History of the Huli people of Papua New Guinea

• The Huli have lived in their region for 1,000 years and recount lengthy oral histories relating to individuals and their clans.

• They were extensive travellers (predominantly for trade) in both the highlands and lowlands surrounding their homeland, particularly to the south.

• The Huli people first encountered the white-man in 1935 when Jack Hides and Peter O'Malley traversed one hundred and twenty miles of their territory. They looked at the two explorers and whispered excitedly among themselves about these men. They then presented the two explorers with sweet potatoes from their gardens and escorted them throughout their individual clan territories
• However, the people would not let the white-men touch them nor did they accept their gifts of bead and cloth
• The two explorers announced to the world the discovery of a Papuan Wonderland inhabited by a volatile, excitable people, divided into numerous small groups that frequently engaged in warfare.

• It is believed that the first Papuans migrated to the island over 45,000 years ago.

• The stocky, bearded highland people are closely related to the lowland Papuans and more distantly to the Melanesian populations of the Solomon islands.

• Today, over three million people live in the highlands of New Guinea.

• The harsh terrain and traditional inter-tribal warfare has lead to village isolation and the proliferation of distinct languages.