Fifty Years Ago Today - After a Nap

Gunts, Simbai Valley, Papua New Guinea

Friday, August 2, 1963

Waruk had been sleeping in her bilum, slung from a forked pole at the side of Gunts yard. Her mother, Wia, had been chatting with other women gathered in the shade of the banana trees.  

Wia took Waruk out of the bilum just as soon as she heard her stirring.

She wiped her nose with  bit of leaf, 

..... checked her hair for lice,

...and Waruk settled down to nurse.

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Fifty Years Ago Today - The Earring

Thursday, August 1, 1963

In the Simbai Valley, Madang District, Papua New Guinea

Gau came by our house this morning. She was wearing her necklaces of trade beads.  Her ear was a convenient holder for a frog she had found in the forest.  Where would she have carried it if she had been wearing an earring of possum fur or a safety pin?

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