Which Tribes Should You Visit in Papua New Guinea? 

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If you’re considering a visit to the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, you are interested in the tribes of Papua. Home to over 800 distinct languages and hundreds of unique tribes, you can witness ancient traditions, traditional Sing Sings (gatherings of tribes for music, dance, and rituals), and iconic indigenous groups like the Asaro Mudmen or Huli Wigmen. But unless you are visiting during one of the iconic Highland festivals (The Goroka Show or Mount Hagen Show) OR are traveling on one of these group tours, you’re probably going to have to pick and choose which tribes you visit.

Because for every community you visit, you have to pay the 300-500 kina performance fee. This is the equivalent of $67-$110.

This blog post is designed to help you choose which tribes you want to prioritize during your visit. But first, a few things you should know about the tribal experiences and the way these visits work in PNG.

How Exactly Does Visiting A Papua New Guinea Tribe Work?

Essentially, you fly to a region of the country that is populated by tribal communities, hire a local guide, and pay the tribe a set “performance fee” of 300-500 kina (no matter the number of people), and they put on their ceremonial best for you. Each tribe does something a little different. Sometimes it’s a sing-sing, a showcase of a practice, or a little bit of folklore theatre. You’ll get to take lots of photos and see their traditional attire. It’s not really an “authentic, unfiltered” visit, because they are preserving many of these traditions solely for and because of tourism.

However you feel about that, I think it’s important to understand how it works ahead of time so that you aren’t disappointed.

My personal opinion regarding this is complicated. It’s preserving traditional practices, sure. But if they are ONLY preserved for the benefit of tourists, are they really worth preserving in the first place? This feeling is kinda what inspired this list in the first place. The tribal communities I rank highest are the ones that felt the most authentic and seemed to really WANT to preserve their tradition, not just for financial gain but for the culture itself.

If any of this is surprising to you thus far, read these blog posts for a better understanding of travel in Papua New Guinea…

What’s the Difference Between a Sing-Sing and Any Other Tribal Visit?

I found the sing-sings to be the most authentic of the tribe visits. This is because a sing-sing isn’t made up for tourism; it’s how the tribes celebrate and welcome important people to their villages. In most tribal communities, this is still the case today! So, yes, while you are paying them to treat you as an important visitor, it’s still a real practice rather than just a photo-op.

Because if you’ve ever seen masked tribes on a waterfall, or mud-men on top of a mountain, or painted people seemingly deep in a jungle, just know, this is essentially a staged photoshoot. It’s all planned. A lot of the tourism to PNG comes from photographers, so the communities have essentially built the entire tourism experience around what makes for the most dramatic photos.

If you are a photographer yourself, know that you can pay to have tribe members dress up and pose pretty much anywhere. Just be respectful to their culture.

A Non-Exhaustive List of All the Tribes You Can Visit in PNG

There are different tribal communities scattered all across Papua New Guinea. I’ll break them down by region.

Sepik River

In the case of Sepik, these are all sister tribes and communities; they just have different performances and sing-sings.

• Cassowary Tribe in Kanganamun.
• Ghosts of Parambei.
• Wombun.
• Nyarangei.
• Kandinge. Mother village of the crocodile tribe.
• Yenjinmangua.

Highlands

• Kere tribe (Honey Bees).
• Asaro Mudmen. Famous for their handmade mud masks.
• Bird Spirits of Wii Towai. The masked people sitting on a waterfall.
• Blue Beards of the Enguwal Tribe.
• Huli Wigmen.
• Burning Heads. The burning tower was used to scare away birds from the fields.
• Arunumuna Women’s Dance. This was a marriage dance in the past for prospective brides to showcase themselves.

• Bena Tribe of Cane Swallowing.
• Skeleton Tribe of Chimbu Province.
• Asaro and Kore Moko Moko dance. Two different tribes with distinct dances to be performed.
• Mini-Mudmen of Asaro.
• Insect-hunters, aka the Narku Tribe of Mindima.
• Frog hunters of Mindima.
• Enga Dancers.

