Christmas in PNG A time for family and church
Daniel Kumbon fondly remembers the festive season from his childhood and reflects on how the occasion is celebrated in PNG.
My first experience of Christmas was falling asleep on the bare ground in a hut on a cold and starless night in the early 1960s at Mariant, a newly established Catholic mission in Kandep in the Enga Province.
There was much excitement as people talked about attending Christmas mass to celebrate the birth of Jesus, sent by God to save the world by allowing him to die on a wooden cross.
But, as a child, I wondered how all this was possible.
The story sounded, to me, very much like a legend from Kandep, about a young girl who went to collect vines in the bush to make a bilum and found a nest with two eggs.
She ate the eggs and became pregnant, eventually having a child unlike any earthly offspring. She named him Lelyakali Kimala – the legendary man who always seemed to appear on the scene to protect the poor and ordinary people from harm perpetrated by a one-eyed cruel giant named Keoakali Takaupin.
In awe of the Kandep legend, and the new (to us) phenomenon of Jesus, we children were tasked with gathering dried pit-pit, called sambai kendole, to use as torches during midnight mass at Mariant. We made several bundles and tied them with vines.
When the much anticipated day arrived – the night I fell asleep on the dirt floor – it seemed all the people from the valley were going to celebrate mass.
The small track from my village of Kondo was congested with people carrying burning bundles of pit-pit torches. The night air was filled with excitement as people greeted each other and shared jokes and laughter. There was the occasional sound of shrieking children as mothers tried to control them.
Mariant is situated on a hilltop and as I climbed higher, I could see more people coming from all directions with burning pit-pit torches, moving slowly along the bush tracks. It looked like comets criss-crossing the heavens in slow motion, headed towards a central location. My mother was disappointed when we arrived early. Most people did not have clocks in those days and keeping time was not practised.
She took us to a small hut so we had some temporary shelter. People were already inside and we crept into a corner. While my mother joined in the conversations, I instantly fell asleep. When I woke up, the bell was ringing, signalling the start of midnight mass, but the excitement had
I could see more people coming from all directions with burning pitpit torches, moving slowly along the bush tracks. It looked like comets criss-crossing the heavens in slow motion.
evaporated from me. I was tired and stiff, my teeth clattered and my body shook from the cold.
But my mother encouraged me to follow her into the church building, built from bush material. The place was filled with lots of people and, thankfully, it was warm. Two Coleman lamps were used to light the altar area. Elsewhere in the church, candle lights were flickering like orange stars. And the interior was decorated with fresh leaves, flowers and small trees.
And there it was – the manger where a tiny figure lay – a waxen image of the baby Jesus. Mary and Joseph watched as shepherds worshipped the new-born king. A couple of sheep lay around the manger. This is what I had come to see.
I gazed at this wonderful sight and gradually dozed off. I woke up when my mother pulled me to my feet. Christmas mass had just ended and I stumbled out in a daze. Everything seemed like a dream in the early hours of the next day.
I gradually understood the meaning of Christmas and paid attention more when I started to go to school. I served as an altar boy on one occasion. Another Christmas, I took part in a drama in which I played the role of the jealous King Herod who secretly planned to kill the infant Jesus.
Christmas mass is now an important part of Christmas all over PNG. It is widely celebrated by Catholics, while other Christian denominations also celebrate with special church services.
It is a time when people are baptised and special church services – like revivals and crusades – are organised. It is when sweet carols are sung.
Papua New Guineans take time to decorate their churches and homes with trees, ferns and flowers fresh from the bush, or plastic decorations and lights bought from the stores. Gifts are also bought and exchanged as special meals are prepared. A typical local Christmas dish depends on where you are in PNG. Christmas meals prepared by Highlands families, for example, consist of meats – especially, pork, chicken and lamb chops.
The food is cooked in a mumu pit, steamed in big dishes over open fires, or barbecued in the backyard. Sweet potatoes, English
potatoes, taro, bananas and lots of fresh vegetables complete a Highlands Christmas feast.
Such feasts are also prepared to welcome students who come home to their villages from studies for the Christmas break. It is a time when lovers seal marriage vows in front of family and friends, followed by the display of bridal wealth (consisting of pigs and cash and distributed to the bride’s relatives). It is always followed by feasting.
PNG families in urban settings often travel back to their villages during Christmas so they can share meals and be with loved ones. The children look forward to seeing their bubus, or grandparents, in the villages. Or, sometimes, the bubus are invited to the towns to spend Christmas.