More About The Kukukukus

By A. P. Lyons

ERIC FELDT’S interesting account of a patrol he conducted into the Kuku kuku country in the New Guinea Territory during 1931, which was pub lished in the April PIM, has prompted me to write something concerning these people on the South or Papuan side of the main range.

The word Kukukuku I believe to be a nickname for inland native tribes living between the Lakekamu River and Kerema. It was bestowed by native traders of the Motu tribes (living in and around Port Moresby), and came to be used with other names by the numerous coastal natives of the Gulf of Papua between the places above stated. Miners and other Europeans who first came to the Lakekamu Goldfields always referred to bush natives as Kukukukus.

Some of these miners, notably Joe Sloan. Shark-eye (Black) Bill Park, “Red Bill” Parkes, Frank Pryke and Les (Ji embo) Joubert. were soon on the Morobe Goldfield after gold was found there abouts, and I have no doubt they con tinued to use Kukukuku for the mountain natives, and that newcomers to the field adopted the name.

The so-called Kukukuku were not numerous. They lived in small and scattered hamlets. They made predatory raids on the gardens of the coastal tribes, both day and night, using torches during the hours of darkness, and often massac ring men, women and children. Their guerilla tactics thoroughly scared the numerous salt-water men, and caused them to believe that the Kukukuku were almost supernatural.

THE first recorded use of the nam© Kukukuku appears in the Annual Report of British New Guinea for the year ended June 30, 1900. Dr. J. A.

Blaney, RM, CD, and Mr. A. Guilianetti, the Government Agent at Mekeo, to gether had made one of their infrequent visits to Kerema, where they learned that some Ipisi natives had been massacred by a mysterious inland tribe called Ku kukuku. These officers made an unsuc cessful attempt to trace the raiders.

Incidentally, Guilianetti was shot dead by a native at Mekeo on November 4, 1901. Until 1906, when the present Gulf Division was established, it was included in the boundaries of the Central Division.

During Captain F. R. Barton’s adminis tration, the Gulf Division was proclaimed.

Kerema was selected for its headquarters and Mr. H. L. Griffin took up duty there as the first RM of the Division.

In the Annual Report for 1905-1906, Griffin refers to the Kukukuku as “an inland hill tribe, local name Eariva but generally known as the Kukukuku.” In another part of the same Report, he re ports having got into touch with the so called Kukukuku at a village called Korolauve, situated a few miles up stream from Kerema, through the good offices of friendly natives. He did not visit the village of the Kukukuku.

Mr. C. B. Higginson, RM, took charge of the Gulf Division during September, 1907.

In the Annual Report for 1906-1907, the Acting Administrator, Judge J. H. P.

Murray, remarks as follows: “There seem to be at least two—probably several— different sets of villages called by that name (Kukukuku). The other village or group of villages is apparently some days journey from Korolauve and is situated in the mountains but what mountains is not yet definitely ascertained.”

In 1907-1908, Mr. Higginson, RM, re ports having visited villages at the head

of Laiki Creek in the foothills of the Albert Range distant about 35 miles north of Kerema, but does not say whether he made contact with any natives. He goes on to say that “Maiheri, the local name, has now almost been dropped, and Kukukuku becomes uni versal.’ 1 He continues: “The word Kuku kuku is a Motuan (Port Moresby) term, and was bestowed by the early Lakatoi (large trading canoe) people on their trips to the west, in the same lordly way they renamed the villages, rivers and other parts of the coast.”

CHARLIE HIGGINSON says in the same Annual Report, apropos the terror inspired by the Kukukuku in the large coastal village communities: “It is well that the Kukukuku do not

know their powers, as I am sure if one Kukukuku came out on the beach, he could chase the local population as long as he liked to run after them. Some time back Toaripi people on a visit to Kerema and returning by the beach, got a Kuku

kuku scare. They swam out to sea and then swam back to Kerema along the shore.”

