The pattern of leadership among the mae‐enga of new guinea

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Abstract
Taking as its starting point the problem of achievement‐and‐ascription in New Guinea societies, this paper focuses on traditional leadership among the Mae‐Enga of the western Highlands. Here, followers demand and create leaders rather than vice versa. In times of stress, structural oppositions of agnatic segments at various levels discourage the persistence of factions within them by demanding corporate action; but periods of peace afford opportunities for choice, manoeuvring and change in leadership. It is suggested that the composite model based on these two alternating states may be applicable not only elsewhere in New Guinea but also in Africa.

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