Linguistic Society of Papua New
Guinea 2012 Conference.
The Lumo Hangu: about a traditional
Boiken song
Used in the context of gardening and mourning
Presented by Stanley. Norbert
B.Arts Student
University of Goroka
Overview
• Acknowledgement.
• The Map of East Sepik and Boiken language.
• Background Information about Boiken
Language and Yangoru Dialect.
• Where is the Lumo Hango song sung?
• The words used in Lumo Hango.
• Why the song is forbidden to talk about by elders.
• The purpose of singing the Lumo Hango
• The meaning of the title of the song Lumo
Hango
• The Lumo Hango is also sung during planting
of yam seasons.
• The three Jungile songs are sung together
• Factors that may contribute to the dying of
the Lumo Hangu.
• Current practice of singing the Lumo Hangu.
• Conclusion
Acknowledgement.
• The Jungile song that will be played later is
recorded by my father (Norbert Huangile)
during the season of planting yam in Hoilk
village. The exact date is unknown, but I
assume the recording was made After
independence around 1976.
MAP OF EAST SEPIK & BOIKEN LANGUAGE
Background information about the Boiken
Language and the Yangoru dialect.
• The people who speak the Boiken language live in the
northeastern part of Papua New Guinea in East Sepik
Province.
• According to SIL (2003) there are about 31,300 native
speakers. 30% are monolingual.
• According to Freudenburg,(1982), the Yangoru dialect
is spoken by 10,650 people living in 42 villages in the
Yangoru post.
• There are seven dialects of the Boiken Language and
there are Island Boiken, Costal Boiken, Central Boiken,
Nagum Boiken, Kunai Boiken, Kubalia Boiken, and
Yangoru Boiken.
Where is the Lumo Hango song sung?
• It is sung in the Boiken language, in particular
the Yangoru dialect in East Sepik Province.
• The traditional song belongs to the people of
Holik village in Yangoru district one, of the 42
major villages in Yangoru District.
The words used in Lumo Hango Song.
• Most of the words used in the song are
unfamiliar to most of the Yangoru people and
the younger generation of Holik village.
• The literary meaning of the song is known
only by the older generation who knows how
to sing the song.
• The language used in singing the Lumo Hango
is a secret language of the Yangoru dialect and
village elders are forbidden to talk about it.
Why it is forbidden to talk about
the literary meaning of the song
• The elders of Holik village say that if they talk about
the literary meaning of the song the spirit of the
dead in the peaceful place hring's wala pool might
kill them or attack their families.
• If they plant yam the yam might not grow huge and
in large quantities.
• When singing the song in the opening of a new
House Tambaran (Spirit House), the spirit of the
ghost will not be present in the new house
Tambaran.
The purpose of singing the Lumo
Hango
• The Lumo Hangu is a song sung by the old
people to commemorate the mourning of a
dead person
• It is also sung in the context of planting yam
during yam season.
• The song is also used in other contexts as well
such as opening of a Haus Tambaran, big
feasts and other big gatherings in the village
of Holik.
The meaning of "Lumo Hango"
• Lumo in the Yangoru Dialect means 'Bamboo'
• Hango means 'kundu drum'
• In the Lumo Hangu there are three songs
known as Jungile Wa, Jungile Hre,and Jungile
Ya.
• The Jungile song literary means 'death song',
and it is sung by the people of Holik village.
The same song is sung during
planting of yam seasons
• The song is sung before the women go out
and plant the yam in their gardens. It is
believed by the people of Holik that when
singing the Jungile song they will harvest
huge yams and the yams will bear plenty of
other yams.
• It is believed that the deceased will hear the
Lumo Hango song and they will respond to the
song and the yams will grow huge and in large
quantities.
The three Jungile songs are sung
together.
• The three Jungile songs are sung during the
mourning of a dead person to remind others,
friends, children and families of all the good
work (s)he has done in his life.
• It also states something about his
‘himasumbo’ (the land, the property like pigs,
house, gardens, wife and children)
The meaning of Jungile song
• Jungile = Death Song wa= one
• Jungile= Death Song hre= two
• Jungile= Death Song ya= three
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The significances of singing the
three Lumo hango songs
• According to the belief of the people of the
Village of Hoilk, the spirits of the dead person
are sent to a peaceful place known as hring's
wala pool when singing the three Lumo Hango
songs during burial of the deceased
• Spirits from throughout Yangoru are also said to go
to Mount Hurun, the peak overlooking Yangoru,
where they become Walarurun, the great culture
hero associated with the mountain.
• During the Yam season the Holik people will
sing the song so that the spirit of the
deceased in the peaceful place in hring's wala
pool will respond to the song by making the
yam grow huge and in large quantities.
•
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• When elders sing the three songs during the opening
of the Haus Tambaran (Spirit House), they are
indirectly inviting the spirit or ghost of the deceased
man or woman in that peaceful place to come inside
the haus tambaran to be with the elders so that they
can peform an initiation ceremony or have an
important meeting about the welfare of the village.
•
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Factors that may contribute to the
dying of Lumo Hangu song.
• Christianity is one of the factors that contribute to the
dying of Lumo Hangu song because most Holik people
practise Christian faith and regard the Lumo Hangu song as
evil.
• Western influence and education are the other factors that
may contribute to the dying of Lumo Hangu.
• The other factor is the migration of the Holik people to
towns and cities and the heavy use of Tok Pisin and English.
• Most of the younger generation prefer the western type of
education to get better employment in towns and cities,
and they do not bother or have the time to learn the Lumo
Hangu song with the old people.
Current Practice of singing the Lumo Hangu song
• Today, the Lumo Hango is only sung by old
people during big celebrations like
Independence Day, big feasts and funeral
services of chiefs and elders in the village.
• Now it is not sung anymore by the old men
and women before the women go out and
plant yams.
• Most of the funeral services do not involve singing
the Lumo Hangu anymore. Instead, a Christian burial
is preferred.
Conclusion
• Papua New Guinea is well known for its wealth of
language and cultures including traditional songs,
rituals and beliefs. As, such there is a great need to
protect these for the future generations before they
become extinct.
• The Lumo Hango song is one of the traditional songs
whose future is uncertain if the older generation
who sings the song dies without teaching the
younger generation. A consequence of this would be
that the song would become extinct.
• Since elders are forbidden to talk about the
meaning of the song to uninitiated people,
there is a great need to make sure that the
knowledge of the song is passed on to those
people who have earned to learn it.
• If I have the opportunity to carry out the
research on Lumo Hangu than future research
will be carried
References
• Freudenburg, Allen. 1976. The dialects of Boiken.
Workpapers in Papua New Guinea Languages 16.
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http//www.pnglanguages.org
www.ethnologue.com
1998, Britannica.Inc.
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