Today’s note comes from Papua New Guinea located in Oceana on the eastern half of the island of New Guinea. North of Australia near the equator New Guinea is the second largest island in the world (first is Greenland). The word Papua is derived from Papua, a Malay word describing the frizzy Melanesian hair.

Although the headhunting and cannibalism have been practically uprooted, in the past they occurred in many parts of what is now Papua New Guinea. For example, in 1901, on Goaribari Island in the Gulf of Papua, a missionary, Harry Dauncey, found 10,000 skulls in the island’s Long Houses. According to Marianna Torgovnick, "The most fully documented instances of cannibalism as a social institution come from New Guinea, where head-hunting and ritual cannibalism survived, in certain isolated areas, into the fifties, sixties, and seventies, and still leave traces within certain social groups."

The note selected is a 20 Kina issued in 1977. The front features a stylized Bird of Paradise which is their national symbol and is on all of their currencies. The back has a boar’s head. Watermark: Bird of Paradise. Book Value: UNC $80 USD. ENJOY!!

Language: English, Tok Pisin, Hiri Mot
Religion: Roman Catholic, Evangelical Lutheran Church of Papua New Guinea, United Church, Seventh-day Adventist Church, Pentecostal, Evangelical Alliance
Status: UN Member 1975