There they remained for one or more months as the facial tattoos were applied in several successive layers. Prior to the actual tattooing rite, one or more girls were brought to the house of the tattoo artist ( bua’ ta). Maisin tattooing originated “when the heaven and earth appeared,” a mythical time when the Maisin say they emerged from the ground far to the west. Note that the tattoo pigment is first stenciled on the face before it is tapped into the skin. Korafe tattoo demonstration at Kofure village. Today, tattooing for all groups has become more a symbol of identity instead of one that marks an individual’s rite of passage through early life stages. In the Korafe region the tattooing ( buaré) of young girls, typically between the ages of 12 to 14, by female tattooists has continued until recent times, but the custom became abandoned in the 1980s among the Miniafia and Maisin tribes. Traditionally, tattooing ( bua, Maisin) here was female-focused and signified a girl’s transition from childhood into a marriageable young woman. Īlthough the ethnic groups of Collingwood Bay have distinct languages, they often intermarried and women all shared similar forms of bold facial tattooing. They chant: “Konimbe, Gumara, Oro Oro,” or “Welcome Konimbe and Gumara, Welcome….
During certain ceremonies or when natural disasters strike the Tufi region (e.g., tsunamis or earthquakes), the Korafe people sing to the spirit owners of these mountains to invite their protection. Mount Britannia and Mount Trafalgar in the distance. But the experience is highly rewarding, and the journey along the coast is spectacular because the coral reefs offshore are said to hold “more fish than water.” First you take a puddle jumper from Port Moresby to Popondetta and then you sit outside the “terminal” in searing tropical heat waiting for the next scheduled flight to appear from the sky. Luckily, getting to Collingwood Bay from the capital does not entail highway driving, but airline tickets are expensive by local (and international) standards and the flight schedules are random. So if you are in search of tattoos in remote villages and need to travel the roads, it pays to have a local guide. Buses, personal vehicles, and other forms of motorized people-movers are all vulnerable to such attacks. Leaving the capital Port Moresby for the coastal hinterlands is certainly not for the faint of heart, as bandits roam certain sections of highway. I think one of the reasons why so very few outsiders have studied tattooing in PNG recently is that it is a dangerous (and expensive) place. Map showing the tribal territories of tattooed women featured this article.ĬOLLINGWOOD BAY: KORAFE, MINIAFIA & MAISIN Here, among the Motu, Waima, Aroma, Inland Aroma, Hula, Mekeo, Korafe, Maisin, and Miniafia, women were heavily tattooed from head to toe, resulting in some of the most complete body coverage in the indigenous world. And as far back as the old men and women can remember, tattooing has been a tribal custom of nearly every coastal people. From snow-capped peaks reaching heights of 14,793 feet, to steamy rain-soaked jungles and volcanically active islands, PNG is a virtual treasure trove of natural beauty waiting for the intrepid traveler.īut it is also one of the final frontiers of women’s tribal tattooing culture. Just as PNG is linguistically diverse, it is also an ecological and geographical wonder. Incredibly, over 800 indigenous languages are spoken in PNG: a statistic that accounts for 1/5 of the world’s total. Although it is roughly the size of California, it is one of the most rural countries on the planet and only 18 percent of its six million inhabitants live in urban areas.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA (PNG) is the second largest island in the world. Field research for this article would not have been possible without the assistance of journalist David Lornie and Nata Richards (Hula). INSET: The gorgeous Motu village of Tubuseria.
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