Life of the inhabitants of the tribes of Papua New Guinea. Papua New Guinea named most dangerous country for tourists

Each nation has its own cultural characteristics, historically established customs and national traditions, some or even many of which cannot be understood by representatives of other nations.

We present to your attention shocking facts about the customs and traditions of the Papuans, which, to put it mildly, not everyone will understand.

Papuans mummify their leaders

The Papuans, in their own way, show respect for the deceased leaders. They do not bury them, but keep them in huts. Some of the creepy, distorted mummies are between 200 and 300 years old.

In some Papuan tribes, the custom of dismembering the human body has been preserved.

The largest Papuan tribe in the east of New Guinea, the Juli, was infamous. In the past, they were known as bounty hunters and human meat eaters. Now it is believed that nothing like this is happening. However, anecdotal evidence indicates that dismemberment of a person occurs from time to time during magical rituals.

Many men in the tribes of New Guinea wear kotekas.

Papuans living in the highlands of New Guinea wear kotekas - cases worn on their male dignity. Kotek are made from local varieties of calabash pumpkin. They replace panties for the Papuans.

Losing relatives, women cut off their fingers

The female part of the Papuan Dani tribe often walked without finger phalanges. They cut them off for themselves when they lost close relatives. Today, you can still see fingerless old women in the villages.

Papuascans breastfeed not only children, but also animal cubs

Obligatory bride price is measured in pigs. Moreover, the bride's family is obliged to take care of these animals. Women even breastfeed piglets. However, other animals also feed on their breast milk.

Most of the hard work in the tribe is done by women.

In the Papuan tribes, all the main work is done by women. Very often you can see a picture when Papuas, being in the last months of pregnancy, are chopping wood, and their husbands are resting in huts.

Some Papuans live in tree houses

Another tribe of Papuans, the Korowai, surprise with their place of residence. They build their homes right in the trees. Sometimes, to get to such a dwelling, you need to climb to a height of 15 to 50 meters. The favorite delicacy of the Korowai is insect larvae.

The last cannibals are known to inhabit Papua New Guinea. They still live here according to the rules adopted 5 thousand years ago: men go naked, and women cut off their fingers. There are only three tribes still engaged in cannibalism, these are Yali, Vanuatu and Karafai. The Karafai (or tree people) are the most cruel tribe. They eat not only the warriors of foreign tribes who have lost the locals or tourists, but also all their deceased relatives. The name “tree people” is due to their houses, which are incredibly high (see the last 3 photos). The Vanuatu tribe is peaceful enough not to eat the photographer, they bring several pigs to the leader. Yali are formidable warriors (photos of Yali begin with 9 photos). The phalanges of the fingers of a woman of the Yali tribe are cut off with a hatchet as a sign of mourning for a deceased or deceased relative.

The most important holiday of Yali is the holiday of death. Women and men paint their bodies in the form of a skeleton. On the holiday of death before, perhaps they do it now, they killed the shaman and the leader of the tribe ate his warm brain. This was done in order to satisfy Death and absorb the shaman's knowledge to the leader. Now Yali people are killed less often than usual, mainly if there was a crop failure or for some other "important" reasons.

Hungry cannibalism, preceded by murder, is regarded in psychiatry as a manifestation of the so-called hungry madness.

Also known is everyday cannibalism, not dictated by the need to survive and not provoked by hunger madness. In judicial practice, such cases are not qualified as premeditated murder with particular cruelty.

With the exception of these not-so-common cases, the word "cannibalism" often brings to mind the insane ritual feasts during which the victorious tribes devour the body parts of their enemies in order to gain their strength; or another known useful "application" of this phenomenon: the heirs thus deal with the bodies of their fathers in the godly hope that they will be reborn in the body of those who devoured their flesh.

The most "cannibal" strange of the modern world is Indonesia. In this state there are two famous centers of mass cannibalism - part of the island of New Guinea belonging to Indonesia and the island of Kalimantan (Borneo). The jungle of Kalimantan is inhabited by 7-8 million dayaks, famous skull hunters and cannibals.

