Morkai

Morkai is a tribe that lives around the Tabibuga Station of

Jimi District Jimi District is a district of the Jiwaka Province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Tabibuga. The population of the district was 71,379 at the 2011 census. Before May 2012, it was part of the Western Highlands Province. It is home to the Jimi V ...

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. The tribe is subdivided into the smaller clans: Kimbaka, Keska, Galeboka, Maika, Nipka and Parka. The Tabibuga Station stands on Galemboka's and Kimbaka's land mass. The Morkai tribe speaks the

Narak language Narak is a Trans–New Guinea language of Western Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Indepen ...

. There is no intermarriage between the Kimbaka - Keska and Galemboka clans, but there is marriage between the rest of the clans. The normal livelihood of Morkai is

subsistence agriculture Subsistence agriculture occurs when farmers grow food crops to meet the needs of themselves and their families on smallholdings. Subsistence agriculturalists target farm output for survival and for mostly local requirements, with little or no su ...

. Their main staple food is kaukau (

sweet potato The sweet potato or sweetpotato (''Ipomoea batatas'') is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the Convolvulus, bindweed or morning glory family (biology), family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting tuberous roots are used as a r ...

), with other seasonal food such as

taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Africa ...

, yams and

cassava ''Manihot esculenta'', common name, commonly called cassava (), manioc, or yuca (among numerous regional names), is a woody shrub of the spurge family, Euphorbiaceae, native to South America. Although a perennial plant, cassava is extensively ...

s. Mareta (red panda-nut) is a popular

cash crop A cash crop or profit crop is an Agriculture, agricultural crop which is grown to sell for profit. It is typically purchased by parties separate from a farm. The term is used to differentiate marketed crops from staple crop (or "subsistence crop") ...

and is also mainly used for exchanges and

bride price Bride price, bride-dowry (Mahr in Islam), bride-wealth, or bride token, is money, property, or other form of wealth paid by a groom or his family to the woman or the family of the woman he will be married to or is just about to marry. Bride dow ...

gifts. Pigs are a wide form of

livestock wealth Livestock Wealth is a South African-based crowdfunding company that focuses on funding for cattle. The company connects investors with farmers that require funding by using cattle as a form of investment. For example, options include the purchas ...

. Pigs are also traded for cash or used in exchange for compensation payments and bride price payments. Also pigs are slaughtered for ceremonial activities. {{authority control Ethnic groups in Papua New Guinea