Especially its center - one of the protected corners of the Earth, where almost no human civilization. People there live in complete dependence on nature, worship their deities and honor the spirits of their ancestors...
STILL IN THE STONE AGE
On the coast of the island New Guinea now they live completely civilized people who know the official language - English. Missionaries worked with them for many years.
However, in the center of the country there is something like a reservation - nomadic tribes who still live in the Stone Age. They know every tree by name, bury the dead on its branches, have no idea what money or passports are... They are surrounded by a mountainous country overgrown with impenetrable jungle, where high humidity and unimaginable heat make life unbearable for a European. No one there speaks a word of English, and each tribe speaks its own language, of which there are about 900 in New Guinea. The tribes live very isolated from each other, communication between them is almost impossible, so their dialects have little in common, and people are different they simply don’t understand their friend.
Typical locality, where the Papuan tribe lives: modest huts are covered with huge leaves, in the center there is something like a clearing where the whole tribe gathers, and around there is jungle for many kilometers. The only weapons these people have are stone axes, spears, bows and arrows. But it is not with their help that they hope to protect themselves from evil spirits. That's why they have faith in gods and spirits.
The Papuan tribe usually keeps the mummy of the “chief”. This is some outstanding ancestor - the bravest, strongest and most intelligent, who fell in battle with the enemy. After death, his body was treated with a special composition to avoid decay. The leader's body is kept by the sorcerer.
It is in every tribe. This character is highly revered among his relatives. Its function is mainly to communicate with the spirits of the ancestors, appease them and ask for advice. People who are weak and unsuitable for the constant battle for survival usually become sorcerers—in a word, old people. They earn their living by witchcraft.
ARE WHITES FROM THIS WORLD?
The first white man to arrive on this exotic continent was the Russian traveler Miklouho-Maclay.
Having landed on the shores of New Guinea in September 1871, he, being an absolutely peaceful man, decided not to take weapons ashore, taking only gifts and a notebook, which he never parted with.
Local residents greeted the stranger quite aggressively: they shot arrows in his direction, shouted intimidatingly, waved spears... But Miklouho-Maclay did not react to these attacks. On the contrary, he sat down on the grass with the most equanimity, pointedly took off his shoes and lay down to take a nap. By an effort of will, the traveler forced himself to fall asleep (or just pretended to). And when he woke up, he saw that the Papuans were sitting peacefully next to him and looking at the overseas guest with all their eyes. The savages reasoned this way: since the pale-faced man is not afraid of death, it means he is immortal. That's what they decided on.
The traveler lived for several months among a tribe of savages. All this time, the aborigines worshiped him and revered him as a god. They knew that if desired, the mysterious guest could command the forces of nature. How is it? It’s just that one day Miklouho-Maclay, who was called only Tamorus - “Russian man”, or Karaantamo - “man from the Moon”, demonstrated the following trick to the Papuans: he poured water into a plate with alcohol and set it on fire. Gullible local residents They believed that a foreigner was able to set fire to the sea or stop the rain.
However, Papuans are generally gullible. For example, they are firmly convinced that the dead go to their own country and return from there white, bringing with them many useful items and food. This belief lives on in all Papuan tribes (despite the fact that they hardly communicate with each other), even in those where they have never seen a white man.
FUNERAL RITE
Papuans know three causes of death: from old age, from war and from witchcraft - if the death occurred for some unknown reason. If a person dies a natural death, he will be buried with honor. All funeral ceremonies are aimed at appeasing the spirits who accept the soul of the deceased.
Here is a typical example of such a ritual. Close relatives of the deceased go to the stream to perform bisi as a sign of mourning - smearing the head and other parts of the body with yellow clay. At this time, the men prepare a funeral pyre in the center of the village. Not far from the fire, a place is being prepared where the deceased will rest before cremation. Shells and sacred stones are placed here - the abode of a certain mystical power. Touching these living stones is strictly punishable by the laws of the tribe. On top of the stones there should be a long wicker strip decorated with pebbles, which acts as a bridge between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
The deceased is placed on sacred stones, coated with pork fat and clay, sprinkled bird feathers. Then funeral songs begin to be sung over him, which tell about the outstanding merits of the deceased.
And finally, the body is burned at the stake so that the person’s spirit does not return from the afterlife.
TO THE FALLEN IN BATTLE - GLORY!
