Kep Aglima
Kep Aglima was born around 1950, in the village of Karaip Pangi, in the upper Nebilyer Valley. When warfare broke out there, his mother Puksi fled to her home village among the Enguwal tribe in the Kaugel Valley to the west. There she raised Kep without his father Aglima, but with plenty of help from her mother’s people. Kep was very fond of his mother and stayed close to her to learn from her. He recalls learning much from the
tom yaya tales that she would sing to him at bedtime, and enjoying them greatly.
Konga Nadia Konga was born around 1932 in the village of Palamoda, in the upper Nebilyer Valley. Palamoda was the home village of Konga’s mother. Konga’s father Nadia moved there from his home village near Alkena, in the upper Kaugel Valley, with his wife, shortly before Konga was born. Later, after the birth of two more children, the family moved back to Alkena. Konga recalls the
tom yaya tales that were often sung to him there by his father, for entertainment and as lullabies.
Paulus Konts
Paulus Konts was born in the mid 1970s at Ambukl, near Kailge, in the western Nebilyer Valley, where he still lives. As described in our
Introduction to Sung Tales, Konts learned to compose and perform sung tales, not by hearing them live, but by listening to recordings of a renowned performer, Paul Pepa, that were broadcast in the 1980s from the provincial capital Mount Hagen by the Radio Western Highlands service of PNG’s National Broadcasting Corporation. Konts learned the genre well, and himself became renowned as the most skilful young performer of
tom yaya kange in Kailge area. It wasn’t until later, in 2004, that he actually met Paul Pepa, at a workshop on sung tales that was hosted by the University of Goroka in association with our project.
Noma GuraiyaNoma was born in the early 1920s near Kailge, about ten years before the New Guinea highlands came into contact with the outside world. His father came from the local Kopia tribe, while his mother belonged to the larger Mokei tribe. During his youth around 1940, a war broke out in Kailge, leading Noma and his family to relocate to Palmuri, a Mokei settlement near what is now the provincial capital, Mt. Hagen. About 15 years later, after the conflict had been settled, Noma and his family moved back to Kailge, where he became a village leader, renowned for his skill at oratory and dispute-settlement and for composing and singing in a range of genres including sung tales.
Philip Win Philip Win was born to Yaku, a young man who had two wives. Philip was the eldest child from Yaku’s first wife, Eltil. He was born around 1954 at Konjigil Village, in the upper Kaugel Valley, where his father was already a village leader. Philip recalls that Yaku loved him and stayed with him every night. One of Philip’s favourite nighttime activities was listening to Yaku’s renditions of
tom yaya sung tales. He learned a lot from them, and it was also from Yaku that he learned to compose and perform such tales.
Peter KeruaPeter Kerua was born in 1964, near the limestone cliffs at the western edge of the Nebilyer Valley, and the Ukulu Waterfall that flows out of them. He has lived there for most of his life. When he was a boy his father Kowa would sing
tom yaya tales to him at bedtime. Peter learned Kowa’s performance style and
tom yaya melodies, as can be seen in the video on the
home page of this site. Peter says it took him about three years to develop that skill, between the ages of about 8 and 11. He then went on to innovate by making up stories of his own and setting them to the melodies he had learned from his father.
