ea . Th ei r whol e exp erienc e of

c ash c roppin g had b e en of large s c al e ent erpris es , wh ether privat e European plantations , gove rnment plantati ons (whi ch w ere establi shed adj ac ent to many dis t ri ct headquart ers ), com ­pulso ry plantings under the regul ations , o r communal planta ­tions und er th e o rdinanc e . The int roduction in 1 9 5 5 - 6 of the conc ept of cash c ropping by indivi duals w as in a ve ry real s ens e r evolutionary . ( 1 )

The id ea of community economi c activity w as again

given a boost in 1 9 49 when war dama ge comp ens at ion was paid

out . A s mall p ropo rtion was paid in cash, but most was d e ­posit ed in s avings bank a c c ount s . Many gove rnment offi c ers th en in the a rea noted that the mon ey was b eing used to buy

( 1 ) It must be pointed out, however, that among the Orokaiva food gardening had

always been undertaken by individuals.

3 0

foodstuffs and for c er emonial exchanges and some u rged the p eople to deposit their compensation money in a c entral fund for u s e by the c ommunity as a whol e . Many l ead ers took this advice and coll ected . large sums fo r the co .;.. operatives . Some of th e mon ey was kept in th e villages,, but s ome was contribut ed

to c entral funds which w ere held on a tribal o r sub -tribal basis .

Few of th e l eaders had the t echnic al knowledge to know how to handle the funds o r to apply them to produ ctive proj ects , and much of the money was dis sipat ed in unproductive activities . About 1 9 5 0 government C o -operative Offic ers w e r e

s ent to as s ist the establi s hment of fo rmal co - operatives and to s ave the many existing info rmal co - operatives from disintegra ­tion with c ons equent public los s of faith . The offic ers w er e able to make headway i n s ome instanc es, but i n other cas es the funds w ere already exhausted and the p eople disillusion ed . In cas es where the funds remain ed, the government insisted on thei r b eing handed back to the original c ontributo rs b efo re any official co - operative was formed (B elshaw, 1 9 5 1 : 2 5 0 ) .

Effort s to increas e indigenous participation in com ­mercial agriculture in the Northern Di strict in th e post -war d ecade had met with littl e succ es s and in 1 95 4 the D epartment of Native A ffairs resumed pre -war patterns of promoting com ­mercial agriculture . Additional polic e w ere stationed in the area, particularly on the inland side of the Kumusi River but to a l es s er extent among the Orokaiva als o . On e. polic eman was bas ed at each of a number o f villages and each village was r e ­quired t o clear a community garden for cocoa planting .

The D epartment of A griculture staff did not favour any ext ension of community planting and put its emphasi s on in ­dividual cash c rop gard

1ens but, in the early stages at l east,

thi s action was strongly\ oppo s ed by both the mis si on and the patrol s taff. Mis sionari es who w er e involved feared that in ­dividual cash c ropping w ould l ead to abandonment of the villages as each individual would probably w ant to live near his own cash crop garden . They felt that this w ould r es ult in a r educ tion of religious and educ ational activity and may l ead to a r e ­surgenc e o f non - Ch ri s ti an practi c e s . Patrol staff too oppos individual plantings at that ti m e, in s ome instanc es it s e ems b e caus e of an erron eous notion that t raditio nal agriculture was

3 1

a c ommunal task . ( 1 )

Mo st of th e c ommunal co coa ga rd ens in thi s area w er e lat er abandon ed . Some ( such as Hoj avas usu ) w ere divided into individual lots and c ontinu e to produ c e . A few oth ers a r e still fun cti oning t o a li mit ed degr e e, but n o n e are n o w operat ed on a communal bas i s .

( 1 ) By about 1 956 the new patrol staff had come t o favour individual plantings and

this policy has been followed by both departments since then.