One fantastic tale I, myself, heard from a Moviavi man was that no one could dodge the Kukukuku arrows. ‘‘Could you not get behind a tree?” I asked. “Yes,’ he replied, “but the arrow would follow you.”

Finding of payable gold near the Tiviri River (a branch of the Lakekamu River) was reported by the prospectors Mat Crowe and Frank and Jim Pryke towards the end of 1909. Immediately afterwards, the Lakekamu Goldfield was proclaimed, followed by a visit to the Field of Lieutenant Governor J. H. P. Murray.

He proceeded on a short journey into the mountains, accompanied by Mat Crowe and others. His object was to try and get into touch with the Kukukuku and make friends with them. The visit was fruitless and had to be abandoned for lack of food. It seems that the Pryke Bros, had been sniped by bush natives a short time previously, but happily no one was hit.

During 1910 when I was RM and Warden of the Lakekamu Goldfield I made a few days journey into the moun tains to the north of Nepa, my head quarters. Nepa was situated about eight miles south of the then Anglo-German boundary. It is most likely that my journey took me across the border. I followed a ridge from Nepa, and then dropped down to a small creek to visit a miner named Stan Smith. He asked and was granted permission to accompany me.

We continued along the ridges, and eventually came to the Tiviri River where it was very narrow, with water rushing down as a roaring torrent. We crossed it by saplings placed on to a large flat rock in mid-stream, getting the whole party onto the rock and reaching the other side in the same way. We found a deep and rock-strewn gully having two

tiers of water-Worn ledges. By sapling ladders we reached the ledges and then climbed up the rest of the gully through scrub and boulders. We found a track leading northwards.

Following it, we came to an open table land. Soon the native police espied some native women working in a garden. They surrounded them, and managed to cap ture one woman and a small boy, who were brought to me. The woman was yelling out an alarm. To pacify her, I placed a looking glass before her eyes.

Momentarily she ceased her noise. I gave her the glass but she dropped it. Then I tried to make friends with the boy, but he tried hard to bury his strong teeth in my leg. Meanwhile the woman resumed yelling.

Seeing that it was hopeless to make friends without an interpreter, I let them go. Continuing along the track we reached a small village which contained a few round houses. Each house had a conical shaped roof and a circle of stones in the centre for a fireplace. In one house I found a conventional mummy. The legs and arms were bent and disposed along side the torso and then bound around with ratten. The skull was attached to the torso.

I found several torches. The torch was made by filling an inter-node of bamboo with an inflammable tree resin.

Meanwhile the police had brought in an infant whose mother had thrown it on the ground when chased by the police.

This put me on the spot as I had decided to camp in that village for the night. But, leaving the infant with the mummy and a gift of a trade knife in one of the houses, we continued on and reached another small village. Here in one of the houses I found a wood shield which was pitted with the marks of arrow heads.

We followed a track out of the village which led down to a small creek. After

crossing the creek we found a place to camp. While the police were getting the tents erected we were attacked by a shower of arrows. Three arrows pene trated my tent and two embedded in a tree alongside it.

We could not see our attackers so I ordered a volley of rifle shots to be fired at the place where the arrows were com ing from. This stopped the attack. Mean while Smith returned from the creek where he had been panning off. He reported that a few arrows had been fired at him.

Happily no one was hit.

Next morning we proceeded further north without the aid of a track. We got into very rough boulder country, with

water gurgling beneath. 1 decided to retrace our way back to the villages that we had visited the day before. I found that the infant, the mummy and the knife had disappeared. We followed another track and suddenly surprised about a dozen armed natives in a hut.

They made off with the police in pursuit.

None of them were caught but some of their bows and arrows were brought back.

These were destroyed. Continuing along the track we reached another village (the

third). It was deserted. From there we made our way to the Tiviri River.

A few days afterwards we reached Nepa without further incident.

The Lutheran Mission School at Baita bag, near Madang New Guinea has recently opened a science department. The Science Hall was dedicated at a ceremony on July 1. The Rev. A. Walck, who is pastor in charge of the school, will conduct science lessons.