Abstract
The adaptive strategy of a population of New Guinea highland subsistence farmers is considered in the light of events surrounding a series of severe frosts experienced in 1972. Coping with frost is seen to be a critical preoccupation for all Enga, and agricultural mounding a universal response, adequate to deal with the mild frosts of Central Enga country below 2250 m but insufficient above. There, among the Fringe Enga, a sequence of responses at three different levels may be identified. These may be called the local, intraregional, and extraregional levels because of their progressively wider geographical spread in agricultural activity and attendant increased population mobility. A correspondence is indicated between response level and frost intensity. This response, while effective, is being modified through cropping innovations and disrupted by a colonial situation. Further, at higher levels, it is incompatible with the prescribed course of political and economic development.
This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.
References
Brookfield, H. C. (1962). Local study and comparative method: An example from Central New Guinea.Annals of the Association of American Geographers 52: 242–254.
Ewald, E. (1972). Presentation to frost relief committee. New Guinea Lutheran Mission, Wabag, 16 pp., mimeographed.
Lacey, R. (1973). A question of origins: An exploration of some Enga oral traditions. Department of History Seminar, University of Papua New Guinea, 22 pp., mimeographed.
Lacey, R. (n.d.). Toktok bilong pipel Kandep. 9 pp., typescript.
Malcolm, L. A. (1972). The famine situation in the Western and Southern Highlands of Papua and New Guinea—Estimated food needs and health surveillance. District Health Office, Lae, 10 pp., mimeographed.
Meggitt, M. J. (1972). System and subsystem: Thete exchange cycle among the Mae Enga.Human Ecology 1: 111–123.
Scoullar, B. (1971). Frost damage—Subsistence gardens, Lagaip subdistrict. Summary report and recommendations, Department of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries, Papua New Guinea, Laiagam, 7 pp., typescript.
Scoullar, B. (1972). The effect of frost on sweet potato production at higher altitudes in the highlands of Papua New Guinea. Department of Agriculture, Stock and Fisheries, Papua New Guinea, Laiagam, 8 pp., mimeographed.
Vayda, A. P. (1974). Warfare in ecological perspective.Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 5: 183–193.
Waddell, E. (1972).The Mound Builders: Agricultural Practices, Environment and Society in the Central Highlands of New Guinea, University of Washington Press, Seattle.
Waddell, E. (1973). Raiapu Enga adaptive strategies: Structure and general implications. In Brookfield, H. C. (ed.),The Pacific in Transition: Geographical Perspectives on Adaptation and Change, Edward Arnold, London, pp. 25–54.
Waddell, E. (1974). Frost over Niugini: A retrospect on bungled relief.New Guinea 8(4): 39–49.
Author information
Affiliations
Additional information
The research on which this article is based was financed entirely by the Australian National University, where the author was first a Research Scholar and more recently a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Human Geography.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Waddell, E. How the Enga cope with frost: Responses to climatic perturbations in the Central Highlands of New Guinea. Hum Ecol 3, 249–273 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01531426
Issue Date:
Key words
- frosts
- migrations
- New Guinea
- natural hazards
- sedentarization