Tribal warfare trades axe for gun

Press, 5 March 1987, Page 35

Tribal warfare trades axe for gun

By

IAN VALLANCE

of AAP Mt Hagen (Papua New Guinea) A “standard” fighting axe costs about $13.50 in a trade store in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, while the traditional axes, with polished stone blades set in elaborately woven heads, start at $45. But they don’t interest the serious warrior.

They’re clumsy, largely ineffective weapons that are sought only by tourists.

Local demand centres on a nasty-looking tomahawk with a 600 g head and a long handle which invariably would be replaced with stronger local wood.

The use of weapons has been modified, along with the highlanders’ traditional culture, but violence remains an acceptable way of settling differences in male-dominated Papua New Guinea. Even now, tribal warfare is not generally regarded as a law and order problem.

But the continued erosion of the indigenous culture, with its in-built checks, coupled with the influence of alcohol and the increasing availability of modern weaponry, is a cause of concern for many law enforcers.

Joe Mek Teine, himself a highlander and senior State prosecutor for the region, wants the immediate tightening of gun laws. “In pre-colonial times, tribal fighting was a ritual,” he said. “People took so long to get into it, to dress up, stay away from women and participate in all sorts of ceremonies before the actual fight. “They used only spears, bows and arrows and shields, and that was okay — it kept injury and death within culturally acceptable limits,” Mr Teine said.

During colonial times, white patrol officers, known as kiaps, enforced the peace with the butt end of a .303 rifle and a strong boot. Tribal warfare diminished.

With independence in 1975, the kiaps’ influence rapidly waned. “Now they fight over a bottle of beer, women, politics — all kinds of excuses,” Mr Teine said. “Lately there’s a new, even more sinister, aspect. They’ve begun using shotguns — often homemade and very powerful.

“Tribal warfare is becoming more sophisticated,” he said. Only recently, a man had been fatally shot by rival tribesmen in front of hundreds of people at the

Hagen market. “We have a Firearms Act, but it’s not properly regulated,” Mr Teine said. “Many people apply for gun licences under false pretences — so-called businessmen who say they feel their lives and property are in danger. “A short time later the gun will be borrowed by a wantok (relative) who’ll use it in a tribal fight. “We should stop the sale of guns completely,” Mr Teine said.

The police admit their efforts to control tribal fighting are largely ineffective.

Superintendent David Pringuer, deputy commander of the Western Highlands, says the main problem is the terrain. “The fighting is always in mountainous areas,” he said.

“They choose these areas deliberately. We often have to leave our vehicles and walk for several hours to get to the fighting ground. "They always have lookouts who see us coming, then the leaders just arrange to continue the fight after we’ve left,” Mr Pringuer said. Police powers to stop fighting were severely curtailed soon after independence when aspects of the Tribal Fighting Act were successfuly chal-

lenged on constitutional grounds. Previously, the onus had been on warriors to prove they were not actualy involved when arrested near a tribal fight This made it easy to arrest entire groups and quickly break up a fight Now, police must individually identify and prosecute each defendant

A provision providing for group fines was also repealed. But penalties remain harsh, with sentences of four years jail being handed out for unlawful assembly in declared tribal fighting zones. The Police Commissioner, Mr David Tasion, had also expressed strong concern at the increasing use of guns and the increasing incidence of tribal fighting. He had asked the Government to introduce a Curfew Act, which would enable the police to close a declared area down completely. Meanwhile, the young men — the warriors — still look forward to proving themselves, gathering to hurl abuse and missiles at one another and stopping only to wave to the visitors who watch from a safe distance.