SUMMARY

The Wogia-Tunjup is a tribe living in the Southern Highlands area of Papua New Guinea. A few thousand people in size, the tribe lives in close proximity of the Mendi River, in a relatively densely populated area, home to a large number of tribes, situated close to the town of Mendi. The tribe is part of the Mobera Kunjop ethno-linguistic continuum, prevalent in the Mendi valley. As such, the Wogia-Tunjups speak a language of the Angal family and live in villages and small settlements built around traditional mens houses (enshas), mainly practicing various forms of agriculture with gardening and pig-farming playing an important part in the overall livelihood and traditions of the tribes. The Wogia-Tunjups are also referred to as Tugumaps, Tungups or Tugups, partly based on the various transliterations of their name or of the name of the main villages that they inhabit. Furthermore, the tribe is frequently referred to as a clan, due to various means for classifying tribes used by various anthropologists and ethnographers. The size of the tribe is estimated at about 3000-4000 people.

Clashes between various tribes were a mainstay of the Mendi valley, being considered as part of the traditional culture of the area, especially as a complex network of inter-clan and inter-tribe relationships exists. Further, traditional dispute resolution mechanisms, still used, frequently result in the use of force. However, the overall level of violence was not particularly high prior to the 1990s. This was a result of a lack of firearms in the area, as the Mendi valley is relatively isolated, and authorities controlled traffic entering and exiting the region, mainly by air. However, this lack of weaponry quickly changed into an overabundance after the 1990s, as the state, which was weakly represented, could not maintain its authority, especially after oil and gas were discovered in the area.

The Wogia-Tunjup tribe of Tugup has been involved in the non-state category of UCDP organised violence.