CHIMBU People

The Chimbu people, also known as Simbu or Kuman live in the Chimbu, Koro, and Wahgi valleys in the mountainous central highlands of Papua New Guinea. The Chimbu are speakers of Kuman and related dialects. Most people living in the Chimbu homeland identify themselves first and foremost as members of particular clans and tribes—identification as "Chimbus" is restricted primarily to occasions of interaction with nonethnically Chimbus. The term Chimbu was given to the people by the first Australian explorers (in the early 1930s).

Kuman Chimbu do not arrange their houses into villages but rather have a dispersed settlement pattern Traditionally, men lived in large men's houses set on ridges for purposes of defense, apart from women, girls, and young boys.

Of the most important traditional Ceremonies, initiation of boys into the men's cult is no longer practiced (having been actively discouraged by missionaries) ; the large pig-killing ceremonies (bugia ingu) are still held but with less emphasis on the sacrificing of pigs to ancestral spirits.

Although Christian beliefs have modified traditional beliefs, it is still thought by many that after death one's spirit lingers near the place of burial. Deaths caused by sorcery or war that are not revenged result in a Dangerous, discontented spirit that can cause great harm to the living. Chimbu stories are replete with accounts of deceiving ghosts.

Extended info about Chimbu People