In 1989 I read an article in National Geographic about a tribe in Irian Jaya, now called Papua. The government of Indonesia was spearheading an idea for their 26th province. The government wanted to bring the indigenous population of Papua into the 21st century. Numerous Cessna airplanes dropped thousands of jogging shorts onto remote villages, hoping the locals would replace their traditional attire for the shorts.
The men wear penis gourds and the women grass skirts. Two weeks later these same planes flew back to the villages only to witness the Papuans wearing the shorts on top of their heads. You see, Papua averages more than 300 inches of rain annually. The shorts were perfect head gear to keep the rain off their heads.
A few weeks later I was on a plane to witness these tribes first hand.
West Papua occupies the Indonesian half of the island of Papua New Guinea, the second largest island in the world after Greenland. I made several visits there.
On my third visit to West Papua, my three porters — Tepi, Nadius, Lyndie — and I were on our way to the village of Waniyok, a five-day trek from Wamena, the major outpost of the central highlands. On our fourth day we were approaching Mt. Elit, twisting and turning on a path no wider than my foot. The heavy rains had continued throughout the night and into the morning. We tarped all the gear we were carrying on our backs to keep it dry. My heart pounded with excitement. I was back in Papua!
The adventures continue in an evening with Craig Harris on October 29, 5:30 p.m., BC Forum, SBCC, “My Life’s Journey in West Papua.”
