The Goroka show is the highlight of the PNG cultural calendar. Of the 800+ tribes in PNG, about 50 make the journey each year to showcase their culture at the Goroka show. In a country of few roads or navigable rivers this may mean a journey of many weeks.
The show was established in the 1950s by the Australian kiaps with the aim of reducing the high level of tribal warfare seen at that time when many tribes were only recently ‘discovered’. Whilst the show is a priority for intrepid tourists and a highlight for the town’s locals, curious tribesmen circulate round the ground, watching with fascination as the other tribes perform their sing-sings. This understanding and interest in their peers’ cultures hasn’t completely erased tribal warfare but the only arrows likely to be shot this weekend are those performed in jest.
Goroka showground is packed to bursting. Each of the tribal groups occupies a small corner of the field. Locals line the route into the ground several deep. Tourists roam around enjoying the heady spectacle, forgetting which of the eclectic groups they have already photographed to death. Ministers make long speeches on the rostrum. A cacophony of sound, the whole spectrum of colour.
Many of the locals are proudly dressed in flag-bearing dresses, t-shirts or hats, flags pinned in their hair. A PNG flag parachutes down into the patriotic crowd. Because today is Independence Day. 42 years since independence from Australia and 40 years since the day I entered the world. A cake was flown in especially from Port Moresby for dinner celebrations (the most expensive cake ever I am told!) A happy birthday sing-sing was performed by the ladies of the xxx tribe as I stood in the centre slightly bewildered. What better way to celebrate the big 4-0 than with an overload of tribal cultures few get to witness.
The Goroka show presents one of the widest and most diverse collections of national cultures anywhere on the planet. Perhaps the most of all. But a bit like staring out into the night sky, flying over the forested mountains of the highlands I can only wonder at how many more tribes are still there, waiting to be ‘discovered’……
