Saturday, October 24, 2009
Bougainville is one of the 20 provinces of Papua New Guinea, located on the northern end of the Solomon Islands. Throughout the year each of the provinces has its own festivities to celebrate their culture, music, dance and food. Tonight is ‘Bougainville Nights’ and I rode the Unitch bus with Carla and a bunch of Unitech students – which in itself is an experience.
One of the things about Papua Niuguinians is they can tell by looking at people which part of PNG they come from, Bougainvillians are always referred to as the ‘dark ones’ and they are known for their party-like spirit. Their music is very energetic and happy – fitting of an Island Nation. Traditionally they played bamboo pipes arranged in various configurations which were then beat with bark of trees, now they use pvc pipe and flip flops to create their music.
A few Bougainvillian staff from Unitech sang Swing Low Sweet Chariot which is joined in (off-key and uninvited) by Mortluck Island women who are even more boisterous than the Bougainvillians. The PNG girls I am sitting with just say, ‘oh that’s nice, they are just having fun’ – and they mean it. It’s a very nice relaxed attitude about life and enjoyment.
Dancers of all ages from Bougainville perform with the music, a few bands play, Mortluck Island boys perform a knife dance; their moms, the same women who chimed in earlier, are hugging and kissing them and making a big show of it and in general just having a really good time. A few dancers stand out, like the guy in the grass skirt who is sagging and the younger performers who are just so darned cute. I am taking a ton of pictures, but don’t feel like such a tourist/spectator because all the Papua Nuiguinians are taking lots of pictures and videos.
@ the edge 