Mendi - Settlements

Despite a partial congruence of names, government "census units" (with populations mostly between 200 and 800) do not correspond with indigenous localities (with perhaps 20-100 residents). Each locality ( su, meaning "ground") is associated with an individual clan (or subclan) section, and is Socially centered around a clearing ( koma ) where meetings and collective events are held. Strictly speaking, there are no villages. Residences are dispersed within clan territories, their fences separating community footpaths and clearings from garden areas. Farmsteads usually include an oval men's house, a long women's house (in which the family's pigs are also stalled at night), and other buildings (e.g., a menstrual seclusion hut). New-style houses have sleeping compartments for both men and women.