3 2

Conclusions

All the attempts to promote communal cash cropping among the Orokaiva have b een e conomi c failur es . There is no

eviden c e to suggest that they have been suc c es sful in any non ­economic s ens e . E ach o f the ventures has b een as so ciated with probl ems of land t enure, work o rganiz ation, incom e dis t ributi on and motivation . We will d eal with each of thes e problems in turn .

Problems of land t enure: When a s ub -clan o r other desc ent group has s et a s i d e land fo r us e by a larger bo dy which includes other des c ent groups , the donor d es c ent group i s recogniz ed i n terms o f traditional cultur e as having res idual rights t o the land . Thes e rights may still b e recogni z ed by th e community even if they have b e en abolis hed by l egal acti on in t erms of adminis trative pro c edures ( s ee pages 10 an d 2 5 ) . ( 1 ) This i s particularly s o in cas es wh ere the s etting aside has b e en the result of a degree of persuasion which appears to the people as compulsion . Stri ct government sup e rvision c an protect the l e gal ri ghts but, if none of the partie s are particularly anxious to have them protected, the s upervis ion n eeds to be constant and strict to b e effective . Even then the results are unlik ely to j ustify the effort r equi red to effect the c ontrols , for sup ervision by force results in very high overhead c osts and s eldom moti ­vates w orkers to maximis e output .

We do not know of any instanc e of communal planting of cash c rops by a singl e d e s c ent group on the land of that desc ent group . Traditionally all planting was organiz ed at the l evel of the primary hous ehold, with some reciprocal as sistanc e from other hous eholds for speci fic tasks at irr egular intervals . If ( a singl e d e s c ent group did undertake clearing, planting and

harvesting of cash c rops j ointly, t enure problems w ould b e un -

( 1 ) A similar phenomenon was observed in the Ambenob scheme near Madang where the Administration purchased land from the villagers and leased it to the Local Govern­ment Council for sub-lease to .individual farmers for cash cropping. The purpose of the scheme . was to give security of tenure to the individual, but as both vendors and sub-lessees recognized some degree of residual right as remaining with the vendors, a sense of security has not been achieved. This is one reason why sub-lessees are in fact planting their cash crops more on their traditional lands than on their sub-leases .

3 3

likely to emerge . Probl ems of work organiz ati on and income distribution may n evertheles s ari s e . (1 )

Probl ems of work organization : The communal plan ­tations almos t all involv�d s everal unrelated d e s c ent groups

whi ch traditionally recogniz ed no s ingle l eader . Th e Orokaiva did o c c asionally fo rm larger ad ho e groups fo r warfare and s ometimes fo r forest clearin g, but th es e w e r e t empo ra ry as s ociations dir ect ed to the achi evement of a s hort t er m goal. Thi s of its elf do es not preclude the fo rmation of n ew and larger groupings with unitary lead ership provided the re is either a st rong d e s i re fo r group action ( and the n ec es s ary institutions to di r ect it ), or strong external s anctions to enfo rce it .

The earliest communal plantings of co conuts and rubbe r by the Orokaiva w e r e carri ed out und e r instructions from officials and sufficient p r e s s u r e was exert ed to ensure complianc e The pres sure was not, however, maintained and the coconut and rubb er t r e e s w e r e littl e cared for aft er planting . No r was harvesting fo r mark et enfo rc ed Pri c es w ere low; the coconuts w er e s eldom mad e into copra and the rubber was never tapped until the time of the war . ( 2 )

The working of the coffe e plante d under the Native Plantations Ordinanc e was s trictly supervise d . A village con ­

s table was in charge of e ac h local group, the European offic e r

in c harge, patrolle d the ar e a r egularly, and defaulte r s wer e s everely punishe d . The communitie s regarded the whole operation as one of oppre s sion by the government . During the period that government s anc tions were r e duc e d and finally with ­dr awn, c offee pric e s wer e high (more than ten time s higher than imme diately pre -war) . Many people ther efor e wishe d to continue working the c offee gar dens , but the c o mmunity was not traditionally equipped with adequate s anctions to ensure that

inc;iividuals did their share of work , and the law spe c ific ally

forbade the exerc i s e of s anc tions by any indigenous individual or group .

