About the Papuans
A friend from Australia told.
They have an "Institute of Aboriginal Culture" in Melbourne. The Papuans are being studied. Traditions, customs, way of life. And the Papuans live like on reservations. They preserve this way of life. And so one professor from the institute went on an expedition. Lives with the natives for several months, writes a book. All the way. But Mikloukh-Maclay managed to fall in love with the leader's wife. So much so that he decided to take her with him to Melbourne. And the beauty seems not averse. But the professor is a decent man ...
Having practiced healing and magic for many years, one fine day I received an email invitation to Moscow for the casting of the TV show "The Battle of Psychics" season 7. Knowing that I myself had not submitted such applications anywhere, I decided that this was another joke, but still dialed the contact number and heard on the other end of the line:
You got on TNT television ... - the answering machine happily told me.
A breathtaking view opened up to Bakunin from the height of Downtown - a facade overlooking the Ocean! Romantic background for sailors, expats and travelers. Looking at the Embarcadero embankment with a crowd of masts at the berths and rippling waves of the bay, at a large white double-decker passenger steamer maneuvering in the roadstead, you see, as if in a picturesque static picture, green islands and foggy masses on the other side of the bay.
The coast from the city goes deep into the continent with picturesque rearing hills with white ...
It is not necessary for everyone to understand dialectics, but if they undertake to criticize it, then a minimal understanding of it is necessary. However, it is not so easy to find out what dialectics is. This concept has changed historically, but today there is no definition that could be called generally used.
Socrates called dialectics just the art of dialogue. But according to Aristotle, dialectics is already a whole science. But is it possible to have a productive dialogue without having any knowledge? No. Surely ...
Helsinki
The alarm clock, as it should be, rang at exactly the appointed time. I got up, washed, put on my lenses, got dressed, and went to a restaurant for breakfast. At six in the morning, only a Swedish fast food restaurant was open on the ferry.
There was no queue. The restaurant was more than half empty.
Good morning! - I greeted all the same young ladies who were sitting at the counter last night. Apparently, this was their permanent place of work.
Good morning! - they responded without any enthusiasm. Judging by their ...
Gentleman
Conversation of two gentlemen:
Sir, how about golf?
- Then how about cricket
- No thanks, I tried it once, I didn't like it.
- Maybe some brandy?
- No thanks, I tried it once, I didn't like it.
- then can we smoke a cigar?
- No thanks, I tried it once, I didn't like it, but my eldest son ...
- Like sir! Do you also have a younger son ?!
The Papuan is asked:
- How...
This story was told to me at different times by strangers. Having put a full stop at the end of Hanifka's narration, I reread it and was worried: not everything in it fits and fits together. The most dramatic moment was missed - a visit to the cemetery of a gallant warrant officer and firing from a pistol. I wanted to postpone what I had written until better times, but the thought came: maybe, after the publication, some of the participants in the events will respond, show up and tell their version of that nightmare night, or add it already ...
I was moping, Billy was philosophizing.
- You are a man, you tend to live by feelings, crowding the mind.
I haven't had such emotions for a long time.
- It's from a young body. I remember that someone wanted to work on neurons and train cells to rejuvenate. Isn't it time?
There is no critical mass of desire. Maybe we’ll go somewhere else?
You can, of course, wind up it, but I seriously fear for your psyche - will it survive?
And what will become of her?
“They brought you back from the last promenade. Instructor ...
Tooth for tooth, eye for eye. They practice blood feud. If your relative has been harmed, maimed or killed, then you must respond to the offender in kind. Broke your brother's hand? Break it and you to the one who did it.
It's good that you can buy off blood feud with chickens and pigs. So one day I went with the Papuans to the “arrow”. We got into a pickup truck, took a whole chicken coop and went to the showdown. Everything was done without bloodshed.
© Bigthink.com2. They "sit" on nuts like drug addicts
Betel palms are the most bad habit of the Papuans! The pulp of the fruit is chewed by mixing with two other ingredients. This causes profuse salivation, and the mouth, teeth and lips turn a bright red color. Therefore, the Papuans endlessly spit on the ground, and "bloody" blots are found everywhere. In West Papua, these fruits are called penang, and in the eastern half of the island - betel nut (betel nut). Eating the fruit has a slight relaxing effect, but it is very damaging to the teeth.
3. They believe in black magic and punish for it
Previously, cannibalism was an instrument of justice, not a way to satisfy your hunger. This is how the Papuans punished for witchcraft. If a person was found guilty of using black magic and harming others, then he was killed, and pieces of his body were distributed among the members of the clan. Cannibalism is no longer practiced today, but murders on charges of black magic have not stopped.
4. They keep the dead at home
If Lenin "sleeps" in our mausoleum, then the Papuans from the Dani tribe keep the mummies of their leaders right in their huts. Gnarled, smoked, with terrible grimaces. The mummies are 200–300 years old.
5. They allow their women to do hard physical labor
When I first saw a woman in the seventh or eighth month of pregnancy chopping wood with an ax, while her husband was resting in the shade, I was shocked. Later I realized that this is the norm among the Papuans. Therefore, women in their villages are brutal and physically hardy.
6. They pay for their future wife with pigs
This custom persisted throughout New Guinea. The bride's family receives the pigs before the wedding. This is a mandatory fee. At the same time, women take care of the piglets as if they were children and even breastfeed them. Nikolai Nikolaevich Miklouho-Maclay wrote about this in his notes.
