As one is told on first entering the hena of Ma’saman Uwei, this is ‘the place from which everything in the world, land, people, tools, were distributed’. ^[35] This initial deed of its founding ancestor, Samai, ‘the one who distributes’, gave this domain a permanent and special status within the region as the ultimate source of wealth and fecundity to all the groups of the area. ^[36] Because of this position, epitomised in its name and proven by its narrative of origin, this hena claims a central ritual position at the level of the entire ’Wele Telu Batai (and beyond). Similarly, the other domains make various claims, some of which are conflicting. Only strong groups can maintain such claims on their rights. Samai is renowned for having welcomed many people, building up a powerful domain that could defend and extend itself.

A topogeny is an ordered recitation of placenames, similar to a genealogy of people. ^[37] The topogeny of Hena Ma’saman Uwei describes how the founding ancestors departed from their place of origin and followed a path of successive differentiation and bifurcations (between Patasiwa and Patalima, Black and White, Alune and Wemale, older brother at the coast and younger brother in the highlands). The ancestors finally delimited a territory and established the hena as a group of seven founding nuru (nuru itu). ^[38] Nuruitu is the name given to the final site of the topogeny. There, the founding ancestors laid down seven stones, one for each of the seven unnamed nuru to establish the foundation of the hena. By doing so, they established the ritual centre that legitimises the social order of the hena and its territorial claims. The hill of Nuruitu overlooks the confluence of the Tau and the Sapalewa rivers. The Tau is the ’wele wei, the sacred ‘water of origin’, of the hena. At Nuruitu, through its origin river, the hena unites with the whole of the river batai. Downstream, it leads to the other groups of the Sapalewa batai, upstream to the Nunusaku. ^[39]

With time, the Houses of various nuru came and went. Some settled and expanded, others left, declined or became extinct. Ten years ago, Manusa Manuwe was made up of Houses from 15 different nuru, a number that fluctuates. However, while their identity might have changed, the number of founding nuru has remained fixed at seven. Seven is also the number of positions that order the ancient social organisation of the Hena and make it a complete body. These dignitaries hold the title of Hena Upui, ‘Domain’s Grandfathers’ (or ‘Ancestors’).

These seven positions were: 1) Latu Ela Mena, ‘Great Lord at the Front’, the leader, ruler or head; 2) Upu Tapele, ‘Grandfather of the Earth’, the lord of the land; 3) Maeta’e, ‘the One who Feeds the Stones’, the ritual performer (the kakehan officiant); 4) Ama Lesi, ‘Father of the War’, the warlord; 5) Ama Nili, ‘Father of the Nili’, the leader of the village elders’ assembly (and chief negotiator); 6) Alamane, the ‘Spokesman’, interpreter and herald, also called ‘The Left Hand’; and 7) Ama Tita, ‘Father Bridge’, the liaison agent, also called ‘The Right Hand’. ^[40] The Great Lord, the Lord of the Land and the Ritual Performer were honoured by the title of Latu. These positions can be paired. Great Lord and Lord of the Land have complementary duties, so have the Warlord and the Nili Leader as well as the Left and Right Hands. The duty left out is the position of ritual performer, whose spiritual role extends over but also beyond it. These functions were superseded or altered under the colonial and new order administrations. However, most still carry a ritual or symbolic significance as modern position bearers perform comparable duties.

In Manusa Manuwe, most duties have remained consistently in the same nuru for several generations, thus the founding nuru and the founding duties of the Hena Upui mostly coincide. ^[41] The Houses that do not hold one of the seven Hena Upui positions are Ana Mulini: the ‘Younger Children’ those who came after. ^[42] However, the history of the Hhena shows that some ‘Younger Children’, have through time and appropriate alliances grown to be ‘Domain’s Grandfathers’. Since the narrative does not specify any nuru name as Hena Upui, in principle virtually any line can achieve the prestige and power to claim (or buy) such a position.

The seven duties implied in the name of the domain’s ritual centre establish an ordered but flexible social organisation. It allows the indispensable insertion of new members in the community. The territorial groups of the nuru are their Houses. Groups recall coming from specific places, but after leaving this place of origin, each group became a landless family welcomed into another community. This insertion in a domain provides new groups with access to land and entry into a close-knit network of exchange and alliances in which to prosper. The hena is a territorial unit and only residence establishes someone’s full membership in the community.

The nuru’s Houses that claim the position of Hena Upui, the ‘Domain’s Grandfathers’, are also those who claim the largest sections of the hena land. The order of precedence organised around these positions is still visible on the land and in the social organisation of the domain. The Ana Mulini have claims on smaller areas, however, they can receive communal land from the hena or land from another nuru, if their group increases. ^[43]