Papua is home to 255 indigenous tribes with many fascinating traditions. Here are some unique traditions from Papua; one of them is the Era Era Tu Urau. Curious about these unique traditions in Papua? Check out the following articles:
Ear Piercing Tradition: Era Era Tu Urau
Era Era Tu Urau is an ear piercing ceremony in Papua. The Era Era Tu Urau ceremony is a traditional Papuan ceremony from the Waropen tribe. This traditional event is an ear piercing ceremony for children aged three to five years.
In its implementation, Aebe Siewi, or a shaman, will be the leader of the Era Tu Urau ceremony. Aebe Siewi will pierce the earlobe of a child who is the spotlight of the Era Era Tu Urau. The shaman or Aebe Siewi will pierce or pierce the child’s two ears using a special tool.
In this Papuan ear piercing ceremony, relatives and neighbors of the pierced child will be present to enliven the event. At the Era Era Tu Urau procession, the child who undergoes the ear piercing ceremony will sit on a mat and be surrounded by other invited children.
According to its philosophy, Era Era Tu Urau is a ceremony to maintain the health of the child’s ears. For Papuan, the ear is an important part of the human body for them to take care of and maintain its condition. Papuans believe that children who received ear pierced in the Era Era Tu Urau ceremony will have good hearing.
Stone Burning Ceremony
The next unique tradition is the burning stones ceremony from the tribes in the Papuan Mountains. The Lani tribe calls this stone-burning ceremony Lago Lakwi, while the Dani call it Barapen. This traditional ceremony symbolizes simplicity, togetherness, and gratitude from the Papuan people.
In the past, they organized this ceremony to gather soldiers who would go to war or celebrate the return of tribal members after inter-tribal wars. But at this time, they hold this stone-burning ceremony to welcome happy news such as the birth of a baby, marriage, or the coronation of a tribal chief.
In the procession of burning stones, people will burn rocks until they are smoldering. Then, people will pile the food on the hot stones so that it cooks. Generally, the food they cook is meat, either pork or chicken, vegetables, bananas, and sweet potatoes.
Iki Palek
Another traditional tradition from Papua is the Iki Palek or finger-cutting tradition. This quite extreme tradition comes from the Dani tribe. Iki Palek, or finger cutting, is done by the Dani tribe when a family member dies. In Dani culture, this tradition is to show their sadness or grief.
The Dani tribe carries out the Iki Palek ceremony by cutting one finger joint. A traditional ax or knife is a tool the Dani tribe uses to cut their fingers.
Snap Mor
Another unique tradition is Snap Mor, which comes from the Biak tribe in Papua. Snap Mor is a tradition of catching fish in the sea at low tide. Generally, the community carries this tradition from March to August when low tide is longer.
The Snap Mor tradition contains the value of togetherness and gratitude for the blessings and gifts of God Almighty. To preserve the tradition of the Biak tribe, Snap Mor is currently one of the programs at the Munara Wampas Cultural Festival. The Munara Wampas Cultural Festival is held by the Biak Numfor Regency Government in July every year.
Those are traditional ceremonies in Papua, including the stone burning ceremony, Snap Mor, Era Era Tu Urau, and Iki Palek. Hopefully, this article can help you understand Papuan traditions even more.
