Clan Claims: Land,Law and Violence in the Papua New Guinea Eastern Highlands1

Land has become the source of new end more complex disputes in Papua New Guinea in recent years. Economic opportunities associated with government programs and multinational corporations have altered land values in rural districts. This paper examines how in the context of such shifting attitudes toward land, competing groups in an Eastern Highlands district use both law and violence in their confrontations. One component of the legal strategies pursued includes the elaboration of clan stories to legitimize claims before the courts. Yet, while rural elites and their families may desire the support of the law in their economic pursuits, the realities of intergroup violence set limits on the likely success of this approach.