EEP Crowned pigeon number 4

EEP STUDBOOK CROWNED PIGEONS
The Kovio used to trade shells along with bows and arrows to the Kurija in return for dog's
teeth (a local valuable as well as a ceremonial display item) and pigs. They also had
established trade relations with the Biaru, who had a similar appetite for the shells they
controlled. The Kovio ability to control the shell trade in the Lakekamu Basin is reflected in
their sweeping land claims. Their current position of political influence also seems to be a
recapitulation of historical patterns in the basin (Kirsch, 1997).
Their relation with the Mekeo and the location of their villages along the Lakekamu River
have also given the Kovio greater access to urban resources. They are probably the best
educated and dressed of the four groups in the basin. They are actively involved in local and
regional politics and more "fully integrated into the cash economy" than their neighbours
(Filer and Iamo, 1989). A lawyer from Okovai village who is working in Kerema has
established a landowner association that claims to represent all of the Kovio, as well as
members from other groups in the basin. Their interest in attracting large-scale resource
development projects to the Lakekamu Basin may be the greatest obstacle to the successful
implementation of the integrated conservation project planned by CI and the FSP-PNG
(Kirsch, 1997). The urban orientation of the Kovio leadership may make them more willing to
develop the natural resources of the Lakekamu Basin than the other residents of the basin,
who depend upon the local environment for subsistence.
Environmental history of the Lakekamu Basin
The lowland resources of the Lakekamu Basin have been regularly exploited by the four
cultural-linguistic groups who previously lived on its margins: the Biaru, the Kurija, the
Kamea and the Kovio. The first three of these groups are segments of highland populations
who moved into the basin to take advantage of lowland resources and exchange networks.
The fourth group, the Kovio, are the only long-term residents of the lowlands. Due to their
strategic position in the south of the basin and their close relations with the neighbouring
Mekeo, the Kovio were able to dominate the shell trade from the coast into the mountains.
They achieved this by forming exchange partnerships with the Biaru and Kurija, which were
conduits for the shell trade to their mountain relatives. The Kamea remained resolutely
outside of this regional exchange sphere, because they are widely feared by the other groups
in the basin; against whom they sometimes staged raids and fought.
Competing and overlapping claims complicates Land Rights in the Lakekamu Basin. Most of
the northern half of the Basin was once an uninhabited buffer zone between the Kamea and
the Biaru. Both groups exploited the resources of this area, but their hostile relations made
settlement in lowlands too dangerous. The resulting protective zone for natural species has
been eroded since 1972. However, when the government centre at Kakoro was established,
the northern half of the basin subsequently became home to almost all of its inhabitants. The
shifting horticulture of the basin dwellers has not affected as great an area as it might have,
for their gardening is largely restricted to the fertile river floodplains, instead of spreading out
through the adjacent forest land.
The pattern of human occupation in the southern half of the basin is almost the reverse. It is
not clear how long ago the Kurija migrated into the southeastern portion of the basin,
although estimates ranges from several generations to several hundreds of years. The Kurija
have asked archaeologists to survey the area in order to prove the antiquity of their claims.
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