Marc Pingry

One of the best times to travel to Papua New Guinea for once-in-a-lifetime experiences is for the September cultural festivals. So remote， unattached and magical this country has remained， that every encounter with its inner life is a raw new experience for the lucky explorer. The diversity of this culture is extraordinary. Countless tribes and clans each have their own character， traditions and even language. Amazingly there are over 830 distinctive languages spoken here， a third of the worlds total.

Sea transportation has kept the community alive and prosperous throughout centuries. The trading between tribes along the Gulf of Papua stopped in the 1940s， but is celebrated today， every September.

Helen Pokapin （Tourism Official）： The celebration is about the trade between the Motuan people of Central Province and the Karawa people of the Gulf Province in Papua New Guinea. They go on this big dugout canoe. And that can carry more than 50 people to go on this trade， and they go for months， and then， when they come back， the women are here waiting for them at the beach， dancing and celebrating for the homecoming of the people when they come back home.

The lush rain forest is dotted with many villages. The relationship between these villages is， in a way， the theme of this festival. It is in honour of the war canoes， which were used in violent rivalries between the clans as well as in peaceful times.

The elders hope to teach the younger generation the tradition of canoe-making. John Kaniku is a wellknown poet in Milne Bay. He fights to conserve the old customs he feels so strongly about and tries to incorporate them in todays local youth.

John： For the Kanu Festival is that we want to teach， especially urban children， who have left home， and the parents have to work in…in the cities and towns. They know nothing about it， and we hope， by building them， theyll come and see them， and then well continue with our traditional architecture.

如果想在巴布亞新幾內(nèi)亞獲得人生中難忘的體驗，最好的時間就是在九月份去參加那里的文化節(jié)活動。遠離喧囂塵世，與世隔絕，這個國度依舊保持著它神秘的魅力。對于那些幸運的探險者來說，與這個國家的每一次深度接觸都是一次超凡脫俗的全新體驗。這個國度的文化多元性無與倫比。數(shù)不清的部落與家族有各自的特點，習(xí)俗各異，甚至連語言也不一樣。讓人稱奇的是，這里的語種多達830種，占世界全部語種的三分之一。

幾百年來，人們靠海上運輸生存，并且藉以繁榮興旺。巴布亞灣沿岸各部落之間的貿(mào)易早在上世紀40年代就已經(jīng)終止，但今天的人們會在每年九月紀念這段歷史。

海倫·波卡平（旅游官員）：慶祝活動圍繞著巴新中央省的莫圖恩人與海灣省的卡拉瓦人之間的貿(mào)易關(guān)系進行。從前，他們會乘坐這種大的獨木舟出門，每艘獨木舟可以載五十多人外出進行交易，他們一去就是好幾個月。當他們回來的時候，女人們就會在岸邊這里等候，為他們的歸來起舞、慶祝。

繁茂的雨林里散落著許多大大小小的村莊。從某種意義上講，這些村子之間的關(guān)系正是這次節(jié)慶的主題。以前，獨木舟既用于部落之間的對抗行動，也用于和平時期的各種活動，這個節(jié)日也是為了紀念這種作戰(zhàn)用的獨木舟。

村里的老人希望可以向年輕一代傳授建造獨木舟的方法，讓這一傳統(tǒng)得以延續(xù)。約翰·康尼庫是米爾恩灣的一位著名詩人，他對這些傳統(tǒng)有著強烈的感情，一直為保存這些傳統(tǒng)而努力，他想讓這些傳統(tǒng)融入如今當?shù)啬贻p人的生活。

約翰：在卡努節(jié)里，我們特別要對那些住在城里的孩子進行教育。他們已經(jīng)離開了故鄉(xiāng)，父母又必須在城里謀生，因此他們對這些一點兒也不了解。我們希望通過建造獨木舟，年輕人會來，看到這一切，以后我們就可以把我們的傳統(tǒng)建筑傳下去。

When they cut a tree， first they sit down and talk about it， and then a man goes out to select a tree， and the women are not allowed to come closer to that man or to the place where the tree is. Then the man goes out one morning and chases the evil spirits away， and then he puts an axe on it， and then he selects his people gonna help him to cut.

Deep in the jungle， not far from their homes， the men join in elaborate teamwork for handcarving the canoe from the 1）ilimo tree. No modern tools are being used. It has to be done the way their ancestors did it.

Esther Mark （villager）： Ordinary canoe is made of different， in a different way. This type of canoe here， its a long process， and its a teamwork too， not only one person get to do that. It has to be done in a way where everybody gets involved in doing building.

Wearing their traditional dress and feathers， the women and children arrive from the village to bless the men.

在砍樹的時候，他們首先要坐下來，討論一番。然后有一個男人會去挑選一棵樹。女人不能走近那個挑樹的人，也不能靠近那棵樹的所在地。然后，這個男人會一大早就出門，把邪靈趕走，再將斧頭放在樹上。接下來，他就會挑選幫他砍樹的人。

在叢林深處離家不遠處，男人們齊心協(xié)力，動手把八果木樹干做成一只獨木舟。他們不使用任何現(xiàn)代工具，一切都要遵從祖先傳下來的方式行事。

埃絲特·馬克（村民）：普通的獨木舟是用不同的方式造成的。但這種獨木舟的建造是一個漫長的過程，而且還是需要通力合作，不是誰單槍匹馬就可以完成的。獨木舟的建造需要每個人的參與。

婦女和孩子們身穿傳統(tǒng)服裝，頭戴羽毛，從村里來到此地，向男人們祝福。翻譯：旭文