The most tasty parts of the body are considered to be the head - tongue, cheeks, skin from the chin, the brain extracted through the nasal cavity or ear opening, meat from the thighs and calves, heart, palms. Women are the initiators of the crowded hikes for the skulls of the Dayaks.
The most recent surge in cannibalism in Borneo occurred at the turn of the 20th and 21st centuries, when the Indonesian government tried to organize the colonization of the interior of the island by civilized immigrants from Java and Madura. The unfortunate peasant settlers and the soldiers accompanying them were mostly slaughtered and eaten. Until recently, cannibalism continued on the island of Sumatra, where the Batak tribes ate criminals sentenced to death and incapacitated old people.

An important role in the almost complete elimination of cannibalism in Sumatra and some other islands was played by the activities of the "father of Indonesian independence" Sukarno and the military dictator Suharto. But even they could not improve the situation one iota in Irian Jaya - Indonesian New Guinea. The Papuan ethnic groups living there, according to the testimony of missionaries, are possessed by a passion for human meat and are distinguished by unprecedented cruelty.

They especially prefer the human liver with medicinal herbs, penises, noses, tongues, meat from the thighs, feet, breasts. In the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, in the independent state of Papua New Guinea, the facts of cannibalism are much less recorded.

Papua New Guinea, especially its center - one of the reserved corners of the Earth, where human civilization almost did not penetrate. People there live in complete dependence on nature, worship their deities and worship the spirits of their ancestors.

Quite civilized people who know the official - English - language now live on the coast of the island of New Guinea. Missionaries have worked with them for many years.

However, in the center of the country there is something like a reservation - nomadic tribes a that still live in the Stone Age. They know each tree by name, bury the dead on the branches, have no idea what money or passports are.

They are surrounded by a mountainous country overgrown with impenetrable jungle, where, due to high humidity and unimaginable heat, life is unbearable for a European.

No one there knows a word of English, and each tribe speaks its own language, of which there are about 900 in New Guinea. The tribes live very isolated from each other, communication between them is almost impossible, therefore their dialects have little in common, and people are different they simply do not understand a friend.

A typical settlement where the Papuan tribe lives: modest huts are covered with huge leaves, in the center there is something like a meadow in which the whole tribe gathers, and around for many kilometers there is a jungle. The only weapons of these people are stone axes, spears, bows and arrows. But not with their help, they hope to protect themselves from evil spirits. That is why they have faith in gods and spirits.

In the Papuan tribe, the mummy of the "chief" is usually kept. This is a certain outstanding ancestor - the most courageous, strong and intelligent, who fell in battle with the enemy. After his death, his body was treated with a special compound to avoid decay. The body of the leader is kept by the sorcerer.

He is in every tribe. This character is highly revered among relatives. Its function is mainly to communicate with the spirits of the ancestors, appease them and ask for advice. People who are weak and unsuitable for a constant battle for survival usually go to sorcerers - in a word, old people. They make their living by witchcraft.

WHITE OUTPUTS FROM THAT LIGHT?

The first white man to come to this exotic continent was the Russian traveler Miklouho-Maclay. Having landed on the shores of New Guinea in September 1871, he, being an absolutely peaceful man, decided not to take weapons ashore, grabbed only gifts and a notebook, which he never parted with.

The locals met the stranger quite aggressively: they shot arrows in his direction, screamed terribly, brandished their spears ...

But Miklouho-Maclay did not react in any way to these attacks. On the contrary, with the most imperturbable air he sat down on the grass, demonstratively took off his shoes and lay down to take a nap.

With an effort of will, the traveler forced himself to fall asleep (or only pretended to). And when he woke up, he saw that the Papuans were peacefully sitting next to him and with all their eyes they were examining the overseas guest. The savages reasoned this way: since the pale-faced is not afraid of death, it means that he is immortal. On that and decided.

The traveler lived for several months in a tribe of savages. All this time, the natives worshiped him and revered him as a god. They knew that, if desired, a mysterious guest can command the forces of nature. How is it?