( 1 ) Since writing this we have been informed of a small (3 acre) communal tobacco­growing project which began at Soroputa in 1 948 on the land of a single descent group. It was reported to have functioned efficiently until it was destroyed by the Mt. Lamington eruption in 1 95 1 .

(2) For details of the war-time rubber-tapping scheme see Rimoldi, 1 964.

3 4

A s Mair (1 9 48 : 8 5 ) has not ed, the fact that officials could fall back on compuls ion gave them no enc ouragement to con s id ering any alt e rn ative approach. Th e European officer ' s link with the p eople was through the village constable, and fro m what th e Orokaiva t ell us this lin e o f communication ope rat ed in

one direction only, for mo st c on stable s felt that it was impro p e r to query instructions given b y Europeans, o r to make sugges -tions to them . Not only was no att empt mad e to create local institutions which c ould . have carri ed r espon sibility for com ­munity proj ects , but th e i mpo s ed organiz ational structur e did not provide the peopl e with an acceptable model on which to fashion any new loc al institution . Th e vesting of all pow e rs of s anction in the c ent ral governm ent, moreover, forestalled the pos sibility of th ei r s pontan eous emergen c e .

P robl ems of income distribution: While the Admin -istration paid each individual s eparat ely, no overt problem aro s e, but wh en government c eas ed buying and the coffee was s old to e. trading company a lump sum was given to the p erson o r p er s ons who b rought it in, usually the local coffe e bos s . R elatively few Orokaiva w er e literat e ( among the Asigi there w ere none ) though it may have b e en pos s ible to have mad e equal payments to all p erson s . How ever, as the co mmunity was un ­abl e to enfo rc e equal work this was not feasible . Had the re b e en a suffici ent standard of lit eracy it may have b e en pos s ible to operat e on co -operative rather than communal lin es (i . e ·. making payment in terms of work contributed ) but in fact few p eopl e had the n e c es s ary degree of lit e racy and almo st none had any knowledge of book -ke eping .

P roblems of motivation: The Orokaiva w er e never willing participants in any of the c ommunal s ch emes (with the exc eption of ri ce growing in 1 9 49 ) . Some of them may have b egun some of the proj ects willingly, but continued operation was only achi eved by forc e . The mon ey inc entive was quit e inadequate : most of the s ch emes produc ed no income at all, and thos e that did gave les s (in cash and kind) than employment els ewher e . As al r eady noted in the s ection on work o rganiz a ­tion, there was n o s ocial inc entive to c ontinued production .

It has b een suggested that th e pre -war c ommunity proj ects w ere merited in that they introduc ed the p eopl e to the

3 5

agri cultural t echniques of cash c ropping and to r e gula r patterns of wo rk . It is true that mo st of the indivi dual plantings of coffee sinc e 1 9 5 6 w ere mad e with s e eds taken from the old community blocks where the techniques of coffee husbandry had b e en learn ed, but it was ther e also that th e peopl e had acquired th ei r distaste fo r cash c roppin g .

The fact that all att empts a t d eveloping communal cash c ropping among the Orokaiva have fail ed do es not neces ­s arily mean that communal planting is n ever p racticabl e . What it do es indic at e how ever, is that to be suc c e s s ful, communal farming lik e any oth er farming syst em, must b e c oupled with app ropriat e o rganiz ati onal structures, s anctions and inc entives as w ell as with extension,, pro c e s sing and marketing facili ­ti es ( 1 )

(1 ) Individual small-holdings do not of themselves lead to higher output. Since 1 956 , the nine Asigi villages which participated in the Ongoho community block have been encouraged to plant individual cash crop gardens . To date only 33 gardens have been planted (all of coffee ) . They cover only about 9 acres of land and contain 4, 209 trees. Most are little better tended than the community block and fifteen are completely abandoned. Low price , distance to the market and lack of extension services seem to be responsible.

3 6

00 -l

Offi-cial

No.

