Homoko Alembo’s five wives live with the young children and the girls in three huts. Upon reaching the age of 7, the boys move in with the men who will raise them from then on. They will become good warriors. I immediately enter the heat of the action as a tribal war begins the very morning of my arrival. I have read in my reference books that they are common enough but what are they, really ? How dangerous is it?
“If they come you run,” I am told
We can see fires rising in the mountains, men are plundering and burning houses. “If they come this way to burn our house, you run!” Lus told me before going to bed. In reality, I don’t think I have slept at all when in Pitapaya. We slept, ate and lived with three little pigs. Only two doctors knew of my whereabouts and at the time, I was unaware of the real dangers I faced.
In order to accomplish her household duties, a typical Pacific Island woman’s average daily walk is about 3 hours.
After spending 10 months around in the region, I am in shape and what good fortune this will turn out to be. My feet have grown the callouses necessary to keep the pace needed to reach the home of the young man who has just been killed. Could I still do this today? Certainly would love to try!
There is no downtime during the following days. The men are gone to war, the women cry for the dead, as well as perform their usual tasks. They fetch wood, make fires, kill a pig.
Wanting to return, wanting to know….
A gold deposit has been found in a nearby mountain. No one from the exterior can mine it yet. The mountain belongs to different clans, now at war, and the government can’t reach any agreement with them. In the meantime, the tribe’s men seem to pick up gold as needed. One day, a warrior down from the city to help with the war, comes to me. He is a handsome man. His blue-jeans and muscled torso give him a very modern look, save for the bow and arrows slung over his shoulder. Arriving near me, he reaches in his pocket and produces a handful of big gold nuggets. I think to myself that, perhaps, I should go there too, my project badly needs the funding !
We can see fires rising in the mountains, men are plundering and burning houses. “If they come this way to burn our house, you run! ” Lus told me before going to bed. In reality, I don’t think I have slept at all when in Pitapaya. We slept, ate and lived with three little pigs. Only two doctors knew of my whereabouts and at the time, I was unaware of the real dangers I faced. Luckily, I am and have always felt safe when with a family.
We want to know: Do tribal wars still exist between the700 ethnic groups ? What happen to the mountain where the gold mine was discovered? What happen to the six tribes who shared ownership of that land? What is the price of a wife today?
