Gebusi - Orientation

Identification. Gebusi identify themselves as a distinctive Gebusi-speaking cultural group within the Nomad River area of the East Strickland River Plain, Western Province, Papua New Guinea. Gebusi perceive selective similarities between themselves and other Nomad River groups such as the Honibo, the Samo, and to a lesser extent the Bedamini to the east.

Location. Gebusi live near the northern edge of New Guinea's large south central lowland rain forest at approximately 6°17-22′ S and 142°118-125′ E. They are bordered on the north by the Hamam River, on the northwest by the Nomad River and the Nomad government station, and on the south by the Rentoul River. The dominant landform is relict alluvial plain, with erosion forming accordant ridges and valleys with relief up to 75 meters despite a flat rain-forest appearance from the air and a maximum elevation of 200 meters above sea level. Soils are clayey with no stone except in larger river beds. Primary rain-forest canopy is ubiquitous Except over larger rivers and small settlement and garden clearings. Monthly median high temperature ranges between 32.5° C and 38° C, with an overall high of 42 ° C. Rainfall averages 416.5 centimeters a year, with a variable dry season from June to early November. Humidity is very high.

Demography. Gebusi numbered approximately 450 in 1980-1982, with a population density of 2.6 persons per square kilometer. Gebusi have suffered depopulation, partly from introduced epidemic influenza as well as from tuberculosis and other pulmonary and gastrointestinal diseases, resulting in an estimated 24 percent natural population decline from November 1967 to January 1982. This decline was counterbalanced by population inmigration, mostly from Bedamini to the east, leading to a net territorial population increase of 1.3 persons per year over this period.

Linguistic Affiliation. The linguist S. A. Wurm classifies Gebusi as part of the East Strickland Language Family within the South-Central New Guinea Stock of the Trans-New Guinea Phylum. Gebusi are part of a chain of related dialects extending from the Strickland River east to Mount Bosavi and Mount Sisa. A partial break in this chain exists between Gebusi and the Bedamini to their east, who share only 32 percent of their cognates. Bedamini expansion may have eradicated linguistic groups that were once intermediate.