The Mt. Hagen Show is a collaboration of tribes from all over Papua New Guinea dressing up in traditional costumes to perform their own dances, chants, and instruments. It was a perfect festival to end our two-week mission trip. After learning all about the culture and traditions in Papua New Guinea, the Mt. Hagen Show brought them all to life.
Papua New Guinea is a difficult country to describe. The people are incredibly full of culture which is a beautiful thing to see but it makes it hard for the country to move forward as a whole. It is considered a third world country and still has a long way to go in terms of improving schooling, their health system, and government provided systems. I think it is for this reason that the country is known as “the land that time forgot.”
You see they have so many traditions and cultural norms that don’t match up with what is ok in other countries. For instance, instead of punishment for crimes, it is more an eye for an eye mentality. If someone fights another or kills, then retaliation is expected. If someone steals or runs over an animal with their car, then compensation is expected. This is especially true when one tribe does it to another. Tribes will fight for years. Even if it is just one person that committed the crime, the whole tribe is held accountable. We met a guy at the Mt. Hagen Show that had to run away from his home because he had a bounty over his head to be killed. Now this was because someone from his tribe killed someone from the other tribe and that person ran and hid in the hills. So that tribe picked him to kill for revenge and he has been away from his home for 10 years. It’s so hard to describe because the people that we met were all so friendly, but I think the protect/fighting mentality is ingrained in them. They had to defend their land and tribes so recently in time
It is men that were traditionally in charge of protecting the tribe. One way that they did this was using a scare tactic. They used their dress and painted their bodies to intimidate others. We were able to see their traditional dress at the Mt. Hagen Show. Many of the tribes at the show were separated men from women. There is still quite a bit of segregation between the two. One of the churches we went to had men on one side and women on the other. We really screwed that up when we went to church there and sat on the men’s side. The women were traditionally in charge of the garden and raising the children. They literally have some of the best gardens I have ever seen! Everything grows rampant there. You can walk through a garden and see sugar cane, banana trees, potatoes of every kind, leafy greens, and fruit galore. It was amazing. They sell all these items at the market or just on the side of the road. It is interesting because you see ten or more people selling the same thing on the same street corner and wonder how any of them can make money. The markets and street corners are also where everyone gathers. You see so many people socializing and hanging out every day of the week. Which is also interesting because it seems no one has a job.
People find the most interesting ways to make money. Teenage boys will go on the side of the road and fill pot holes and basically demand money when you pass by in a car. The funny thing is there are so many pot holes and they fill maybe a 30 foot stretch then you get around the corner and there are heaps more. Br. Ray said that at night they will take out the gravel they filled the potholes with and then just refill them in the morning and do the same thing. Then you have the chicken man who in my opinion is doing it right. He sells chickens and eggs which are wanted items and not very many other people are in that business. He also dipped into the transportation industry and bought a bus. He charges people and drives them to different cities.
My hope is that the country is able to keep their culture in their hearts and still move forward as a whole in education, health services, and economy. They have so many resources on their land and in their sea, it is a shame not to see more people taking advantage of it. I think it has been a blessing that so many missionaries were sent there. It is very recent that religion has been introduced to Papua New Guinea. After World War I some of the country was destroyed from the fighting that occurred in that area. It was around then that religious groups started sending more missionaries to Papua New Guinea. This includes many Capuchins like Fr. Peter, Br. Ray, and Bishop Steve. They worked with the people to build missionary centers. The missionaries that I saw had a church, school, health center, housing for those that worked there, gardens and cemeteries. They were all like little cities that the community built around. I think it is places like this and people like the Capuchins that will help Papua New Guineans move forward and have a better understanding of right from wrong. The Capuchins have been there so long. They have a deep understanding for the culture of Papua New Guinea and the country is a part of them. I am so grateful for having seen the work that the Capuchins do in Papua New Guinea and the amazing people who I met. The Mt. Hagen Show was icing on the cake for me and an unforgettable experience.
The Pathless Atlas 