5

6

7

8

1 5

16

1 7

1 8

1 9

Location

Bowera (Ioma) ) )

Ta bara (Ioma) ) )

Wadi (Ioma) ) )

Poho (Ioma) )

Sasembata

Garombi

Isivita (Pereteambari)

Isivita (Koropata)

Wasida

Appendix "A 1 1

Plantations established in the Northern District on Crown land under the Native Plantations Ordinance

Area Crop Villages Present a . r . p. participating Sub-clans use User

These four plantations were never operated. They were cancelled in 1 932 .

10 . 0 . 0 (Not visited)

10 . 0 . 0 (Not visited)

10. 0 . 0 (Not visited)

10 . 0 . 0 Rubber Koropata ) Still Owners of Kiorota ) Berikipa being individual Egaturu ) tapped trees Tambore ) Oitopa

10. 0 . 0 (Not visited)

Reasons given for stoppage( ! )

------

Reasons given by the villagers. In where only brief visits were made these may be incomplete .

VJ 00

Offi-cial No.

20

21

22

23

Location ' Area

Huvivi 20. 3 . 8 (New Mongi)

Mongi 20. 0. 0 (Hangeriterari)

Soputa ( l ) 20. 0 . 0

Sombo 15 . 1 . 30 (Sangara)

C:rop Villages Present User Reasons given for participating Sub-clans use stoppage

Coffee Huvivi } sokepa Slight

Hingoturu Onjahambo Ahamba )

H . Koganata ) onmapa

Coffee Mongi ) Unjekapa Nil -

Pengipejari ) Darahopa Baiwaturu ) Koreapa Ote indarituru ) Akeopa

Coffee Soputa ( Paratapa , Kovenopa Nil - Dispute over land ( Wasiripa rights

Hinhota Asinapa , Humotapa , Soupa, Asepa , Pangaripa, Tigasepa , Angora pa

Coffee Sombo No. 1 & 2 ) Horeopa , Embupa , Slight Any Sombo Destroyed by Mt. Egaturu, Tunana , ) Pangaripa , Sorupa , people not Lamington. Seondeturu, ) Homberepa , Heurapa , killed in Individual plots Hangeturu, ) Heregapa , Dihumapa , eruption planted before Sehamo, Huisata ) Horipa , Besupa , community plot

) Hirikipa , Hatopa , re JUVenated ) Okaipa , Sivavapa , ) Houngapa , Umbahapa , ) Anetapa , Kogorapa

Location later changed from �rown land to Native land.

CJ:) c.o

Offi-cial No.

24

25

26

27

-

Location Area

Imanituru 30. 0 . 0 (Old Higaturu)

Andemba 22. 2 . 0

Ambogo 22 . 2 . 0

Hamburata 20. 2 . 0 (Huhurundi)

Crop Villages participating

(Not visited)

Coffee Andemba , Kewana , Kuruta , Opapata , Hamuni , Oga poegarota , Hamumuta

Coffee Ambogo

Amonekirota Haeraturu Ojahirita Ambohu

Oil Hamburata . • • •

palm then coffee

Haugata • • • • . .

Kukumbata . . • •

Juhata • • . • • • . •

Seoro Ill • • • • • • 0

Sub-clans Present User Reasons given for use stoppage

) Horeopa , Huaepa , Slight AnyAndemba Destroyed by Mt. ) Heregapa , Sindapa , people not Lamington ) Pakuhopa , Jujapa, killed in Individua 1 plots ) W ara upa , Punahopa , eruption planted before ) Suarapa , Haujepa , community plot ) Noerapa reJuvenated

( Komotepa, Serigepa , Slight Partly destroyed ( Hurepa, O:ripa , Moinapa , by Mt. Lamington ( Sigorepa , Hinjopa Sohopa, Hatopa , Sehopa Sehopa Haujepa Embatipa

( Here pa, Boutepa , Nil - Price inadequate ( Iohipa , Ombarapa , - coffee trees ( Seharipa , Oripa , later destroyed ( Baruna pa , Bakopa, by flood ( Berehobari, Irina pa , ( Ingikipa ( Atupa , Bangaripa , ( Embesepa , Haunapa ( Oretapa , Huhurupa , ( Hauro, Heregapa , ( Pakopa ( Sindapa , Hihinep·a , ( Jiregapa , Aukapa ( Huepa , Akutepa , ( Oisopa , J ega

� 0

Offi-cial No.

