The Kaluli of Papua New Guinea

Figure 1: The Kaluli

Today’s blog post will cover a group from the country of Papua New Guinea, the Kaluli (Figure 1). They are one of many indigenous populations living in Papua New Guinea (Figure 2).  As Papua New Guinea is a region of the world that has been and remains widely studied by cultural anthropologists there is actually quite a bit known about the traditional ways of this specific cultural group, which will be addressed further here in this post.

Kaluli translates to “real people” and the Kaluli claim their descendants came from the Mt. Bosavi region of the country.  Today they occupy the lowlands around this mountain, residing in very large long houses that accommodate 1200-2000 people at any given time (Figure 3).  These communal dwellings serve as residence for men, women, and children, although they are divided accordingly to allow families and single individuals their necessary privacy.  While each long house can accommodate this large number of people they are very rarely at full occupancy.  Because the Kaluli are horticulturalists individual families often live in smaller huts that are closer to their fields.  This also lends itself to providing privacy and freedom within the long houses.    

Figure 2: Papua New Guinea and Kaluli homeland

Food is very important to the Kaluli and a central part of their cultural traditions.  Much like in many cultures food is used as a means of securing friendly relations among individuals, but it is also used as a means of helping children relate to adults and as a means of calming children when they are uncomfortable.  The sharing of food is central to the Kaluli way of life.  It is improper to refuse any offers of food, and it is also just as taboo not to share food if and when someone requests it.  Food is plentiful in the region, so there is no need to horde it, making food sharing an easy part of the Kaluli lifestyle.  If someone does not have enough food to share it is acceptable that they only eat it, but they must do so in private.  To do so publicly would be a demonstration of greed or pride, which is highly abhorred among the Kaluli.

There is also a distinct division of labor among the Kaluli.  Men are responsible for organizing labor as a group activity, clearing the land, building large structures such as dams and fences, and planting fields.  Women are responsible for tending to the gardens, looking after the pigs that are raised within each village unit, hunting and fishing, processing sago (one of the primary stables of their diet), and raising and socializing the children.  This division of labor does not lend itself to typical power dynamics seen in many Western societies.  Men and women divide labor among themselves without any power or preference given to specific roles or genders.

Figure 3: Model of Kaluli long house

Another unique cultural tradition of the Kaluli is their Gisaro ceremonies.  Gisaro ceremonies accompany larger ceremonies, such as pig feasts, marriages, and other festivities, and act as an additional means of celebrating and sharing resources (specifically food).  A village will elect to host a Gisaro ceremony and call for men (and only men) to participate in it.  The male volunteers will secretly create special dances that will be performed all night and are meant to elicit severe emotional reactions, such as sadness and/or despair, among the audience members.  This is to satisfy one of the other purposes of the Gisaro ceremony: allow for emotional releases of pent up anger or frustration felt throughout the year.  During the Gisaro ceremony the host(s) will prepare large feasts for onlookers, and the Gisaro volunteers will all don the same clothing and paint and dance all night in order to elicit the expected reactions.  In response to releasing their grief and pain the audience members will often lash out against the Gisaro dancers, burning them with torches made available to them.  This is part of the ceremony as it allows for the physical manifestation of the grief to be released (and the Gisaro dancers are aware of this when they volunteer to participate).  Typically, Gisaro volunteers are identified after the ceremony as it takes several weeks to heal from the second and third degree burns that they suffer.

The Kaluli are a cultural group that represent the diversity of human cultures that exist around the world.  While some of their cultural traditions, such as the Gisaro ceremony, may seem strange the purpose behind it is one that many outsiders can relate to, specifically related to the dominant value forming within American culture about self-care.  Granted, how Americans and Kaluli define self-care is very different, but the motivations are the same.  Additionally, the Kaluli values concerning food are similar to those seen in various cultures, including your own if you think about it.  Taken together the Kaluli embody the cultural diversity but also similarities present among all human groups world wide.

References Cited

Peters-Golden, H.  (2011).  Culture Sketches: Case Studies in Anthropology. 6th Edition.  Mc-Graw Hill Education.