Orokaiva love poem

Love poem translated into Orokaiva (alternatives and dialects : Harava, Ifane, Ehija, Etija, Kokoda, Sose, Aeka, Sohe, Hunjara, Ihane).

Orokaiva is a language of the Trans-New Guinea Binanderan group, spoken in Papua New Guinea, near Popondetta, between the Kumusi River and the Hydrographers Mountains, in the Oro Province.

This language, spoken in hundreds of villages, has approximately 40,000 speakers across all its dialects. Of the fifteen Binanderan languages, Orokaiva is a vibrant and the most important.

The Orokaiva people are generally classified into three groups based on their environment: coastal, bush, and river.

Their tribes are divided into patrilineal clans and subclans, each with a totem and a common ancestor. In each village, there are several clans.

The chief is the one who knows the customs and how to manage relationships through the organization of inter-village feasts.

In addition to seafood and river products, depending on their environment, their daily life is based on the production of sugarcane, yams, taro, coconuts, bananas, and a little hunting and livestock farming.

In the past, as everywhere in Papua New Guinea, wars frequently occurred, and when internal conflicts arose between clans, they would separate.

The Orokaiva, who have always had a reputation for being fearless warriors, initiated young boys very early, toughening them up.

During wars, they might practice cannibalism on their enemies and capture the youngest women to make them their wives.

The payment of a dowry, a compensation, or an exchange of women for these captures was the only way to end a conflict.