View the slide show about Kalam: Wkeng's Kalam people and place
Wkeng is from the Upper Kaironk Valley in the Schrader Ranges of the Madang Province in Papua New Guinea. He is a Kalam speaker and his area is in the Highlands.
In this part of the Kaironk valley there are still sizeable, although rapidly decreasing, mountain forests on the north side crests. Gardens are scattered from the forest edges to the banks of the Kaironk river. Casuarina stands at different stages of growth are dotted along the north side of the valley. On the south side there are only a very few such stands and they are close to the river itself. There is also less forest on the top of the southern ridges and there are fewer gardens. Some of the Kalam Wkeng has close association with live in the lower Kaironk valley and across the ranges in the valleys nearer the Jimi river. These steeper and less amiable areas are closer to the low land forests where there is more abundant game and where the much-valued lowland pandanus fruit grows. Others live in the Asai valley to the north. These northern valleys are steeper and have more forest lands. The source of shell wealth, particularly green-snail shells, is also from this direction. Early European trade goods and witchcraft also came into the area from the foothills of the Schrader Ranges near the Ramu river flats to the north. Both came into the Kaironk valley via the Aunjang and Asai valleys.
Settlements are scattered throughout the valley. The traditional Kalam house is a large turtle backed structure thatched with Pandanus fronds. It is divided into many small rooms with a central open cooking area. Such a house might now-a-says accommodate anything from a single family to four or five families. In the past also there was variation. Single houses held much larger numbers in times of fighting. One such house and perhaps a much smaller less elaborate structure for widows nearby, and a men's ritual house at some distance comprised a settlement. Nowadays separate houses of bamboo and grass are also built for young men, and a settlement may include a number of such houses. In the days before colonial infiltration young men were secluded in forest houses during second stage initiation while their wigs were made. This practice has been abandoned and young men now often build houses of their own in the household cluster that makes up a settlement.
For further cultural and artistic experiences of Kalam and others check out Cultures from within.