Temporary townsfolk?: Siwai migrants in urban Papua New Guinea

Connell, John

article

Temporary townsfolk?: Siwai migrants in urban Papua New Guinea

Pacific studies • 11 (3) • Published In 1988 • Pages: 77-100

By: Connell, John.

Abstract
This study focuses on Siwai urban migration and communities in the twentieth century. While the first plantations were established by the Germans in 1907, Siwai migration to coastal plantations began in earnest in 1914 with the imposition of a head tax by the Australian government, requiring payments in cash which could only be obtained through contract labor. Urbanization also provided opportunities for employment in town business and service sectors. The rise of indigenous cash crops after World War II, and their replacement by cocoa beginning in the 1960s, drew labor back to the rural interior. The opening of a copper mine in 1970 provided a boost in employment and wages, at least while copper prices were high in global markets. The author examines the structure and dynamics of Siwai urban households and their degree of attachment to an urban way of life, additionally noting the formation of a Siwai identity arising from urban ethnic enclaves and interactions with workers from other ethnic backgrounds.

Composition of population

Labor supply and employment

Residence

Household

Inter-ethnic relations

Taxation and public income

External relations

Siwai