are tribe people dressed in traditional clothing and face paint only seen in festivals?

Hi there.
I am a photographer documenting different tribes of the world and considering to to go to Papua (indonesia or PNG) in April. From my research i have a feeling that all the amazing pics of the tribes are from festivals or staged. Are there any areas where people are still mostly in traditional attire? I have about three weeks that i could spend on the island and I would not mind trekking and hiring guides.
Thanks

In a few tribes in a few remote areas some, mostly older people still wear simple traditional dress, but not the fancy, colorful stuff seen at festivals.
Photographers mostly pay to stage their shots, or else those on tour packages often meet people wearing traditional dress for the visitors' sake, even if the latter don't realize it's a show.
Don't expect to see the colorful scenes seen at festivals in everyday life anywhere.

thanks so much for the info Laszlo.
I had a feeling that it would be like this

one more question Laszlo: are you referring to both the indonesian and PNG sides of the island ? is this the same in both?

Yes, nowadays it's much the same.
The festivals are far better in PNG though.

Hello psaris,
If you go to Tari you will see most people with traditional dressing, but not heavily decorative like that seen at the festival. Heavily decoration or painted faces are seen at the festival. But one you go to remote villages like Tari in the Southern Highlands and other remote areas you will only find people with traditional dresses. Another place is you need to visit Mamusi/Miyamia which is located between Sepik, Madang and Enga Province. You will see very primitive people. They do not have and wear cloths with modern materials. They live in small hat houses, living together with their pigs.
You fly to Port Moresby and to Mt. Hagen. From Mt. Hagen you fly on small aircraft (MAF Flight) to Mamusi. There is a Church Pastor who lives there his name is Mr. Kaepa Kapolga. I do have has mobile contact number but I lost my mobile and his contact was lost but anyway, I will ask from some one and give you the contact. He speaks good English and can be your guide there. He knows very well of all the villages around there but you need to understand that these people base on their own traditional rules and regulations. They preserve the dead bodies under the tree believing that the dead will be their protector. Most people are hunters and gathers.

As a Papua New Guinean, I must worn that you must have at list local guide. A guide is a important tool for you. You are traveling into PNG for a purpose and that purpose or your dream will come to reality with guide. Guides plays many roles such as, he knows very well of the villages and where there is interest and the kind of people living there. He knows very well of local language apart from pidgin English. He will protect you when you are in danger and you see it is very important for you to have a guide. If you don't have a guide you will always not see what you want to see and if you try you best to see it will cost extremely expensive exercise for you or you will always find trouble alone the way of excursions.

Thanks
Chris

I don't know what motivated the above post, but it should be read with reservations. Maybe the advice that a guide is a must is a hint? ;-)

I myself visited Tari and the surrounding villages many years ago and only saw a very few old people in traditional dress. Like maybe 3 (yes, three) people during a stay of several days, overnighting in 2 different villages in addition to the town of Tari itself.

Hi there

Do not go to the Indonesian side of Papua New Guinea. many people have been murdered including photographers and reporters. It is not safe. Nothing is MUCH the same, Irian Jaya is NOT safe. The person who advised this obviously hasn't researched what is happening in Irian Jaya. If you do go to PNG you must remember it is dangerous. You do need a local guide and one from each area you visit. Even with a guide you should learn local customs before you go. An example is if you are female you must wear a long skirt covering your thighs. The inside of a woman's thigh is the most sensual part of the body in PNG. Do not wear shorts if you are a girl.

PNG is dangerous everywhere - some places are more dangerous than others. If you want to go - Alotau is a beautiful place and Chris and Barbara Abel will show you around.

For tribal costumes find out when the Mt Hagen show takes place. It is much easier to photograph costumes when many Highland tribes are at the show in tribal dress. To do it any other way would mean travelling by foot in dangerous country to all the tribal places - you may get shot even with a guide. Life isn't sacred in PNG. Each tribe has different costumes, different tattos and different markings which identify the tribe, it is also possible to identify the chiefs by their dress and bilass - prettiness.

You can go through the PNG Tourist Bureau. They will advise you of the Mt Hagen Show dates. Many places in PNG the locals still wear tribal dress daily. You are more likely to find tribal dress in places that have been exposed to missionaries.

