Gainj - Settlements

Settlement is widely dispersed; there are no villages or nucleated settlements. House sites are distributed through the valley within bounded, nonoverlapping, named territories ( kunyung ) which operate as ritual and political entities. This term describes both the territory and the people who are said to belong to it. House sites are usually selected on the basis of available level ground, water supply, and proximity to current gardens. Each house is ideally occupied by a nuclear family and is primarily a place for sleeping and storing personal possessions. Houses are ovoid in shape and made of wooden frames covered with sheets of bark; roofs are thatched with sago palm leaves.