7. Their women self-mutilated
In the event of the death of a close relative, women of the Dani tribe cut off their finger phalanges. With a stone ax. Today this custom has already been abandoned, but in the Baliem valley you can still find fingerless grandmothers.
8. A necklace made of dog teeth is the best gift for a wife!
For the Korowai tribe, this is a real jewel. Therefore, Korowai women need neither gold, nor pearls, nor fur coats, nor money. They have completely different values.
9. Men and women live separately
Many Papuan tribes practice this custom. Therefore, there are male and female huts. Women are not allowed to enter the men's house.
10. They can even live in trees
“I live high - I look far away. Korowai build their homes in the crowns of tall trees. Sometimes it is 30 m above the ground! Therefore, for children and babies, eyes and eyes are needed here, because there are no fences in such a house
© savetheanimalsincludeyou.com 11. They wear kotekas
This is a phallocript, which the highlanders use to cover up their masculinity. Koteku is used instead of panties, banana leaves, or loincloths. It is made from local pumpkin.
So, leaving the tribe of Korowai, still living in the Stone Age - Journey to the Stone Age. Part 3. Life with the Papuans Korowai, and flying from the small town of Dekai to Wamena, we arrived in the famous Baliem valley, located almost in the center of the western part of the island of Papua New Guinea - Wamena - the capital of the Papuans Dani. How can you really spend your time here? What activities are there in these places?
The town of Wamena is small and, by and large, there is not much to do here - a day is quite enough to get acquainted with the local exoticism. But from here you can make tracks for 2, 5, 7 days along the mountain valley Baliem, stretching for tens of kilometers between the ridges of inaccessible mountains. With these places, there is still no land connection with the coast of the island - this is a real lost world. Going to the tracks and driving here and there along the roads around Wamena, you can get to know the life of the main peoples living in the vicinity of this valley - the tribes of Yani, Lani and Dani.
Before leaving for Jayapura, we had four days left, so we decided to make a two-day trek on foot through the valley and then visit another Papuan village of Dani, where they will show us their combat dances and skill with weapons. And they will even sacrifice a pig!
Road to Papuans Dani
Leaving extra things at the Wamena Pilamo *** hotel and taking only what is useful for overnight stay and trekking, we are accommodated in three jeeps. Leaving the city and driving in the southeastern direction for fifteen kilometers, we stopped at a large moraine - there was no further road.
The height of this place is 1653 meters, it is cool, the sky is in clouds and there is no sun. It seems that once a mudflow came down here and fell asleep. There are large pebbles and stone boulders all around. It can be seen that there were once cultivated fields and trees in this place. Here porters were already waiting for us and, having loaded them with food and warm sleeping bags, set off.
Below left, in the course of our movement, rushed a stormy brown stream of the Baliem River. I didn't want to go rafting in such water. But there were such proposals in Wamena.
Soon one of its tributaries blocked our way. He had to wade further along a fragile temporary bridge, since the old one, on which cars could have gone earlier, was destroyed by the past flood and has not yet been restored. And then there was again an asphalt road mixed with a dirt road. We go light - everyone has only their own personal belongings.
This is the first village of Kurima. Long before it, stone fences with a height of about a meter began along the road on both sides. Good masonry and no cement. Each stone is carefully matched to each other - just like the Inca or Maya. The village has decent wooden houses covered with sheet metal, a church, a school and a police station. While trying to photograph him, a guy sitting on a stone fence immediately jumped up and showed by gestures that this should not be done.
All around cultivated fields and gardens. Many areas are terraced high on the slopes of the mountains and all of them are also surrounded by stone fences. Most of these hedges are already mossy and look like they are more than a dozen years old.
- What are these fences for? I asked one of the porters.
- They are built to protect vegetable gardens from domestic pigs. They are allowed to walk, but their walks are limited to these fences. Many of these fences are hundreds of years old.
The population of this village is mixed - Indonesians and Dani Papuans. Everyone is dressed in our usual clothes - trousers, shirts and jackets - still cool. Many even wore warm down jackets. Both men and women ride bicycles and motorcycles. All silently and curiously look at us. Occasionally they ask for a smoke with gestures. Although tourists are here much more often than among the Korowai people (according to statistics, 9: 1), they are still very interested in us.
NS! And here, finally, and a bright representative of Dani - an old man was walking towards us with a brisk step. Lean and tanned black. And, despite the cool morning, he was "dressed" only in a koteka, and in his left hand he also held an umbrella cane! There is a hat on his head - yes, he is a real gentleman! His sight made everyone smile. Apparently, he was going to the city market. Or maybe just to visit your children-grandchildren.
Soon the road ended and turned into a path. We walked a few more kilometers and crossed a row of streams, in which always snotty boys washed dishes, and women washed clothes. It was an ordinary village life, similar to the life of the African hinterland.
We ended up with houses under rusty metal roofs and more and more people began to come across real houses of Dani - round "huts", or made of wood and covered with thatch or grass hanging almost to the ground. Finally, we came to several of these roofs and went down to the platform in front of them. This is the end of our daytime crossing, and here we will spend the night.
We came to the village of Kilise (04 14 "096" S, 139 02 "912" E), located at an altitude of 1843 m above sea level. There are several houses in the "Dani" style built for tourists, there is a kitchen-house where cooks prepare food on a fire, a primitive toilet with a bucket and a ladle. There is also a small cabin serving as a wardroom with a dining table. There is no electricity. But on the fence of the bushes lay a solar battery, but we did not see the light from it that evening, and we had to dine by candlelight.
