Enga Province
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Enga refers to both an ethnic group located in the highlands of Papua New Guinea and the province in which they are the majority ethnic group.
Physical geography
Enga is the highest and most rugged province in Papua New Guinea. It covers an area of 12,800 km². Much of the province is at altitudes of over 2000 meters. Lower altitude areas are typically valleys which form the watershed for the two major river systems that drain the province, the Lagaip (which is a tributary of the Fly) and the Lai (which is a tributary of the Wahgi).Human geography
The Papua New Guinea census of 2000 lists the population of Enga at 295,031 people, although the accuracy of the census is questionable. The provincial capital of Enga is Wabag. The two other main centers of population are Wapenamanda and Laiagam. Porgera, at the western edge of the province, is home to a large gold mine that has resulted in a lare 'boom town.'Enga is unique among the provinces in Papua New Guinea in that it has only one major linguistic and ethnic group: Enga speakers. Although dialects of Enga vary greatly from Laiagam in the west to Wapenamanda in the east, Engans' shared ethnic identity overshadows the existence of other ethnic groups in the province, such as Ipili speakers (around Porgera) and Nete speakers.
Culture
Like many other highland Papua New Guineans living west of the Daulo Pass (between Simbu Province and Eastern Highlands Province), the traditional Engan settlement style is that of scattered homesteads dispersed throughout the landscape. Sweet potato is the staple food today, often supplemented by pork. Pigs are a culturally valued item of exchange, and anthropologists are familiar with the elaborate systems of pig exchange that mark social life in the province.Engan culture practiced a strict segregation of sexes in the past. Young men were periodically purified in seclusion during a ceremony called the "tii," during which their eyes were washed with water, thus removing any taint resulting from contact with females, and where they prepared traditional finery, the most notable item being a wig made out of their own hair. This distinctive round wig topped with sicklebird feathers is, more than any other item, an icon or symbol of Engan culture today. (The life of the Enga people was extensively studied and reported upon by the American anthropologist Mervyn Meggitt.)
Today the most popular religions in Enga are Catholicism, the Lutheran Church (Missouri Synod) (the Papua New Guinea Missouri Synod Lutherans being confined to Enga and styling themselves the Gutnius Lutheran Church, formerly the Wabag Lutheran Church) and the Seventh-day Adventist Church. Charismatic and pentecostal movements are growing in popularity.
History
Although little archaeological excavation has been done in Enga, it is clear that the area has been settled for over 12,000 years. Europeans -- typically Australian gold prospectors -- originally entered what is now Enga province from the north in the late 1920s, although the best-known explorations into Enga would take place during the early 1930s as prospectors moved in from Mt. Hagen to the west. By World War II Enga had been very roughly mapped by the government; Lutheran and Roman Catholic missionaries were permitted to establish stations beginning in 1949 but a permanent government presence was not established in most of the district until the late 1950s.Enga was part of Western Highlands District until just before independence in 1975, when most of the Enga-speaking part of the District (with the notable exclusion of the Baiyer River region which is inaccessible by road other than from Mount Hagen) was separated into a discrete District and then, under the last-minute introduction of provincial government at Independence, Province. The provincial government has a history of corruption and lack of capacity, and is unique in Papua New Guinea for having had its power suspended three times by the national government due to concerns over its accountability.
External links
- [Engapng.net] - general info about the Enga province and people
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