Papua New Guinea - Pre-History
The first people to settle in the Islands of Papua New Guinea were Papuan, Melanesian and Negrito tribes. The tribes migrated from Southeast Asia via Indonesia between 50,000 and 70,000 years ago during the ice age when the sea was probably lower and sea distances were shorter. The migrants were mostly hunter gatherers although they also practiced some agriculture growing bananas and vegetables. The next wave of migrants was Austronesian who settled in coastal areas approximately 5,000 years ago and introduced a system of pottery making. As time progressed a trading system developed between islanders living in coastal areas, allowing exchange of goods such as food, canoes, pigs, shell ornaments, pottery and stone blades. Considerable mixing of groups has occurred since then, although most Papuans live in the highlands and Austronesians in coastal areas.
The name Papua originates from Spanish and Portuguese sailors who arrived in the South Pacific region between the 1500’s and early 1600s. Jorge de Meneses is reported to have named the main island in 1526-1527 as ‘Papuwah’ or Ilhas dos Papuas, a Malayan term meaning islands of people with ‘fuzzy’ or ‘woolly’ hair. ‘New Guinea’ was a name given to the island in 1545 by Spanish sailor Ynigo Ortis de Retez due to the supposed similarity between local people and those he found living in the Guinea coast of West Africa. Dutch, British, and French sailors also made frequent short commercial visits to the area in later periods and by 1870 longer visits were made by scientists, gold miners, traders and missionaries. When German commercial activity increased, British fear of annexation of the area grew, causing it to enter into negotiations that led to partition of the eastern part of the mainland and nearby Islands in 1884.
Pre-colonial practices of cannibalism and head hunting that created tensions among tribal groups were not uncommon. Communities of the Purari in the New Guinea Coast, Avatip of the Sepik and parts of the Solomon Islands were noted for such practices which had strong ritual connection and were considered part of warfare. It is suggested they provided warriors with not just bravery, but strength and rejuvenation or spiritual rebirth.
These Melanesian practices were in many ways intended to be used as a form of punishment although in some cases human flesh was eaten as a culinary treat and markets supplied such needs. Some communities in the Upper Fly River practiced cannibalism as well as head-hunting while communities in the southern coast were head hunters. Communities in the interior are reported to have hunted each other without discrimination until pressure from missionaries, Dutch and Australian colonial administrations worked to stamp out the practice in the 1950s.
Recent information from PNG suggests that open cannibalism has almost entirely ceased in many parts of PNG. While times have changed since pre-colonial times, there are still a few remote areas of West Papua in Indonesia where cannibalism occurs. The Korowai are reported to have continued the practice to the present day, killing and eating witches who are alleged to be possessed by the evil spirit known as the ‘Kakua’ although this claim still needs to be verified.
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