2 8

29

30

�

Location Area Crop Villages Sub-clans Present User Reasons given for participating use stoppage

Ahora ( 1 ) 20. 0 . 0 Cocoa Ahora Hurupa Nil - Price inadequate (Huhurundi) then Arova Gambe

coffee Omba Gambe

Kanari 12 . 0 . 0 Coffee Kanari , Ajase , Nil - Dispute over Iwori, W aru, land rights Jajau

Ong oho 15 . o. 0 Coffee Ongoho, Sotokoiari , Akute 1undi , Slight 1 family Disputes over land Ivisusu, Hongorata , P omoni 1undi , (ex coffee rights , income Ondahari , Oere , Hoiwo'undi, boss) distribution and Girigirita Sahuru1undi , work sharing

Kajumba1undi, Hature9undi, Urumo, Baruna

"�3 8

Rescinded 2 . 1 2 . 1 929 , but land legally remained a s Crown land.

The above plantations were all gazetted on 7. 2 . 1 92 3 , but an addition of 4 acres (making 20 acres 3 roods 8 perches in total) was made to Plantation No. 20 on 6. 2 . 1 929.

ri;::.. 1-l

Offi-

cial No.

75

76

77

78

1 04

Location

Doboduru (Beuru-Perombata)

Kakendeta

Haugata (Hamburata)

Eruatutu

Kiorota-Hohota (Meamburari)

Appendix "B1 1

P lantations established in the Northern District on Native Land under the Native Plantations Ordinance ( 1 )

Year estab- Area Crop Villages Sub-clans Present lished participating use

1 925 ) 1 2 . 0 . 0 Coffee (Not visited) 1 929 )

1 925 9. 0. 0 Coffee (Not visited)

1 925 1 2 . 2 . 0 Coffee (Not visited)

1925 3 1. o. 0 (Not visited)

1 929 15 . 0 . 0 Coffee Hohota , Jau1undi, Havari- Slight Kiorata haha , Kaguhaha ,

Andirihaha , Suaru-undi

User Reasons given for stoppage

Former Dispute over work landowners organization and

income distribution

( 1 ) These are in addition t o th e lands listed in Appendix A , which covered those acquired by the Crown and set aside as Native Reserves. Pla'.!}tation No. 22 (Soputa) was transferred from Crown land to Native land in 1 930 - see Appendix A .

� �

Offi-

cial No.

105

106

1 10

1 1 1

1 12

1 1 3

Location �

Hegata-Pendereta (Hururu)

Banguho Creek (Peromba-hambo)

Tunana

Beuru

Hegau (Kanari-Jajau)

Heherita (Kogonata)

Year estab- Area Crop Villages lished participating

1 929 9. 0. 0 Coffee Hegata

P enderata Puhemo

1 929 1 2 . 0. 0 (Not visited}

1 934 9. 0. 0 Coffee

1 934 8. 0. 0 Coffee (Not visited)

1 936 6 . 2 . 0 Coffee

1 936 4 . 0. 0 Coffee Girigirita , Epa , Heherita

128 . 0. 0

Sub-clans Present User Reasons given for use stoppage

( Bevehupa , Bara ta pa , Still 2 Hegata men Still working. ( Eherapa , Okaipa , Picking (the former The non-owner ( Endehipa , Waraupa, landowner gives the land-( Angoropa and one owner a share of Sesengipa other) proceeds from Ribunipa , Gasipa , sales . Horiwapa

