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Huli Wigmen – and a Woman
The Huli are one of the most numerous tribes in Papua New Guinea. With their unique face painting and elaborate headdresses, they are also one of the most distinctive.
Papua New Guinea is fascinating!
Home to just over nine million people, at last estimate there were over 7000 different cultural groups with almost 850 distinct languages being spoken. The country is routinely touted as the most linguistically diverse place on the planet.
Of course, with the pressures of the modern world, and the double-edged sword that is ‘education’, the ability to speak Indigenous languages is declining precipitously in the younger generation. And, when language is lost, the finer understandings about aspects of one’s culture, traditional skills and crafts, and one’s place in the natural environment are also lost.
Papua New Guinea’s constitution declares the desire for traditional villages and communities to continue to function as viable units of society and efforts are made in the struggling education system to keep indigenous languages and culture alive.
Sing sings, gatherings of tribes or villages to show off their distinct culture, dance, and music, are a powerful means of passing on traditions to the younger generation. I was at the Mount Hagen Sing Sing Festival with photographer Karl Grobl from Jim Cline Photo Tours and a small group of photography enthusiasts. The array of distinctive tribal groups was mind boggling (see: Mount Hagen)!
With over 250,000 members at the 2011 census, the Huli people from Hela Province in the Southern Highlands are one of the largest ethnic groups – and certainly one of the most distinctive (see: Meet the Huli Wig Men). Unknown to Europeans until 1934, they are believed to have lived in their region for many thousands of years. Their reputations as fearless warriors has helped keep their cultural and linguistic traditions intact.
Traditionally, Huli men and women live separately, with strict gender divisions in roles and responsibilities. Children live with their mothers while young, and at seven or eight years old, boys are sent to live with their fathers. Around puberty, they enter enter bachelor school – or Wig School – where they to learn how to become men. At this time, they start growing their hair – using a combination of magic and a special diet – to be made into the fabulous wigs that they known for. Most Huli men cultivate more than one wig, with some designed for ceremonial uses and others for everyday wear. Each wig takes up to 18 months to grow and shape, and the young men are forbidden from any physical contact with women while they are undergoing this process. All a man’s wigs must be completed before he is allowed to marry.
Given the strict rules under which these wigs are created, I was surprised to find young women among the Huli sing sing group at Mount Hagen, albeit without the over-sized wigs under their feathered headdresses – and no amount of searching the internet shed any light on how this had come about.
Do join me in admiration of their wonderful face paint and ornate wigs!
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Betel Stain and Bird Feathers
Even in soft feathers and a big smile – stained with the ubiquitous betel chew – Huli men are a fearsome sight.
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Ceremonial Winged Wig
Huli wigs are crafted into different shapes: ceremonial wigs sweep up like the wings of a bird. The cassowary quill through the nose is traditional decoration.
Huli Woman
Although the women’s headdresses are as elaborate in their concoctions of bird-parts and feathers, they are built on a foundation of cuscus fur rather than human hair.
Huli Woman in Face Paint
The bright yellow clay, called Ambua, is considered sacred in Huli culture. Red ochre adorns the whole body. Of course, for sing sing displays, these colours are just as likely to be store-bought.
Flowers and Feathers
Everlasting flowers and bits of greenery can be included in the intricate wig decoration.
Wigman’s Hornbill
Huli men wear hornbill beaks flanked with boar’s tusks on their backs. The beaks symbolise strength and courage in battle.
Huli Warrior
Feathers Galore
I have said it before: given the number of parrot and bird of paradise feathers that go into sing sing costumes, it is a wonder any birds survive in the wild!
“Kerapia Boys”
A hand-written cardboard sign identified this group as the “Kerapia Boys”. I couldn’t find them on the map!
“Kerapia Boys Hela Wigmen”
The Kerapia Boys included at least two young women and several very young boys.
Family Portrait
Not everyone is a performer!
Kundu Drums
Each small locality has their own traditional chant and drum rhythm, …
Wigmen Drumming
… and the Mt Hagen show ground is a cacophony of sound, and movement, and colour.
Women with the Wigmen
Shell Necklaces and Feathers
A Clear, Strong Gaze
These are a strong people – and it is good to see them passing their culture on to their young children; …
Huli Boy
… some of whom are still far too young for Wig School.
Culture is never static.
Including young women and boys in the expression of age-old traditions would seem to be a sign that Huli culture is moving forward.
If the Huli can maintain important traditions while embracing the future and becoming more inclusive to the desires and competencies of different individuals within their community, I’m all for it!
