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For
countless centuries, the Nukna people of Papua New Guinea lived in
a vicious cycle of tribal warfare and payback killings. On
clear days,
people working in their jungle gardens were afraid to start cooking
fires, for fear that the smoke would allow their enemies to pinpoint
their location. At times, entire villages were wiped out by
other
Nukna warbands. People also lived in continual fear of the
spirits and
the black magic performed by powerful sorcerers to kill their enemies.
In the 1930's, Papua New Guinean Christians, who
had been
evangelized by the German Lutheran missionaries, came up from the
coastal regions and preached the Good News of Jesus Christ to the Nukna
people. Entire villages were converted and forsook
their violent ways. |
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The coming of the
Australian colonial
government further discouraged the people from fighting, and a new era
began. Today, the Nukna people live a life of relative peace and
security.
The people subsist mainly on the food from their numerous
large
gardens, cut out of the rainforest. Most people also raise a few
pigs and chickens, and hunt the occasional jungle animal.
Because of the remoteness of the Nukna area (there are no
roads
or airstrips inside the Nukna region), economic opportunities are
limited.
There is a medical post in Hamelengan and
a health center in Yalumet, but for those who live in outlying areas,
health care is not readily available.
Children can
attend primary school in either Hamelengan or Yalumet.
Further
education is available outside the Nukna area, but most children do not
attend school past the sixth grade. |
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- Nukna
means "my friend" or "my kinsman"
- Population:
about 1000
- Villages:
11 (see map)
- Major
Church Denomination: Lutheran
- Means
of Support: subsistence agriculture (gardening)
- Economy:
people sell betel nut, coffee and other various items to earn
money
- Terrain:
ranging from the coastal grasslands to the 9,000
foot Saruwaged Mountains.
- Literacy:
50-60%
- Scripture:
there are no Scripture portions in the Nukna language;
people use the trade language (Tok Pisin) Bible
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Interested in more details
about the life
of the Nukna people? Read the
Nukna
Sociolinguistics and
Literacy Report.
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Map of
all
the languages
in Morobe province
(Nukna is near the top) |
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Maps of
Nukna's location and the Nukna villages |
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