Seminar Series: Abstract

War and Peace in the New Guinea Highlands; some recent developments in the Nebilyer Valley, Western Highlands
Alan Rumsey

After not being involved in any tribal fighting since 1981, or in any deadly bouts of it since the 1950s, groups from the 'Hapwara' area of the Western Nebilyer Valley found themselves at the centre of a fight in which approximately 80 people were killed during 2005-7. In Jan 2009 I visited the area for the first time since the fight began. At the invitation of the Archbishop of Mount Hagen, Douglas Young, I participated in a workshop on tribal fighting in which leaders from both sides met up for the first time since the fight began and agreed to begin working on a formal peace agreement including a 'Form Four' Preventive order in which they invite police intervention should the fighting begin again. I will give an account of these events and try to develop some conclusions from them about the reasons for the fight, and about problems and prospects for conflict resolution within the region.