Unchartered Territory

(Navyn) Just south of the equator and north of Australia, lies one of the last unchartered territories on earth, Papua New Guinea. On a map it resembles a prehistoric dinosaur and is the second largest island after Greenland. This country and it’s seven million people were not known to the white man until 1930 because the terrain was so forbidding that the most common experience for its inhabitants was isolation. 820 languages or ¼ of the world’s languages are spoken in PNG and can be as different as English is to Chinese. Many people still live “traditionally” in the villages as subsistence farmers on the fertile lands.

So let’s just stop there and define living traditionally. If you want to marry off your daughter you first have to figure out what she is worth. The going rate is 30 pigs, although you could negotiate 25 pigs plus 5 goats and some cash. Before 1933, trading was done completely in seashells. Conch or Kina shells were the most valuable. In fact the currency is still called Kina today but now takes the form of paper bills that we are accustomed to. Some men have many wives. An elderly gentleman introduced us to wives 4 through 5. We didn’t get a chance to meet his sixteen children or wife #1 but there were several human skulls adorning the cross beam of his hut. When asked where those came from, he simply said, “People I killed, of course.” I’m hoping wife #1 was just out gardening, not one of the kills.

While we westerners may think these practices primitive, let’s just remember for a minute that the U.S. does share something cultural with PNG. We have the same Stone Age maternity policies. In fact PNG and the U.S. are the only two nations who do not offer paid maternity leave. Why we are not more outraged about that stat, I am not sure, but we obviously we have a long way to go when determining the value of women and children in both countries.

We weren’t really sure what to expect in PNG. Every Australian we have bumped into along our travels has said exactly the same thing, “Why would you go there, it’s the most dangerous place on earth and the natives still practice cannibalism.” Needless to say we were a little nervous, but upon arrival have found nothing but friendly people who have done nothing but wave frantically at our bus. Clearly the Aussies have not vacationed in Syria.

Tribal wars do still continue with some regularity today. One couple we met were driving to our remote hotel and along the way, found themselves in the middle of a full-on bow and arrow tribal war over a disputed boundary. The chiefs called a time out, let their car pass and then continued the war once they were safely out of range. Now, for a moment this sounds quite uncivilized, but when you think about it, is it any different than a weekend on the south side of Chicago? Instead of pigs and boundaries they fight over drugs with gangs and guns. An eye for an eye is a very serious way of life for so many. In fact, war in PNG is actually an enjoyable activity. One man told me “It’s like football!” The men spend much of their time strategizing, planning, and building up an arsenal just like a sporting event.

Most of our adventures (aside from some beautiful hikes over handmade suspension bridges and waterfalls) have been visits to the Hela villages in the Highlands to learn about the culture of the Hulis. The lush green mountains were covered in a cool, damp rainforest, making it hard to even see the villages tucked away in idyllic pockets of beauty. We spent several days learning about how they perform weddings (more of a trade negotiation), what jewelry they wear (body parts are big here – jaw & thigh bones, teeth, and tusks all make good necklaces), healthcare (the medicine man who chased the evil spirits away to cure a little boy of stomach and respiratory issues), the wig school (where boys were trained to grow their hair with a combination of daily watering with holy water and spells placed on them by their teacher for 18 months), and how they prepare for celebrations (painted faces, ceremonial wigs, and bird of paradise feathers embellishments on their headdresses).

As we head to our next destination, the view from the airplane looks as though masses of rugged terrain had been pushed up from the bottom of the ocean. Green forests carpet the mountaintops and a thousand feet below, rivers carve their way through narrow, fertile valleys. There is very little evidence of civilization from above. We leave the cool, mountain air behind and in stark contrast, land on a grass airstrip and head to the Sepik River where the heat, humidity and mosquitos greeted us once more. We cruised through the waterways aboard the Sepik Spirit, stopping along the way to visit more villages and attempt to understand their culture.

Along the rivers we see slender dugout canoes captained by fisherwomen and their young children. Egrets drifted slowly by on their log taxis, palm trees and greenery of all sorts framed thatched roof houses tucked away like little tree houses. From afar, it looks like a paradise. Upon closer inspection, I see nothing but poverty. We are greeted by naked, giggling children, but I can’t help but notice the distended bellies, skin infections, malaria and the blonde hair signaling malnutrition. The kids are not in school because it is raining, or because the teachers had to go somewhere or because it’s Thursday, I don’t know but I am saddened to see that education is not very accessible or deemed important. We shop at the “markets” they have carefully laid out for us, proudly displaying their artifacts. We were warmly welcomed in every tiny village we visited and felt blessed to have the chance to peer into the lives of the kindhearted and fascinating Papuans. I took far too many photos once again, so put them in the most concise slideshow I could create. (See video at bottom)

Paul continues to be a hit in most countries with his passion for interactive learning (driving boats, shooting arrows, dancing with the 100% topless and well-endowed Sili Muli tribe), but he has never seen better crowds for his primitive, but effective magic tricks that consist of a stone and some slight of hand. Whenever we hear oodles of children laughing, we know Paul must be at the center. (See video below) Grandma Ginny visited us for the last ten days and has enjoyed bonding with the natives, the grandchildren, and experiencing life on the road with the Salem’s.

 

Papua New Guinea from Salem Explorers on Vimeo.

 

The Magic Man from Salem Explorers on Vimeo.