Yes, just once Miklouho-Maclay, who was called only Tamo-rus - "Russian man", or Karaan-tamo - "man from the moon", showed the Papuans this trick: he poured water into a plate of alcohol and set it on fire. Gullible locals believed that a foreigner was able to set fire to the sea or stop the rain.

However, the Papuans are generally gullible. For example, they are firmly convinced that the dead go to their country and return from there white, bringing with them many useful items and food. This belief lives on in all Papuan tribes (despite the fact that they hardly communicate with each other), even in those where they have never seen a white man.

FUNERAL RITES

Papuans know three causes of death: from old age, from war and from witchcraft - if the death occurred for some unknown reason. If a person has died a natural death, he will be honorably buried. All funeral ceremonies are aimed at appeasing the spirits that receive the soul of the deceased.

Here is a typical example of such a rite. Close relatives of the deceased go to the stream to perform bisi as a sign of mourning - covering the head and other parts of the body with yellow clay. At this time, the men are preparing a funeral pyre in the center of the village. Not far from the fire, a place is being prepared where the deceased will rest before cremation.

Here they put seashells and sacred stones of vus - the abode of some mystical power. Touching these living stones is strictly punishable by the laws of the tribe. On top of the stones there should be a long braided strip decorated with stones, which acts as a bridge between the world of the living and the world of the dead.

The deceased is placed on sacred stones, coated with pork fat and clay, and sprinkled with bird feathers. Then they begin to sing over him funeral songs, which tell about the outstanding services of the deceased.

And finally, the body is burned at the stake so that the human spirit does not return from the afterlife.

FOR THE FALLED IN BATTLE - GLORY!

If a person died in battle, his body is roasted at the stake and honorably eaten with rituals appropriate to the occasion, so that his strength and courage will be passed on to other men.

Three days after this, the phalanges of the fingers are cut off to the wife of the deceased as a sign of mourning. This custom is associated with another ancient Papuan legend.

One man mistreated his wife. She died and came to the next world. But her husband yearned for her, could not live alone. He went to another world for his wife, approached the main spirit and began to beg to return his beloved to the world of the living. The spirit set a condition: the wife will return, but only if he promises to treat her with care and kindness. The man, of course, was delighted and promised everything at once.

The wife returned to him. But one day her husband forgot and again forced her to work hard. When he caught himself and remembered this promise, it was already too late: his wife broke up in front of him. Her husband had only a phalanx of her finger. The tribe was angry and drove him out, because he took away their immortality - the ability to return from the afterlife, like his wife.

However, in reality, the phalanx of the finger is for some reason cut off by the wife as a sign of the last gift to her deceased husband. The father of the deceased performs a nasuk rite - he cuts off the upper part of his ear with a wooden knife and then covers up the bleeding wound with clay. This ceremony is rather long and painful.

After the funeral ceremony, the Papuans honor and placate the spirit of the ancestor. For if his soul is not appeased, the ancestor will not leave the village, but will live there and harm. The spirit of the ancestor is fed for some time as if it were alive, and they even try to give him sexual pleasure. For example, a clay figurine of a tribal god is placed on a stone with a hole, symbolizing a woman.

The underworld in the Papuans' view is a kind of heavenly tabernacle, where there is a lot of food, especially meat.

DEATH WITH A SMILE ON THE LIPS

In Papua New Guinea, people believe that the head is the seat of a person's spiritual and physical strength. Therefore, when fighting enemies, the Papuans first of all strive to take possession of this part of the body.

Cannibalism for the Papuans is not at all a desire to eat deliciously, but rather a magical rite, during which cannibals receive the mind and strength of the one they eat. Let us apply this custom not only to enemies, but also to friends and even relatives who heroically died in battle.

The process of eating the brain is especially "productive" in this sense. By the way, it is with this rite that doctors associate the disease kuru, which is very common among cannibals. Kuru is also called mad cow disease, which can be contracted by eating uncooked animal brains (or, in this case, humans).

