In the early 1970s he was appointed a tax collector by the colonial administrators of Gumine to assist then Councillor Iraibia of the Yuri Yonwaibune clan.

Collecting head tax from community members was part of the ward councillor’s duty and, as the money was collected, the councillor handed it to the Kiaps to run the affairs of the district.

Councillor Iraibia’s Tok Pisin (Pidgin) was not good enough to converse and explain community situations with colonial administrators so he would ask Kaupa Dama to translate. Later Iraibia voluntarily nominated Kaupa Dama to be his successor.

Kaupa Dama served for three consecutive terms as a councillor before he resigned from the seat after sensing that other members of the community, although contesting the seat, could not win. He wanted them an opportunity for political leadership.

Minigauma is a sub-clan of the Kumaikane clan of Kepagale, itself a sub-tribe of the Yuri Alaiku tribe in the Gumine District of Simbu Province.

Minigauma was known for being the root cause of almost all tribal warfare in the land of Yuri and bears the name ‘Mini-Sahu’ meaning defiant and rebellious race.

All minor problems created by a Minigauma man turned into tribal warfare with a general perception that the Minigauma were a cursed group of people.

There was a major blow in the mid-1970s when the big Yuri tribe divided into diasporas when a man from another Yuri clan (Elakane) was blamed for the death of a Minigauma man in Kimbe, West New Britain.

The deceased had in fact died of malaria when working on the palm oil plantation. His relatives blamed the poor Elakane man and one of the fathers of the deceased wasted no time visiting the Elakane clan’s hausman (men’s house) at 5:30 one morning, jumped on the kunai roof breaking it open and then pissing into the beds below shouring at the top of his voice, “Na monah di keli singa, giul golia…inata, inata” (‘it is painful having my penis chopped off, replace it, replace!’).

This is supposed to mean that one of the male members of the clan had died and he felt much pain and cried out for replacement which was obviously impossible.

The Elakane men who woke to see that something strange was happening on the roof. In practice, no one from another clan or hausman was allowed to do such thing because it represented a call for battle. The first ever fight in Yuri started soon after.

The Yuri tribal members formed allies in respect of relationships and geographical proximity. The war was protracted and many young men and members of communities from both sides died.

The blame for the subsequent deaths and destruction of property has been put on to the Minigauma clan from generation to generation. The new name labelled on the Minigauma is ‘Kura bah ipal’ or ‘Talame bah ipal’ meaning to say ‘troublemakers’ or ‘culprits of wars and immoralities’.

The victim’s clan members have used this as an excuse to steal pigs, batter the menfolk and sexually assault their wives and daughters but the Minigauma clan were patient and calm because they knew they could not replace the lives of those who died in the warfare they created.

The war happened when Kaupa Dama was in his sturdy and youthful period. He went to war beside his father Luluai Dama Daniel and uncles Kaile Drua, Maimabah and Dama Kaupa Yalkops.

Everyone was compelled to take positions according to clan to fight the enemy and Kaupa Dama had no option but to join his father and uncles at the frontier. Being a root cause of any tribal fight in Yuri is to be like the infantry which must always occupy the leading edge to clear the way for other clans to be wound-free.

Kaupa Dama said that nothing good happened after the war but a lot of young men from both sides lost their lives, property was destroyed, land was lost and many just fled into the diaspora.

The aftermath of war in the Highlands, especially Simbu, is all about compensation, retaliation and continuous grudges and claims. Though allies volunteer to join the fight, there is always a form of payment for the support they give, whether providing food and shelter, supplying weapons, nursing the wounded or carrying dead bodies.

In 1978, the Minigauma clan organised to mobilise resources like pigs and cash to pay the families of the deceased, compensate for property lost and reward those who supported them in the fight.

They gathered more than 50 pigs and about K14,000 cash. Kaupa Dama was fortunate because he had some money from the tax he collected when the war began which he diverted to compensation.

However, the label ‘Talame bah Ipal’, ‘culprits of wars and immoralities’, remained on many lips of the other clans bringing feelings of guilt and shame to the Minigauma. As a result, many fled the lands of Oldale, Silmain, Biominkonba, Alulmah and Gomagula to Ganigle and Miunde in the Kerowagi district, Minj, Banz and Kudjip in the Jiwaka area and even to the urban centres of Mt Hagen and Lae.

After some years, their traditional houses had rotted to the ground and their gardens turned into weeds and bushes. Eventually the entire Minigauma land was deserted. The only people remaining were the immediate family members, brothers and fathers of Kaupa Dama who stood in defence of their traditional land despite the criticism and accusations.

In 1993, when I attended Iri community school, my class teacher Blasius Sunabai from Oro Province dismissed the class on a Monday morning informing us that there was going to be a court case between the Kepagale  and Nombrigale sub-tribes of Yuri over election related violence that happened the day before.

Drua Dama, a young man from Minigauma clan was assaulted by supporters of John Bal, a candidate from Nombrigale who contested the provincial Wikauma constituency and lost to Peter Mek Tala of the Kepagale sub-tribe of Yuri.

Drua Dama was on his way to Sunday service at Waramon Catholic Parish when the Nombrigale youths attacked him because of Peter Mek’s victory.

Kaupa Dama was an eyewitness of the assault but told the victim, who was his uncle’s son, to be calm and accept it. He sent Drua straight home so as not to spread the news which might instigate a ripple effect that would lead to warfare.

As I was playing marbles with other children in the village, a senior person from another family of Minigauma clan called at the top of his voice to the allied clans of Kepagale sub-tribe to mobilise for Monday’s court case about the confrontation.

He deliberately did this despite his brother Kaupa attempting several times to stop him. All the men were alerted and the same afternoon prepared to attend the court at Iri school.

Iri school had 800-1,000 students at that time. I would join the Kepagale children to run down Molgime mountain while children from Elakane and Minakne clans raced down the other side of the mountain to Iri. Students from Nombrigale clan strolled up from Omdara, Waramon and even children from Era tribe came all the way from Buli.

On the Monday, as we assembled to sing the national anthem, we had the Kepagale men yodeling and running down Molgime hill so we had to be dispersed by teachers back to our respective villages.

Suddenly I saw houses of Nombrigale clan beside the school set on fire and the Nombrigale took revenge and the war began.

There was no court case, no explanation, no demand for compensation. How hard Kaupa Dama and his family had tried to stop the actions of the other Kepagale people. Leaders from the Kumaikane clan despised him and ran in the frontline to urge the war to ripple out. That first day was chaotic and a tribal fight was declared.

Tomorrow: A bloody war breaks out despite Kaupa Dama’s efforts