We were met by the caretaker of this settlement, Markus. He showed us our houses, in which from the interior there were only mattresses and a flashlight lying on the floor. It was clean and dry inside. Porters gave us warm sleeping bags. Even during the day it is not hot at all - 18 degrees Celsius. And what will happen at night? Affected by the height - almost 2000 meters.
Only representatives of the Dani tribe already live in this village. And further in the mountains, if you follow the course of the Baliem River, in the southeastern part of the valley live Papuans of the Yali tribe - pygmies who wear very long kotecs. Some experts believe that even now they do not disdain human flesh.
Dani people
The Dani are the most famous tribe in the state of Irian Jaya. Their traditional way of life is many thousands of years old. Many tribute men still follow their original "fashion" - they wear a long pumpkin kotka that wraps around the penis and holds it up as if in a state of constant erection. Therefore, men look very inviting.
But so that the koteka does not fall, it is nevertheless tied around the waist with a thin string. It is difficult to add something here - functional and beautiful! And, despite the highlands, where it is often very cold, they wear nothing more than a headdress made of feathers on their heads. Sometimes, to resist the cold, they smear their bodies with pork fat.
But a special adornment of men, which they "put on" on especially solemn occasions, is a boar's tusk, which is passed through the nasal septum. Boys wear shorter kotekas and girls wear grass skirts. Married women prefer cikla - woven skirts made from the same grass. And - no bras and blouses.
An important attribute of women's wardrobe is also a woven piece of ring mesh. It is multifunctional - you can carry a child, a pig, and any other cargo in it, fixing it on your head. When there are no things, it will be good on the head both as a hat and as a scarf. And in the cold - wrapped in it - you can warm up a little.
However, civilization is progressing here with brisk strides and this "form of dress" is preserved only in the outback, and closer to Wamena only elderly people walk like this or during national festivals held twice a year - in June and August.
After lunch, Eddie and Marcus suggested taking a walk around the village. It consists, as it were, of several settlements formed by one, two, and even three families. Homes are compulsory - male and female. Their structure is the same - in the middle there is a place for a fire, and along the perimeter there are bunks or beds, which are covered with straw.
Before going to bed, a fire is kindled, which burns "in black", that is, all the smoke goes out through the thatched roof. Men sleep in their home, and women with children in theirs. If suddenly a man wants to spend time with one of his wives, he goes to this house, and then comes back. I think everyone can imagine all the "comforts" of this love.
In addition to these houses, they also have a long house. It is larger and has two or three fires burning in it, on which food is cooked. There are dishes. Now it is made of metal, but Dani has been making earthenware for many centuries - all kinds of pots in which vegetables and meat grown by them were cooked and baked.
Moving from house to house, he gazed at the valley stretching into the distance and lagged behind the group a little. Suddenly an old man came around the corner. In a koteka and with a machete. He looked intimidating. And it was necessary to pass him - there was no other way but to run back. What if he kicks his neck with his machete ?! And what will you take from him then?
And for a gift, there is already nothing with me. But - having greeted - nothing happened. He asked me with a gesture - is there a smoke? Alas, it was not - I gave a dollar. And he even managed to take a picture, walking a meter away from him. For a long time afterwards he walked and looked around to see if he was running after me.
Although, earlier he often noted that one has only to nod to the Papuans, or raise their eyebrows in greeting, as their gloomy and eerie faces were immediately illuminated with a surprisingly sincere and good-natured smile. But this one remained unwaveringly grim.
Dani's militancy and cannibalism
And, although our Eddie said that the representatives of the Dani tribe were not considered cannibals, yet the literary data testify to their militancy and their omnivorousness.
According to numerous testimonies, cannibalism was widespread in the Dani tribes as early as the 20th century. The memories of missionaries, who were invited to see by the savages themselves, have survived. So the missionary Tom Bozeman, who visited the tribe in 1963 and described how the soldiers dismembered and ate the body of the enemy killed before, and all their relatives watched this from a nearby hill.
In 1964, the film "Dead Birds" was even made about the customs of this tribe. Its author, Robert Gardner, emphasized the themes of the death of bird-people that took place in the Dani culture. "Dead birds" or "dead people" are the terms they applied to weapons taken from the enemy during the battle. These trophies were put on public display for two days of victory dances after the death of the enemy.
Ritual wars between villages have long been a tradition of Dani culture. It includes the preparation of weapons, the dancing of the warriors, the fight itself, as well as the treatment of subsequent wounds and injuries. Usually battles took place to humiliate the enemy by kidnapping their women, wounding or killing him, and not to seize territory, property or destroy the settlement itself.
Once the tribe was known for collecting the heads of their enemies, but even now they continue to observe no less strange traditions, such as cutting off a part of their finger every time their close relative dies.
However, weapons were not the only target of such wars. The so-called protein food was also an important factor. And there is not so much of it in these places. Pigs are dear - and they were and are the measure of Dani's wealth, and just eating them is a big waste. The other animal world is poor. Therefore, it is not surprising that the human flesh of a defeated enemy was a good addition to the table. Therefore, those who lost the battle were eaten.
Family relationships and women of Dani
Dani are polygamous. And they consider it natural, despite the fact that, in the main, they became Christians and Catholics. After all, a woman who has given birth to a child is considered "taboo" and is inaccessible to her husband from 2 to 5 years. This allows her not to have another unwanted pregnancy and to devote more time to her child and household.
