Sep 12 2010
Ancestors From The Stone Age
From arrows to spears to axes, there might be hundreds of Stone Age tribesmen all around you brandishing their weapons in your direction while howling their war chants at the exact same time while smeared in pig grease and soot. This is something you may not find appealing. When it comes to the annual Highlands Show of Papua New Guinea, this is entertainment. You can get the best papua new guinea tourism information by visiting this website.
For Papua New Guinea, it is located in between and the equator, it is made up of small islands from the Bismarck Archipelago plus the eastern half of the large island that it shares with Indonesia. What happened in 1975 was that it gained independence and nationhood but before that managed Papua and New Guinea separately under various United Nations trust arrangements. In this country, there are still some parts which are unaware of the western way of life.
White men traveling on foot were the first to explore these rugged Highlands in the 1930s. Continuing to attract attention today is the white man and in the Highlands Show a tourist with a camera attracts as much attention as the painted warrior. About 60,000 people attend this two day show held alternately in the towns of Goroka and Mount Hagen and most of the time the attendees are Papua New Guineans. There are some who walk from places like Telefomin, Wapenamanda, and Ukarumpa just to be able to join in the festivities even if it takes weeks.
There are demonstrations for fire making and house building skills as well as agricultural and crafts exhibits being staged. You can also witness light entertainment in this show. It has every event from chasing after the greased pig to bicycle races to climbing up a greased pole with dangling cigarettes and beer and barefoot competitors participate complete with weaponry. When it comes to the climax of the weekend, this is the sing sing competition where each tribe is able to show their treasured ceremonial attire to the tourists and locals. You will find that further information on sepik river is on that site.
Under the hot sun, people dance and chant accompanied by the deep hollow beat of the kundu drum where pace changes are occasionally done to simulate a battle or to stage a legend from tribal history. Making the Highlands sing a spectacular event is the kaleidoscope of color and costume. Well decorated are the dancers here. Either their faces are colored in red and blue ochre or their bodies are covered with the darkest soot trimmed with everything from leaves to feathers to beads and even store bought crepe paper. Aside from having safety pins for earrings, they use ball point pens and even pieces of an automobile engine for their pierced septums instead of the usual pig’s tusk or other bone.
Not only are the village heirlooms unwrapped here but also displayed. Voluptuous headpieces fashioned from the fur of the spotted cuscus, a small marsupial, are worn with conspicuous pride, usually by the children. Once a form of currency, the people still give a high value for the seashells that they have. People sometimes get the chance to see the tall swaying plumes of the peacock like Raggiana Bird of Paradise, the national symbol, or that of the cassowary.
You can even see the eerie Asaro mudmen. Apart from being coated in white mud, they use sun baked clay and straw to make grotesque headgear. Dancing their swaying dance, leaves are slapped off their thighs. Based from a legend, after a tribe was pursued by their enemies, they retreated into the Asaro River.
Thinking they were ghosts because they came out covered in the white clay, their enemies retreated. Because the Asaro mudmen continue to cover themselves in the same river mud, they are commemorating this victory. For the groups who gave the best presentations and were the best in costume, prizes in cash and cattle are given out after all the sing sings. Tourists and locals begin their long trek home as the day comes to a close.
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