BELIEFS
The Huli tribe believes that the universe has vast of metaphysical and supernatural forces. They claim
that it is possible for human beings to tap into these powers and use them to do good or bad. One of
their main weapons of defense or attack was the use of poisons (tomia), spells (gamugamu) or spirits
(dama) for invoking spiritual powers and forces. These are generally called ‘sorcery’ in English.
The above three types of sorcery are further broken down and given very specific names.
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Tomia includes the use of any specifically named poisonous herbal, biological, chemical or
gaseous substances, mainly to kill.
Gamugamu includes the use of named spells, rituals and chants, which are recited mainly for
invoking a specifically named invisible physical, spiritual or cosmic force to do good or evil.
Dama includes the use of any specifically named body-possessing or non-body-possessing spirit,
which is engaged by conducting a specifically named ritual by their human host (dama mambo)
to do good or evil.
Of the three, the most dangerous form of sorcery in Huli involves the use of dama. These include the
ancestral spirits (homa dinini), bush spirits (tagira dama) and domestic spirits (andaga dama).
http://press-files.anu.edu.au/downloads/press/p316611/pdf/5.-Huli-Customary-Beliefs-and-TribalLaws-about-Witches-and-Witch-Spirits.pdf
TRADITIONS
Here are some of the Huli tribe traditions:
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Paying in pigs
Among the Huli people, who support themselves through hunting and agriculture, tradition is very
strong. To this indigenous community, two of the most important items are gardening and pigs. In the
culture of Huli, wealth is counted by how many pigs one person owns. The pig is a traditional trade used
to pay the dowry of a bride, death allowances, and other ceremonial payments.
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Boys to (Wig) men
The special process that boys go through in order to learn to become adults is one of the most
interesting rituals of this tribe. Boys then go to live with their fathers to learn to become men after living
with their mothers until they are about eight years old (in the Huli culture, men and women live and
sleep separately, in different houses).Then, at around 15 years of age, they go to bachelor school to
learn about the ritual and biological processes of becoming a male, which can last from 18 months to up
to three years in 'school' this time! Any interaction with women (including their mothers!) is totally
prohibited during this period.
The ability to develop male hair is an incredibly important part of his boy-to-man transformation. In
order for the boy's hair to grow extra fast, holy water must be sprayed three times a day, mixed with
magic and spells. There are also unique dietary constraints (no pig's heart or spicy foods) and sleep uses
a special neck rest so that hair is not squashed while sleeping. As the hair of a young man grows, it is
molded using a bamboo band, then it is cut away at the end of its transformation period and harvested
by the wig master to be stitched into a traditional Huli wig. Some wigs are used for everyday rituals,
fashioned with different adornments such as parrot feathers, or dyes made of charcoal, red clay, and pig
fat. It is important to build all a man's wigs before he is married. They can also be sold to men who do
not want to grow their own (selling for up to £390 with special ceremonial wigs!)
VALUES
To forgive and forget is not an option
Among many highland tribes of Papua New Guinea, tribal warfare is a common occurrence due to the
fact that they respect a "payback" scheme, whereby the penalty for a misdeed must be more severe
than the original wrongdoing. This also created a never-ending loop of escalating revenge, meaning that
much of the Huli war arose from individual personal disputes. A peace ceremony was once negotiated
by regional authorities to end a conflict that began when one stray pig from a village ate yams from a
neighboring village. This culminated in the killing of two warriors with spears during a battle, ultimately
leading to one village killing another village and cooking their 120 pigs for consumption.
https://www.thenationalstudent.com/Travel/2017-0729/visit_the_indigenous_huli_people_of_papua_new_guinea.html
RELIGION
The Huli people are considered animist, which means that they believe everything has a soul. The
government there reports that 66% of the residents are Christians and 34% are Pantheists.
https://www.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=58647d260bc64500b2a34eda429e0553