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Ready for the Sing Sing
A young Kunai Group woman from the Western Highlands Province of Papua New Guinea is ready to perform with her tribal group.
Anyone familiar with the rugged, jungle-clad terrain and dearth of infrastructure across Papua New Guinea will be horrified by the news of the recent rise of Covid-19 cases in the country (e.g. Covid Cases Triple). The very remoteness of tribal territories that helped keep the epidemic at bay until now also complicates the delivery of health services.
With a population of just over 9 million people, the country is resource-rich with forestry, agriculture, fishery, and mineral products. Even so, 80 percent of the population is classed as rural, almost 40 percent are said to be living under the poverty line, and only about 13 percent have reliable access to electricity.
Even before the current crisis, the country faced major health issues arising from communicable diseases, malaria, tuberculosis, diarrhoeal diseases, acute respiratory disease and HIV, while concurrently struggling with a critical shortage of health professionals (e.g.: Global Health Workforce Alliance)
But this is only part of the story. Papua New Guinea is one of the most culturally diverse countries in the world. That rugged terrain allowed discrete regions to develop and maintain their own unique identities and languages. There are about 840 living languages in the country – most belonging to small, tribal communities with strong internal social cohesion and maintaining a traditional, self-sustainable lifestyle based on farming, hunting and gathering.
Although it is unlikely that there are any genuinely “uncontacted” tribes left in the country, much of the interior remains under-explored and the tribal groups are poorly understood. Before the coming of Australian gold prospectors in the 1930s, the Western Highlands were thought to be uninhabited, and the Hewa people of the Southern Highlands remained uncontacted until 1975.
While the tribes are strong within themselves, inter-tribal warfare is a real and ongoing problem, only made worse by the introduction of modern weapons (e.g.: Mistaking Massacre for Tradition; Spears to Semi-Automatics).
Sing sings, festivals of song, dance and culture, were originally intended to mitigate tribal warfare and to foster greater respect and harmony between neighbouring groups. These days, sing sings have become more focussed on attracting tourists. But, they still give tribes the opportunity to meet each other, to show off their customs, and to teach their youngsters the age-old traditions.
One of the biggest annual sing sings is the Mount Hagen Cultural Show in the middle of the country. Running since the 1960s, it attracts around 100 tribal groups: many from the Western Highlands Province, some from neighbouring provinces, and even a few from Papua New Guinea’s surrounding islands. The groups compete for cash prizes which are awarded for traditional costumes and for performances.
Back in 2017, I attended the festival with photographer Karl Grobl from Jim Cline Photo Tours. The colour and noise were matched by the heat – and I loved every minute of it.
Do come along!
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Black and White
We arrive outside the show grounds nice and early, which allows me to chat with performers while they get ready (see also: Tribal Expressions and Women of the Western Highlands).
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Western Highland Men Getting Ready
A lot of time and care goes into the face painting. Mirrors are at a premium.
Unfinished Paint
Baby in the Middle
Children embody the culture they grow up in; inside the festival grounds, even the youngest are included in the parades and performances.
Suli Muli
The Suli Muli dancers from Enga Province are called that for the song they sing while banging their kundu drums and jumping up and down. Both men’s and women’s groups wear grass skirts and giant hats made of moss, plant fibres, or even hair.
Enga Woman
With a quarter-million speakers across the Enga Province, this is the largest native ethnic and linguistic group in the country (see: Big Hats and Small Drums).
Western Highland Man
The Western Highlands, which is where Mount Hagen and this annual festival are located, is one of the most culturally rich regions of the country. We can see similarities – …
Western Highland Men
… and differences – in the dance troupes’ costuming and face paint styles.
War Cries
Face paint was intended to intimidate enemies, and some tribal songs resemble war cries.
Kunai Group
Feathers are everywhere. Another common element across many of the Western Highland groups is the ritual moka kina, a necklace or pectoral ornament made from shell, ochre and resin, and symbolising wealth.
Kunai Group – Women
In this tribe, the women’s costumes are completely different from their male counterparts.
Outside the Fence
These days, the Mt Hagen Cultural Show is priced out of reach for many locals, …
Papuan Man
… and they have to content themselves with watching from outside.
Papuan Women
Keps Goose Culture Group
Wearing their elaborate headdresses and heavy necklaces of shells and fur, the groups keep coming; …
Western Highlands Woman
… each group with something different about their face paint (see: Women of the Western Highlands).
Western Highlands Man
Tusks and Shells
Complex necklaces of precious shells and boars’ tusks symbolise wealth and power – and bang noisily when the men dance.
Kumipana Warrior Women Group
In a land with little electricity, it is no surprise that most of these groups have no digital footprint! Try as I might, I could find out nothing about this one.
Kumipana Warrior Girl
This young woman has a lovely smile – making her much less frightening than she is supposed to be.
Kumipana Skull Necklace
One of the boys has the skull of a small animal on his back as adornment.
Red Black and Yellow
Paints used to be made from local plants and clay; today they are more likely to be store-bought.
“Ekawest Culture Group”
That’s what their cardboard sign said, …
Ekawest Youngster
… but I could find no trace on-line.
Tomorrow’s Face
Papua New Guinea is a young country: life expectancy is 65.2, the media age is 22.4, and 35.5% of the population is under 15.
Betel Smile
I’m always distressed by the effects I see everywhere of chewing betel (Areca catechu).
Mother and Child
Bird Colours
I’m amazed that there are any birds left on the island, given the number of bird parts and feathers that go into the costumes, but headdresses are carefully looked after from one year to the next.
Pacific Island Dancers
As the afternoon wears on, the dancers break into party tunes.
Alexander Pears
This is the face of the future: these young people take real pride in their culture and heritage.
Tribal remoteness and lack of contact with the outside world is a double-edge sword. The Papua New Guinea Constitution explicitly recognises the importance of “traditional villages and communities [remaining] as viable units of Papua New Guinean society”, but with a young and fast-growing population – underserved by health and education services – it is hard to know how they will bridge the gap between an agrarian tribal history and a resource-rich future.
In the short term, I hope they can weather the health crisis that seems to be upon them.
Until next time.
Pictures: 19August2017