New Ireland

• Kono Shark Callers
• Tatanua mask carving. Although not a typical tribal performance, you can see traditional mask carving by the masters.

New Britain

• Baining. Fire-dancers and really impressive masks.
• Nakanai.
• Tolai dukduk. Really bulbous costumes.

How Many Tribes Should You Visit?

This is up to your budget. And interest. I personally could have visited 5-6 different tribes in various regions and been perfectly happy. Expect each tribe visit to cost 300-500 kina, with famous ones like Skeleton Tribe and the Mud Men being the most expensive.

If you’re taking a tour, they are likely all already included in the price.

The 6 Tribes I Felt Were Most Worth Visiting in PNG

This is entirely based on my own personal opinions.

I am also curious about the cane-swallowing who eat razor blades (because wow), and also enjoyed the novelty of the spider-roasting insect hunters. But if I had to choose, these are the 6 tribes I would prioritize.

1. All The Sepik Tribes, aka the Crocodile Men

This is kind of cheating because it is not one tribe. Rather many different visits and will come at quite a cost, but you probably wouldn’t be visiting Sepik without a package deal anyway.

It’s no secret that I enjoyed Sepik River the most of any region in Papua New Guinea. It’s the least touched by tourism, most rugged, and all the tribes are still practicing their traditions. Including the scarification rituals of the crocodile men.

Most of the tribal visits here will consist of sing-sings, each with its own unique costumes and dances. If I were to visit again, I would probably visit the Cassawary tribe and one of two other sings-sings at any of the other crocodile men communities. Half the fun was getting to meet the men and chat with the communities when all the dancing was over. English was widely spoken here, which made genuine interactions easy.

I wrote a full guide on visiting the Sepik River region of Papua New Guinea. *coming soon*

2. Skeleton of Chimbu

Skeleton Tribe is arguably one of the most popular tribes and the one you’ll see most commonly on Instagram.

Their performance is more like a theatrical performance of their tribal origins, and I found it most interesting to watch. It’s also the most expensive.

3. Frog Hunters of Mindima

I found them to have one of the most striking painted faces (which makes them great for photos), but I also liked that it was a little more interactive. After the women find the frogs, they cook them over the fire and share them with you. If your guide is willing, you can talk with them and hang out for a bit. This is done by the same waterfall as the spirit birds. So if the birds are a must on your list, then this is a good one to tack on.

4. Asaro Mudmen

While the mudmen’s performance is a little underwhelming (in my opinion) and mostly just for photos, the masks themselves make it worth your while. There are only a handful of craftsmen still around that can make this really unique local carving they wear, and the more tourists that visit, hopefully, the more people who will continue to learn the practice, and the mudmen will live on.

5. Huli Wigmen

While I personally did not visit the Huli Wigmen, I think it would be a really cool group to add to your list. For starters, they have really striking paint and ceremonial attire. Secondly, they make their headdresses with their own hair. This means it can’t just be crafted for tourism. It’s a long-term practice that takes time and dedication. The fact that it still exists means the community members still find it important.

6. Shark Callers of Kono, New Ireland

This one comes with a huge disclaimer. If you are a woman, you will not be able to partake in the actual shark-calling experience. Huge bummer, as a woman myself, I know. But if you are a man and can go out fishing with them, this is one of the more authentic and one of the few still practiced on this list.

Essentially, you will drive to the village of Kono in New Ireland, stay overnight to get up early, and go out on a canoe with them on the Bismarck Sea in hopes of catching a shark. Women are not permitted to go fishing in this culture. If you are a male/female couple, to go out fishing with the men, you will need to sleep separately the night before departure. Like totally different huts. Obviously, the woman still can’t go, but this allows the man to. This is all just to uphold tribal practices, and the community is pretty unbending about it.

As you can see, choosing which tribes to prioritize in Papua New Guinea is entirely up to you and the kind of experience you are hoping to have. Ideally, you’re hoping to witness some really cool customs that you won’t find anywhere else in the world, not just people dressed up in costume. If you do end up visiting any of the PNG tribes, I would love to hear your honest experience in the comments to help other travelers narrow down which to visit themselves.

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