And having a second and third wife is not difficult. You just need to have a ransom, which in these parts are not only pigs, but even sweet potatoes. However, pigs come first! The number of pigs, and, accordingly, wives, in these parts to this day are a measure and a symbol of the status of Dani men.
Each of them must have at least one wife to provide for the four most important components of local life: kitchen, vegetable garden, children and pigs. And if a few years ago 4-5 pigs were enough to buy a bride, now the price has risen to 10.
But the age of the brides has not grown from this - it, as before, is within the range of 12-15 years. And the secondary sexual characteristics of girls, visible to the whole village, will not hesitate to say: - "It's time, dear! Otherwise, you will stay too long."
So, Dani's Papuans will have a greater benefit from those parents who have more daughters. And the more daughters - the more pigs there will be on the farm! And to care for them, you can get a new wife in exchange for the pigs, which can also bring a girl! And so on endlessly. Directly some kind of pyramid like MMM turns out from them.
But the fate of Dani's women is not easy. Everything lies on them - children, cooking, vegetable garden, pigs. And, if the sow dies, then she will have to feed the piglets with her breast.
It is no wonder that their life expectancy is shorter than that of men. And the average age of their life is 40-45 years. Older women in these parts are considered witches (they know too much!) And even believe that their magic increases over the years.
Returning to our settlement, we found guests in it. Or rather, the owners of these lands.
On the green grass of the courtyard proudly walked the handsome man Dani in his national attire. You should just look at him! Middle-aged - already over 40 years old. But - a wide smile, and all the teeth are in place! Straight to Hollywood! His name was Yeskiel. He brought his own souvenirs - a stone ax, bone knives, shell necklaces and dog fangs. There were also wild boar tusks, which could at least be stuck in the nose or hung around the neck.
I bought the ones that need to be hung around the neck and now I have a complete set of souvenirs from the Stone Age - a stone ax, a tulle knife made of a cassowary thigh bone, a necklace of wild boar tusks, a bright wreath-cap on the head made of couscous fur and feathers, and , of course - koteka!
Can you imagine what a sensation it will be if you take to our streets in all this !?
Yeskiel's company was made up of a couple of women - his wives, who sold fruits and vegetables. But they somehow did not look against its background - they were already old and flabby. Yeskiel was swaggering and cheerful, and only his testicles, shriveled from the cold, betrayed the surrounding air temperature - in the evening it was still noticeably colder. Clouds covered the valley and wrapped round roofs of Dani's houses on the slope below in a white blanket.
After staying with us until sunset, their whole company amicably left our courtyard, promising to return in the morning.
And yet they were!
Pig Festival - Pig Fest in Jiwika Village
After an early breakfast, we quickly packed up and headed back to Wamena. Eddie, in order not to follow the old road, chose another - along the Baliem River. But a steep path led to it, straight down to the Baliem River, and when a light rain soon began to drizzle, it became very slippery. Porters helped all the women, holding their hands. Practically, they were taken down. It was not so slippery along the river, and we safely reached the jeeps that were waiting for us on the moraine.
Having stopped at the Wamena Pilamo hotel, had a snack, changed clothes and went to the village of Jiwika to look at the Pig Fest - translated as “pig holiday”. In general, for Dani it is considered a big holiday and it is arranged for big celebrations, because every day to kill a pig and even have fun while doing this is an expensive event for them. And nobody does that.
But with the arrival of tourists, the Pig Fest has become a commercial affair and is held in the village of Jiwika, 15 km west of Wamena. For this purpose, the former settlements of Dani, standing close to each other, are used there.
When we got there, it started to rain again. Leaving the jeeps, we went on foot to these settlements. There and then teenagers ran up to us - boys and girls, and they kindly took each of us by the hand, began to lead, showing the way and leading us through the muddy puddles. What good breeding, courtesy and nobility - we thought! But, reaching the logs blocking the entrance to the courtyard (so that pigs would not run away and small children would not crawl out), they began to demand payment in a harsh manner! And the dollar, or its equivalent of 10,000 Indonesian rupees, was looked upon very contemptuously - not enough!
Having paid off the little extortionists, they climbed over the logs and got into the courtyard of a typical Dani settlement - a man's and a woman's house, a lohg house-kitchen, rooms for pigs. All this was in one long - 70 meters - yard.
Several of Dani's men were already walking around the yard, and they began to entertain us with imitation of throwing spears. One of them did not have several phalanges of fingers on one of the hands - he lost both his wife and son - Eddie explained to us.
As it was still drizzling rain, we sat down at a table that had been prepared for tourists under a roof and began to wait out the bad weather. The yard is narrow and dirty. But this is where all the performances take place.
Climbing over the logs of the gate, more and more inhabitants of the village, which was a kilometer from this artistic settlement, entered the courtyard. They dispersed to the "sex" houses and changed there, or rather, undressed for the show. It took about 40 minutes, and all the "artists" poured out into the yard. And then the rain stopped.
You could just watch as several athletic fellows proudly walked around the yard. Each had a bow with arrows or a spear in their hands, the skill of using which they demonstrated in front of us.
So, one of them, not reaching me a few steps, took a bow and arrow at the ready and, aiming right at my heart, pulled the bowstring properly! They have such a joke.