This insidious ailment was first recorded in 1950 in New Guinea, in a tribe where the brain of deceased relatives was considered a delicacy. The disease begins with pain in the joints and head, gradually progressing, leads to loss of coordination, tremors in the arms and legs and, oddly enough, fits of unrestrained laughter.

The disease develops for many years, sometimes the incubation period is 35 years. But the worst thing is that the victims of the disease die with a frozen smile on their lips.

Sergey BORODIN

Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation

Oryol State University

abstract

by discipline: "Culturology"

on this topic: "Australian Aboriginal culture and

Papuans of New Guinea "

Performed:

1st year student, 3 groups

Melanesia, or the Black Isles, is New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Hebrides, Bismarck Archipelago, New Caledonia, Fiji, Santa Cruz Islands, Banks and many other, smaller pieces of land. Their indigenous population consists of two large groups - Melanesians and Papuans.

The Melanesians live on the coast of New Guinea, while the Papuans live in the interior of the other large islands. Outwardly, they are unusually similar, but they differ in language. Although the Melanesian languages ​​are part of the large Malay-Polynesian family, the people who speak them cannot communicate with each other. And the Papuan languages ​​are not only not related to any other languages ​​of the world, but very often even to each other.

In addition to the Melanesian and Papuan peoples, small pygmy tribes live in the inaccessible mountain regions of New Guinea and on many large islands, but their languages ​​have not been studied enough.

Resident of Papua New Guinea's ritual the vestments of the sorcerer.

In the eastern part of the island of New Guinea, on the Bismarck archipelago and in the northern part of the Solomon Islands, the state of Papua New Guinea is located. In the XVI century. these lands were discovered by the Portuguese. Since 1884, the territory was owned by Great Britain and Germany, and at the beginning of the 20th century. it was controlled by Australia. Although the country became independent in 1975, it is part of the Commonwealth and the Queen of Great Britain is the formal head of state. Copper, gold and zinc are mined in the country. They grow coffee, cocoa and coconut trees.

Papua New Guinea is often called "a haven for ethnographers, but a hell for any government." This expression was invented by colonial officials, but it is no less true today. Why “paradise” is understandable: there are few places on Earth with such a variety of languages, customs and cultures. On the one hand, there are officials, businessmen, workers in the capital city of Port Moresby, wearing European clothes and educated. On the other hand, there are mountain tribes not emerging from the Stone Age, waging war with each other and not understanding the language of people from the neighboring valley. They can warmly welcome a visiting scientist, but kill a person from the nearest village. Therefore, it is “hell” for the government, because it has to “harness” not only “an ox and a quivering doe” into the carriage of the state system, but also “a swan, a crayfish and a pike” to boot.

The government of the country tried to reinforce in the minds of the Papuans and Melanesians that they belong to the same people - hire Papua New Guinea. For this, first of all, a common language is needed, because the number of languages ​​in the country has not been calculated by anyone. In fact, there was a common language, and it was also understandable throughout Melanesia. In Papua New Guinea it is called Tok Pisin. It arose from English words and Melanesian grammar among farm laborers recruited on the plantation from different tribes who needed to communicate with each other. The English called this language "pidgin-English" (from the English pigeon - "dove"); the pronunciation of the Papuans and Melanesians reminded them of the cooing of doves. The language spread very quickly, reaching the most remote mountain villages: it was brought by men returning from work or wandering merchants. Almost all the words in it are English. Although the territory of Papua was owned by the Germans for a long time, only two words remain of their language (one of them is "pasmalauf" - "shut up").

If in English “you” is “u”, and “me” is “mi” (in tok-pisin it means “I”), then the combination “u-mi” (“you-me”) gives the pronoun “we ". "Kam" - "to come", "kam - kam" - "came"; "Bow" - "look", and "bow-bow-bow" - "look for a very long time." The most common word is "fela" (from the English, "guy"); this is how the planters addressed the farm laborers.

