Ngaing language
The Ngaing are an indigenous people in Papua New Guinea with about 2,000 members ( in 2000). They settle on the south-eastern foothills of the Finisterre Mountains in the Madang and Morobe Province in the southeast of the big island of New Guinea, especially between the rivers Nankina and Mot and thus partly in strongly fissured mountains, which flattens out towards the coast. Their language is also called Ngaing ( Mailang, Sor) and belongs to the language family of the Finisterre - Huon languages within the Trans - New Guinea languages. Subordinate to the Finisterre - Huon - speaking countries Gusap -Motorcycle- language sections, which, in addition Ngaing also Madi ( Gira ), Iyo ( Nahu ), Neko, Nekgini, Rawa and Ufim are belong. The anthropologist Peter Lawrence explored the Ngaing in the 1960s in detail.
Social organization
The Ngaing follow a two-line, bilinear descent rule by the father and the mother. In the village, the fathers side descent groups ( lineages Patri ) include 3 to 5 generations and form larger hong ( Patri - clan), which constitute the basic units of the settlement. About this clan the rules of exogamous marriage be ( between the clans ), the land rights (important for horticulture and hunting ) and the ritual rights ( important for men cult ceremonies ) passed on and inherited. Similarly, are organized in parallel to the men eligible mothers side descent groups ( Matri - lineages ), which combine the totem right to itself and thus exert animistic guardian spirit functions. In most cases, the person concerned is a plant or animal species assigned to the Company that has a specific meaning and it has opposed bringing in more special respect.
The individual groups live in urban areas scattered and follow the marital home following regulating the Patri - location: The residence of a married couple is set up at the husband who lives with his father. Meetings of both groups to joint activities do not take place.
Economy
The Ngaing life of self-sufficiency crops from growing its own, such as taro and yam roots and sweet potatoes. Keep pigs and chickens and hunt wild boar, marsupials and birds. For sale determined are the fruits of various crops such as coffee and cocoa, and betel nuts.