MUSPAS III Obano

Muspas is Musyawarah Pastoral (Pastoral Deliberation) for Mee tribe and Moni tribe. The third Muspas was held in Obano village from Febuary 26 until March 4, 2011. 

There were about 3000 people of Mee tribe and Moni tribe came from Paniai Regency, Nabire Regency, Mimika Regency, Deyai Regency and Dogiyai Regency to have an annual Pastoral Delibration (Muspas) in Obano village.  

Every group represented their parish and they brought sweet potatoes, taros, sugar canes, carrots, cabbages, tomatoes, pigs, fishes, lake lobsters, buffalo, etc. Papuan men and women are very strong. They could carry heavy things on their shoulders or their heads. They cooked all of this raw material and ate them together. The women were so busy cooking in the big outdoor kitchen. Can you imagine how to cook for 3000 people???  You can see in the picture, the ladies were preparing many big pots of lake lobsters (Cherax albertisii) for our meals. 

They danced together happily. Please look at the picture, the children were dancing by shaking their hips to the right and to the left while jumping lightly, so you can see their moge (wooden tassel skirts) were waving. This dance is called Waita Dance but I used to call it “the shaking ass dance”. LOL.  Hey… there were so many little Beyonce in here. Hahahaha…

This is a Catholic event for gathering Mee tribe and Moni tribe, but since some of Mee and Moni tribe people are Protestant, so this event is held for gathering all the people from Mee and Moni tribe who are scattered in different regency in Papua. This event opened with a holy mass at Saint Fransiskus Church in Obano village. The Mass was led by Bishop of the Diocese of Timika, Mgr. John Philip Gaiyabi Saklil, Pr. This event was also attended by Klemen Tinal (the Regent of Mimika Regency), many Catholic priests, Catholic sisters and Protestant priests. 

There were about 16 tents for 3000 people from men, women to children. All tents were so crowded. My duty was taking care the sick people. I had more than 100 patients per day. Some patients came to me with many injuries. I was so busy at that moment. Look at the picture, I was taking care the wound of Pace Leo (Pace = Mister).

The aim of this event was to build a strong faith in God, respect Emawaa (chapel), Owadaa (community gardens) and preserve the culture for young Papuan being displaced by modern culture. That was why in this event, they used their traditional costumes like koteka (the penis sheath), moge (the wooden tassel skirt), noken (wooden bag) and many accessories. Koteka is made from vegetable marrow (Lagenaria siceraria) although other species, such as Nepenthes mirabilis, are also used. They are held in place by a small loop of fiber attached to the base of the koteka and placed around the scrotum. There is a secondary loop placed around the abdomen and attached to the main body of the koteka (look at the picture).  

Men choose kotekas similar to ones worn by other men in their cultural group. Sometimes they put something inside the koteka like money and tobacco. Some wear them pointed straight out, straight up, at an angle, or in other directions. Maybe you wonder why there are many sizes of koteka. The diameter of the koteka can also be a clue. Contrary to popular belief, there is little correlation between the size or length of the koteka and the social status of the wearer. Kotekas of different sizes serve different purposes: very short kotekas are worn when working and longer and more elaborate kotekas are worn on festive occasions.

The Papuan women wear moge to cover their vagina and usually they are bare breasts. Things are so different now, since the modernization, the young women prefer to cover their breasts with wooden tank top while the old women are okay without wooden tank top. On this occasion, I had an opportunity to use Papuan woman traditional costume. I worn moge and wooden tank top because I didn’t want to bare breasts. Hahaha… 

In the picture, I was posing with Papuan women. I was using colorful moge, wooden tank top, wooden veil and a statement necklace. Of course my costume was so different because I was the Papuan Princess. LOL. 

If you come to Papua, please don’t expect to see the native people are wearing kotekas and moges everyday because they are wearing modern clothes now. Only few old people who still wear their traditional costumes daily and you can only meet them in a very remote village. Nowadays, many young people in the village used mobile phone, digital camera, digital video, laptop, and many electronic gadgets.  You can see it from the picture, a man was using his mobile phone to take a picture and he had a pack of cigarette on his waistband.

The peak of the event was the blessing of the new chapel by Bishop of the Diocese of Timika, Mgr. John Philip Gaiyabi Saklil, Pr. The Papuan slaughtered piglets instead of lamb and put its blood on every door of the chapel. You can see it from the picture, the Papuan man was slaughtering the piglets . 

As a sense of unity and brotherhood, The Papuan having “Barapen” (pesta bakar batu).  They cooked the pork over the hot stones and leaves.  They used Barapen as an opportunity for residents to gather. In this party will be seen how high the solidarity of Papuan is. Another meaning of this feast is an expression of mutual forgiveness between people.

Barapen  procession usually consists of three stages: preparation, roasted pork, and eat together. The preparation stage begins with the search of firewood and stones to be used for cooking. Stone and wood arranged in the following order, at the bottom laid large stones, on top covered with wood, and then laid another smaller stones, and so on until the top is covered with wood. Then the pile is burned up and burned wood to heat rocks. All this things usually done by men.

The other men prepared a large hole based on the large number of foods that will be cooked. They covered the bottom of the hole with reeds and banana leaves. By using a special timber (looks like a big chopstick), hot stones were arranged on leave, and then covered with reeds. Then they put the pork at the top of the reeds and covered again with foliage. On top of these leaves, they closed again with burning stones, and covered with thick grasses.

After that, they arranged sweet potatoes on it. The next layer is deposited weeds again with a smoldering rock. They put leaf vegetables such as sweet potato leaves, cassava leaves, papaya leaves, chayote leaves on it. The next hole was back filled again with burning grass and stones. On the top, they placed banana leaves sprinkled with soil as a barrier to keep the heat from the stones so that the heat do not evaporate. It takes about 60 to 90 minutes for cooking all these things. When it is ripe, the grass will be opened and they take the food (pork, fruits and vegetables), and then spread all those things on the grass. After the food is laid on top, there are people who will take the ripe red fruit (Pandanus conoideus) and squeeze the red fruit over the food. Salt and flavorings are also sprinkled on the food. It taste really goooooood.

I was so lucky to experience this event in my village Obano, because not everybody has the chance so see this event. When and where else I can see people wearing koteka, moge, noken, and eating barapen?????

Im so proud to wear Papuan woman traditional costume and be part of the party.