PNG is dangerous. Get a guide or travel with a group. You need to be with someone who knows pidgin - is from a local tribe, no use taking a guide from Moresby to the Highlands. You will both likely be shot. Rabaul is beautiful. Bouganville is exquisite but you must check the local situation before you go anywhere. Malaria and TB are still around as are many other fatal diseases. Do not drink the water.

PNG is one of the most beautiful places in the world. The people if you treat them with respect will die for you. They are intelligent and resourceful. If you do find a good guide take care of him and he will repay you ten fold. Please research well before you travel there. Flights are expensive and the terrain is dangerous.

You will see things you have never experienced before. Do not go to Indonesian PNG. It is very dangerous. Contact the Tourist Bureau. Take your time, research well, try to find a guide before you get there. Book your accommodation in advance. have a great time - it is an amazing country. Good luck.

My quals - I lived in PNG for 7 years. I was not a tourist as it seems Lazslo may have been. Many people still wear tribal dress - it depends which areas you visit - whether the people know you and who you have as a guide.

Oh, my.
"Indonesian PNG"???
For a start, there is no such place.

Indonesian Papua is actually considerably safer than PNG. Which is one of the reasons it gets far more visitors - the other being that it's much cheaper.
I visit it regularly myself, with my last trip there just this month.

Incidentally, I can't fail to have noticed that "Lebrit" has just created his account today to contribute the above pearls of wisdom sounding much like the previous similarly "well-informed" poster.
Make your own conclusions. ;-)

thanks so much for all this info Lebrit!
did you mention that it is more likely to find tribal dress in areas that that have been exposed to missionaries? i would imagine the opposite

i noticed that too Laszlo… i always check on previous posts from people and i saw you have a quite a few!

Sorry not exposed to missionaries. If you google Irian Jaya you will see what is happening there. Thousands of people are being killed in the name of mining in Indonesia. If you go there are you supporting this regime Lazslo? I am ashamed the world has not taken a closer look at Irian Jaya. I lived in PNG for 7 years and met many locals who had crossed the border at Mt Hagen so I do know what I'm talking about. Laszlo are you a local? It may be different for different races in Irian Jaya. I can't imagine Irian Jaya has more white visitors. I don't think that is the case. What do you do over there. I find your post difficult to believe and your advice not to get a guide is uniformed. I lived in PNG. I know the people and customs. From all accounts some areas are becoming much worse for whites. I only joined this site becuase I could see the advice you were given was dangerous to say the least misinformed to say the best.

Please research PNG - you will find many items on Irian Jaya and what is happening to the local people. The advice you were given by the other poster is correct. I see no reason for Laszlo to take issue with it. The poster is a local person. He has given good advice.

I am from Europe but live in Indonesia and visit Papua regularly.

Incidentally, the Indonesian half of New Guinea has not been called "Irian Jaya" for well over a decade now - it was renamed Papua upon the locals' request after the fall of the Soeharto regime.
So much for the accuracy and up-to-dateness of any website talking of politics in "Irian Jaya".

Speaking fluent Indonesian (I am the author of LP's Indonesian phrasebook) I can communicate with and get to know people in Papua pretty well.
Unlike ca 15 years ago, most now think little about independence and are more concerned with getting their own slice of all the money floating around since regional autonomy was implemented and lots of new regencies, each with their own budget and burocracy, created.

Any remaining human rights issues, which are now far fewer than in the Soeharto era, are of far more interest to faraway Western activists than to tourists and photographers visiting the place - as any number of delighted travel blogs one cares to read will testify.
The latter, along with the number of posts on this very forum about the Raja Ampat Islands and the Baliem Valley, Indonesian Papua's two main tourist magnets, easily show how many more tourists visit that region than PNG. One could easily see more tourists in either Raja Ampat or the Baliem in a single day than I saw during 2 month in the whole of PNG.

As for the dangers of PNG, they are real but vastly exaggrated by expats who typically live in fortified homes isolated from the locals. There are many posts on this forum by tourists who happily travelled in the country on their own - the dire warnings mostly come from those who did not.