And, although you know that this is a joke, it was still somehow uncomfortable. Moreover, they have arrows with specially cut curly tips, which, breaking in the victim's body, are practically impossible to pull out without causing additional suffering to the person.
Entertainment of modern Papuans Dani
They walked like this one after another, lined up, remembering the script, and then the dance began - the boy and his grandfather were looking for something on the ground. It turned out - traces of people who had kidnapped his mother. Then two groups of people armed with bows began to attack each other, indicating spear throws. Two young handsome men stood out especially. A boy came up to them - he was crying - "help me get my mother back", and they went to win her back. After all, all the skirmishes between them are usually over women.
Then the women danced separately, clapping their hands and tapping out the rhythm with their bare heels, raising splashes on the wet ground after the rain. And at the same time, the men uttered frightening screams. As elsewhere, with the help of the dance, the Papuans talked about their life, how they went to war and hunting, how they chose a bride. All peoples understand this without words.
Then two warriors grabbed a puny pig, which someone pushed into the middle of the yard and stretched it out by the paws, and the third, coming up to a distance of 1 meter, shot him with a bow for some reason in the right side of the chest, and not in the left, where it should be the heart. The piglet squealed wildly.
To end his torment, the shooter cranked the arrow several times in the body of the unfortunate pig. After that, the poor man was thrown to the ground, and he also ran away, sprinkling the dirty soil with blood. After spinning a little at a distance and squealing, he soon gave up his ghost.
Then, after killing the pig, two old men showed how they "got" the fire - they began to twist the vine around the piece of wood. At first, this business did not argue, the liana tore a couple of times, but then everything succeeded and, blowing on the resulting embers, the flame flared up on dry straw. Dani will not be left without dinner today!
Toward the end of the day, the Papuans performed a dance of expelling evil spirits from the village. Each of you, having even a little imagination, can easily imagine these dances.
Here we photographed them as much as he wants - Eddie agreed on everything and paid. How many - I did not ask. But, they say, usually, if this is an individual excursion, then there is a big problem with this - they beg for money for every click of the camera.
We did not wait for this pig to be cooked. He was small and puny. As soon as it is enough for the whole crowd of these "artists"? In addition, the rain began to drizzle again.
The men kindled a bonfire with the fire they got with us. It must burn out and when the stones put into the fire are heated, sweet potatoes wrapped in banana leaves and pieces of meat of the unfortunate pig will be placed on them. And after that - a feast in the mountains! However, all this takes several hours.
Conclusion
But we've had enough! Tomorrow we will fly to Jayapura, and the day after tomorrow - to Bali!
And, as if saying goodbye to these parts, we met one old man at the Wamena airport when we flew back to Jayapura. He wandered restlessly among those flying away in an open cloak, under which there was only a koteka and a tie.
Our group was one of the Europeans, and he was constantly spinning around us, trying to sell his own honey, poured into a whiskey bottle and some kind of shell beads. His appearance was original - he looked like our city exhibitionist - naked, with a cat in the causal place and in an unbuttoned raincoat. It's good that our ladies saw him not on the day of arrival in Papua ...
We leave the Indonesian state of Irian Jaya, which for almost three weeks has been both home and the greatest adventure of our lives for all of us. We did not know yet that one of us was very unlucky - a week later, when we arrived in Brunei, he was diagnosed with malaria - The Real Myths of Brunei. Sultan and Bruneians. It's strange - after all, I personally have not seen a single mosquito and, moreover, such a specific malarial one - with long hind legs. How did this happen and where? Maybe on arrival at the resort Bali?
A short acquaintance with representatives of three tribes - Depapre, Korovai and Dani, showed that these people, although they live at different stages of their development, are still waging a difficult struggle for their existence.
They live practically on wear and tear. They alternate between work, a short rest, some kind of battles and ambushes at each other, and worries about how to get food for today, and where to steal pigs and women. Many of them still live with the old traditions of their ancestors and cultures. And sometimes, as a sign of grief for the departed close relatives, they still cut their fingers off.
At the same time, we also saw that the Papuans, who left their native habitats, no longer have many old tribal traditions in their everyday life. And most of them became the “lost generation” - they forgot the old, but did not acquire the new. Few of the Papuans who now live in cities and villages live according to the laws of their ancestors and observe all their rituals and customs. Immigrants from other islands of Indonesia who moved to Papua for permanent residence do not consider them "theirs" either.
What will they be like in a few generations?
Will they be able to assimilate into the rapidly developing Indonesian society?
How to get to these Lost Worlds?
Is it easy now for a modern person to get into the era of the Stone Age? No. Several major airlines fly to Jayapura from all major hubs in Southeast Asia. From Jayapura inland, there are several local airlines. Boats equipped with good motors go along the rivers. And guides will take you deep into the jungle, and all things, including food, tents, bedding and whatever the tourist wants, will be carried by hired porters, whose payment is still purely symbolic.
P.S. In the link - a documentary film of the author of the essay - "Journey to the Stone Age": overland.com.ua/papua_nova_g ...
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In the central mountainous regions, villages are usually composed of individual, randomly scattered and far from each other huts or small groups of huts. They are usually inhabited by members of the same genus or its subdivisions.
Groups of huts are surrounded by fences made of pointed stakes about a meter high. In total, there are usually 40-50 inhabitants in the village. However, in some areas, settlements were found with a population of several hundred people.
Sometimes the entire village consists of one large house, standing above the ground on stilts, that can accommodate 50 or more people. Inside the house, along the side walls, there are hearths where married couples live. Children usually take seats in the middle of the house.
