Aristocracy and Meritocracy: Leadership among the Eastern Iatmul

In the middle Sepik latmul village of Tambunam political leadership by primacy of birth is assumed, but expertese of various kinds also is acknowledged and provides alternate paths to prominence. What is not acknowledged is that management of a family, lineage or clan may be taken over by an ambitious and effective junior male. This paper examines alternative paths to eminence, circumstances in which the rightful heir may be supplanted and the contribution to political life of tension in a culture in which merit and primacy of birth are believed to be both independent of each other and mutually supporting.