It is not only Papuans who have a story of creation. The Jewish people say that Yahweh created humans from clay, similar to the Chinese story that humans came from clay dolls breathed upon by the goddess Nüwa.
By
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
·5 minutes read
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
A family in Tais Village, Western Province, Papua New Guinea, cares for their baby with a simple device.
Where do we come from? Why are we different? The Tais people in the hinterland of the Western Province of Papua New Guinea answer this universal human question with a story.
Once upon a time, there was a giant fig tree. All the humans in the world lived hanging on the branches of that tree. They did not know fire so they ate raw meat.
Only one of them, a woman who lived at the foot of the tree, knew how to make a fire. But she kept it a secret.
One day, a man who lived on one of the branches of the tree discovered the secret while the woman was cooking meat. The woman was so angry that she burned the whole tree with her fire. The fire spread rapidly from the foot of the tree to its canopy.
People panicked, jumping in all directions and flying to save themselves. Those who lived at the top of the tree jumped to a faraway place. While those who lived on the lower branches jumped to a closer place.
That was how the ancestors of mankind spread across the earth. Their descendants transformed into the various nations who speak various languages.
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This sacred story has been passed down from generation to generation by Tais people through special ceremonial rituals. This story was told to me by Nabaiwa Yewane, the oldest man in the village, and translated by Singai Suku, the head of the Tais village.
Kompas
Lighting a fire in the open is part of a tribal ritual in Papua New Guinea.
On a trip through the hinterland of PNG, I discovered that almost every village in the area had a story of creation. Some believed that human ancestors came from inside tree trunks. Some said humans came from the ground. Other tribes said humans descended from the sky, and still others said humans came from a crocodile.
It is not only Papuans who have a story of creation. The Jewish people say that Yahweh created humans from clay, similar to the Chinese story that humans came from clay dolls breathed upon by the goddess Nüwa. The Japanese believe that the creators of the universe were the god Izanagi and the goddess Izanami, while the Indians believe that the universe came from a golden egg.
In anthropology, stories that explain the origin of the universe and its life are called "origin myths" or "myths of creation".
The root of this story is the eternal human curiosity about the origin of the universe and the human presence on Earth. Before modern science, the mysteries of natural phenomena could only be answered with stories.
Today, we are helped by science – particularly the fields of archaeology, anthropology and genetics – to uncover the origins of our ancestors. But that doesn\'t mean all myths of creation are nonsense fairy tales. In each of these stories, we can still find bits of truth.
This migration and fanning out is what caused humans to be very diverse, in terms of physical aspect, culture and language.
The sacred story of Tais also contains some “scientific” truths. Science has proven that the ancestors of mankind did come from the same source and then migrated and spread across the entire earth. This migration and fanning out is what caused humans to be very diverse, in terms of physical aspect, culture and language.
In addition, hominids underwent a long evolution before finally becoming Homo sapiens, modern humans. Our primate ancestors did live hanging from trees and eating raw food. The use of fire is an important chapter in the course of human evolution.
AGUSTINUS WIBOWO
Children in remote areas of Papua New Guinea have been learning archery since childhood.
Tais\'s story about the woman who kept the secret of how to make fire may be a reflection of the long-hidden memory of humanity\'s past.
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The story isn\'t over yet.
Once upon a time, after a long time, two hunters who were brothers came to the place where the giant tree once stood and burned. The older brother was black, and the younger brother was white.
At the giant tree, there was still one short trunk left. The older brother standing in the north found that the trunk had pulses just like a human heart. He then shot the tree trunk with an arrow. Instantly, a flood of water gushed from the trunk. The black brother ran north, carrying his bow and arrow.
As for the white brother, he saw two objects in the trunk and took them from the sacred tree and ran south. They turned out to be a pencil and a rifle.
The Arafura Sea in this story was described as being created by the flood, which caused the island of New Guinea to be separated from Australia.
That\'s why, according to tradition, black Papuans still live in the jungle with bows and arrows and white people in Australia live a prosperous and modern life. In addition, it is not wrong if the people in the hinterland of Papua say black people are "older brothers" and white people are "younger brothers".
