Oceania

[Visited: August 2023]

After an exciting visit to the Skeleton Men in the Chimbu province, we continue driving east on the Highlands Highway. I am looking outside the whole time, searching my memory for images of my previous visit. In Kundiawa, we pass the crossroads where I took a PMV to Keglsugl, to climb Mount Wilhelm, the highest mountain of Papua New Guinea. Good memories, and I cherish them. I try to see the summit of Mount Wilhelm, but it remains hidden behind surrounding mountains. A little further down the highway, we take a left turn and drive up a side road. After parking the van, we walk past a small building, and walk up a trail. On the way, we meet several cheerful Papuans who greet us with a big smile. It is obvious that they are used to seeing foreigners. Then, we enter a grassy area with a remarkable building. Our guide asks us to take a seat on a wooden bench.
We take pictures of the building, which has the appearance of a face. Two windows in the top and one below them in the middle make it easily recognizable as eyes and a mouth. One Asaro mudman comes to talk to us, and tells me he has singlehandedly built it. I can only congratulate him with a unique creation showcasing his fantasy and skills. It remotely reminds me of Sibiu in Romania, which is dubbed the City with Eyes because of the eye-shaped windows in their roofs. But I am in Papua New Guinea, and several Asaro mud men run from behind the house with the eyes to the grassy field as if to remind me of that. Some carry a bow with arrow, others hold spears, and one has those long fingers we also saw at the Skeleton Men. They run around, then suddenly stop and stare, their arms in a hold.
When their dance is over, another one starts. This is a different one: a fearsome looking man with a monster-like red-and-black mask runs forward, stops, runs again, and stops. He shouts and chants, holding two spears pointing forwards. Then, other men appear, and even two young boys. They run and stop with the masked man. The latter continues to make noise, and finally stops when he stands right in front of us. His mask somehow reminds me of the elongated face of a wildebeest. We hear that his dance marks the end of a fight, when the men sleep with their women to reproduce and expand the tribe for the future. There are many different stories about the history of the Asaro Mudmen. According to one, the tribe was driven out of their village, went into a river, and created masks which made them look like spirits - which allowed them to scare people away and establish themselves again in their village. Whatever the background, the Asaro mudmen are one of the most remarkable tribes in Papua New Guinea. The friendly men give us their masks, and we can try them on. They actually turn out to be quite heavy. When I get a mask, the guy who gives it to me warns me to be careful with the bow and arrow to prevent an accident. We end our visit with a traditional lunch cooked in the earth - and head off to Goroka.

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Asaro Mudmen > Papua New Guinea > Oceania

[Visited: August 2023]

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