Introducing
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
08/03/2019
The Huli tribe have inhabited the Tari Highlands region of Papua New Guinea for over one thousand years even though they were not discovered by Europeans until the 1930s.
The "wigmen"-as they're referred to-are extraordinary because of the fascinating process in making their wigs and their purpose in their society.
This ritual is performed by young males of the tribe (starting at age 8) and used as a transition from a boy to a man. Their hair is grown out for multiple years and taken good care of. At the end of their transition, the hair is chopped off and stitched into a personal wig for everyday use or ceremonies.
Lives with their mother until age 8, then leave to live with father where they learn to become men. In this culture, men and women live in different houses.
A boy's hair is sprinkled with holy water that is combined with magic and spells. This helps the hair grow more quickly. They most also follow a strict diet and use a neck rest during sleep so they do not squash their hair.
As their hair grows, it is shaped using a band of bamboo. Eventually, the hair is chopped off by a wigmaster and made into a wig for everyday use or ceremonies. Before a man can get married, they must have a wig made for them.
At age 15, they enter the bachelor school to learn the processes of becoming a man. This can last up to 10 years, during which they are forbidden to contact any women including mothers.
Across the entire region of the highlands, various tribes gather together to celebrate where they sing, dance, and parade the customs of their own culture. They occur for weddings, an acension of a chief, or initiation of boys and girls. For the Huli tribe, it is an opportunity to show off their wigs and some will even paint their face. Men who did not have a wig made of their own can buys wigs stitched with another persons hair. They can do so for everyday use or just for the occasion of a sing-sing celebration.
All information in this project comes from the sources cited in my project write-up.