Congratulations !
You have been awarded points.
Thank you for !
- Story Listed as: True Life For Adults
- Theme: Survival / Success
- Subject: Culture / Heritage / Lifestyles
- Published: 04/26/2021
Ferocious appearance to save the lives
Born 1945, M, from Mumbai,, IndiaOur World is full of surprises of different kinds . The more we explore the remote regions of our globe , more surprises are in store for us. But such wonderful features are a matter of stupendous explorations & research.
In this factual story of human lives , let us travel to the popular but remote island Papua & New Guinea. The Eastern Highlands of the island with its highest point “ Mount Wilhelm [ 4609 Mtr]” is the home for a particular local tribe known as “ Asaro Tribe”. On its South Eastern side , flows the river Asaro , forming a valley between two steep peaks covered by thick rain forest. On both the banks on the reiver live about 30,000 primitive villagers, who control the access to fertile Markham & Ramu valleys as well as several gold funds. These inhabitants speak Dano dialect which is a part of Kainantu- Goroka language.
A specific peculiarity of this tribe is they are covered always with clay- mud and as their head gear, they wear animated masks also of grey colour. Due to this peculiarity they are known as Asaro Mudmen. In order to find reason for this peculiar look of theirs , one has to go back to their generations old legend , which explains as under;
Many generations back the group of Asaro tribe were defeated by other local tribe in a war. Asaro people had to escape for their lives and they took shelter at the banks of the river Asaro. Towards the dusk, their enemy group saw them rising from the river bank , totally drenched in grey colour clay paste. This appearance of Asaros created the impression in the minds of their enemy group, as if they are spirits approaching them. The tribes in Papua & New Guinea, basically are very scared of the spirits. So instead of capturing the Asaros, the enemy group fled from the scene. Surprised Asaros with clay covered skins reached their village. Seeing them the remaining of the enemy group also vanished from their village. There was no end to Asaros happiness. This incidence made them believe that the ferocious appearance will always repulse their enemies and save their lives. They can live their lives minimizing the wars and reduce the casualties. They felt complete body cover with the clay is the best weapon against the enemies and self defense, which made them make the masks from the same gray colour mud from the banks of river Asaro. For shape and expressions on their masks , they selected ferocious looks of different animals. Each mask weighs anywhere from 8-12 Kgs , ,made from ductile river bank clay. The masks do not crack at all even after use. So, the mud cover on their bodies and self made masks became their traditional attire. To give it a natural look , they even adopted the trick of camouflaging their body and masks with tree leaves. Asaro community stated living their lives with the faith ;
" A ferocious appearance to repulse the enemy and save your life"
There are about 150 plus tribes in Papua & New Guinea. The constant battles of the highlanders as well as rough terrain make relocation very difficult . Their bond with land is of paramount importance for them and right of their land ownership and duty of its protection is inherited from generations to generations. This legacy has seen several wars among them and thousands of tribes loosing their lives. Every village keep discovering new ways and means to upgrade their armaments arrow , bow , spear , shields etc for their protection.
Among the tribes of the island, it is established that Asaros have invented an ingenious wary to prevent the wars and minimizing the casualties. This has put Asaros at very high esteem among all the island tribes.
Upliftment of Asaro tribal Community:
From 1950 onwards , there have been little contact of Asaro mudmen with the outside World, particularly Australia and New Zealand , being in the closer proximity. Gradually the tourism in the Papua New Guinea Island was promoted, making the axis of the tourists possible with Asaro tribes, with many restrictions, from the safety consideration. In the year 1957, local organizers arranged a cultural show by name “ First Eastern High landers Agricultural Show “ , where mudmen were invited to participate. This opportunity was best exploited by Asaro Chairman Ruipo- Okoroho, which put Asaro mudmen into the tourists map of the island. Over 200 mud men in their natural traditional attire were made to perform on the open stage and the ceremony was named as “ Sing-Sing Show”. It was a super hit among the viewers with demand to stage it on yearly basis. Since then 62 years have passed and the Sing-Sing Show” has become tourists’ attraction in Papua & new Guinea island and the island has become a popular travel destination among the global tourists.
Primitive tribe men of Asaro community of yester years are the heroes of today, as Asaro mudmen, in the beautiful island of Papua & New Guinea.
Hem Bhandari
Ferocious appearance to save the lives(Hem Bhandari)
Our World is full of surprises of different kinds . The more we explore the remote regions of our globe , more surprises are in store for us. But such wonderful features are a matter of stupendous explorations & research.
