From kastam to kulsa? leadership, cultural heritage and modernization in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea

Abstract

[Extract] Changes in leadership practices often provide a good indication of changing value orientations in a society. Aspiring leaders often wish to explore new resources of power and authority, including concepts of culture and heritage, and through their practice they may themselves become important agents of change. In this chapter we focus on the actions of one particular man in order to investigate how concepts of tradition are in a process of change in Manus Province, Papua New Guinea: from primarily referring to exchangeable intellectual property (kastam in Manus Tok Pisin) to articulating the inalienable property that defines group identity (cultural heritage or kalsa).