These pictures were taken between 1988-1990, three from the Goroka Show. Goroka is located in the Eastern Highlands province. This area is very mountanous, thus the name highlands. Not too difficult to figure out!! The people in the highlands areas typically had their houses built low to the ground to keep in the heat. Even in the tropics when you go up in elevation it gets cold at night. The soils are also very good for growing and the highlands people are known for growing great vegetables and having huge gardens. The Goroka Show is an event where tribes from all over the country dress in traditional "bilas" and compete for prizes and/or just show off their traditional "festival wear." It is a great opportunity to see the diversity of PNG.
Click on the small picture to get a larger picture.
The headdresses are made from the 'Bird of Paradise' feathers. The drums they use are called 'Kundu' drums and are made from wood with an animal skin stretched over the top, usually python or lizard.
These guys came from Madang, which is on the coast. The headdress is made from bird of paradise and yellow crested cockatoo feathers.
Here are some Huli dancers.
This is an image of typical low to the ground construction of highland houses and their gardens. The houses are made of wood and tall Kunai grass. The garden pictured has kaukau (sweet potatoes) and bananas which are a staple food for most of the highland peoples.
Food is an integral part of Melanesian Society, and in the South Pacific tradition, no good get together is complete without a mumu. A mumu is the traditional style of cooking with hot stones. There are many different variations on this. In the Highlands they bury the food wrapped in banana leaves in the ground. Another variation is pictured here. The food is wrapped in banana leaves, and a large metal kettle is filled with hot stones from the fire. The food is placed inside, coconut milk is poured inside, more hot stones are placed on top, then banana leaves are put over that. After a couple of hours the food is taken out and eaten!!! WHOA!!! In this picture I was in Nomad in Western Province. Nomad was one of my most frequent and favorite places to visit. The gentleman on the left is my friend Casper. We had an Easter Feast with a goose, sweet potaoes, taro root, greens, and other assorted food. Here the food is placed on the banana leaves and is ready to be placed in a large metal kettle. Casper has the coconut cream ready to pour!!! As I remember there were many family and friends around and it was really a memorable occasion.
DOME (DOMAY) HOUSE DANCE
Dome is a village located up the Fly River in Western Province. I had the rare opportunity to be invited to a house dance. The men dressed up in their best 'Bilas' or traditional ware, and had a dance that lasted all night and into the morning. Here are some pictures of that.
Here the men are getting dressed up and painted. The skirts were made from the bark of the tulip tree and the paint was made from local products.
SOUND FILE!!
Here is a sound file of the house dance in full swing. It's around 300k so click on it then check out more of these pics while it downloads.
Click Here Hear the .WAV file!
Here the men are linking arms and dancing around
in a circle on the inside of the house. It really doesn't show in the picture,
but if you listen to the sound file there is a rattling sound. This is
because the men were wearing a local plant that gets hard when dried and
the seeds inside rattle. They are wearing these hooked into the waist of
their belts. The house was about 10 feet in the air built on big logs.
This is to keep the house and occupants dry and cool as there is about
180 inches of rain per year and it gets fairly warm during the day.
