September 3, 1963
Gunts Yard, Simbai Valley, Papua New Guinea
Wayakai is looking after her granddaughter, Waruk, while Waruk's mom, Wia, is off working in a garden. Waruk has found a tiny stub of cigarette at the edge of the yard. The Maring grew their own tobacco - single plants near the men's houses, individual leaves picked only as needed and immediately dried over hot stone near a fire.
These cigarettes were smoked to the last millimeter, and were passed down from grown-ups to kids as they got shorter and shorter.
Wayakai let Waruk light the tiny stub with the cigarette she herself had been smoking.
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Very nice. And what about you: how did you lived there? These beautiful B&W pictures made me courious about the sounds of the place and the people.
ReplyDeletePaolo
Thanks Paolo!
DeleteI, too, would love to have easier access to the sounds of fifty years ago in Gunts. As I remember, there was a vivid undercurrent of people's conversations, interspersed with arguments among children, chickens clucking, and the occasional calls of wild birds from the surrounding rain forest. Back in those days, few photographers were coordinating acoustic recordings with their photography, so sounds were only documented when filming. Today it would be different!
Fascinated by the passing along of cigarette stubs. Was smoking an ongoing habit that went on all day or saved for once in awhile? Did the tobacco use have any impact on their teeth, mouth, or general health?
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