Papua New Guinea - Tribes
It is estimated that more than a thousand different cultural groups exist in PNG. Because of this diversity, many different styles of cultural expression have emerged. Each group has created its own expressive forms of art, dance, weaponry, costumes, singing, music, architecture and much more. Most of these cultural groups have their own language. People typically live in villages that rely on subsistence farming. In some areas people hunt and collect wild plants (such as yam roots) to supplement their diets. Those who become skilled at hunting, farming and fishing earn a great deal of respect.
Human beings hold social as well as financial capital. Being a respected part of a strong community is a form of capital which under many circumstances will be more useful than goods or chattels. In Papua New Guinea, this seems to have been particularly important. The societies were basically egalitarian, though there were influential "big men" whose special status was more marked in the larger highlands societies. Such men would go out of their way not to accumulate stocks of personal economic capital. They would instead use wealth to create networks of social obligation among their allies, with gifts, loans, and hospitality.
This is most dramatically illustrated in the periodic pig festivals of the highlands and highland fringe, where thousands of pigs would be slaughtered and their meat distributed to all and sundry in a single, ritually charged episode of apparent wealth destruction. In these episodes, big men were trading concrete economic capital for social capital among their group, and at some level, it was probably quite rational.
Kinship rules in PNG determine who a person can marry. Marriage can be made legal in three ways: payment of bride price which is recognized by custom, religious ceremony, or a civil contract signed at the Registrar’s Office. Marriage payment known as the ‘bride price’ or dowry normally involving the exchange of valuables and food is practiced in many societies. The payment signifies a woman’s transfer of productive capacity to another kinship group and is a form of compensation to her family.
Polygamy, where a man can have more than one wife is practiced in all four regions of the country. Polygamy in most cases is associated with status and prestige as having many wives and children implies providing more food and pigs for ceremonies. The cost of bride price in modern times has increased as families demand a lot of money and expensive goods.
There are five main ethnic groups in PNG. The largest ethnic group is of Melanesian origin followed by Papuan, Negrito, Micronesian, and Polynesian. Like other Melanesian societies, the wantok system of tribal and familial relationships dominates. This is highlighted by reciprocal social responsibility for payback. This informal revenge mechanism, which is used as a form of social control, creates fear of retaliation of one inflicting pain and suffering on another person.
Within PNG the fundamental group is the extended family which is bound together by descent and may cover a wider area. Like other Melanesian societies the wantok system of tribal and familial relationships dominates interactions highlighted by reciprocal social responsibility for all extended family members.
The wantok system (Tok Pisin for people of one language) is a marker of collective identity which permeates most aspects of a PNG person’s life. It is a unique system of expressing social obligations which requires relatives to support members of their immediate and extended family with certain favours. On the surface it is a rather egalitarian system not unlike a form of social security which can extend to clan or tribe in time of need. Within villages each person is expected to accommodate and feed their wantoks if they fall upon hard times until more permanent arrangements are made.
Understanding the wantok system is a vital component to successful interactions in PNG. Wantok loyalties affect every aspect of PNG life to the extent that even high ranking officials may feel obligated to their wantok at the expense of conducting their job properly.
Like the wantok system, ‘Big Man Syndrome’ is deeply etched into the traditional social fabric of PNG, where the acquisition of power and material wealth carries a responsibility to administer and (re)-distribute goods and money fairly among your wantok. The notion of the ‘big man’ is problematic when it extends into politics and the desire for election. At the local level, the ‘big man’ is considered a ‘generous rich man’, ‘center man’ or a man with charisma and influence. It is possible for there to be more than one ‘big man’ in a village and they are not likely to be the chief of the village. Big man politics during elections can sometimes create tensions and violence among competing factions.
Payback is an informal revenge mechanism which is used as a form of social control as it creates fear of retaliation if one inflicted pain and suffering on another person. An accusation of sorcery obligates an individual to defend one’s family, clan or tribe. This commitment has sometimes led to tribal fights and killings although its application varies from coastal areas to the highlands. The government, the public and churches have been working together to expand provisions of the Sorcery Act 1971 to deal with sorcery related violence which largely affects women.
Tribal masks from Papua New Guinea come in various types, which vary mainly depending on the region they come from. The best known Papua New Guinea mask come from the Sepik River but there are various widely different types of masks through out New Guinea. A face mask could be placed in dwelling houses and represents a spirit who guards the food supply and other assets in hunting and fishing expeditions.
The Sepik River snakes in broad, meandering coils for over 650 miles (1,100 km) before emptying into the Bismark Sea. It is New Guinea's equivalent of the Amazon and the Congo rivers. There are mask-making villages all along the Sepik, but the middle river is the most densely populated with over 25 large villages of the Iatmul language group people between Moim and Pagwi. Tambanum is the largest, others include Timbunke, Angriman, Mindinbit, Kamanimbit, Kanganaman, Palimbei, Yentchan, Korogo and Kandingai.
If a village or clan has a lot of bad luck, such as many deaths, the whole group may change their names and buy the rights to use masks from another clan in different village in an attempt to fool the bad spirits or sorcerers. If a mask got old and bug-eaten and a new coat of paint would no longer suffice, there was little nostalgia involved. A new mask would be carved, imbued with the proper spirits, and the old one discarded.
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