Paradise: the in-flight magazine of Air Niugini, July/August 2017

Page 35

traveller

OUR country

Keeping up traditions ... a lagatoi (sailing canoe) at the annual Hiri Moale Festival (left); the real deal (above); the Miss Hiri contest is part of the festival (right).

Upon arrival in a Gulf village, the barter occurred according to the value system designed for Hiri. The return was always a very happy occasion. Much feasting took place and debts owed were repaid to those who took care of the families of crewmen during their absence. The Hiri flourished until 1941, when World War 2 disrupted traditional customs, although few Motuan villages tried to revive the interest after the war. But in 1958, the Australian colonial administration banned expeditions, after a returning lagatoi capsized outside of Port Moresby, killing everyone on board. Motuans say the major function of Hiri was economic. They also valued the institution for its maintenance of links with partners and neighbours. Hiri also provided the opportunity for festivities, and conferred prestige on those who participated. Today, the last surviving sailors are in their 80s and the practice of clay pot-making has died. The Hiri Moale Festival relives the tradition by having young men schooled in lagatoiconstruction skills and young women groomed in womanhood according to the ways of Hiri. The festival includes a Miss Hiri contest and coincides with Papua New Guinea's independence on September 16.

July – August 2017

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