Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (often called "PNG") is a country in the southwestern Pacific.
It has an amazing variety of different tribes and languages. It also is an ecological wonderland with fascinating animals and plants.
Previously ruled by Great Britain, Germany and Australia, Papua New Guinea gained its independence in 1975.
Papua New Guinea: Land of the Unexpected
Papua New Guinea: Land of the Unexpected
Get more great videos: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=COAnews Be our Myspace friend: http://myspace.com/coanews Few areas of the globe can match Papua New Guinea in terms of biodiversity. The country's rugged natural settings are home to a staggering array of wildlife, including more than 21,000 species of higher plants, 200 species of mammals, and 700 species of birds. Papua New Guinea's indigenous clans are linguistically just as diverse; more than 800 languages are spoken within the nation's borders. These numerous clans also hold the key to conserving both their cultural and natural wealth of their country, specifically because they control approximately 90 percent of the nation's territory through a system of traditional land tenure. Because almost all of the land in Papua New Guinea is owned by its people, and not by the government, conservation efforts need to be approved and enforced by the local landowners. Crater Mountain is one of these landowner and NGO cooperative conservation initiatives in PNG.
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Where the Spirits Dwell: An Odyssey in the Jungle of New Guinea
Where the Spirits Dwell: An Odyssey in the Jungle of New Guinea
Amazon Price: $11.01 (as of 11/21/2008)
Tobias Schneebaum here tells the remarkable story of his four years among the Asmat of New Guinea, a jungle-dwelling people rumored to have killed Michael Rockefeller. Instead of ferocious cannibals, Schneebaum found a regal, gentle people who freely accepted him and initiated him into a way of life no outsider had ever seen before.
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Papua New Guinea (article)
Papua New Guinea, in Tok Pisin: Papua Niugini, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands (the western portion of the island is a part of Indonesian provinces of Papua and West Papua). It is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, in a region defined since the early 19th century as Melanesia. Its capital, and one of its few major cities, is Port Moresby. It is one of the most diverse countries on Earth, with over 850 indigenous languages and at least as many traditional societies, out of a population of just under 6 million. It is also one of the most rural, with only 18 per cent of its people living in urban centres. The country is also one of the world's least explored, culturally and geographically, and many undiscovered species of plants and animals are thought to exist in the interior of Papua New Guinea.The majority of the population live in traditional societies and practise subsistence-based agriculture. These societies and clans have some explicit acknowledgement within the nation's constitutional framework. The PNG Constitution (Preamble 5(4)) expresses the wish for traditional villages and communities to remain as viable units of Papua New Guinean society, and for active steps to be taken in their preservation. The PNG legislature has enacted various laws in which a type of tenure called "customary land title" is recognised, meaning that the traditional lands of the indigenous peoples have some legal basis to inalienable tenure. This customary land notionally covers most of the usable land in the country (some 97% of total land area); alienated land is either held privately under State Lease or is government land. Freehold Title (also known as fee simple) can only be held by Papua New Guinea citizens.
The country's geography is similarly diverse and, in places, extremely rugged. A spine of mountains runs the length of the island of New Guinea, forming a populous highlands region. Dense rainforests can be found in the lowland and coastal areas. This terrain has made it difficult for the country to develop transportation infrastructure. In some areas, planes are the only mode of transport. After being ruled by three external powers since 1884, Papua New Guinea gained its independence from Australia in 1975.
Source: Wapedia
Huli Wigman, PNG (Photo: Nomadman)
The Last Cannibals - Papua New Guinea
The Last Cannibals - Papua New Guinea
July 2006 We journey deep into the heart of West Papua to track down perhaps the last remaining cannibals in the world. The Korowai have lived by the same customs for 10,000 years. "It's normal. I don't feel sad or anything", states one tribesman, describing how he killed and ate his friend. The Korowai believe that deaths are caused by evil spirits. When a person dies, a frightening witch-hunt begins to find the person possessed and kill and eat him. Even children are vulnerable. A six-year-old boy has fallen under suspicion because his parents died suddenly. His uncle fears the boy will be killed when he reaches puberty. "The chances he'll survive are pretty small", states remote tribes expert Paul Raffaele. His only hope is that civilisation catches up with the Korowai in time to save him.
