Lou Louieie
Kaman is a sophomore in accounting at BYU–Hawaii, and comes from Papua New Guinea, where he is the son of the chief of the Kawika tribe, which has 10,000 people. “We have 8 million people [in Papua New Guinea] and we speak 860 languages, but I only speak 5,” said Kaman. His native language is Kuma; he learned English and Motu in school, and picked up Simbu and New Guinea Pidgin socially. “New Guinea Pidgin is useful because you can speak it on the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu,” Kaman said. Kaman is the fifth of seven biological and three adopted siblings. Kaman will be taking his father’s place as chief after he dies, though Kaman is working with him already. “The first thing you have to do is know 10,000 names. I’ve known them since my early life, so it’s easy,” he said. Papua New Guinea is north of Australia and is the biggest of all the pacific islands. “I think we are the last frontier, meaning some of our vegetation and culture is still untouched, like our rainforests,” said Kaman. 87% of the land is owned by the tribes and 13% is owned by the government. There are eight universities, which are on government land. The population of Papua New Guinea is growing at 2.7% per year. “The majority of the people in the rural areas live in traditional houses like the ones you see at PCC,” said Kaman. Internet is a luxury and not used often, though cell phones have started being used there in the last few years. “They don’t care about internet ... or wars. They don’t know about it. The outside influence does not get in. It does not affect them so it does not have to be explained to them,” said Kaman. The first LDS missionaries went to Papua New Guinea in the 1960s. The first mis-
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Ke Alaka‘i Ke Alaka‘i
Louie Karman, sophomore in accounting from Papua New Guinea, is not only a student, but a future chief as well. Photo by Ryan Bagley