Introduction: a case of unresolvable conflict

The later months of fieldwork I spent embroiled in a conflict between my closest informant and friend on Mahur, Kupulie, and her oldest sister, Woklik. In part, my presence triggered the conflict, which made me very uneasy. Kupulie and two of her sons had moved to sleep on my verandah at the occasion of an old woman's death and burial in Lalakam, the hamlet where I lived. Kupulie's move and quite lengthy stay was met with hostility by her older sister, and brought about Kupulie's departure from Mahur to live in Samo village on Niolam with other relatives at the end of my fieldwork period in Lihir.

Kupulie and her sister Woklik were part of a household in the hamlet Liabanis, neighbouring Lalakam, which for most of the period of my first fieldwork comprised Woklik, two of her daughters with four children between them, Woklik's son Soklas, who came and went, and Kupulie and her three sons. None of these women were married, and so Woklik, being the oldest, was effectively head of the household. Having sore knees, she was unable to go to the gardens, and stayed near the houses minding the children during the daytime. Her eldest daughter was heavily involved with church work, so the work of gardening and carrying food and firewood fell to Kupulie and Woklik's other daughter, Niezkuenkuen. They went to the gardens every other day without fail, and if either felt unwell the work of harvesting enough food for a minimum of four adults and seven children was left to one person.