Slight Damaged by Mt . Lamington

Slight Damaged by Mt. Lamington

Nil - Dispute over land rights

Pomoni1undi , Nil - Not resumed after Jahaki 1undi, Mt. Lamington Urumo eruption. No

reason given

,.;:::.. c:,...:i

Location

Hojavasusu

Ajeka

S ivepe

Gewoto

Year started

1 956

1 947

Appendix 1 9C1 1

A sample of community plantations established in the Northern District of Papua since 1 947 (not related to the Native Plantations Ordinance)

Area Crop Villages Sub-clans Present use and (approx. ) participating user

Coffee Hojavasusu Seho, Uhoru Sub-divided about ( origi�aJly Ererehaije , Hoihane , 1 956 into individual

cocoa) Kindarahaije plots. (Well kept. Land belongs to Seho sub-clan but no dispute over use by individuals of all clans) .

Cocoa AJeka Spasmodic , mainly by landowners

1! Coffee Sivepe Jegase , Seho, Divided into indiv -acres Timumu idual plots in

1 95 8.

3 Coffee Garara Somboba , Nil acres Ijipa ,

Undaripa and 2 others

Reasons for stoppage

Not stopped. (Use rights confirmed by registration with Higaturu Council)

Dispute over land rights

(Registration with Higaturu Council applied for)

Dispute over land rights

D

Native Regulation No . 1 2 1 (1 ) ( Providing fo r compulsory planting of economic trees )

Coconuts and other us eful trees and

( 1 ) It is a good thing to plant co conuts and other us eful fruits and trees , and all coconuts and trees plant ed under this regulation shall b elong to the person that plants them and to his heirs, and every abl e -bodi ed man shall from time to time plant coconuts and oth er us eful trees and plant s . The Magistrat e shall fix the numb er of t r e e s o r the area of land as the c a s e may b e that the able -bodi ed men of each distri ct o r village shall plant , and coconuts shall b e properly plant ed at a distanc e not l e s s than five fathoms from t ree to tree .

( 2 ) All men will not have to plant the s ame numb er of coconuts and other us eful trees , on the s ame area of land b e ­caus e some men have littl e land and s ome much and some plac es are not good for planting trees .

( 3 ) It shall b e the duty of village c on stabl e to s e e that thi s regulation is obeyed in such villages as the Magistrat e directs , and if he fails or neglects to do s o he shall on c onvi c ­tion b e liable to a fin e not exc eeding Two shillings and s ixpence o r in d efault of payment to imprisonment fo r any p erio d not exc eeding S even days, or to imprisonment in the first instance for any p eriod not exc e eding S even days .

( 4) The Magistrat e shall al s o , wh er e d eemed desirable , o rd er the p eopl e t o plant and cultivate us eful food trees along the village road so that th ey may all enj oy the shad e and eat of the fruit .

The Government provide the peopl e from time to time with young tre es o r s e eds to th e Magistrat e will direct the p eopl e wh ere to plant

( 1 ) Native Regulation Ordinance 1 908-30.

( 6 ) If any native who has b e en o rdered to plant and cul ­tivate a c ertain number of trees or a c ertain area of land by the Magistrate wilfully neglect s o r r efu s es to do s o h e shall on conviction for a first offenc e b e liabl e to a fin e not exc eeding Five shillings or in d efault of payment to imprisonment fo r any period not exc eedin g S ix w e eks , o r to such imp ri s onment in the first instanc e; or , for a s econd o r any sub s equ ent offenc e to impri sonment in the first instan c e for any period not exc e eding Three months .

Sub - claus es ( 7 ) to ( 9 ) cover minor point s of d etail and have b e en omitted.

This regulation was amended in 1 9 4 6 such that plant ­ing could b e forc ed thereaft er only in the event of s erious food shortages .

45

Appendix E

Extracts from Native Plantations Ordinan ce 1 92 5 - 5 2

and enactments

114 . ( 1 ) The Lieutenant -Governo r may . . . direct that any land acquir ed or r esumed unde r the provisions of the Land Ordinance 1 9 1 1 -2 4 . . . shall b e a native plantation . . . .

