[1] In the 1920s, the Lutheran Church had a significant impact on the Butibum and Malahang communities and garnered a great deal of loyalty to the faith.

By way of example, in 1971, the Roman Catholic mission decided to erect a church in the Bumbu settlement to serve the Sepik community there.

The Butibum people generally regarded this move as sacrilege because they believed their lands, on which the new church stands, are hallowed by the Lutheran faith.

The Japanese left Butibum and followed the Busu River over the Saruwaged, to eventually reach Kiari in Sio on the north coast.

[3] In December 2012, landowners from the six clans of Butibam village signed an agreement to work together with their company, Butibum Progress Ltd, in a multi-million kina contract to supply gravel to the Lae Port Tidal Basin Project.