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Papua New Guinea is one of the most unique countries on earth, located in Oceania, in the southwestern part Pacific Ocean and close to the equator. With a population of just 7 million people, around 300 cultural communities coexist here and communicate in over 850 languages!
The name "Papua" comes from the Malay word "papuwa", which translated into Russian means "curly". And today we will meet the indigenous people - Papuans and their beautiful tribal colors. Multi-colored report. (Photos by Rita Willaert).
As we already said, name "Papua" comes from the Malay word "papuwa", which translated into Russian means "curly"(according to another version, from “orang papua” - “curly-haired black-headed man”). The Portuguese Menezes gave this name to the island of New Guinea in 1526, noting the shape of the hair of the local residents.
The island of New Guinea and most of the country's other islands have mountainous terrain. The altitude of a significant part of the territory is more than 1000 m above sea level, and some peaks of New Guinea reach 4500 m, that is, the belt of eternal snow.
Independence Day. The head of this Papuan is decorated with feathers of pigeons, parrots and other exotic birds. Neck jewelry is a symbol of prosperity. Goroka city, Papua New Guinea:
Many of the mountain ranges are chains of volcanoes. There are 18 active volcanoes in Papua New Guinea. Most of them are located in the north of the country. Volcanic activity is also associated with strong, sometimes catastrophic earthquakes.
The Goroka Festival is probably the most famous cultural event in Papua New Guinea. It is held once a year in the city of Goroka:
The culture of Papua New Guinea is extremely diverse and it is hardly possible to identify a single type of tradition or way of life for the entire country. Even within one district or region, representatives of several dozen nationalities can live, often practically unrelated to each other either by origin or language.
Independence Day. About 100 tribes come here to show their dances, music and culture. IN last years this festival attracts many tourists as it is one of the few opportunities to see the tribes and their colorful traditions. Goroka City, Papua New Guinea:
Green Spiderman, Goroka, Papua New Guinea:
Many remote Papuan tribes still have little contact with the outside world.
Vegetation and animal world Papua New Guinea is rich and diverse. More than 20 thousand plant species grow there. Along the coast of the island of New Guinea there is a wide (in some places up to 35 km) strip of mangrove vegetation.
Above 1000-2000 m, forests become more uniform in composition, and coniferous species begin to predominate in them.
The country's fauna is represented by reptiles, insects and especially numerous birds. There are many snakes, including poisonous ones, and lizards in the forests and on the coast.
In Papua New Guinea there lives a unique cassowary bird (one of the most... large birds on the ground, weighing more than 70 kg). One of the most poisonous snakes, the tai pan, is also found here. It has enough poison to kill 80 adults.
White and black coloring with red eyes:
Hornbill beak:
Handsome:
"Curly people":
Under a giant snake. Goroka City, Papua New Guinea:
All possible colors:
Jewelry in the shape of a large penis. This is a sign of good fertility in the tribe:
Note the legs painted white. Mount Hagen Town, Papua New Guinea:
Mount Hagen Town, Papua New Guinea:
The head of the Papuan is decorated with feathers of the Bird of Paradise (lat. Paradisaeidae):
Exotic animal fur and Bird of Paradise feathers:
The last cannibals are known to live in Papua New Guinea. People still live here according to the rules adopted 5 thousand years ago: men go naked, and women cut off their fingers. There are only three tribes that still engage in cannibalism, these are the Yali, Vanuatu and Karafai. The Karafai (or tree people) are the most brutal tribe. They eat not only warriors of foreign tribes, lost locals or tourists, but also all their dead relatives. The name “tree people” came from their houses, which stand incredibly high (see the last 3 photos). The Vanuatu tribe is peaceful enough that the photographer is not eaten; several pigs are brought to the leader. Yali are formidable warriors (photos of Yali start with photo 9). The phalanges of the fingers of a woman of the Yali tribe are cut off with a hatchet as a sign of grief for a deceased or deceased relative.
Most main holiday Yali is a holiday of death. Women and men paint their bodies in the form of a skeleton. On the holiday of death before, perhaps they still do it now, they killed a shaman and the leader of the tribe ate his warm brain. This was done in order to satisfy Death and absorb the knowledge of the shaman to the leader. Now Yali people are killed less often than usual, mainly if there was a crop failure or for some other “important” reasons.
Hungry cannibalism, which is preceded by murder, is regarded in psychiatry as a manifestation of the so-called hunger insanity.
Domestic cannibalism is also known, not dictated by the need for survival and not provoked by hunger insanity. In judicial practice, such cases are not classified as premeditated murder with particular cruelty.
Apart from these not very common cases, the word "cannibalism" often brings to mind crazy ritual feasts, during which victorious tribes devour parts of the bodies of their enemies in order to gain their strength; or another well-known useful "application" of this phenomenon: the heirs treat the bodies of their fathers in this way in the pious hope that they will be reborn in the body of the eaters of their flesh.
The most "cannibalistic" strange modern world is Indonesia. This state has two famous centers of mass cannibalism - the Indonesian part of the island of New Guinea and the island of Kalimantan (Borneo). The jungles of Kalimantan are inhabited by 7-8 million Dayaks, famous skull hunters and cannibals.
