Being and belonging: exchange, value, and land ownership in the Western Highlands of Papua New Guinea

Henry, Rosita

Abstract

[Extract] Since colonial times there has been a division of land in Papua New Guinea (PNG) between 'customary' land and 'alienated land'. In line with colonial government policy that indigenous land interests should be protected, land could not be bought directly from customary landowners by outside individuals or companies, but could only be leased after prior acquisition by the state. Today, all over PNG, so called 'alienated land' (that is, land that has been acquired by the state) is held uneasily by the state and/or its current lessees in the face of customary landowners for whom land is not something that is conceptually alienable. As Gregory (1982: 163) notes, 'Land is the ultimate inalienable gift and... it is not easily converted into the simple private property right of an individual' (see also Weiner 1992 on 'inalienable possession').

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Possession and Ownership: a cross-linguistic typology

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978-0-19-966022-3

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Oxford University Press

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Oxford

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