Track 67

Track 67.

You will hear a talk about the island of New Guinea and some of the people of Papua New Guinea.

First you have some time to look at questions 1 to 10.

Now listen carefully and answer questions 1 to 10.

Today’s talk is about the fascinating culture of New Guinea, an island divided in two politically but with huge diversity in both parts.

For those of you who don’t know, New Guinea is located in Oceania, in the south western Pacific Ocean, north of Australia.

Since 1975 the eastern side has been the independent country of Papua New Guinea, while the western side consists of the Indonesian administered provinces of Papua and West Papua.

Papua New Guinea has 7 million inhabitants and is an incredibly rural country with only 18% of the population living in urban areas.

It has 852 known languages and is one of the least explored terrains on the planet.

Now, one of the reasons that Papua New Guinea, and indeed the whole of New Guinea, is such an interesting place is that it’s home to hundreds of traditional tribes, perhaps better described as distinct social groups, each one numbering hundreds or even thousands of members.

In the Indonesian part of New Guinea, that is the provinces of Papua and West Papua, there are 312 different tribes, including around 44 uncontacted ones.

These are tribes who up until now hadn’t had any contact with the outside world, even with other neighbouring tribes.

Of course, everyone is most curious to know about these tribes, but, by definition, we have little or no information on them.

I am now going to talk about the tribes of the Papua New Guinea highlands.

These people only rarely had contact with the outside world until the 1960s, so they are still relatively isolated.

When we start to examine the tribes, we see a common theme, which is the use of various methods to intimidate other groups so as to protect their own tribe.

Let’s look first at the Huli-Wigmen, a tribe of about 40,000 from the Tari Highlands of Papua New Guinea.

They have given their faces a very distinctive look by using yellow paint, and they wear belts made of pigtails, aprons made of leaves, and wigs, which are a sort of hat, made from their own hair.

This look is designed to scare off outsiders, which they also do with their bird dances which mimic the birds of paradise that inhabit their land.

Another highland tribe, the Asaro mud men, have the same intention as the Huli-Wigmen, to ward off outsiders.

By smearing themselves in clay and mud they adopt the form of the river spirits, which are known to terrify their enemies.

Their elaborate appearance is further supplemented with extended fingernails and they wear terrifying masks which serve to accentuate their ferocious look.

The Asaro mud men were discovered by the outside world less than 80 years ago, but have now become a symbol of Papua New Guinea and make an important contribution to the tourist trade.

A third tribe that has become well known is the Chimbu, who live high in the mountains.

The Chimbu skeleton dancers used to dance to intimidate their enemies.

This tribe traditionally lived in male, female segregated houses, though they’re now increasingly living in family groups.

This group too now display their traditional dances not to scare off other tribes but more to entertain tourists.

An interesting event, the Mount Hagan Sing-Sing, takes place every year, involving over 50 tribes.

This came about due to the constant fighting between tribes, which became a serious problem for the Papua New Guinea government.

So in 1961 it came up with the idea of a cultural show which would bring together as many tribes as possible in peace and pride in their cultural heritage.

The Mount Hagan Sing-Sing is a wonderful opportunity for Papua New Guinea to showcase its fascinating cultural heritage.

At this event, tourists and locals alike can witness the spectacular costumes, including six feet high headdresses made of flowers, shells and feathers.

Inevitably, there is some loss of authenticity associated with this kind of event.

For example, chemical dyes are now used instead of the natural ones the tribes used earlier.

However, a poor, developing country has to exploit whatever resources it has, and the wealth of this region is its tribal peoples.