Jerry’s son…

Jerry's son (above photo) passed away recently and was our reason for travelling by boat to Bamata (near Finschhafen). I travelled there with Jerry and his father and although I was only gone for one night it was a very emotional and intense couple of days. You can read To Finschhafen and back in two days… to get a bit of a background on this story.

Jerry has since decided to move back to Bamata to be closer to his land. His wife and kids have already made the move. Jerry will follow shortly with his Mum. There is some concern amongst his family that his son met his death through foul play. In PNG – although most people are christian – they also hold true to their old traditions. It is probably fair to say that the more rural or remote the village – the stronger this belief in the “old” is. “Bamata” although relatively close to civilisation, had not seen a white man since the 2nd World War – from a “hold true to traditions” point of view – “Bamata” was an incredibly interesting place to visit. A place where so called “magic” is still real and holds strong in the minds of it's people, a place where all deaths are treated suspiciously until proven otherwise, a place where the “poison man” (shaman) exists.

The reason that Jerry is moving back to his land is that his clan fear foul play around the death of his son. “Payback” by his clan members is a real possibility. Plus – Jerry and his Dad both feel a strong need to be closer to their land as they believe that the motive for foul play on this occasion was Land ownership. Considering that land is passed down from father to son(s) – with less male heirs – this increases the chances of a neighbouring clan being able to claim ownership – it all starts to make sense.