HULI

TRIBE OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

By Aahana Choudhary
 Table of Content
1. what is a tribe?
2. what is a culture?
3. what is tribal culture?
4. about the tribe
5. History
6. Demographics
7. Cultural Significance
8. Paintings & Craft
9. Clothing & accessories
a) Women & Men
B) Wigmen
7. Rituals & Practices
8. Design & Colour
9. Visual board
10. Bibliography
What is tribal culture?
Tribal culture is the traditions of a group of people
who have a common ancestor and the way of life,
especially the general customs and beliefs, of a
particular group of people at a particular time.
Tribes have rich and unique cultural traditions,
including their own language, music, stories and
paintings. They also have their own Gods and
Goddesses.
About the tribe
Papua New Guinea is the world’s third largest island country with some of the planet’s most
extraordinary biodiversity. Despite being home to over seven million people, the population of
Papua New Guinea belongs to over seven thousand different cultural groups. Each of these has
their own language, enjoy variety in cultural expression including dance, music, body paint,
costume, and weapons.

The Huli is an indigenous group of people living in Papua New Guinea who are famous for their
custom of wearing decorations on their heads as well as painting their faces.
The Huli people make up the largest indigenous group in Papua New Guinea with a population
estimated at 90,000.
HISTORY
There is every indication the Huli have lived in their
region for many thousands of years and recount
lengthy oral histories relating to individuals and
their clans.It is estimated that the tribe has lived in
the region it inhabits for 1,000 years. The people
trace their ancestry to a male ancestor named Huli,
who according to legend was the first man to
engage in agricultural activities in Huli territory. The
Huli people were involved in extensive traveling,
primarily for trade. The tribe’s existence was not
known until 1934 when about fifty of them were
killed by two European adventurers. Plane travel
allowed Europeans to bypass the rugged terrains in
the mountains and they were thereby exposed to
Huli culture and life.
 Huli located in the
Southern Highlands of
Papua New Guinea

Has many islands

and bays, is
surrounded by
mountains World view
Papua New
Demographics

Guinea
located in
North of
Australia
and East of
Indonesia

Huli tribe has been living in the regions of Tari,

Margaraima, and Komi. Languages they speak are
Huli, Tok Pisin, and English.
Cultural significance
The people of the Huli people have different
rituals for different purposes that are significant
to them. The main idea or philosophy behind
these rituals is to connect to nature as they
believe in a supernatural energy known as Gamu.
They perform these rituals through dancing and
singing, sometimes through sacrificing animals.
They have great interest in birds and have been
imitating them in a ceremonial dances. They are
divided into clans (hamigini) and sub clans
(hamigini emene). The sub clans can participate
in the wars while a clan only has residential rights
over a restricted area. They consider families as
extensive and regard cousins as their siblings and
uncle-aunt as parents. Men and women stay in
separate houses. Women stay with pigs. After
birth, a child stays with his/her father to learn
arrow, bow hunting, building mud walls and
building homes.
Similar to other indigenous groups in other countries, the
Huli people have a treasure trove of beliefs, values, and
traditions that are evident in their daily lives. Men and
women have roles within their social system that are
grounded on their beliefs. The Huli people are famous for
their elaborate and colorful dress. They are proud warriors
that have great reverence for birds, imitating them in
ceremonial dances and decorating their wigs, woven from
human hair, with feathers, flowers, and cuscus fur.

Everlasting daisies are especially cultivated for use in the wigs while their faces are painted with
yellow ochre. Clans have a strong and intricate social system. Ceremonial rituals are strongly
observed, and men and women can still be seen wearing traditional dress, tending their gardens
and pigs and building their bush material huts.
 clothing and accessories
Wardrobe of a huli man
A Huli man in casual wear appears scantily
dressed in comparison to other societies.
He wears a string apron tied at his waist
which flows to his knees. They wear a thick
red woven belt that holds the apron.
A bunch of cordyline leaves cover his
buttocks and appear shiny in their green and
blue hue.
The men compliment their outfit with a
selection of beads, neck bands, earrings,
shell breastplate, a black palm belt, and a
bone knife.
The men put cassowary quills through their
noses, snakeskin across their foreheads, a
hornbill beak on their backs, and a belt of
pigtails to attract the ladies.
Most important of all is their hairpiece, wigs.
The wig making process is an extremely
important process for the males of the tribe.
Men use the string bags to carry tobacco,
red paint, money, sweet potatoes, and
sometimes even a mirror.
Wardrobe of a huli Woman
In the Huli culture, women wear long grass skirts and sometimes they
are dyed black.
It is very common to buy European smocks in Tari.
It is forbidden for young Huli women to expose their breasts, but when
it comes to older Huli women, there are no rules against them covering
their breasts.
They wear less body decoration than men. Instead of wearing earrings
and wigs, they wear a kina shell breast plate and neck beads.
Women use a string bag to carry sweet potatoes and sometimes they
even carry their children.
 Rituals and practices
Boyhood to adulthood
At puberty, boys are separated from their mothers & are
sent to live in a sort of “bachelor school” to learn their role
in society.
The boys learn the traditions of the wigs in school. They
learn things such as spiritual cleansing, as well as sprinkling
magic water on their wigs to keep the hair looking pristine.
The boys must sleep on their back with their head on a brick
in order not to ruin the shape.
After the boys’ first “haircut,” the process starts again.
Some young men will produce up to five or six wigs before
it’s time to marry. According to Huli beliefs, only the hair of
unmarried boys and young men can be used for making
wigs.
Huli children Huli wig making school
beliefs and social structure
The Huli people are animists and believe that everything has
a soul; this includes rocks, water, mountains, plants.
The Huli tribe offers many sacrifices in order to “ appease
the spirits”.
They firmly believe that all illness and bad luck comes from
witchcraft and sorcery.
Because of the influence of western cultur, 66% of the Huli
people now list their religion as Christianity.
In the Huli society, there are no chiefs or government of any
kind. Power and special importance can be gained by any
man who proves his worth and with the right ambition.
Huli people eat a diet of vegetables and only eat meat on
special occasions.
Sacrifices made to appease higher powers Huli men collecting food
 Wigmen
The first thing that sets the Huli warriors unique from those of nearby
tribal groupings is their straightforward painting. With their striking
red and ochre body paint, the traditional attire of the Huli people is
one of the most colorful in the region. The upper part of their face is
painted red, and the lower part ochre.
Alongside the body paint, the real show-stopper features of Huli
traditional costumes are their wigs. They’re so important in Huli
culture that male members of the tribe are also known as “Wigmen.” bright, ginger-red feathers are taken from wigs for ceremonial purposes