The most delicious parts of their body are considered to be the head - the tongue, cheeks, skin from the chin, the brain removed through the nasal cavity or ear hole, meat from the thighs and calves, heart, palms. The initiators of crowded campaigns for skulls among the Dayaks are women.
The latest surge in cannibalism in Borneo occurred at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, when the Indonesian government tried to organize the colonization of the interior of the island by civilized immigrants from Java and Madura. The unfortunate peasant settlers and the soldiers accompanying them were mostly slaughtered and eaten. Until recently, cannibalism persisted on the island of Sumatra, where the Batak tribes ate criminals sentenced to death and incapacitated old people.
The activities of the “father of Indonesian independence” Sukarno and the military dictator Suharto played a major role in the almost complete elimination of cannibalism in Sumatra and some other islands. But even they could not improve the situation in Irian Jaya - Indonesian New Guinea one iota. The Papuan ethnic groups living there, according to missionaries, are obsessed with a passion for human meat and are characterized by unprecedented cruelty.
They especially prefer human liver with medicinal herbs, penises, noses, tongues, meat from thighs, feet, and mammary glands. In the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, in the independent state of Papua New Guinea, much less evidence of cannibalism is recorded.
Papua New Guinea is one of the most amazing countries in the world, characterized by stunning cultural diversity. About eight hundred and fifty different languages and at least as many different ethnic groups coexist here, although the population is barely seven million!
The name "Papua" comes from the Malay word "papuwa", which translated into Russian means "curly", which is one of the characteristics of the hair of the inhabitants of this area.
Papua New Guinea is one of the most diverse nations in the world. There are hundreds of indigenous ethnic groups, the largest of which are known as the Papuans, whose ancestors arrived in New Guinea tens of thousands of years ago. Many Papuan tribal residents still maintain only minor contacts with the outside world.
(Total 37 photos)
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1. Independence Day in Papua New Guinea. The head of this Papuan is decorated with feathers of doves, birds of paradise, and other exotic birds. Numerous shell jewelry around the neck are symbols of prosperity and prosperity. In the past, shells were used in these parts as a form of money. A wedding gift of this kind, which the husband presents to his fiancée, is considered especially valuable.
2. Caconaru, Southern Highlands. – Dance of spirits in the Huli tribe.
3. Goroka Festival on Independence Day. On this day, it is customary to smear yourself from head to toe in mud and dance a special dance designed to attract good spirits. Papuans believe in spirits and also greatly honor the memory of their deceased ancestors.
4. Papua New Guinea on the world map.
5. Goroka Festival is probably the most famous cultural event of the tribes. It is held annually on the eve of Independence Day (September 16) in the city of Goroka.
6. The settlement of Tari is located in the center of the Huli province of the Southern Highlands. It is the second largest settlement in the province and can be reached by road from Mendi. This is what the traditional outfit of a resident of this settlement looks like.
7. Okoo of a hundred tribes come to the Goroka Festival to showcase their culture, traditional music and dancing. This festival was first held in the 1950s on the initiative of missionaries. In recent years, tourists have become frequent visitors to the festival because it is one of the few opportunities to see the real live culture of local tribes.
8. The green spider is one of the traditional participants of the Goroka holiday.
9. Drummer at the Goroka festival.
10. The man with the painted yellow paint face at the Goroka festival.
11. Notice the shell necklace.
12. One of the traditional colors is black with red polka dots.
13. The combination of red, yellow and orange is especially welcome. And, of course, the obligatory shell necklace - the more massive, the better.
14. Another version of the holiday coloring is black and white, with scarlet rings around the eyes.
15. Very often the beaks of hornbills are used for decoration. This is a family of birds in the order Coraciiformes. Includes 57 species found in Africa and South-East Asia, on the islands of the Pacific and Indian oceans. They have very bright plumage, which is often used to make hats.
16. Another option for holiday coloring.
17. These people are representatives of the hairdressing salon. They, however, have nothing in common with ordinary hairdressers. Using special rituals, they make hair grow faster so that they can create a traditional hairstyle.
18. The de Biami tribe lives in the forests of the Western Province.
19. Extravaganza of colors - red, pink, white with blue specks...
20. Jewelry symbolizing fertility.
21. Jewelry symbolizes strength, prosperity and fertility.
22. The tribe living on Mount Hagen during a ritual song.
23. The same, front view.
24. Headdress made from bird of paradise feathers.
25. Headdress made of fur and feathers of a bird of paradise.
26. Fur skirt and bone necklace.
27. Another headdress made from bird of paradise plumage.
Papua New Guinea, especially its center - one of the protected corners of the Earth, where almost no penetration human civilization. People there live in complete dependence on nature, worship their deities and honor the spirits of their ancestors.
On the coast of the island of New Guinea there are now quite 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 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.
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.
WHITE COMING FROM THIS WORLD?
The first white man to come to 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 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 eaten honorably with rituals appropriate to the occasion, 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 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 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.
Sergei BORODIN
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 come to 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 eaten honorably with rituals appropriate to the occasion, 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.
