Papua New Guinea
Index of slides
Introduction: (Tristan and Nikki)
Papua New Guinea lies north of Australia, east of Indonesia, and close to
the Equator. The capital is Port Moresby. The population for 2000 was
4.705. 127, and for 2002 it was 5.049.055. The birth rate is 32. 15
per 1000 population, the death rate is 7. 88 per 1000 population.
From this is it clear that the population is increasing. The life
expectancy is 63.5 in 2002. The literacy rating is 71.2 %. The male
rate is 82%, the female is 64.7%. The area that is the country of PNG
is slightly larger than the state of California. It's climate is
tropical, with the average temperature is 27 degrees Celsius or 87
degrees Fahrenheit. In the highlands it is a bit cooler. The average
temperature is 16 degrees Celsius at 6000 feet.
Geographically
PNG consists of mountains (many around 15000 feet high), broad
valleys in between, swift rivers, dense rain forest and jungle, and
many islands. Getting around is no easy feat. Developing
transportation and communications over such rugged terrain is
extremely difficult. There are so many different communities that the
government struggles to join them into a single political, social and
economic group. There are 4 main regions: Momase in the North, Papua
in the South, the Highlands in the mountainous interior, and the
islands. The highlanders are known to be fierce and have developed
the payback system, which will be described later on. They also have
created some of the most fascinating pieces of art. Art includes body
art. Islanders and Coastal People are less violent, and have had more
experience with whites than the Highlanders had. Their villages are
near the sea, and the sea is a vital trading resource. The Spanish
made first contact with the Islands and coastal areas in 1545 and
over the centuries other nations have made claims on PNG. In the
highlands, however, some tribes were not discovered until the 1970s.
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Regarding body art, the coastal people do not decorate as extensively
as the highlanders do. They build really nice looking canoes and
paddles. Each canoe is carved out of a single trunk, as are the
paddles. Some canoes were highly decorated with shells and other
ornaments. They often undertook voyages from island to island in
them. Each canoe is an outrigger. The canoes are so skinny they'd tip
over if they weren't.
In
PNG up to over 700 different languages are spoken. Because some of
the tribe have lived in such isolated places, sometimes even
neighboring tribes can't understand each other at all. The three
official languages are Pidgin, Motu and English. English is for the
official language in schools. Pigdin might become the national
language.
PNG is a parliamentary democracy. It's head of state is the British
monarch, represented by the governor-general. The head of the
government is the prime minister. PNG gained independence on
September 16, 1975. The new Parliament Building in Port Moresby is
designed to look like one of the traditional ceremonial huts.
The following report will cover
- Myths, Customs, and Traditions (by Tristan)
- Arts and Crafts (by Tristan)
- Costumes (by Nikki)
- Food (by Nikki)
Papua New Guineans have many myths, traditions, and customs to explain,
honor, and restrict things. One myth that I have learned is called
“Dudugra and the Sun”. It explains how the sun and clouds
came to be. Here it is:
“One day a woman met a dolphin. She did not know that the dolphin was
really a god in disguise. The god and the woman frolicked together in
the waves, but when the woman went home her leg began to swell.
Finally her father cut open the swelling leg, and out popped a boy.
Dudugra, the boy, was mocked and bullied by the other children. He
grew angry and vowed to his mother that when he grew up he would seek
revenge by burning up the world. When Dudugra grew to manhood, he
soared up to the sky and became a blazing sun that shot spears of
fire to the Earth. At first his mother hid behind a rock in fear, but
when she saw everything burning she picked up handfuls of mud and
threw it up into the sky to blind the burning eyes of Dudugra the
Sun. She missed but some of the mud became clouds which covered
Dudugra's fiery spears. That is why the world survives today.”
Rather
interesting isn't it? They also believe that when someone is sick, it
means that an evil spirit is on the loose.
Beliefs
and myths like this helped keep the tribe together. Another thing
that keeps a tribe together is Wantok (Pidgin for One Talk). Wantok
means “tribe”: people from the same tribe must be loyal
to each other. The positive side of this system is that there are
strong family ties and members of the tribe help each other out, but
on the negative side, there is a problem with favoring members of the
same Wantok in official issues. Wealth and power is also very
important. The Bigman (chief) will show his wealth in the form of
shells, boar tusks, and wives.
The
Payback system, which I mentioned earlier, is the same as the
biblical “eye for an eye, ear for an ear”, except that
payback does not have to be directed towards the aggressor himself.
As a consequence often elderly or very young children became a
victim. Only the mountain tribes have this system and they have used
it for hundreds of years.
