The Mudmen in Papua New Guinea
Shameless Wikipedia Steal
Sometimes I make strange cultural references and send people to Wikipedia… but this time, I figure why not embed it? Today’s tribe was so interesting, I thought you might like to see the history without having to jump out!
Legend is that they were defeated by an enemy tribe and forced to flee into the Asaro River. They waited until dusk before attempting to escape. The enemy saw them rise from the muddy banks covered in mud and thought they were spirits. Most tribes in Papua New Guinea are very afraid of spirits, so the enemy fled in fear, and the Asaro escaped.
They then went into the village to see what had happened, not knowing the enemy tribesmen were still there. The enemy were so terrified they ran back to their village and held a special ceremony to ward off the spirits.
The mudmen could not cover their faces because legends say that the people of Papua New Guinea thought that the mud from the Asaro river was poisonous. So instead of covering their faces with this alleged poison, they made masks from pebbles that they heated and water from the waterfall.
The masks have unusual designs, such as long or very short ears either going down to the chin or sticking up at the top, long joined eyebrows attached to the top of the ears, horns and sideways mouths.
Daily Photo – The Mudmen in Papua New Guinea
I’m really thinking about going back to Papua New Guinea and taking some photo-friends. If you’re interested, get on our Newsletter. Note we’ll have to have you sign wavers out the wazoo. It’s not the safest place in the world… but the photography there is amazing. You can visit the Papua New Guinea category here on the site if you want to see more photos.
