"Lawfulness"

As I was reading Becoming Sinners what struck me was the continued emphasis on "the law". The Urapmin of Papua New Guinea have taken an interesting way of looking at the law. First there is a special infusion of the law and morality that is particularly intense. This intensity of moral responsibility is one that was present in the region before colonial rule took place. What I find fascinating is after colonial rule took place, and early officers went through periods of placing specific and strict rules on the Urapmin, the intensity for "lawfulness" also increased. The Urapmin took up the law quickly even after the "honeymoon" phase of trading with the white men passed and was replaced by a more harsh and power-abusing phase of control. Urapmin recount of the colonial period as a time they "got the law" or it "came to them". The law seemed to be respected, valued, and feared. Most importantly the law was something the people were keen on being obedient too. This left me wondering about the reasons for the obedience. Did the earlier ties to morality that held the Urapmin together (before colonial intervention) make the law easier to accept? Was the fear of the white me so compelling? Was the obedience a strategic move to gain more from the white men?

The way the law became infused in their lives also brings in to question social structure. Before the Urapmin lived in an almost free-form society where in terms of kinship everyone could technically relate to everyone else. This lack of social structure in the domain of kinship left the Urapmin open to choice on who to coexist with, work with, and call friend. This also meant people could easily transition from one relationship to the other (which could easily spell chaos). In this situation the Urapmin code of conduct allowed for a cohesive society. Now (in the pre-colonial era) with the infusion of "lawfulness" there is a secondary element to the Urapmin social structure. Is this now the leading component of cohesiveness? Or is the original code of conduct still the underlying glue to the Urapmin society?