Another
thing that may be interesting is that until 50 years ago many
mainland PNG natives were cannibals and headhunters. One author said
he spent a month in a cannibal camp, and the people said that the
year was divided into two sections: Pig hunting season and human
hunting season. The Bigman said that human hunting season was
especially special because it provided them with children, which were
a rarity, since most children barely made it past their first year.
In traditional PNG culture, there is no such thing as adolescence. A
young teenager is a child until he completes his coming of age
ceremony.
Arts
and Crafts are very important to PNG spiritual culture. Crocodiles in
particular play an important role. In the highlands, lots of stuff is
decorated as much as possible. For example, they would decorate
houses, boats. weapons, clothes, and penises. The weapons of the
highlanders are also decorated because they were sacred to the
warrior using them. Shields were thought to have spirits protecting
the warrior using them, so the making of a shield was a sacred act.
Masks are also important to PNG people. Masks are used to represent
spirits and ancestors. Some masks are so sacred that they are only
brought out on special occasians. Some masks, like Swi masks can only
be handled by the Bigman because they are so powerful. Another type
of mask is a Mui mask. Mui masks usually represent the teachers in
boys coming of age ceremonies.
Some
Natives have skull racks, where skulls of relatives and enemies
killed in battle are displayed. The natives do this because it is
believed that the skulls of relatives and enemies killed in battle
have powerful magic, so they were decorated and hung up.
Another
thing the natives do is make spirit boards. These are big panels of
bark that are decorated with protective spirits to keep away bad
spirits. Other crafts include Shiny bowls in the shape of fish,
traditional coil pots, and plaited and finely woven belts.
The
most famous modern artist in PNG is Mathias Kauage. He made a
painting of Queen Elizabeth II in the traditional art style of PNG
and presented it to her majesty on his visit to London.
The
costumes in Papua New Guinea are spectacular. There are three main
parts to each costume: headdress, face and body painting, and
ornaments. There is a large variety in all these depending on which
tribe they come from. Some of the headdresses are truly really
amazing. They also make wigs using human hair and plant fiber. They
decorate them with flowers, leaves and feathers. Especially important
are the feathers of the Bird of Paradise, which in Papua New Guinea's
national bird.
For Sing-Sings, which are musical festivals , tribal groups spend hours
preparing their spectacular costumes. The colors and patterns of face
paint indicate the wearer's tribe and status.
Shells are a very important part of the traditional costume. Gold lip-ed
pearl shells are carved into curved shapes, called Kina. Circles of
smaller shells, called Toea look like coins and were often worn
through the nose or in necklaces. The words “Kina” and
“Toea” are today used for money. In PNG currency 100 toea
equals 1 kina. Even today, though, real shells might still be used as
money in ceremonies such as weddings.
Every
body ornament has a meaning. Strings of dog, porpoise, or fruit bat
teeth indicate a person's wealth. Tattoos were once made by punching
sharpened wood or bone needles and dye into the skin. Only people of
high status were permitted to have tattoos. For special occasions,
felt pens are now used as a less painful way to have a temporary
tattoo.
These
days, most people wear second-hand Western clothes. They still wear
their traditional costumes for special festivals. Especially in the
Highlands traditions are still important.
The
most important foods are sweet potato, sago and betelnut.
Betelnut is an acorn sized nut of a palm tree. When chewed, it turns the mouth
deep red and rots the teeth. It is a mild pick-me-up. A lot of people
in PNG chew it. Kids as young as 5 do.
Sago is made from the soft bark of the sago tree. Women spend hours
stripping the bark, soaking it in water and then beating it to remove
the bitter taste. The pithy bark turns into a white flour that is
cooked with vegetables.
Sweet potatoes are grown in home gardens throughout PNG. The Pidgin word
for sweet potato is kau kau. They also grow sweet potatoes for
display. They try to see who can grow the largest one, and have a
contest, just like at the Pumpkin Festivals in the United States.
Most meals are made from fresh ingredients locally available, like
mango, banana, coconuts, fish, possum, tree kangaroo or wild birds.
Most village families own a pig or chickens but they are regarded as
a form of wealth and are only eaten at special feasts.
Bibliography
Guile, Melanie. Culture in Papua New Guinea, Heinemann Library, 2002
Jones, Carol. Souvenirs of the south pacific - Papua New Guinea. Macmillan Education, 2001
World Reference, Geographical Pockets, Random House, 2000
Asia, Australia, New Zealand, Oceania, Lands and Peoples. Volume 2 1995
The World Fact Book Prepared by the CIA. Brassey's, Washington DC. 2002
World Guide: complete fact file on every country, Hardie Grant Books, 2002
Flannery, Tim. The Future Eaters, Reed New Holland, 1994