On the northeastern coast, the southeastern peninsula and in some other areas, there are large villages, each with up to 300 inhabitants. Around the site, which has a round or horseshoe shape (depending on the terrain conditions), there are several isolated groups of buildings connected by narrow paths. Each group of buildings has a specific name. There is a men's house on the site. In recent years, the colonial administration has begun to introduce "villages of a new type": the Papuans are forced to place houses on three sides of a large quadrangle, one side of which remains free. This type of villages is convenient for colonial patrols, it is safer for them. But the Papuans do not like this completely alien type of village, and having built such a village, they do not live in it, but settle somewhere nearby.
Papuans' huts are extremely varied in shape. In the central mountainous regions, as well as among the Mekeo tribes on the southern coast and in the area of Humboldt Bay, there are conical huts. Tribes living in the upper reaches of the river. Mamberamo, they build something like two-storey huts: inside the hut, at a height of 1.5-2 m from the ground, bamboo trunks are laid in rows, which form the upper floor, which serves for sleeping; here you can climb along a notched trunk or on an obliquely set board. On the shores of Astrolabe Bay and in other places, quadrangular huts with a gable roof raised very high for better drainage of rainwater are being built.
Changes in the organization of power and in the economy during the colonial period
Each Papuan community still lives a more or less closed life. Its members clear the forest, near the village, land plots, cultivate the land, harvest crops, pay taxes to the colonial administration, supply a certain number of young men to work on a “contract”, etc. The life of the community is controlled by a “big man” or foreman subordinate to a colonial official.
Before the arrival of the colonialists, the position of foreman among most tribes did not give any privileges. The foreman worked on an equal footing with everyone else. The only thing that made him different from the rest of the community was the number of wives: he had not one, but usually two or three. The foreman usually became a person who stood out for his personal qualities among other members of the community, for example, physical strength and dexterity, knowledge of customs and legends. In the relationship between the foreman and other members of the community, there was nothing like a relationship of domination and subordination.
"All adults," writes Miklouho-Maclay, "equally have the right to vote, but among them there are more influential ones, distinguished by their intelligence or dexterity, and people do not obey their orders, but their advice or their opinions."
The invasion of European colonialists at the end of the 19th century. interrupted the independent development of the Papuans and violated their traditional social order. The colonial administration, using the foreman for its own purposes, assigned him significant rights and privileges and created opportunities for him to materially enrich himself at the expense of the other members of the community. At present, the foreman receives a salary from the colonial administration, albeit a very small one. But, in addition, he receives 10% of the amount of taxes collected by him and therefore tries to collect taxes as much as possible.
Various terms in local dialects denoting foreman are increasingly giving way to the Melanesian term luluai. In many villages, a new position has been introduced - tultul. This is Luluai's assistant, who knows a little English. His duties actually boil down to serving as an interpreter between the Lului and the colonial official when the latter visits the village. Tultul is usually appointed by a colonial official from among those who have long worked under contract on the plantations or mining of European "masters". Luluai's authority among the Papuans is largely based on old tribal customs, while the direct connection of Luluai with the colonial administration, on the contrary, undermines his authority among ordinary members of the community. The colonial administration is trying to revive and revive the old, dying tribal institutions and thereby strengthen the power of the Luluai.
The situation in the areas that fell under the control of the colonialists changed dramatically. The Papuans have lost part of their land. The colonialists need workers on the plantation. Many young Papuans are forced to leave their native villages for several years and work on plantations. Mostly old people, women and children remain in the villages. They have to take on all the work previously done by young men: clearing new sites, raising virgin lands, building huts, boats, etc. Children start working at an even earlier age than before. The absence of the most efficient part of the population is very painful. In many villages, vegetable gardens have been neglected, new plots have not been cleared: there are no strong workers, and the tools of labor have remained the same.
Missionaries
Destroying the old ("pagan") cults, European missionaries instead of them plant not on the scientific worldview, but other religious ideas and superstitions, which can only further obscure the consciousness of the aborigines. They anathematize many valuable things in the culture of the Papuans, hinder the development of folk art.
The "government ethnographer" F. Williams writes that the missionaries destroyed "all the bright colors of the culture of the Keveri tribe" (Papuans from the southern coast). Now the keveri do not wear jewelry because they are afraid of getting sick. Holidays are not celebrated, drums are not made; no dancing; if the keveri dance, they will “die”. Old songs are not sung, old legends are not told (otherwise they will "get sick"). “All old customs are bad customs” is what the Keveri missionaries taught. Williams asked the locals, "If you don't tell old stories, what are you talking about?" They replied: "If we throw away all the old customs and adopt a new way of life, we will receive eternal life - this is what we are talking about." It should be noted that even the "government ethnographer" Williams was impressed by this "new way of life." “It is difficult to imagine anything more bleak!” He writes 1.
The Papuans, however, do not want to give up their traditional way of life. In the area Williams writes about, they revived festivities and dancing despite the missionary threats. The missionaries, as a punishment for this, closed the school in the village. Duram, but this measure was in vain 2.
