In Papua New Guinea, the compensation demand for the killing of a clan
leader was $15,000, 25 pigs and an 18-year-old girl. However, Miriam Wilngal, an
18-year-old girl refused to be sold by her own tribe as an object of compensation for the
murder of a tribe leader. She wanted to finish high school, and not be dependent upon a
man. (Seth Mydans, "A Bartered Bride’s ‘No’ Stuns Papua New Guinea:
Rejection of Tribal Customs is a Sign of Changing Times," New York Times, 7
May 1997)