If a man is killed in battle, his body is roasted on a fire and, with rituals appropriate to the occasion, eaten with honor, so that his strength and courage will pass on to other men.
Three days after this, the phalanges of the fingers of the deceased’s wife are cut off as a sign of mourning. This custom is connected with another ancient Papuan legend.
One man mistreated his wife. She died and went to the next world. But her husband missed her and could not live alone. He went to another world for his wife, approached the main spirit and began to beg to return his beloved to the world of the living. The Spirit set a condition: his wife would return, but only if he promised to treat her with care and kindness. The man, of course, was delighted and promised everything at once. His wife returned to him. But one day her husband forgot and forced her to work hard again. When he came to his senses and remembered this promise, it was already too late: his wife broke up before his eyes. All her husband had left was a phalanx of his finger. The tribe was angry and expelled him because he took away their immortality - the opportunity to return from the other world like his wife.
However, in reality, for some reason, the wife cuts off the phalanx of her finger as a sign of her final gift dead husband. The father of the deceased performs the nasuk ritual - he cuts off the upper part of his ear with a wooden knife and then covers the bleeding wound with clay. This ceremony is quite long and painful.
After the funeral ceremony, Papuans honor and appease the spirit of the ancestor. For, if his soul is not appeased, the ancestor will not leave the village, but will live there and cause harm. The spirit of the ancestor is fed for some time as if it were alive, and they even try to give it sexual pleasure. For example, a clay figurine of a tribal god is placed on a stone with a hole, symbolizing a woman.
The afterlife in the minds of the Papuans is a certain heavenly tabernacles, where there is a lot of food, especially meat.
DEATH WITH A SMILE ON YOUR LIPS
In Papua New Guinea, people believe that the head is the seat of spiritual and physical strength person. Therefore, when fighting enemies, Papuans first of all strive to take possession of this part of the body.
For Papuans, cannibalism is not at all a desire to eat tasty food, but rather magical ritual, in the process of which cannibals gain the intelligence and strength of the one they eat. Let us apply this custom not only to enemies, but also to friends, and even relatives who heroically died in battle.
The process of eating the brain is especially “productive” in this sense. By the way, it is with this ritual that doctors associate the disease kuru, which is very common among cannibals. Kuru is another name for mad cow disease, which can be contracted by eating unfried brains of animals (or, in this case, humans).
This insidious disease was first recorded in 1950 in New Guinea, in a tribe where the brains of deceased relatives were considered a delicacy. The disease begins with pain in the joints and head, gradually progressing, leading to loss of coordination, trembling in the arms and legs and, oddly enough, bouts of uncontrollable laughter. The disease develops long years, sometimes the incubation period is 35 years. But the worst thing is that victims of the disease die with a frozen smile on their lips.
Papua New Guinea, especially its center - one of the protected corners of the Earth, where human civilization has hardly penetrated. People there live in complete dependence on nature, worship their deities and honor the spirits of their ancestors.
The coast of the island of New Guinea is now inhabited by completely civilized people who speak the official language - English. Missionaries worked with them for many years.
However, in the center of the country there is something like a reservation - nomadic tribes and who still live in the Stone Age. They know every tree by name, bury the dead on its branches, and have no idea what money or passports are.
They are surrounded by a mountainous country overgrown with impenetrable jungle, where high humidity and unimaginable heat make life unbearable for a European.
No one there speaks a word of English, and each tribe speaks its own language, of which there are about 900 in New Guinea. The tribes live very isolated from each other, communication between them is almost impossible, so their dialects have little in common, and people are different they simply don’t understand their friend.
A typical settlement where the Papuan tribe lives: modest huts are covered with huge leaves, in the center there is something like a clearing where the whole tribe gathers, and there is jungle around for many kilometers. The only weapons these people have are stone axes, spears, bows and arrows. But it is not with their help that they hope to protect themselves from evil spirits. That's why they have faith in gods and spirits.
The Papuan tribe usually keeps the mummy of the “chief”. This is some outstanding ancestor - the bravest, strongest and smartest, who fell in battle with the enemy. After death, his body was treated with a special composition to avoid decay. The leader's body is kept by the sorcerer.
It is in every tribe. This character is highly revered among his relatives. Its function is mainly to communicate with the spirits of the ancestors, appease them and ask for advice. People who usually become sorcerers are weak and unsuitable for the constant battle for survival - in a word, old people. They earn their living by witchcraft.
