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The Duna are an
Duna is the native language of the polysemically named Duna people. Their environment lies in a mountainous terrain with altitudes ranging from 400 to 3000 meters. With an even distribution of rainfall (4500mm annually) and temperatures (18.5 to 28 °C), the environment allows farming and some tree cultivation. This is why most Duna are substance farmers with sweet potatoes being the staple food, alongside other gardened fruit and vegetables. Furthermore, they keep domesticated pigs and trap fish in Lake Kopiago while also hunting smaller game such as possums, bats and smaller birds. The diet also includes gathered mushrooms, ferns and cresses.
The Duna are grouped in clans and parishes. Each member shares extensive responsibilities, requiring a substantial social effort for the group. Before the first direct contact with Europeans around the 1930s, their culture involved a strict separation of males and females. Early on, boys are separately raised and trained into manhood. Other significant themes of pre-contact life include ordered warfare, courting and the potency of ritual sacrifice. Since the establishment of a government station in the 1950s by Australia, the customs and traditions have undergone some significant changes, community schooling etc.
Language and Cognition – Duna
* * * * * {{authority control Ethnic groups in Papua New Guinea
indigenous people
There is no generally accepted definition of Indigenous peoples, although in the 21st century the focus has been on self-identification, cultural difference from other groups in a state, a special relationship with their traditional territ ...
of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...
(also known as ''Yuna'') who live in the north-western area of the Southern Highlands Province
Southern Highlands is a province in Papua New Guinea. Its provincial capital is the town of Mendi. According to Papua New Guinea's national 2021 census, the total population of Southern Highlands province is 927,306.
History
Separation of H ...
. They number approximately 11,000 (1991) or 25,000 (2002)
Society
Duna is the native language of the polysemically named Duna people. Their environment lies in a mountainous terrain with altitudes ranging from 400 to 3000 meters. With an even distribution of rainfall (4500mm annually) and temperatures (18.5 to 28 °C), the environment allows farming and some tree cultivation. This is why most Duna are substance farmers with sweet potatoes being the staple food, alongside other gardened fruit and vegetables. Furthermore, they keep domesticated pigs and trap fish in Lake Kopiago while also hunting smaller game such as possums, bats and smaller birds. The diet also includes gathered mushrooms, ferns and cresses.
The Duna are grouped in clans and parishes. Each member shares extensive responsibilities, requiring a substantial social effort for the group. Before the first direct contact with Europeans around the 1930s, their culture involved a strict separation of males and females. Early on, boys are separately raised and trained into manhood. Other significant themes of pre-contact life include ordered warfare, courting and the potency of ritual sacrifice. Since the establishment of a government station in the 1950s by Australia, the customs and traditions have undergone some significant changes, community schooling etc.
Economy
There is only little paid work available in the area and electricity or telecommunication networks are not regularly accessible. The region does have a large health centre near Kopiago and a community school up to 8th grade. The Highland Highway is part of the overland transport network, but it is intermittent and in poor condition, so that most traveling is done on foot. Flights go fairly regular weekly or twice-weekly to Kopiago.Notes
References
Further reading
Language and Cognition – Duna
* * * * * {{authority control Ethnic groups in Papua New Guinea