In this factual story of human lives , let us travel to the popular but remote island Papua & New Guinea. The Eastern Highlands of the island with its highest point “ Mount Wilhelm [ 4609 Mtr]” is the home for a particular local tribe known as “ Asaro Tribe”. On its South Eastern side , flows the river Asaro , forming a valley between two steep peaks covered by thick rain forest. On both the banks on the reiver live about 30,000 primitive villagers, who control the access to fertile Markham & Ramu valleys as well as several gold funds. These inhabitants speak Dano dialect which is a part of Kainantu- Goroka language.
A specific peculiarity of this tribe is they are covered always with clay- mud and as their head gear, they wear animated masks also of grey colour. Due to this peculiarity they are known as Asaro Mudmen. In order to find reason for this peculiar look of theirs , one has to go back to their generations old legend , which explains as under;
Many generations back the group of Asaro tribe were defeated by other local tribe in a war. Asaro people had to escape for their lives and they took shelter at the banks of the river Asaro. Towards the dusk, their enemy group saw them rising from the river bank , totally drenched in grey colour clay paste. This appearance of Asaros created the impression in the minds of their enemy group, as if they are spirits approaching them. The tribes in Papua & New Guinea, basically are very scared of the spirits. So instead of capturing the Asaros, the enemy group fled from the scene. Surprised Asaros with clay covered skins reached their village. Seeing them the remaining of the enemy group also vanished from their village. There was no end to Asaros happiness. This incidence made them believe that the ferocious appearance will always repulse their enemies and save their lives. They can live their lives minimizing the wars and reduce the casualties. They felt complete body cover with the clay is the best weapon against the enemies and self defense, which made them make the masks from the same gray colour mud from the banks of river Asaro. For shape and expressions on their masks , they selected ferocious looks of different animals. Each mask weighs anywhere from 8-12 Kgs , ,made from ductile river bank clay. The masks do not crack at all even after use. So, the mud cover on their bodies and self made masks became their traditional attire. To give it a natural look , they even adopted the trick of camouflaging their body and masks with tree leaves. Asaro community stated living their lives with the faith ;
" A ferocious appearance to repulse the enemy and save your life"
There are about 150 plus tribes in Papua & New Guinea. The constant battles of the highlanders as well as rough terrain make relocation very difficult . Their bond with land is of paramount importance for them and right of their land ownership and duty of its protection is inherited from generations to generations. This legacy has seen several wars among them and thousands of tribes loosing their lives. Every village keep discovering new ways and means to upgrade their armaments arrow , bow , spear , shields etc for their protection.
Among the tribes of the island, it is established that Asaros have invented an ingenious wary to prevent the wars and minimizing the casualties. This has put Asaros at very high esteem among all the island tribes.
Upliftment of Asaro tribal Community:
From 1950 onwards , there have been little contact of Asaro mudmen with the outside World, particularly Australia and New Zealand , being in the closer proximity. Gradually the tourism in the Papua New Guinea Island was promoted, making the axis of the tourists possible with Asaro tribes, with many restrictions, from the safety consideration. In the year 1957, local organizers arranged a cultural show by name “ First Eastern High landers Agricultural Show “ , where mudmen were invited to participate. This opportunity was best exploited by Asaro Chairman Ruipo- Okoroho, which put Asaro mudmen into the tourists map of the island. Over 200 mud men in their natural traditional attire were made to perform on the open stage and the ceremony was named as “ Sing-Sing Show”. It was a super hit among the viewers with demand to stage it on yearly basis. Since then 62 years have passed and the Sing-Sing Show” has become tourists’ attraction in Papua & new Guinea island and the island has become a popular travel destination among the global tourists.
Primitive tribe men of Asaro community of yester years are the heroes of today, as Asaro mudmen, in the beautiful island of Papua & New Guinea.
Hem Bhandari
- Share this story on
- 8
Radrook
04/26/2021Very Informative. So did the gray mud still keep the enemy away after they found out it was just mud?
ReplyHelp Us Understand What's Happening
Hem Bhandari
04/26/2021It was not the gray mud, but the wrong impression among the tribes, that mud coated figures were spirits, which created the magic to ward off the enemies. This trend might have been effective in favour of Asaro mudmen, till the wrong impression was erased.
At present, the mudmen and their Sing-Sing Show, has become a tourist attracting cultural item in Papua & New Guinea.
COMMENTS (1)