These headdresses are made using multi-coloured feathers from the the Raggiana Bird of Paradise, the national
bird and symbol of Papua New Guinea.

many Birds Of Paradise that are found in the nearby trees and forests. ings and heads of e
rs,w xot
To enter the school, the students families usually pay the wig teacher he ic
at bi
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one pig. If they want to continue in the school, another pig or money is

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needed to continue their wig education.

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The wig making process is an extremely important process for the men

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of the Huli tribe. Each boy must construct their own wig, and it is part

are c
of the culture to personalise their appearance. Freedom of expression

olored w
is an essential part of Huli culture, so they encourage individuality in
the wigs and face paint.
According to Huli beliefs, only the hair of unmarried boys and young

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men can be used for making wigs.

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 marriage
Huli society is polygynist. Men may take multiple wives, but women may only
have one husband at a time.
Exogamy, or marrying outside the tribe, is the norm. Marriage between close
relatives is forbidden.
On the other hand, girls prefer to marry a young single man while older
married women convince their spouse to marry a young woman so he can help
tend for the pigs and garden.
There are many methods on how a Huli marriage becomes official: betrothal,
parental arrangement, widow inheritance, or gift.
When the betrothal process is complete, there is a courtship party called a Huli tribe betrothal, bride price
dawa. At this party, there are many parts like: the pelagua dance, a pig Huli wedding
sacrifice, and ritual feast. These things are held to honor the ancestral spirits.
Prostitutes are brought in from neighboring areas to help fulfill the sexual
desires of the men, both married and single.
The marriage is official when the bride-wealth exchange has occurred.
Depending on the economic conditions and the status of the bride, she
receives between 15-22 pigs. lazy, promiscuous, or lazy women are forced to
accept a lower bride-wealth.
The union of marriage is still not official until the groom’s kinsmen escort the
bride to her new residence, which is usually her mother-in-law’s. The couple
does not live in the same house, but they are required to stay awake for four
days and nights and to remain outdoors whenever a bird sings. On the fifth
day, the couple prepares a garden with very ritualistic methods.
Huli wedding

Dana; courtship party

 Huli wigmen and menstrual pollution

The existence of separate male and female houses is one of many expressions
of the great social separation amongst the Huli.
Huli men fear menstrual contamination and avoid women as much as possible
to ensure their fertility and physical development.
They believe that menstrual blood (pugua) weakens a man’s skin causing it to
be flabby and dull; inhibits the growth of a large and shiny wig; and accelerates
the aging process.
These beliefs affect their social behavior so much that men and women eat
their food separately and are seldom seen mingling accept at Christian church
services.
A traditional Huli male would never eat food touched by a woman. Indeed,
many old men never purchase food at the market for fear that a woman may
have handled it.
Sexual behavior is greatly affected by the fear of menstrual pollution. Men
protect themselves from contamination by refraining from intercourse for at
least nine months after marriage. The longer a man refrains from marital The standard moral injunction cites the effects of menstrual contamination
relations the greater is he considered to be. on a male who breaches the norms regarding the stipulated times for
A menstruating woman, who is considered to be especially dangerous, must intercourse.

retire to a small hut until her menses have ended.

 Huli artistic expression
The Huli have a variety of artistic forms of expression. Their most graphic and
popular means of expressing themselves is bodily decoration. Men and women
invest a great deal of time and energy in the beautification of their bodies. Little
daubs of red or yellow paint are placed at the very corner of the eyes, over the
eyelids or under the eyes, and on the tip of the nose. They apply greater

Body paint and wig for ceremonies

amounts of body and facial paint during major celebrations like dances, ritual
events, and courtship parties (Dawanda).
Huli body art is spectacularly displayed at the three main types of Huli dances.
The amazing aspect of the dance is the splendid decoration of the dancers. The
men wear the manda hare wig which is either bright red or black and is adorned Art of Max Haensel

with splendid plumes of the cassowary and cock-a-too birds, and especially the
dainty and colorful feathers of the bird of paradise.
The soloist nature of their music reveals their strong individualistic nature. The
content of the gawa and hiriyula songs or poems express their strong feelings of
love as well as their keen interest in Huli history, geography and folk-lore. The
concern for bodily decoration indicates the value of the individual person and
personal beauty in Huli society. The use of so many natural objects in bodily
decoration as well as in fulfilling basic human needs indicates the close
relationship of the Huli to the earth and nature.
The design language is inspired by their surroundings and natural environment.
Body paint and wig for ceremonies

Dancing and singing

HULI
TRIBE
 bibliography
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THANK YOU