The first white man to arrive on this exotic continent was the Russian traveler Miklouho-Maclay. Having landed on the shores of New Guinea in September 1871, he, being an absolutely peaceful man, decided not to take weapons ashore, taking only gifts and a notebook, which he never parted with.
Local residents greeted the stranger quite aggressively: they shot arrows in his direction, shouted intimidatingly, waved spears...
But Miklouho-Maclay did not react in any way to these attacks. On the contrary, he sat down on the grass with the most equanimity, pointedly took off his shoes and lay down to take a nap.
By an effort of will, the traveler forced himself to fall asleep (or just pretended to). And when he woke up, he saw that the Papuans were sitting peacefully next to him and looking at the overseas guest with all their eyes. The savages reasoned this way: since the pale-faced man is not afraid of death, it means he is immortal. That's what they decided on.
The traveler lived for several months among a tribe of savages. All this time, the aborigines worshiped him and revered him as a god. They knew that if desired, the mysterious guest could command the forces of nature. How is it?
It’s just that one day Miklouho-Maclay, who was called only Tamo-rus - “Russian man”, or Karaan-tamo - “man from the moon”, demonstrated the following trick to the Papuans: he poured water into a plate with alcohol and set it on fire. Gullible locals believed that the foreigner was able to set fire to the sea or stop the rain.
However, Papuans are generally gullible. For example, they are firmly convinced that the dead go to their own country and return from there white, bringing with them many useful items and food. This belief lives on in all Papuan tribes (despite the fact that they hardly communicate with each other), even in those where they have never seen a white man.
FUNERAL RITE
Papuans know three causes of death: from old age, from war and from witchcraft - if the death occurred for some unknown reason. If a person dies a natural death, he will be buried with honor. All funeral ceremonies are aimed at appeasing the spirits who accept the soul of the deceased.
Here is a typical example of such a ritual. Close relatives of the deceased go to the stream to perform bisi as a sign of mourning - smearing the head and other parts of the body with yellow clay. At this time, the men prepare a funeral pyre in the center of the village. Not far from the fire, a place is being prepared where the deceased will rest before cremation.
Shells and sacred Vusa stones are placed here - the abode of some mystical power. Touching these living stones is strictly punishable by the laws of the tribe. On top of the stones there should be a long wicker strip decorated with pebbles, which acts as a bridge between the world of the living and the world of the dead.
The deceased is placed on sacred stones, coated with pork fat and clay, and sprinkled with bird feathers. Then funeral songs begin to be sung over him, which tell about the outstanding merits of the deceased.
And finally, the body is burned at the stake so that the person’s spirit does not return from the afterlife.
TO THE FALLEN IN BATTLE - GLORY!
If a man is killed in battle, his body is roasted on a fire and, with rituals appropriate to the occasion, eaten with honor, so that his strength and courage will pass on to other men.
Three days after this, the phalanges of the fingers of the deceased’s wife are cut off as a sign of mourning. This custom is connected with another ancient Papuan legend.
One man mistreated his wife. She died and went to the next world. But her husband missed her and could not live alone. He went to another world for his wife, approached the main spirit and began to beg to return his beloved to the world of the living. The Spirit set a condition: his wife would return, but only if he promised to treat her with care and kindness. The man, of course, was delighted and promised everything at once.
His wife returned to him. But one day her husband forgot and forced her to work hard again. When he came to his senses and remembered this promise, it was already too late: his wife broke up before his eyes. All her husband had left was a phalanx of his finger. The tribe was angry and expelled him because he took away their immortality - the opportunity to return from the other world like his wife.
However, in reality, for some reason, the wife cuts off the phalanx of her finger as a sign of the last gift to her deceased husband. The father of the deceased performs the nasuk ritual - he cuts off the upper part of his ear with a wooden knife and then covers the bleeding wound with clay. This ceremony is quite long and painful.
After the funeral ceremony, Papuans honor and appease the spirit of the ancestor. For, if his soul is not appeased, the ancestor will not leave the village, but will live there and cause harm. The spirit of the ancestor is fed for some time as if it were alive, and they even try to give it sexual pleasure. For example, a clay figurine of a tribal god is placed on a stone with a hole, symbolizing a woman.
The afterlife in the minds of the Papuans is a kind of paradise, where there is a lot of food, especially meat.
DEATH WITH A SMILE ON YOUR LIPS
In Papua New Guinea, people believe that the head is the seat of a person's spiritual and physical strength. Therefore, when fighting enemies, Papuans first of all strive to take possession of this part of the body.
