Dancing with the dead: Remote ‘skeleton’ tribe dress up as corpses to scare off their enemies in Papua New Guinea mountains
- The Chimbu Skeleton Tribe of Papua New Guinea dress up in traditional body paint for the celebration
- Over 60 highland tribes meet for six days to share their cultures and rituals at the Mount Hagen festival
- The Chimbu used to paint themselves to psychologically intimidate their enemies but now it’s celebratory
- Not much is known about the isolated tribe who first made contact with the western world in 1934
Incredible images have revealed the mysterious tribe who dress as skeletons to strike fear into their enemies.
Stunning pictures show groups of men painted to look like skeletons dancing and moving about with sticks as they make their way to the Mount Hagen festival.
Other striking shots show the tribesmen using hand mirrors as they perfect their facepaint and posing for the camera as they smoke cigarettes.
The Chimbu tribe, who live in a remote mountain region of Papua New Guinea, dress up for annual Mount Hagen festival
The annual festival goes for six days and tribes in the highlands share their cultures and rituals with each other
The remarkable photographs show the Chimbu Skeleton Tribe of Papua New Guinea and were taken by amateur photographer Pongtharin Tanthasindhu who grew up in Thailand but now lives in Toronto, Canada.
‘What you can see in these photos are a group of Chimbu Skeleton Tribes making their way to the arena for Mount Hagen festival as well as their behind the scene and how they prepare for the festival,’ he said.
‘Very little is known about this tribe and that makes their body paint more fascinating. My aim is to showcase richness and mysteriousness in Papua New Guinea cultures/tribes.
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‘The reason why they paint themselves as skeletons is to intimidate their enemy into believing that they are not human and have some source of supernatural power.’
Only first making contact with the Western world in 1934, the Chimbu tribe have largely remained a mystery-making their skeletal body paint even more fascinating.
Combined with dance, the paint jobs of Papua New Guinea’s Chimbu tribe were originally intended to intimidate enemies.
Only first making contact with the Western world in 1934, the tribesman now use hand mirrors to perfect their stunning body paint
Combined with dance, the body paint of the Chimbu tribe was used to psychologically intimidate their enemies, today, it’s used to celebrate their traditions
Tribes in the highlands engage in colorful local rituals that are called “sing sings”. They paint themselves and dress up with feathers, pearls and animal skins
Despite the tribes isolation the six days festival gives visitors a gimps into their traditions and cultures
Today, they are now part of an event called a ‘Sing Sing,’ where nearby clans gather to celebrate the rituals and traditions of their cultures.
The Chimbu primarily speak Kuman-one of the over 800 languages of Papua New Guinea.
Pong hopes to visit every country in the world and every possible territory. He has so far visited 143 countries and plans to finish it by 2022.
He explained the problems he ran into photographing this tribe and why he loves this type of photography.
‘The subjects were moving all the time (at different paces) and therefore, I had to constantly find the best possible angle to shoot from as well as making sure the lighting was perfect for the frame,’ he said.
‘I have always been a fan of street and people photography in general. I feel that it tells a great story when traveling off the beaten path.
‘Most people find it fascinating and scary at the same time. In fact, many people are now very interested to visit Papua New Guinea.’
At the festival the tribes celebrate their culture through Sing-sings, traditional dancing and costumes
Sometimes an important event, such as the festival, a legendary battle, is enacted. Between 60 and 100 tribes take part
The Chimbu primarily speak Kuman—one of the over 800 languages of Papua New Guinea
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