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Throwim' Way Leg: Tree-Kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds
Throwim' Way Leg: Tree-Kangaroos, Possums, and Penis Gourds
Amazon Price: $11.20 (as of 11/21/2008)
In Throwim Way Leg, Australia-based mammologist-raconteur Tim Flannery recalls scientific expeditions in the wilds of New Guinea that convey both the thrill of discovery and the negotiations necessary to bridge huge clashes of cultures. A world expert on New Guinea's fauna, Flannery has discovered 20 new species during his two decades of research. Yet his ability to convey unalloyed adventure in his taletelling makes these scientific expeditions read more like hair-raising, funky Redmond O'Hanlon-style travels than disciplined, scholarly field trips. Energy and danger run high.
Terrific thunderstorms and aircraft mishaps rattle Flannery during his travels. Yet the most memorable quality of Throwim Way Leg is Flannery's incorporation of humans into the natural world he writes about, often contrasting the jungled New Guinea denizens with stark modern technologies. He writes rich profiles of those he has met, and his images are memorable and meaningful: crowds of people gaping at a single television set; the remote landscape of Mt. Albert Edward dotted with cattle, Swiss chalets, and the smoky fires of the Goilala people; the malnourished Yapsiei greeting him reeking of the "sweet, sickly smell" of grile, a form of ringworm.
Ultimately, Flannery looks ahead and sees that the age of discovery is not at all complete in New Guinea, as so much remains unknown. But, in an often-told tale, modern political forces are at work, reshaping those unique natural and cultural environments that Throwim Way Leg explores with such vigor.
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This energetic fusion of natural science and anthropology caused the Times Literary Supplement to declare that in Flannery "Australia has found its own Stephen Jay Gould." Indeed, Flannery's book is, like Gould's work, erudite and informing. But Flannery (The Future Eaters, 1994), an Australian biologist who specializes in mammalogy, gives us a much more personal take in this memoir of his scientific and cross-cultural adventures during 15 expeditions to New Guinea?undertaken in order to research the many species of mammals that exist on this large island, which he refers to as "one of the world's last frontiers." His accounts of crossing the rugged island terrain and enduring onslaughts from snakes, bees, flies and mosquitoes are vivid yet understated. During his explorations, Flannery documented many new species of mammals and discovered the presence of a bat that had previously been considered extinct. The best parts of the book are those in which Flannery tells of his forays into remote villages. His descriptions of the indigenous peoples he met and worked with are sympathetic and often very funny (with the humor frequently at his own expense), particularly the tales of the cannibals of Yominbip and Betavip. Flannery accepted funding from the Indonesian PT Freeport mining company, which operates in Irian Jaya, but that doesn't stop him from voicing his concern that the presence of Freeport has led to civil unrest, violence, racial tensions and environmental havoc. The title comes from New Guinea Pidgin; referring to a first step, it means "to go on a journey." Readers would do well to follow Flannery on this one.
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Latest News on Papua New Guinea
Fetching RSS feed... please stand byRapid Deforestation - Papua New Guinea
Rapid Deforestation - Papua New Guinea
1 July 1999 We examine the opposition to logging in Papua New Guinea
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Good Websites on Papua New Guinea
- New Guinea
- Article on New Guinea as it was in the 1880s.
Huli Wigmen - Papua New Guinea
Huli Wigmen - Papua New Guinea
March 2006 The PNG Huli men are said to be the fiercest warriors in the world. But they have a surprising soft side -- an obsession with hair. Boys spend years constructing elaborate wigs. "It is very important for a young Huli boy to have a wig. That's why the boys go to wig school", explains Huli Harold Hayake. To grow strong, healthy hair, the young men live together in a monastic lifestyle under the guidance of a wig master. Only after their wig is ready can they marry.
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Do it here!
KimGiancaterino wrote...
I always learn something new from your lenses. I had never heard of the Huli Wigmen. Welcome to All Things Travel. Squid Angel Blessed.
Posted July 06, 2008
capybara wrote...
Fabulous Lens you have put a lot of work into it and it shows. Welcome to Travelmania group!
Tapir Travel
Posted July 06, 2008