For the Papuans, cannibalism is not at all a desire to eat tasty food, but rather a magical rite, during which cannibals gain the intelligence and strength of the one they eat. Let us apply this custom not only to enemies, but also to friends, and even relatives who heroically died in battle.
The process of eating the brain is especially “productive” in this sense. By the way, it is with this ritual that doctors associate the disease kuru, which is very common among cannibals. Kuru is another name for mad cow disease, which can be contracted by eating uncooked brains of animals (or, in this case, humans).
This insidious disease was first recorded in 1950 in New Guinea, in a tribe where the brains of deceased relatives were considered a delicacy. The disease begins with pain in the joints and head, gradually progressing, leading to loss of coordination, trembling in the arms and legs and, oddly enough, bouts of uncontrollable laughter.
The disease develops over many years, sometimes the incubation period is 35 years. But the worst thing is that victims of the disease die with a frozen smile on their lips.
Papua New Guinea, especially its center - one of the protected corners of the Earth, where human civilization has hardly penetrated. People there live in complete dependence on nature, worship their deities and honor the spirits of their ancestors. The coast of the island of New Guinea is now inhabited by completely civilized people who speak the official language - English. Missionaries worked with them for many years. However, in the center of the country there is something like a reservation - nomadic tribes and who still live in the Stone Age. They know every tree by name, bury the dead on its branches, and have no idea what money or passports are.
They are surrounded by a mountainous country overgrown with impenetrable jungle, where high humidity and unimaginable heat make life unbearable for a European. No one there speaks a word of English, and each tribe speaks its own language, of which there are about 900 in New Guinea. The tribes live very isolated from each other, communication between them is almost impossible, so their dialects have little in common, and people are different they simply don’t understand their friend. A typical settlement where the Papuan tribe lives: modest huts are covered with huge leaves, in the center there is something like a clearing where the whole tribe gathers, and there is jungle around for many kilometers. The only weapons these people have are stone axes, spears, bows and arrows. But it is not with their help that they hope to protect themselves from evil spirits. That's why they have faith in gods and spirits. The Papuan tribe usually keeps the mummy of the “chief”. This is some outstanding ancestor - the bravest, strongest and smartest, who fell in battle with the enemy. After death, his body was treated with a special composition to avoid decay. The leader's body is kept by the sorcerer.
It is in every tribe. This character is highly revered among his relatives. Its function is mainly to communicate with the spirits of the ancestors, appease them and ask for advice. People who usually become sorcerers are weak and unsuitable for the constant battle for survival - in a word, old people. They earn their living by witchcraft. WHITE COMING FROM THIS WORLD? The first white man to arrive on this exotic continent was the Russian traveler Miklouho-Maclay. Having landed on the shores of New Guinea in September 1871, he, being an absolutely peaceful man, decided not to take weapons ashore, taking only gifts and a notebook, which he never parted with. 
Local residents greeted the stranger quite aggressively: they shot arrows in his direction, shouted intimidatingly, waved spears... But Miklouho-Maclay did not react in any way to these attacks. On the contrary, he sat down on the grass with the most equanimity, pointedly took off his shoes and lay down to take a nap. By an effort of will, the traveler forced himself to fall asleep (or just pretended to). And when he woke up, he saw that the Papuans were sitting peacefully next to him and looking at the overseas guest with all their eyes. The savages reasoned this way: since the pale-faced man is not afraid of death, it means he is immortal. That's what they decided on. The traveler lived for several months among a tribe of savages. All this time, the aborigines worshiped him and revered him as a god. They knew that if desired, the mysterious guest could command the forces of nature. How is it?
It’s just that one day Miklouho-Maclay, who was called only Tamo-rus - “Russian man”, or Karaan-tamo - “man from the moon”, demonstrated the following trick to the Papuans: he poured water into a plate with alcohol and set it on fire. Gullible locals believed that the foreigner was able to set fire to the sea or stop the rain. However, Papuans are generally gullible. For example, they are firmly convinced that the dead go to their own country and return from there white, bringing with them many useful items and food. This belief lives on in all Papuan tribes (despite the fact that they hardly communicate with each other), even in those where they have never seen a white man. FUNERAL RITE Papuans know three causes of death: from old age, from war and from witchcraft - if the death occurred for some unknown reason. If a person dies a natural death, he will be buried with honor. All funeral ceremonies are aimed at appeasing the spirits who accept the soul of the deceased. Here is a typical example of such a ritual. Close relatives of the deceased go to the stream to perform bisi as a sign of mourning - smearing the head and other parts of the body with yellow clay. At this time, the men prepare a funeral pyre in the center of the village. Not far from the fire, a place is being prepared where the deceased will rest before cremation.