The human rights issues you gloss over are real. I did not live behind bars and as you can see I have friends in PNG who have lived there their whole lives and are western. The poster can research himself - there is no way I would advise a person not be be careful in PNG. I loved the local people and was protected by them - that doesn't mean I did not take care. To say that and to denigrate a person who advises to take care is patently irresponsible. You know the press in Indonesia is filtered. You also live in Indonesia. Enough said. Here is a link to a paper that is reporting what is hidden. As an Indonesian citizen who speaks fluent Indonesian you would be much safer in West Papua. I do not exaggerate the dangers of PNG. If you want to gloss over them - if you live in Indonesia you are tied to what you can say - you know this - I'm am not arguing with you only giving the poster some different advice. Here is a link to the other side of the story which is not from an 'activist site.' You can Google and find many sites that are uncensored. http://www.theage.com.au/good-weekend/high-tension-in-papua-and-west-papua-20150206-12uc2d.html

"As an Indonesian citizen who speaks fluent Indonesian you would be much safer in West Papua"

One can't argue with someone who doesn't even bother reading what is already written.
I had just stated clearly, in the first sentence of my post, that I am a European.

Well enough of all this nonsense.
I leave it up to the readers to decide whom they believe.

I thought you advised you lived in Indonesia for 10 years. You stated you also spoke the language and wrote the LP guide to the language. I took that to mean you had citizenship as a Westerner, I also checked the Guide for your name. The poster can look at the link and make up his own mind. As you offer guided tours I cannot understand why you would question a person who says a guide would be a good idea.

Hello Laszlo , planing to go to Papua or PNG( it seems to more commercialised). Cant make final decission wich country to choose but closer to pick Papua . As a photographer very much interesting in tribal comunity and it very hard to find realible information about tribes from Papua , like Korowai and Yali. These tribes look to me unique but who knows are these peoples seeing on pitcures just posing photographers ? Journy is next year june/july still have some time but not to much! Have you been to areas where these tribes live and can you recomend going there and how dificult is to organise whole thing on a budget ? .
Thanks in advance
Graco

Yes, I have been to both multiple times.
Indeed, in both tribes, only some older people wear traditional dress daily, and most pics you see in such dress are more or less staged. They are both still interesting anyway.
However, not exactly budget destinations!
Boat charters from Dekai, the typical way to reach the Korowai, now cost ca 20 million Rp, while reaching the Yali either requires a very hard trek or a chartered flight.
The Baliem Valley, admittedly more touristy, is far easier and cheaper to reach if budget is an issue.

Hm that is budget i can not afford it although i would realy like to visit their villages where to make search for peoples or companies who organise that kind of expedition.i have 4 weeks of vacation is that sufficinet time to see to see tribal comunity like Korowai and Yali? For me as a photographer interested in people and culture what would be better destination Indonesian Papua or PNG ? What is like Baliem valley , can i see interesting villages and diferent tribal comunity in that area ,guess that valley has lot better roads and touristic infrastructure so that tourist dont have to take expensive flights or boats?

4 weeks can be sufficient time to visit both the Korowai and the Yali.
I think Indonesian Papua is more photogenic in everyday life but festivals are much more colorful in PNG. PNG is however much more expensive for everyday travel costs like transport, food and accommodation than Indonesia.
The Baliem is indeed relatively easy to tour with a good road network and plenty of traditional Dani village compounds, but you can only expect to see Dani and Lani people there, and unless you catch or stage a festival, will only see a few old people in traditional dress.

Hi Laszlo.
So to see relativly unspoiled beauty of villages and tribes effected by tourism industry good option would be to go off beatten track so please can you tell me what are the option i have in hand beside expenisive flights or boat charters . Is there local company that organise that sort of journeys that could be concact . Is there interest for visit that area by tourist so that i may be able to join peoples on same expedition or not so many peoples go that part of Papua ?

In general, organized tours, especially those where you can just sign up to join a group scheduled to go on a specific date, will go to regularly visited areas where the experience is predictable. Most tours go to the Baliem, some to the Korowai, and fewer still to Asmat. And that's about it.
Most of Papua is very much lacking in public transport, so it is not really possible to reach truly remote, "untouched" places without charters of some sort. They aren't necessarily as expensive as to the Korowai, where rates of everything are much influenced by the tour groups visiting regularly, but reaching remote places will cost.
So you must make compromises.

This topic has been automatically locked due to inactivity. Email community@lonelyplanet.com if you would like to add to this topic and we'll unlock it for you.