Melanesia is a subregion of Oceania in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It extends from New Guinea in the west to the Fiji Islands in the east, and includes the Arafura Sea.
Cargo cult is a term used to denote various spiritual and political movements that arose among indigenous Melanesians following Western colonisation of the region in the late 19th century. Although the term "cargo cult" has been used by anthropologists to "label almost any sort of organised, village-based social movement with religious and political aspirations", features common to most cargo cult groups include the presence of charismatic prophet figures foretelling an imminent cataclysm and/or a coming utopia for followers—a worldview known as millenarianism. Claims made by these prophets varied greatly from movement to movement, with some predicting the return of the dead or an abundance of food. Some movements sought to appease "ancestral spirits or other powerful beings" by either reviving ancestral traditions or adopting new rituals, such as ecstatic dancing or imitating the actions of colonists and military personnel. Some groups foretold the coming of a bounty of Western goods or money as part of their prophecy, although this was not a universal feature of such movements, with other prophets telling their followers to abandon Western goods. Anthropologists have described cargo cults as rooted in pre-existing aspects of Melanesian society, as a reaction to colonial oppression and inequality disrupting traditional village life, or both.
Orders of Commonwealth countries.
The prime minister of the Independent State of Papua New Guinea is Papua New Guinea's head of government, consequent on being the leader of the party or coalition with majority support in the National Parliament. The prime minister serves as the head of his party, the head of the coalition government, and the chairman of the National Executive Council.
Melanesians are the predominant and indigenous inhabitants of Melanesia, in an area stretching from New Guinea to the Fiji Islands. Most speak one of the many languages of the Austronesian language family or one of the many unrelated families of Papuan languages. There are several creoles of the region, such as Tok Pisin, Hiri Motu, Solomon Islands Pijin, Bislama, and Papuan Malay.
The Papua New Guinea national soccer team is the men's national soccer team of Papua New Guinea and is controlled by the Papua New Guinea Football Association. Its nickname is the Kapuls, which is Tok Pisin for Cuscus.
The Melanesian Brotherhood is an Anglican religious community of men in simple vows based primarily in the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, and Papua New Guinea.
Religion in Papua New Guinea is dominated by various branches of Christianity, with traditional animism and ancestor worship often occurring less openly as another layer underneath or more openly side by side with Christianity. The Catholic Church has a plurality of the population. The courts, government, and general society uphold a constitutional right to freedom of speech, thought, and beliefs. A secular state, there is no state religion in the country, although the government openly partners with several Christian groups to provide services, and churches participate in local government bodies.
The Papua New Guinean honours system is the main system of honouring citizens of Papua New Guinea for their services to the country; it consists of three Orders and several medals. After independence, Papua New Guinea used the Imperial honours system, however, in recognition of the nation's 30th anniversary, a new awards system was adopted. The official announcement of its creation was made by Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare on 12 November 2004 and the first investitures were performed by the Princess Royal in early October 2005. The Imperial honours system is still in use as well, however, and the King issues a Papua New Guinean List as part of every Birthday and New Year Honours List.
The Order of Logohu is the principal order of the Order of Papua New Guinea. Logohu is a Motuan word for the bird-of-paradise, the official national symbol of Papua New Guinea since its independence. The Order consists of four ranks.
Melanesian mythology refers to the folklore, myths, and religions of Melanesia, a region in Southwest Oceania that encompasses the archipelagos of New Guinea, the Torres Strait Islands, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji. The various mythologies consist primarily of the traditions of oral literature in the different populations of Melanesia. More recent aspects include the cargo cults born in the 20th century during the Pacific War.
Dame Ann Marilyn Strathern, DBE, FBA is a British anthropologist, who has worked largely with the Mount Hagen people of Papua New Guinea and dealt with issues in the UK of reproductive technologies. She was William Wyse Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Cambridge from 1993 to 2008, and Mistress of Girton College, Cambridge from 1998 to 2009.
The Papua New Guinea national basketball team is the team that represents Papua New Guinea in international basketball and is a member of FIBA Oceania. It is administered by the Basketball Federation of Papua New Guinea.
New Guinea is the world's second-largest island, with an area of 785,753 km2 (303,381 sq mi). Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is separated from Australia by the 150-kilometre wide Torres Strait, though both landmasses lie on the same continental shelf, and were united during episodes of low sea level in the Pleistocene glaciations as the combined landmass of Sahul. Numerous smaller islands are located to the west and east. The island's name was given by Spanish explorer Yñigo Ortiz de Retez during his maritime expedition of 1545 due to the resemblance of the indigenous peoples of the island to those in the African region of Guinea.
Selepet is a Papuan language spoken in Selepet Rural LLG, Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea.
Akoka Doi, CMG is a Papua New Guinean politician. He was a member of the National Parliament of Papua New Guinea from 1977 to 1992, representing the electorate of Ijivitari Open.
The 2017 FIBA Melanesian Basketball Cup was an international basketball tournament contested by national teams of the newly formed Melanesia sub-zone of FIBA Oceania. The inaugural edition of the tournament were hosted by Papua New Guinea from 27 to 30 September 2017. Matches were played at the Taurama Aquatic and Indoor Centre. It was officially launched on 19 May 2017.
George Sulai Manuhu CSM is a judge of the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea for Port Moresby. He was Chief Magistrate of Papua New Guinea before he was appointed to the court. He was also a lawyer with the Public Solicitors Office for four years and was a District Court Magistrate for 11 years. He was appointed to the position in 2005, and had his ten-year term renewed on June 4, 2015.
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