There are so many cultures and traditions which people still practise even in these present times. These peculiar and absurd cultures have been preserved amongst such tribes for generations and generations to come.
While outsiders might find them weird, they remain the pride of such tribes. One of such tribes is the Chimbu (or Simbu) of Papua New Guinea whose Province is located in its central Highlands.
The term “Chimbu” was given to the people by the first Australian explorers in 1934 who heard the word “Simbu” (an expression of a pleasant surprise in Kuman language) exclaimed by the locals when they first met.
One of the things that set the Chimbu tribe apart from others is their skeleton dance which originated to intimidate enemy tribes in what is a hotly-contested and highly-territorial country.
It also expected that the enemy tends to believe they are not human and have some source of supernatural power.
The Chimbu tribe are so remote that little is known about their real lives, but it is understood they live in a temperate climate in rugged mountain valleys between 1,600 and 2,400m, traditionally in male-female segregated houses but increasingly sharing as families.
Traditionally, the Chimbu tribes don’t live in villages but in dispersed settlements. Typical houses in Chimbu Province are oval or rectangular, with dirt floors, low thatched roofs, and walls woven from flattened reeds.
Men live in large communal men’s houses (hausman) set on ridges for defensive purpose while women, children, and pigs live in separate houses.
However, the slowly increasing tourism attraction and interaction, therefore, means that the dances or ritual are starting to be done more as shows by community-integrated people, than by the more remote in a traditional setting.
Till now, however, the Chimbu tribe still remains mostly a mystery and this is why their skeletal body painting is always even more intriguing.
