Telefolmin - Settlements

Permanent villages range in size from about 60 to 300 Persons, with an average of just over 200. These villages coexist with a pattern of widely dispersed and shifting garden houses. The system is thus two-tiered, with a constant circulation of people between isolated domestic units and central village sites. Traditionally each village had its own men's-house complex as part of a regional ritual system. Churches now provide a community focus for many villages, while Telefolip retains its traditional cult-house complex. With the mining boom of the 1980s a small but growing "town" has emerged along a roadside strip near the government station.