Tinputz

expand_more Description

Austronesian-speaking Tinputz peoples inhabit the northernmost portion of the island of Bougainville, and Taiof and the Saposa islands off the northwest coast, within the North Bougainville District of the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, Papua New Guinea. The Tinputz (or Tinputz-Saposa) language family includes Tinputz proper of northeastern Bougainville, Teop to the southeast, Hahon to the west and Saposa on western islands. Tinputz were typical Melanesian swidden horticulturalists, growing taro as a staple crop. In the colonial era they worked on European coconut plantations. The basic kin group is the localized matrilineage grouped into exogamous landholding clans, with the lineage head having some authority within and outside the village. An elaborate initiation ceremony for boys involved the wearing of a distinct headgear over a two-year period.

Identifier

Region

• Oceania

Subregion

• Melanesia

Subsistence Type

• other subsistence combinations

Samples

• EA

Countries

• Papua New Guinea