Hagita Cultural Show

One thing that you might not realize about PNG is just how many cultural groups there are. I mean, we are talking about a country with over 800 distinct languages (that’s right, there are even more dialects). So when there is a chance to see a cultural show, it’s an amazing opportunity not to be missed (especially when this one is free!).

So Friday and Saturday saw us driving out past the airport to the Hagita Sacred Heart School. The school consists of approximately 750 students who come from all over the province; most are boarders as it could take them many days just to get home (the other thing you may not realize about the Milne Bay Province is just how many remote islands make it up). Friday was a quiet day where each cultural group prepared for the next day and demonstrated some traditional methods of food preparation and arts and crafts. Each cultural group had to build their own house for the show, as well as any feasting platforms – pretty impressive if you ask me.




Our appetites were whetted, and Saturday morning we were ready and raring to go out to the school again. We were not disappointed. The first thing that we notice was the amzing array of traditional coustumes and the huge amount of effort that they must have taken to prepare.







The second thing you notice are the pigs!. I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many pigs in my life! One group had ten to exchange…I found myself feeling a mixture of awe and disgust. Awe in that pigs here are pretty expensive and prized – this was a very generous food offer. Disgust in that the poor pigs were alive and tied to a pole – it can’t have been a comfortable or happy place for them.





We started by going around to all the cultural groups to look at all the food they were preparing to exchange.
Anyway, after the official start to the day of boring and political speeches (elections are coming up next year…) the good stuff started. Each group had to exchange food with another cultural group in their traditional way. This doesn’t mean strolling over with the food, shaking hands and genial conversation. Rather, depending on the group, it involves traditional dress, dancing, drums and various methods of passing the food. In one case the situation almost became violent when the Tawala group started lobbing taros (huge yam-like things, weighing quite a few kilos) into the house of the Kiriwina group. Also spears were thrown into the roof of the house. Apparently this is all traditional, but perhaps a bit more…enthusiastic…than usual.





There were also King and Queen parades and dances from each group. But I’d have to say that the highlight for me was sitting with the GoodEnough Island cultural group. I was sitting down by myself while Cam went and took photos. I must have looked lonely or something because the woman near me handed me a bunch of bananas, and then a little girl sat next to me and put an umbrella over my head (to protect my dim dim skin from the sun). After this some of the students offered to paint my face. We were basically ‘adopted’ into the GoodEnough group, and I now have 2 penpals in Grade 9.








All round it was an amazing (and exhasting) day. It’s great to see how enthusiastic the students were, and how they all embrace their culture so thoroughly.