This paper has examined the organisation of ’Wele Telu Batai, the League of the Three Large Rivers, and its batai. It has also examined one constituent riverine valley subdivision of this batai, the Hena Ma’saman Uwei and the institutions associated with territoriality and land usage within it.

The nili ela and nili batai supported a wide network of alliances and economic exchanges. The institution acted as a political arena as well as a court of arbitration. Its members acknowledged the Nunusaku as the central feature of the common cosmic order organising their relationships. Men were bound by the brotherhood of their initiation cult, its rules, ritual practices and celebrations. Gathering the domains of the Three Rivers and their most noted dignitaries, the nili assemblies preserved a form of cohesion between the domains of the Three Rivers, the strength of this coalition offsetting the region’s general instability.

Once all attempts to use or transform these assemblies into administrative instruments of the colonial bureaucracy had failed, the nili ela and nili batai were officially abolished, their meetings prohibited, non-compliant dignitaries eliminated and harsh punitive expeditions launched against any form of resistance. At the dawn of the 21st century, cohesive modern institutions have yet to replace the Nili Ela ’Wele Telu or the riverine nili batai. ^[56]

In contrast with the nili ela organisation, the hena successfully incorporated various formative influences and successive transformations imposed by the centralised administrations in the past two centuries. The capacity to adapt according to context, while still keeping the core principles of its initial structure, has served and preserved a traditional form of social order within the hena. The living body of narratives that constitute and continuously update the origin structures of the domain supports this social order. This flexible and semi-openestructure allows the insertion of newcomers (and new ideas) that are essential to ensure the continuation of the community.

Each domain (hena) in its river valley and each House in the hena is a custodian of a share of common land, its history and its natural and spiritual environment. The social identity of these units is embedded in the land. It translates continually into action, ritual and political duties, ordering the interactions of constituent groups and their precedence within the domain, its river valley and within the League of the Three Rivers.