Education and healthcare
The preservation of religious and magical rituals and performances in a number of regions of New Guinea is explained to a large extent by the almost universal illiteracy of the Papuans. The first school was opened in New Guinea in 1911. There are now several hundred "schools" there, almost all of which are in the hands of missions. But what are these "schools"! Usually a school teacher, who is also a missionary, teaches Papuan children to read prayers and sing religious hymns, and this is where the “education” of the Papuans ends. Quite often the “teacher” does not know the Papuan language, and the children, of course, do not know English. As a result, it turns out that the “teacher” tells the children, as Capell writes about it, “about an unfamiliar subject in an incomprehensible language” 3. There are, however, also Papuan teachers, but they themselves are very little prepared;
In some schools - the so-called "civilizing" (civilizing schools) children are taught crafts, the rudiments of agricultural technology, reading and writing. Ordinary general education subjects are considered inaccessible to them, and they are not taught. Arithmetic, for example, is taught only in those localities where commodity and money circulation has already entered into everyday life. The languages of instruction in some cases are local dialects, in others - pidgin-English. In West Irian, instruction is in Malay. The colonialists do not want to teach literary European languages (in particular, English) to Papuan children.
The colonial administration, however, feels the need for literate Papuans, but here it meets the resistance of the planters and miners, who are not profitable. In 1929, the New Guinea Mandate Territory Administration decided to send seven Papuan teenagers to Australia to study. But the planters and miners made such a fuss about this that the administration abandoned its intention. A local newspaper editorial of February 1, 1929 reported: "We were pleased to learn that the seven natives who were supposed to be sent to Australia would not be sent there." This story repeated itself in 1947, when six Papuans were supposed to be sent to medical school in Fiji. Planters and miners do not want their slaves to know more than the "masters" need.
Australian anthropologist I. Hogbin, in his recently published book, written after a long stay in a village in New Guinea, writes: “As the experience of the natives grows, the need for technical education arises. If the Australians, said one native of the Buzama tribe, sent us more teachers, we would have our own engineers, doctors and pilots ”1.
There is virtually no medical service in New Guinea. There are only three doctors for every 100,000 inhabitants 2. The colonial administration spends less than 1 shillings on this item. per year per person, counting, of course, only the population of the "controlled" areas. All Papuan women give birth in their huts, without any medical assistance.
Modern colonization
In some villages, far from all, there is a special position: "medical tultul". about 10 thousand people of European origin. They usually live in coastal areas, in the mountains there are very few of them. This is the dominant stratum: colonial officials, planters, miners, recruiters of labor, missionaries, buyers, etc. These are the people who directly pursue the policy of colonial oppression, plunder the natural resources of New Guinea and mercilessly exploit the indigenous population. They fraudulently "buy" land from the Papuans and force them to work for a paltry wage. In 1921-1922. the administration of the mandate territory cynically wrote to the League of Nations that “the most reliable means of civilizing the natives is their work for the Europeans”. When the localities in Kokoda in the 1920s began to build a small airfield, they set up a prison nearby, arrested several dozen Papuans and forced them to clear the landing site.
New Guinea has an underdeveloped mining industry (oil in West Irian, gold in northeastern New Guinea and Papua). But the main occupation of the Europeans is plantation management. Copra, trepang, pearls are exported from New Guinea.
The houses of Europeans were built from boards brought here. Many planters in the early years of their settlement in New Guinea live in houses built from local materials, with roofs made from sago palm leaves or kunai grass. The floor is usually covered with mats. As a rule, there are no heavy furniture.
Plantation slavery
Currently, in New Guinea, the exploitation of natural resources is in the hands of foreign companies. In 1952, there were 47 such companies; the largest of these was the American trust Buloio Gold Dredging 1. Companies exploit the labor of the local population - a large number of young Papuans work on plantations, mining and oil development, usually far from their native village.
Plantation and mining labor is labor lost to the community. The Papuans do not want to leave their villages. Therefore, a system of coercive measures applied by the colonialists to the Papuans was introduced - “the system of contracting”. It takes effect from the moment the village is taken "under control";
In New Guinea, a “controlled” village is a village taxed with money. For non-payment of the tax, forced labor on plantations and mines is relied on. And in order to pay the tax, the Papuan, who never had and does not have money (except for shell money), must obviously go to work to someone who:> has money, that is, again, to a planter or to to the miner.
A recruiter comes to the village, solders the Papuans (he gets 4-5 lb. st. For each "contracted guy") and makes them stamp their finger under the text of the "contract" they do not understand.
Plantation and mining work is hard and exhausting. Wages are extremely low. By issuing coupons or coupons instead of money (with which the Papuan pays exorbitant prices for the food given to him), by way of systematic fines, wages are further reduced 2.
Not surprisingly, recruiters find it increasingly difficult to recruit labor for plantations and mining. In 1948/49, there were only 30,000 Aboriginal workers on the plantations and mines of the Trust Territory. The "shortage" against the demand was about 8 thousand. In 1954, about 2.5 thousand Papuans were employed in the oil development of two companies - the Australian and the American - in the Papua colony, in the southeast of New Guinea. They mostly serve as porters and perform various black jobs. But the Papuans are beginning to take over a more qualified trade. In the jungle, where the colonialists do not want to work on their own, the Papuans are entrusted with one or another work on oil exploration, observation of machines. And the Papuans do a good job of servicing complex devices, such as seismic (geophone), etc. 3.
In such jobs as clearing roads, repairing bridges, etc., the colonialists openly, without even hiding behind the "fig leaf" of the contract, practice forced labor. They drive the Papuans out of neighboring villages and 9 threaten them with jail or corporal punishment, forcing them to work.