Shells and sacred Vusa stones are placed here - the abode of some mystical power. Touching these living stones is strictly punishable by the laws of the tribe. On top of the stones there should be a long wicker strip decorated with pebbles, which acts as a bridge between the world of the living and the world of the dead. The deceased is placed on sacred stones, coated with pork fat and clay, and sprinkled with bird feathers. Then funeral songs begin to be sung over him, which tell about the outstanding merits of the deceased. And finally, the body is burned at the stake so that the person’s spirit does not return from the afterlife. TO THE FALLEN IN BATTLE - GLORY! If a man is killed in battle, his body is roasted on a fire and, with rituals appropriate to the occasion, eaten with honor, so that his strength and courage will pass on to other men. Three days after this, the phalanges of the fingers of the deceased’s wife are cut off as a sign of mourning. This custom is connected with another ancient Papuan legend. One man mistreated his wife. She died and went to the next world. But her husband missed her and could not live alone. He went to another world for his wife, approached the main spirit and began to beg to return his beloved to the world of the living. The Spirit set a condition: his wife would return, but only if he promised to treat her with care and kindness. The man, of course, was delighted and promised everything at once.
His wife returned to him. But one day her husband forgot and forced her to work hard again. When he came to his senses and remembered this promise, it was already too late: his wife broke up before his eyes. All her husband had left was a phalanx of his finger. The tribe was angry and expelled him because he took away their immortality - the opportunity to return from the other world like his wife. However, in reality, for some reason, the wife cuts off the phalanx of her finger as a sign of the last gift to her deceased husband. The father of the deceased performs the nasuk ritual - he cuts off the upper part of his ear with a wooden knife and then covers the bleeding wound with clay. This ceremony is quite long and painful. After the funeral ceremony, Papuans honor and appease the spirit of the ancestor. For, if his soul is not appeased, the ancestor will not leave the village, but will live there and cause harm. The spirit of the ancestor is fed for some time as if it were alive, and they even try to give it sexual pleasure. For example, a clay figurine of a tribal god is placed on a stone with a hole, symbolizing a woman. The afterlife in the minds of the Papuans is a kind of paradise, where there is a lot of food, especially meat.
One of the most amazing countries peace Papua New Guinea is distinguished by the widest cultural diversity. Its territory accommodates about 85 different ethnic groups, there are approximately the same number of languages, and all this despite the fact that the population of the state does not exceed 7 million people.
Papua New Guinea is striking in its diversity of nations; the country has a huge number of indigenous ethnic groups. The most numerous are the Papuans, who inhabited New Guinea even before the arrival of the Portuguese sailors. Some of the Papuan tribes still have virtually no contact with the outside world.
Every year the island hosts Independence Day. This Papuan's festive attire includes feathers from various exotic birds and many decorations made from shells. Once upon a time, shells were used here instead of money, but now they are a symbol of prosperity.
This is what the spirit dance looks like performed by the Huli tribe living in the Southern Highlands.
During the Independence Day, the Goroka Festival is held. Papuan tribes believe in spirits and honor the memory of deceased ancestors. On this day, according to tradition, it is customary to completely cover the body with mud and perform a special dance to attract good spirits.
This festival is quite famous, it is a very important cultural event for the local tribes and takes place in the city of Goroka.
Tari is one of the major settlements in the Southern Highlands. Traditionally, a resident of this settlement looks like this...
About a hundred tribes take part in the Goroka Festival. They all come to show their traditional culture, demonstrate your dances and music. This festival was first organized by missionaries in the 1950s.
To see the real culture of different tribes, in last years Tourists also began to come to the holiday.
The traditional participant of the event is the green spider.
Despite the fact that outside the window is the rapid 21st century, which is called the century information technologies, here in the distant country of Papua New Guinea, it seems that time has stopped.
State of Papua New Guinea
The state is located in Oceania, on several islands. The total area is about 500 square kilometers. Population 8 million people. The capital is Port Moresby. The head of state is the Queen of Great Britain.
