Kilibob and Manup

Kilibob and Manup, also rendered Kulbob and Manub, are mythical brothers in the oral traditions of northeastern Papua New Guinea, especially as recorded in southern Madang Province and on Karkar Island. Depending on the telling they appear as creator beings, culture heroes or culture makers, and their stories account for the origin of landmarks, trade routes and craft specializations, as well as inequalities in material wealth; in some twentieth-century retellings their rivalry was also used to explain why Europeans possessed manufactured goods that Melanesians did not. Their names and roles vary considerably by region and community, reflecting a widespread narrative pattern across northeastern New Guinea rather than one fixed version.