National liberation movement
The Papuans are increasingly realizing that the only reason for their backwardness at the present time lies in colonial oppression. Their struggle for national independence is becoming more organized.
When Japanese troops landed on the northeastern coast of the island in 1942, all European residents were evacuated from New Guinea to Australia. The Papuans were the owners of the island for a while. And they decided to fight for their land "with the help of wooden spears against the mechanized power of the modern army!" one author exclaims. They opposed the Japanese. In the area of Biak Island (West Irian), an uprising broke out, which received the name of the Maneren movement - after the legendary leader Mansrei-Magundi, who ruled the happy country when there were no Japanese or Dutch colonizers yet. The uprising was led by the Papuan Stephanus. He put forward the slogan "Papuan land for the Papuans!" and called on the people to fight for their freedom against foreign rapists. Traffic quickly shifted from Biak to Nomfur. A warship was sent against the rebels. The Papuans, armed with spears, bows and arrows, attacked this ship, but were scattered by cannon fire 1.
In those same years, similar goals were set by the movement led by Papuan Simpson. Simpson was killed by the Japanese. And when, during the war, Anglo-American troops landed on the southwestern coast of New Guinea, the Papuans also came out against them. According to two authors (Hogbin and Wedgwood), the Papuans told the Anglo-Americans the following: “If you take our land from us, our wives and children and we ourselves will starve to death. It is better for us to die fighting than starve to death. Only when we are dead will the soldiers take our land ”2.
After the end of the Second World War, revolts against colonial oppression continued throughout New Guinea. In his new book, Transfiguration, the logoin writes: “People report cases of abuse, demand higher wages, and go on strike when denied. The authorities face difficulties when delegations of the local population demand an increase in the number of teachers, the introduction of new crops and the organization of local self-government ”1. The Papuans are demanding self-government, they are fighting under the slogan "New Guinea for the Papuans."
The uprisings in West Irian are especially decisive.
In 1945, the "Maneren movement" was revived again for a short time. In another area, the Mera-Puti uprising (translated as "Red-White") began under the leadership of the Papuan Marcus Indeu. At this time, the leaders of the uprisings Maneren, Mera-Way and the newly risen movement of Simpson established a connection with each other. A specific political goal of the struggle was set - unification with Indonesia. In February 1947, the Dutch government sent troops and organized massacres. But the movement continues. There were uprisings in the areas of the cities of Babo, Kobas, Fakaofa, Sorong 2.
In the city of Madang (Astrolabe Bay) in 1946, 2 thousand Papuans revolted. In Finschhafen in the same year, all the Lului and Tultuls returned their uniform caps to the kiapu (colonial official), that is, they refused to serve the colonial administration. In the village of Anuapata (southern coast) in the same 1946, the Papuans of all neighboring villages gathered and sent a radiogram to the Australian minister of the colonies: “The people do not want the old system of government to be returned, the people want to establish a new government” 3.
Soviet representatives to the UN have repeatedly spoken on issues related to New Guinea. The draft agreement on the guardianship of New Guinea, presented by Australia, did not provide for specific guarantees of freedom of speech, press, assembly. He passed over in silence the issue of wider involvement of the local population in participation in deliberative and legislative bodies. The Soviet delegation insisted that these items be included.
The Soviet delegates to the Trusteeship Committee managed to achieve the inclusion of a number of clauses expanding the rights of the Papuans. But the General Assembly did not take into account the decision of the Trusteeship Committee and by a mechanical majority approved the draft in its original form.
In New Guinea, a movement against colonialism is growing. The events taking place on this island deserve the utmost attention.
New Guinea is called the “island of the Papuans”. In transfer from Indonesian daddy —"Curly".
The tribes of the Papuans are really dark-haired and curly-haired.
The island is drowning in tropical forests; it is hot and humid there, it rains almost every day.
In such climates, it is best to stay high from the muddy and wet ground.
Therefore, in New Guinea, there are almost no dwellings standing on the ground: they are usually raised on piles and can even stand above water.
The size of the house depends on how many people will live in it: one family or a whole village. Houses up to 200 meters long are being built for the village.
The most common type of building is a rectangular house with a gable roof.
Piles usually raise the house two to four meters above the ground, and the tribe kombaev generally prefers a height of 30 meters. Only there, probably, they feel safe.
Papuans build all houses without nails, saws and hammers, using a stone ax, which they masterfully wield.
Building a pile house requires good technical skills and knowledge.
Longitudinal logs are laid on piles, transverse beams are placed on them, and thin poles are placed on top.
You can get into the house by a log with notches: first, into a kind of front hall, more like a "verandah". Behind it there is a living space, separated by a bark partition.
They do not make windows, light penetrates from everywhere: both through the entrance and through the cracks in the floor and walls. The roof is covered with sago palm foxes.
all pictures are clickable
The most amazing dwelling of the Papua owls is the tree house. This is a real technical masterpiece. Usually it is built on a large tree with a fork at a height of 6-7 meters. The fork is used as the main support of the house and a horizontal rectangular frame is tied to it - this is the foundation and at the same time the floor of the house.
The frame pillars are attached to the frame. The calculation here must be extremely accurate so that the tree can withstand this structure.
The lower platform is made of the bark of the sago palm tree, the upper platform is made of the boards of the kentia palm tree; the roof is covered with palm trees
leaves, instead of the walls of the mat. A kitchen is arranged on the lower platform, and simple household belongings are also stored here. (from the book "Dwellings of the Nations of the World" 2002)
