How long have Focus Group and Neighbour Group people been in contact overall?

For several hundred years, if not longer

What is the overall time frame when the largest number of people had the most opportunities for interaction?

Before contact with Europeans/Australians/Americans, pre World War Two.

How long have Focus Group and Neighbour Group people practised exchange for?

Likely, several hundred years.

Likely, several hundred years.

What is the time frame when the largest number of people had the most opportunities for interaction in exchange?

Pre World War Two.

Pre World War Two.

How long have Focus Group and Neighbour Group peoples been forming families with each other for?

Likely, hundreds of years.

What’s the time frame of densest contact between Focus Group and Neighbour Group as far as family formation is concerned?

Pre World War Two.

How long have Focus Group and Neighbour Group people been in contact in the local community?

At least several hundred years. Ipili origin myths always feature contact with Hewa.

What is the time frame when the largest number of people had the most opportunities for interaction in the local community?

Pre-1930s. After this time the Ipili have moved further up valley away from Hewa communities.

How long have Focus Group and Neighbour Group people traded for?

Minimally, a couple of centuries. The Hewa figure prominently in many of the myths of the Ipili associated with becoming "cultured." What I mean by this, is that the discovery of agriculture and the invention of society is often posited as a movement away from the Hewa up the Porgera valley where an Ipili ancestress begins to grow food, find a spouse, and raise children. Given that the Hewa feature in the Ipili origin stories, I would assume that there's been really long term contact (millennia?, but at least several centuries).

Minimally, a couple of centuries. The Hewa figure prominently in many of the myths of the Ipili associated with becoming "cultured." What I mean by this, is that the discovery of agriculture and the invention of society is often posited as a movement away from the Hewa up the Porgera valley where an Ipili ancestress begins to grow food, find a spouse, and raise children. Given that the Hewa feature in the Ipili origin stories, I would assume that there's been really long term contact (millennia?, but at least several centuries).

What is the time frame when the largest number of people had the most opportunities for interaction in trade?

Definitely, pre-colonial, i.e., before 1938, but with the advent of mining in 1990 more Hewa now come to the Ipili area. With colonialism, the Ipili and Hewa both had violent encounters with Australian colonial patrols. For the Ipili, colonialism brought road building in the higher altitudes of the valley which drew them away from the Lagaip River (the boundary between the Ipili and Hewa). As well, climate change has shifted the altitude at which Anopheles mosquitos are found, and the Ipili have moved upward to avoid malaria. So while it seems that there was more interaction in the past, especially pre-1938 and before, the mining situation has brought more Hewa, but not really for trade, it seems more from Hewa curiosity.

Definitely, pre-colonial, i.e., before 1938, but with the advent of mining in 1990 more Hewa now come to the Ipili area. With colonialism, the Ipili and Hewa both had violent encounters with Australian colonial patrols. For the Ipili, colonialism brought road building in the higher altitudes of the valley which drew them away from the Lagaip River (the boundary between the Ipili and Hewa). As well, climate change has shifted the altitude at which Anopheles mosquitos are found, and the Ipili have moved upward to avoid malaria. So while it seems that there was more interaction in the past, especially pre-1938 and before, the mining situation has brought more Hewa, but not really for trade, it seems more from Hewa curiosity.