The Cultural Dance of Pindu in Morobe Province-PNG

Semketa is the name of the village in Pindiu in Finschhafen. It is located northeast of Lae and roughly 80 kilometres by road from there, and 114 kilometres from the Administrative Township of Gagidu. Finschhafen is on the coast. Semketa is one of the twenty-one villages in Pindiu, the sub district of Finschhafen. The twenty-one villages all belong to the
Finschhafen open electorate.

From Semketa to Gagidu is a three to four days walk, and it is one day to Bukawa in the Nawaeb open electorate where the people get a ferry for Lae city. The Pindiu station and the Wagajasrin Lutheran Health Centre are linked by road to Finschhafen. The three airstrips allow access by aircraft and that is usually the best and only means of transport. One airstrip at Pindiu station, and the other two, served the whole of Burum. Those other two are Ogeramnang airstrip and Nomaneng airstrip.

Canadian-built De Havilland Twin Otter planes fly between Lae and the two airstrips. In bad weather conditions, these planes may have to cease operation for weeks at a time, despite their reputation as robust heavy weather machines. The Burum area including the Semketa villages is without roads. Their only means of getting government service is the two airstrips. When bad weather blankets the area, they do not operate, meaning that public services such as health and education cannot reach the entire community. Government Workers do not travel out. There is no bank, no big shops, and no telephone services. The area is disconnected from the rest of the world. The only connection these people have is the air link by Twin Otter.

Twenty-five years of independence and successive governments have done little to improve the lives of these people. Their children’s education services have been jeopardised by such an environment and not many have ever reached the top level of education. Public servants serving the area cannot move freely, and in the end, the people become victims of the political decisions made in Lae and Port Moresby.

The political, social, and economical activity of the Finschhafen district is as old – 117 years – as the genesis of the Lutheran Church in Papua New Guinea. The Pindiu station has very few stores, and prices of goods sold there are very high. Geographically, thick mountains wall the Pindiu area, and the villages there are only reached on foot by hill tracks. It takes several days to reach the station. As such, commercial economic activity is invisible in that part of the world. On the other side of the island, however, Finschhafen has big shops, a branch of the Papua New Guinea Banking Corporation (now BSP), the PNG postal service, and the modern Lutheran-managed hospital, high school, Community Health Worker’s
Training School, airstrip and two seaports. The area is fairly advanced in terms of development.

However, I first set foot at Gagidu, the headquarters or Administrative centre for Finschhafen. On the coast itself was the abandoned WWII military camp and lots of wartime naval shipwrecks along the coastline. In addition, the district headquarters was in such a mess. One did not need to walk far from the headquarters to see how terrible the state of affairs was for people, especially in terms of economic and social development. The once very viable and profitable Tumbiring coconut plantation, just one kilometre out of Gagidu headquarters, was rapidly returning to wild bush or grassland.

It was to my mind shocking that successive governments, both the National and Provincial leaders, have lacked foresight and failed to plan, or most often simply did not possess the knowledge necessary to lead Finschhafen out of its current social and political inertia. When I did my practical experience up inland (Pindiu), even I could see that if those on the coast faced such difficulties then those inland and remote were even harder hit. Yes, there is evidence. In fact, one can correctly say that civilization has not reached many inland areas like Pindiu, Mape, Burum, Mindik and others.

I met Ken Zilong from Semketa village. He had graduated with a Bachelor of Economics at the University of PNG, and he was a good friend socially. His father was a missionary and he was exposed to many changes taking place around the country. When comparing those changes with his home village and surrounding area, he was appalled at the poor level of services in this region of PNG, when things should not be like that. Ken told me that he intends to do a second degree in law and, with the combination of both his degrees, he’ll try to help his people.

I saw his heart like father Moses of the Old Testament. There are lots in store for his people. He was doing his third year law at UPNG in 2002 and graduated in 2003 with a Bachelors Degree in Law.

’Oa Oa’! The Sun! Economic, political power is not ours. However the cry ’Oa Oa’ is our strength, our power, it is what we are, and that keep us alive despite the lack of economic, social and political development in Semketa. We will not share with the world. The ’Oa Oa’ call (The Sun) is the traditional singsing (dance) from Semketa village. The preparations would take a week or two. The men would be involved in making headdresses (kangel) and the women would make grass skirts for both themselves and the men. Both tasks require expert skills under careful leadership by the oldest men and women. When the headdresses are completed (normally 20–30 in number) the grass skirts are expected to be ready too. A date is set for the actual singsing to occur, lasting both night and day. During the day, there is special preparation. Men and women search the bush to collect certain bush leaves. Paints and pigments are made from sources including trees (resin, bark) and the ground clay). The most striking colours are the reds and yellow, used for painting the faces.

After costuming is done, the men and women move in to the dancing arena and men beat their kundu drums. The dancers go on and on until day break. When they enter the dancing arena, the men lead the way in two straight lines. The women-folk follow the men as they dance into the arena or performance area. Women hold hands together in a circle. The men make a circle with the women and beat the kundus.

This women’s circle can remain for the rest of the dance. Sometimes they are stationed at particular spots but many times they may enter the circle and dance there. There is a time for when special songs are sung. The dancers then go down to the ground to a sitting position. They will keep beating their kundu-drums and also move their flamboyant headdresses in a uniform manner, as part of the dance choreography. When this happens, the women keep on dancing around in the circle. At some points of the dance, several men, and in some instances women are allowed to go into the middle of the circle. Those few people in the middle will perform very specific dance roles, but young dancers are also encouraged to take part in this Oa Oa.

The chief character is the man who composed the songs. The songs composed must match the beat of the kundu. In Semketa, this person is naturally gifted. He is singer-songwriter, principal dancer, choreographer and director. He slept and dreamed the whole production, songs, the music, the lyrics and the movements. It is in this way as skilled and elaborate as any Western operatic stage musical. Early in the morning when he wakes up all that he dreamt has dimmed. He invites other people so that he can translate his dream, then they in turn translate for others until everybody understands the theme and meaning and intention. The songs that they sing will have their unique style of kundu beats. The style of beating a kundu rhythm will change with each song. These songs they sing represent the trees, rivers, mountains, people, and tribes. The songs are rarely passed down through generations. Instead they are composed a new for each dance. That is to say, old songs die out when new ones replace them. All of the Pindiu and Finschhafen areas used similar styles of kundu, dancing to a strong percussion beat by the people of Burum.

The End!