What is the wantok system?
The ‘wantok’ (tok pisin = ‘one talk’) system is a social system where people who are related to each other by a common language, ethnicity, district or by provincial boundaries (defined here as ‘wantoks’) will jointly participate in sociopolitical, economic, traditional and cultural activities in Papua New Guinea …
What does Wantok mean in PNG?
one talk
In Papua New Guinea (PNG) social networks are rooted in the wantok system. Wantok means ‘same language’ or ‘one talk’ in Tok Pisin (the country’s lingua franca) and refers to a reciprocal relationship of favours between kin and community members.
What is the correct English term for wantok system?
Filters. (Melanesia, Papua New Guinea) A close comrade; a person with whom one has a strong social bond, usually based on shared language.
What is wantok in Solomon Islands?
Wantok is an identity perception at the macro level and a social capital concept at the micro and family levels, especially in rural communities. It signifies a setting demanding cooperation, caring and reciprocal support, and a shared attachment to locality.
Is Papua New Guinea corrupt?
According to The Economist, “PNG’s governments are notorious for corruption, and ever run the risk of turning the state into a fully-fledged kleptocracy”. Transparency International’s 2016 Corruption Perception Index ranks the country 142th place out of 180 countries.
Is Tok Pisin a language?
It is one of the three official languages of Papua New Guinea, along with English and Hiri Motu. Tok Pisin (literally, “bird talk”) is one of the Pacific pidgins that emerged during the second half of the 19th century on copra and sugarcane plantations to which labour was imported from Melanesia, Malaysia, and China.
Does Papua New Guinea have police?
Law enforcement in Papua New Guinea Law enforcement services in Papua New Guinea are provided by the RPNGC which is part of the Government’s Law and Justice Sector. Headed by a Commissioner, the national police force is headquartered in Konedobu, a suburb of the capital city Port Moresby.
How do you say hello in PNG?
The general customary greeting is to shake hands and to ask “yuorait” – “How are you?” People commonly clasp hands with one another to greet or grasp each other around the hips.
How was pidgin created?
pidgin, originally, a language that typically developed out of sporadic and limited contacts between Europeans and non-Europeans in locations other than Europe from the 16th through the early 19th century and often in association with activities such as trade, plantation agriculture, and mining.
In Tok Pisin, wantok means “one talk” – meaning the language of the tribe or clan that a person belongs to. The Wantok system and W antokism is the traditional welfare system that evolved around that tribe. In a tribal-based society everything revolves around the relative welfare of the tribe and clan members as a whole.
Is there a wantok system in Papua New Guinea?
The paper eloquently describes the overall situation with wantoks and wantokism in PNG. While here is another excellent paper written by Grant Walton and David Jackson that details the wantok system in Papua New Guinea.
What can the wantok system tell us about Melanesia?
The complex web of relationships spawned by the wantok system at local, national and sub-regional levels of Melanesia could in-form our understanding of events and development in Melanesian states in the contemporary period.
What is urban wantokism?
Urbanwantokism emerged in the 1960s and 1970s and developed both horizontally and vertically. Wantokism operates like a social security system: yourwantoksare obligated to give you food and shelter, and also defend you in conflicts.