My first kiap encounter
14 October 2019
JOE HERMAN
SEATTLE, USA – Many years ago when I was a small boy in the highlands of Enga, a kiap and his patrol erected tents and camped at my village for several days.
A policeman bought kaukau and greens from our women with payment made in salt and tobacco.
Fear was driven into us that the kiap and his team might hurt or take us away, so I never got close to the camp site and for hours watched all their movements from a safe distance.
When they left for Kandep, some of my uncles helped carry their patrol boxes and other paraphernalia for half of the distance. However, they returned with sad stories.
My uncles did not eat for days in fear of being poisoned by the Kandepenes, who were believed to maintain tomokai, magic poison which could be passed on through food, drink, or smoke.
They were also believed to be the source of yainanda yawege, a ritual performed once every five years to predict potential imminent natural catastrophes.
There was a sense of relief when the patrol left my village as they caused tension and anxiety with their demanding behaviour.
When we felt sufficiently safe, we approached the vacant camp site and scavenged for empty cans, lids and other refuse and tried to figure out what they might be. We used them as toys.
One of the lasting impressions the patrol team left was their offending odour.
Their bodies, clothes, soap, tents and practically everything smelled even from a considerable distance. This was unlike anything I had smelled before and is still vivid in my memory.
As they were leaving, we followed behind them from a safe distance as far as possible.
We were always on the lookout, especially around corners or the sections of the trail obscured by vegetation, to ensure none of the policemen were hiding.
We were particularly interested in the kiap’s boot prints left on the ground and compared our bare feet against them for days until the prints disappeared.
I am one of the natives of the place where the kiaps first came, Laiagam, that is Kepelam.
Now I am 22 years of age. When I was a small boy my father told me that when I was kid, Kepelam was a grassland. So the first white people came to put their foot in Laiagam is Kepelam in the 1950s.
When that happened the Andati people welcome the white people and they built a house for them at Kunis, Konipyaris and at the back of Kepelam District office.
During that time Tepe and Joe Herman's father, Pyakori, were the leaders on behalf of Laiagam district.
Whatever the white people informed them to do, they translated in English.
So during that time Sakaro informed the white people that the majority of the people are living in lower Lagaip so we move down to Laiagam side.
Thus, they moved to Laiagam and now we call it Laiagam district, otherwise we will call it Kepelam District.
This is long story so l stop there.
Posted by: Timothy Kevin Yati | 04 April 2020 at 10:22 AM