The name "Papua" translates as "curly". This is how the island was named in 1526 by a navigator from Portugal, the governor of one of the Indonesian islands, Jorge de Menezes. 19 years later, a Spaniard visited the island, one of the first explorers of the islands Pacific Ocean, Inigo Ortiz de Retes and named it "New Guinea".
Official language of Papua New Guinea
Tok Pisin is recognized as the official language. It is spoken by the majority of the population. And also English, although only one person in a hundred knows it. Basically, these are government officials. Interesting feature: There are more than 800 dialects in the country and therefore Papua New Guinea is recognized as the country with the most big amount languages (10% of all languages in the world). The reason for this phenomenon is the almost complete lack of connections between tribes.
Tribes and families in New Guinea
Papuan families still live in tribal mode. An individual “unit of society” is simply unable to survive without contact with its tribe. This is especially true for life in cities, of which there are quite a few in the country. However, here a city is considered to be any settlement with a population of more than a thousand people.
Papuan families unite into tribes and live next to other, urban people. Children usually do not attend schools located in cities. But even those who go to study very often return home after one or two years of study. It is also worth noting that girls do not study at all. Because the girl helps her mother with housework until she is married off.
The boy returns to his family to become one of the equal members of his tribe - a “crocodile”. That's what men are called. Their skin should be similar to the skin of a crocodile. Young men undergo initialization and only then have the right to communicate on equal terms with the rest of the men of the tribe, they have the right to vote at a meeting or other event taking place in the tribe.
The tribe lives as one big family, supports and helps each other. But he usually does not contact the neighboring tribe or even openly quarrels. Lately The Papuans have had their territory cut off quite heavily; it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to maintain the same order of life in nature in natural conditions, their thousand-year-old traditions and their unique culture.
Papua New Guinea families have 30-40 people. Tribal women lead household, take care of livestock, give birth to children, collect bananas and coconuts, and prepare food.
Papuan food
Not only fruits are the main food of the Papuans. Pork is used for cooking. The tribe protects pigs and eats their meat very rarely, only holidays And memorable dates. More often they eat small rodents that live in the jungle and banana leaves. Women can cook all dishes from these ingredients amazingly deliciously.
Marriage and family life of New Guineans
Women have practically no rights, submitting first to their parents and then entirely to their husbands. By law (in the country the majority of residents are Christians), the husband is obliged to treat his wife well. But in reality this is far from the case. Practice persists ritual murders women on whom even the shadow of suspicion of witchcraft falls. According to statistics, more than 60% of women are constantly exposed to domestic violence. International public organizations And Catholic Church are constantly sounding the alarm on this issue.
But, unfortunately, everything remains the same. A girl at 11-12 years old is already married off. At the same time, parents lose “another mouth to feed”, since a younger girl becomes an assistant. And the groom's family gets free labor, so he is looking at all girls six to eight years old. Often the groom can be a man older girls for 20-30 years. But there is no choice. Therefore, each of them meekly accepts their fate as a given.
But a man doesn’t choose for himself future wife, which can only be seen in front of the traditional wedding ceremony. The decision on choosing a bride will be made by the elders of the tribe. Before the wedding, it is customary to send matchmakers to the bride’s family and bring a gift. Only after such a ceremony is the wedding day set. On this day, the ritual of “kidnapping” the bride takes place. A decent ransom must be paid to the bride's house. These can be not only various valuable things, but also, for example, wild boars, banana branches, vegetables and fruits. When the bride is given to another tribe or another house, her property is divided among the members of the community from which the girl comes.
Life in marriage cannot be called easy. According to ancient traditions, a woman lives separately from a man. In the tribe there are so-called women's and men's houses. Adultery, on either side, can be punished very harshly. There are also special huts where husband and wife can periodically retire. They can also retire in the forest. Girls are raised by their mothers, and boys from the age of seven are raised by the men of the tribe. Children in the tribe are considered common, and they are not treated on ceremony. Among the Papuans you will not find such a disease as overprotection.
This is how difficult it is family life among the Papuans.
Witchcraft law
In 1971, the country passed the Witchcraft Law. It says that a person who considers himself “bewitched” is not responsible for his actions. The murder of a sorcerer is a mitigating circumstance in court proceedings. Very often, women from another tribe become victims of accusations. Four years ago, a gang of cannibals who called themselves witch hunters killed men and women and then ate them. The government is trying to fight this terrible phenomenon. Perhaps the witchcraft law will finally be repealed.