( 2 ) The Lieutenant -Governor with the con s ent of the native owners may . . . dir ect that any land shall b e a native plantation . . . and shall remain so until the Lieut enant -Governor other ­wis e orders but the land shall remain the p rop erty o f the native own er s .

4 . (A ) The Li eut enant -Governor may appoint offic e rs to carry out the provi sions of thi s o rdinance . Such officers shall b e known as c ont roll ers o f native plantations

5 . ( 1 ) Statutory w o rkers 1 shall work for such numb e r of days each year as may be pre s c rib ed . . . .

( 2 ) Fo r cultivation work r emit tax . 2

the Lieut enant -Governor may

8 . ( 1 ) Of the total annual produc e of each native plantation on e half o r such other proportion as the Li eutenant - Governor may o rd e r3 . . .

1 . Defined as "every able-bodied male villager" aged between 1 6 and 36 years ex­cepting government or mission employees and indentured workers.

2 . Order in Council of 2. 7. 1 924 ruled that n� tax would be payable by any villager who worked for two months per year on the plantation.

3. No proportion was ever gazetted but it is understood that one half was invariably taken .

4 6

( a) may b e distributed in kind by the Government among the villagers . . .

(b ) may b e sold by the Government on account of the villagers . . .

( c ) may b e purchas ed by th e Government from the villagers . . .

9 . The remaind er of the annual produce of each native planta ­tion . . . shall be the property of the C rown " ..

Native Plantations Regulations 1 9 2 6 , mad e unde r the above o rdinance, presc rib ed that statutory workers had to work sixty days per y ear on thei r plantation . It als o provided that "supervis ion and regulating native plantations and the cultivation thereof" was vested in the Di rector of Native T axation .

Order in C ouncil of 2 0 . 9 . 1 9 2 6 made th e following provisions for the distribution of the villagers ' share of income derived from native plantations :

1 1 1 . That each one -half o r other proportion of each year ' s produce which i s the property of native villagers . . . shall b e divid ed among the statu ­tory w o rkers and voluntary wo rk ers in the pro ­portions that the number of days which each of them respectively has worked during the year b ears to the aggregate numb e r of days whi ch all of them have work ed on the native plantation in the cultivation thereof . . . .

P rovided that where any statutory w o rk er (who has by death or age c eas to b e such) o r where any voluntary (who c eas ed to be such or has died) has previously w orked on a native plantation for any time during any year during which the pre s c rib ed plant culti -vated thereon has not come into bearing o r is unproductive then he ( o r, in cas e of his death, his widow, o r in cas e of her d eath, his child o r childr en whilst under the a g e o r apparent age of s ixteen y ears ) shall be entitled to rec eive

during the fi rst productive year the native plantation such part of the produc e thereof as is the property of th e villagers as the propo r ­tion which the number o f hours h e wo rked ( in his fi rst year of work) whilst the native plan tation was unproductive b ears towards the total numb er of hours which all statutory w o rk e rs and voluntary workers worked in that year and so on yearly mutatis mutandis until he ( o r his widow o r as cas e may be) has r e c eived such part o f the produce in respect of each unproductive year he worked on such native plantation .

2 . That instead allotting proportion o f the annual p roduc e of a native plantation in the manner s et out in th e p rovi so to Paragraph 1 hereof the nearest R esident Magistrat e . . . may b e requir ed by the Native Taxation to confer with village rs in thei r village and as c ertain what oth er scheme of allotment of such annual produc e they them ­s elves consider to b e preferable . . . . Magi strate shall r eport the of such con ­fer en c e to the Director who shall fo rward it with any obs ervations h e desires to make to the Li eutenant -Governo r who may approve the s cheme preferred by the villagers with or without modification wh ereupon that scheme of allotment as approved shall b e followed in r e ­lation to such annual produce inst ead of the s cheme o rd er ed in the said p roviso

Officers to b e inst ruct ed to adopt 2 wh en practicabl e . 1 1

Native Plantations ( Papua) Ordinan c e 1 9 provid ed that the villagers would own the whol e of th e pro duc e of the plantation instead of half as fo rme rly . This o rdinan c e als o did away with the earli er requirement that villagers work 6 0 days per year on the plantation, and canc elled the provi sion whereby pers ons who worked on plantations for two months w ere exempt from tax .

