The Foi Incorporated Land Group: Group Definition and Collective Action in the Kutubu Oil Project Area, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

In this paper I examine the genesis and progress of the Incorporated Land Group (ILG) in the Kutubu oil project area of Papua New Guinea (PNG). The ILG is a legal entity empowered by legislation passed in 1974 to give legal and formal recognition, protection and powers to customary landowning groups in PNG (see Fingleton, this volume). In the Kutubu oil project area, at the instigation of Chevron Niugini Ltd (CNGL), the previous managing partner of the Kutubu Joint Venture, the Foi, Fasu and Lower Kikori River clans became incorporated under PNG's Land Groups Incorporation Act 1974 (LGIA) and now receive royalty payments from the sale of petroleum. The ILG mechanism was employed by the developers in the belief that it would 'give powers to landowners so that they could manage their affairs in a businesslike way' and 'provide recognition of the land group [that would] enable the village landowners to act in a way that outside people and agencies must recognize' (Power 2000: 29). The advocates of the ILG mechanism asserted that 'the ILG constitution guarantees that decisions regarding clan resources are made by the correct authorities in the clan' (ibid).

Where all the rivers flow west: Maps, abstraction and change in the Papua New Guinea lowlands

“…They may be understood too as techniques through which particular groups of local people seek to position themselves favourably with respect to other, potentially competing, local groups. In Papua New Guinea, this is the case where local people have sought legal recognition for new forms of clan‐based groupings as a means of asserting, or establishing, ownership of land and, hence, rights to royalties from extractive industries on that land (Guddemi ; Ernst ; Filer ; Jorgensen ; Weiner ; Bell ; Gilberthorpe ).…”

In the shadow of industry: a study of culturization in Papua New Guinea

“…It embraces cultural change rather than cultural continuity (see Tonkinson's concept of symbiosis [: 60], and cf. Weiner's discussion of the ‘clan’ []). Filer () describes kastam as a necessary response to colonialism, its inherent flexibility, altering to suit diverse influences and changes, a view emphasized by a number of Melanesian scholars (Bolton ; Sykes ; Thomas ; Tonkinson : 170).…”

“…Whilst a schema of difference exists between language groups, largely defined by linguistic characteristics and physical, geographical boundaries such as rivers and mountain ridges, movement between them was frequent and loose, and customs, ceremonies, and dialectical variation are interwoven through the landscape (Biersack 1995 b ; Gilberthorpe ; Weiner ). Several individuals in Hekari recount migration from Bosavi within three generations and speak Bosavi languages, an exemplar of migration and integration that characterizes many of the highland, fringe, and lowland people (Biersack 1995 b ; Weiner ). Erroneous naming techniques adopted by early explorers (see Schieffelin & Crittendon ) and anthropologists (Williams [1940]) became benchmarks for tribal identification that spanned the period of missionization and facilitated the phase of resource development.…”

“…The concept of a bounded cultural group categorized under the generic term ‘Fasu’ is still not recognized by elders, although it is becoming the common term of collective reference used by the younger generation as a symbol of connectivity and difference in legitimizing claims to oil royalties (cf. Ernst 1999; 2004; Weiner ).…”

“…Geographical confinement between the Hekikio and Soro rivers and existing linguistic and tribal classifications were critical to the process of culturization imposed during project development and the identification of ‘Fasu’ as cultural beneficiaries of the oil project (see Ernst ). Land within the project impact area was conceptually divided into territorial pockets that connected a named group of people (a ‘clan’) with land (see Fingleton ; Gilberthorpe ; Weiner ).…”