In fact, there is nothing strange in the Tok Pisin language: French and Romanian, Spanish and Portuguese arose from the Latin brought by the Roman colonialists, which the conquered peoples changed in their own way! It is only necessary to develop the language in order to publish newspapers, speak on the radio, etc. Therefore, Tok-Pisin is taught in all schools of Papua New Guinea. And the main slogan of the country is "Yu-mi wan-sang pipal!" ("We are one people!").

It is interesting that the Papuans and Melanesians not only consider Tok Pisin their language, but also know that there is still another English, the real one. It is called Tok-Ples-Bilong-Sidney - the Sydney language. After all, Sydney is the closest large city inhabited by whites. Therefore, anyone who wants to get an education must be fluent in the "Sydney language".

The famous traveler Miklouho-Maclay observed the Papuans of New Guinea, who still did not know how to make fire, but who already knew the techniques of making intoxicated drinks: they chewed fruits, squeezed their juice into coconut shells and after a few days received mash.

Crops grown in clearing by the Papuans of New Guinea are mostly fruit or tuberous plants, and unlike cereals, they cannot be stored for long. Therefore, the community is always in danger of hunger.

There are some principles of relationships between people. Ethnographers who have devoted years to the study of societies with primitive economies have repeatedly emphasized that romantic love is far from alien to people here. While the basic principles of family organization are not regulated by any strict rules and allow wide freedom of choice,

comparatively insignificant, in our opinion, details of a woman's behavior are under the strictest control of traditions and customs. Basically, we are talking about prescriptions of a negative nature. Among the Papuans of New Guinea, a woman does not have the right to enter the men's house, which plays the role of a village club, to participate in festive meals, or to touch the energizing drink of keu. She is not only not allowed to be present when men play musical instruments, but it is strongly recommended to run headlong away at the sound of music alone. The wife cannot eat from the same dishes as her husband, and during the meal she, like the children, usually gets what is worse. A woman's duties include delivering vegetables and fruits from the garden, peeling them, bringing firewood and water, and making a fire. The husband is responsible for preparing food and distributing it among those present, and he takes the best pieces for himself and offers to guests.

The life of a primitive man is inextricably linked with hunting. Therefore, first of all, magic operations relate to her. The so-called "trade magic" has survived among modern backward peoples. The Papuans of New Guinea, when hunting sea animals, place a small stinging insect in the tip of the harpoon in order for its properties to add sharpness to the harpoon.

In Papua New Guinea, religious beliefs have always played and continue to play an important role. Animistic beliefs are deeply rooted in the minds of many people, as is the belief in the magical effect of witchcraft, which serves as a means of regulating social relations. From the middle of the 19th century. the activity of Christian missionaries has intensified, due to which at present about 3/5 of the population, at least nominally, are Protestants and about 1/3 are Catholics. Until the Second World War, it was mainly missionaries who were involved in the treatment and education of the Melanesian population. The largest Protestant denominations are the Lutheran and United Church of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Over the past 20 years, new evangelical communities have made significant progress, in particular, one of the largest Pentecostal organizations, the Assemblies of God.

According to ethnic and linguistic criteria, the population of the country has always been divided into many groups, often very small in number. A separate group is formed by the Papuan tribes on the southern coast of New Guinea.

Papuans live in such inaccessible and dangerous places that their way of life has practically not changed over the past several hundred years.

The Papuans believe in their pagan gods, but with the coming of night, evil spirits appear, which they are extremely afraid of. They closely follow the customs of their ancestors during hunting, holidays, war or weddings. For example, the Dani Dugum tribe believe that their ancient ancestors were birds, and the "bird" theme is present in their dances and exotic body painting. Some of the traditions of the natives of Papua may seem shocking to us, for example: they mummify their leaders and talk to the mummy during the most difficult days; native sorcerers use spells to cause and stop rains.

Most of the Papuans-men (and almost all boys of 8-16 years old) walk constantly with a bow and arrow, as well as with a large knife (with its help, they quickly cut out new arrows), and shoot at everything that moves (whether a bird or an animal ). The reaction from the Papuans is simply excellent.
Many male Papuans go completely naked, but with tubes tied in front.