48

App endix F

The Orokaiva villager ' s experi enc e of cash c ropping

Whil e the w rit e r was conducting res earch into c o m ­

munal plant ations in s ome villages, an assistant, Mr . Edric Eupu, visit ed others . The followin g b ri ef extract s from two of his preliminary reports indicat e th e natuve of the villager 1 s ex -p erienc e of cash c ropping, and help t o expl ain the current lack of enthusiasm on th e part of many Orokaiva fo r further exp eri ­ments .

Ahora Communal Garden

B efore the w ar there w er e four cash crops planted at Ahora : coconut, c otton, cocoa and coffe e . Th e coconut was planted on two clans ' land . The names of the two clans w ere Huruba and Gamb e . There w er e three villages took part i n the w o rk . The names of the villages and clans who t ook part in the w o rk w ere . . . .

They plant ed c oconuts but did not make any c opra. [ There was no mark et fo r it at the time ] . The c oconut was r eady to mak e c opra, but th e Government offic e r at Buna told the peopl e to plant the cotton . The cotton was planted on Gamb e clan ' s land . . . . . The peopl e worked one year for th e cotton without pay . . . . When the cotton w as ready . . . . they pick ed it and took it to Buna ( government station) . . . . and they got pai d . Th e pay w a s 1 / - for each man i n th e three villages for the wo rk they had done for the c otton . After they got the pay the wo rk on the cotton s topped .

Then government told the villagers to plant the cocoa and they plant ed . It w as plant ed on Gamb e clan 1 s land . The cocoa bor e and they took the pods to Buna . Government paid for the pods [ but the pay was insuffici ent ] . . . . Then the c offe e w a s planted on Huruba clan ' s land . . . . The p eople us ed t o work every day . . . . The pay for the coffee was about 5 I - to every man each year . While th ey w er e still doing this the war c am e . Aft er that they did not work until Mt . Lamington erupted .

49

Hamburata C ommunal Garden

B efore the war there w er e four c ash c rops planted at Hamburata : ric e, c o c onut, palm oil and coffee . The ri c e w as planted on A tu pa clan ' s land . Five villages took part in the work . . . . There w ere 29 clans . . . . The villagers work ed for the ric e for one year without any pay. The ric e was harvested in bags . . . . The peopl e brought the bags of ri c e to Buna but the government did not pay them fo r the work they did on the ric e . They work ed for the ric e for on e year only . . . .

The s econd c rop planted at Hamburata was coconut . The coconut was planted on land of Atupa clan . . . . The c oconut plants w ere still youn g when th e villagers w er e told by the government to plant anoth er cro p . T h e c rop was palm oil . . . . Th e palms w ere planted on Haumepa clan ' s land . The villagers planted the oil palm and look ed aft er them for one year and the government told the peopl e to plant another c rop . The other c rop was coffee .

The coffee was plant ed on S eharipa clan 1 s land . . . . They w o rk ed eve ry day . . . . They got pay onc e in every year . The government offi c ers us ed to come to th e village . The government us ed to s end polic e to th e village to look after the p eopl e to work on the coffee . . . . When the war was n ear the government did not s end the polic e to the village for this work . A ft e r that all the p eople i n the village stopped work . . . . After the war they did not wo rk on the plantation until the Mt Lam ­ington eruption . The coffee was n ea r the A mbogo river s o the river was flooded and washed the plantation away . . . .

5 0

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(Abbre -

Wickiz e r , V . D. , 1 9 6 0 . 1 1The smallhold er in t ropi cal export ­crop production ", Food Res earch Institut e 1 : 49 - 9 9 .

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