Walsa Singsing Muruk

A Unique Cultural Event

The Walsa Singsing Muruk is a cultural event that showcases the unique songs and dances of Walsa in Saundaun Province. The festival is a collaborative undertaking by NOPDOMUS Events, a registered entity with the National Cultural Commission (NCC), and the Walsa Cocoa Cooperative Society based at Imonda.

The inaugural Singsing Muruk was held in Imonda, Sandaun Province, on December 7th, 2019. This is a one-day event staged around the first week of December to coincide with the anniversary of Saundaun receiving its charter as a Province on December 4, 1974. This period is also when most schools close the academic year, thus providing the opportunity for greater community involvement, particularly among youth.

The Walsa Cocoa Cooperative Society was established in 2009 with the objective of establishing a platform to mobilize and support small holder cocoa growers within the Walsa LLG. The society provides support through provision of seedlings from its cocoa nurseries, and is a platform for agricultural extension services, and linking cocoa produce with markets. Since its inception, the Walsa Cocoa Cooperative has been struggling to secure funds to accomplish its objectives. Through a membership drive, the Society has managed to establish a campus on the fringe of Imonda Station where its cooperative store for members raises much needed funds.

In addition to supporting cocoa farming, the Society also supports other farming initiatives and

its campus in Imonda serves as a community marketplace on Saturdays where members can sell and buy garden produce. The Walsa LLG, similar to other communities within the Vanimo Green River District, is remote and largely dependent on meagre income from logging activities for cash flow into the community.

HONOURING HUEMDA

Singsing Muruk is a unifying term for a collection of traditional singsings (songs/dances) that are unique to the border frontiers between the District of Vanimo and Green River, and Indonesia, in particular Walsa LLG and parts of Amanab and Bewani. Singsing Muruk is significant to the speakers of both Awai and Waris languages; approximately 7,000 speakers, respectively.

Singsing Muruk characteristically features dances and songs involving men with painted bodies, donned in head dresses made from Cassowary feathers and Bird of Paradise plumes, and wearing penis gourds. While carrying bows and arrows, men chant, stampede and hop in unison to a rhythm created by their swinging penis gourds b e a t i n g against waist straps made from animal bone. Women, dressed in grass skirts and with faces painted in a similar fashion to men, join the chants, waving Bird of Paradise plumes as they follow the men. The swaying of their grass skirts in perfect unison is a sight to behold.

Singsing Muruk feature songs for different times and seasons. Many are considered sacred for enhancing the land for agriculture, for appeasing or wielding away spirits and for general healing and facilitation of spiritual blessings. In traditional times, Singsing Muruk would only be held if resources to sustain a prolonged singsing period, such as a week or a fortnight, were

available. Resources include sago, gar- den food and smoked meat. The sacred songs had custodians who were restricted from certain foods, such as coconuts or other introduced foods, as it was believed that eating such foods would reduce the productivity of the land.

The term Singsing Muruk is derived from the opening act known as Huemda. Huemda is a reference to the large cas- sowary (muruk as it is known in Tok Pisin) in the area that has long

pointy tail feathers and a large pointy crown. Traditionally, Huemda is performed to boost agricultural and economic productivity, but also afforded healing for members of the community. Those seeking healing partake in the dance and await the healer, by default the lead dancer, to bless them during the performance. The Huemda was also an occasion to bless hunters and those seeking spiritual assistance in their daily pursuits. The dance is usually staged at night with one or two leads who disappear before dawn. Following the Huemda were songs for other significant animals with spiritual significance, and songs that celebrated the environmental setting such as rivers, grassland or mountains, from which it was thought that spiritual custodians who influenced the affairs of mankind, dwelled.

The People of Walsa

THE CHALLENGES THAT BORDER COMMUNITIES FACE

Walsa Rural is one of three hinterland local level governments in the District of Vanimo and Green River, Saundaun (West Sepik) Province. Walsa is home to over 8000 people who speak the Waris languages. Despite being one of the least developed and serviced areas in PNG, the people of Walsa boast a vibrant pride in their cultural heritage. However, this cultural heritage is under attack from the pressures of the modern cash economy; both from within

PNG and from Indonesia.

The promise of prosperity has lured men and boys from their villages to work in logging camps in Vanimo Green District. Others have migrated across the PNG-Indonesia border to work on oil palm plantations in Papua where the indigenous Melanesian culture is targeted by Indonesia’s long-term strategy to assimilate indigenous Melanesians to a more Javanese-centric culture. This strategy by Indonesia began with the Transmigration Policy in the 1980s when Javanese Indonesians were relocated to Papua. 

Additionally, logging activities and ensuing royalty payments have caused land disputes,

which further contribute to the rise in division amongst the people. Their cultural heritage is a significant unifying factor, perhaps the only one left.

CELEBRATION OF CULTURE AS A UNIFYING FORCE

We have a small window of opportunity to support the preservation of this unique cultural heritage in Sandaun Province. In the face of much socioeconomic change and transboundary political pressure from Indonesia, safeguarding the cultural heritage of communities along the PNG-Indonesia border is paramount to the identity and autonomy of these communities.