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Coconut Ghost of Wutumara

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: Wutumara
Category: Ghost, Coconut, Plant

The Myth

Wutumara was a woman of great force and determination, a culture heroine whose life became entwined with the world of spirits. She was married to a man who also took a second wife—a ghost from the underworld. This ghost-wife often visited, and each time she came, she drew the husband away from the human world for long stretches of time. Wutumara grew resentful and jealous, angered that her rival’s presence disrupted her household and marriage.

Seeking to resolve this, Wutumara persuaded her husband to bring the ghost-wife permanently into the world of the living, believing that if they all lived together, harmony might be restored. Secretly, however, Wutumara intended to murder the ghost, unaware that spirits cannot be killed in the way humans can.

She attacked her rival and left her body in the jungle. But the ghost was not destroyed. Instead, she returned in vengeance, using powerful magic. She exchanged the genitals of Wutumara and her husband, a transformation meant to humiliate and confuse, and then killed Wutumara. After this, the ghost transformed herself into a pubic hair growing on the husband’s groin, hiding in plain sight.

Eventually, the husband tricked the ghost into revealing herself and managed to destroy her. Yet even this was not the end. Shortly afterward, the ghost reappeared once more, transformed into a coconut palm. To this day, it is said that the face of the angry ghost can still be seen in the coconut, watching from within its shell.

Thus the coconut palm became a lasting reminder of jealousy, rivalry, and the persistence of spirits beyond death—a living monument to Wutumara’s tragic conflict with the unseen world.

Gallery

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.

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Hiwai-abere

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Dwarf, Shapeshifter

The Myth

Hiwai-abere are wicked female beings who resemble women but are marked by grotesque and unsettling features. They are described as very fat, with large heads, swollen bellies, and unusually short legs. Their fingernails are long and sharp like spears, and with these they are able to hunt and kill wild pigs. Wherever they go, they constantly break wind, an action that is both comic and disturbing, and yet they possess extraordinarily sharp hearing, able to detect even a whisper from far away.

Despite their monstrous nature, hiwai-abere are masters of deception. They can disguise themselves perfectly, even taking on the appearance and features of specific human women. Through this ability, they approach men they desire and insert themselves into human society unnoticed. In many folk tales, a hiwai-abere replaces a bride at a wedding or abducts the rightful wife and takes her place in the household.

At first, the husband notices only that something is wrong. His wife seems changed in strange and troubling ways. The hiwai-abere cannot properly perform ordinary women’s work and instead demands to be served. She becomes possessive and jealous, preventing her husband from speaking to or approaching other women. The household falls into disorder, and the husband grows increasingly distressed by the inexplicable transformation of his wife.

Eventually, the deception is uncovered. The hiwai-abere is exposed for what she truly is, often through her inability to maintain human behavior or through the intervention of others. Once revealed, she is driven away, and the rightful wife is restored. The tales always end with the reuniting of the legitimate couple and the removal of the dangerous impostor.

Through these stories, the hiwai-abere stand as symbols of deception, disruption, and the fear of identity being stolen. They embody the danger of false appearances and the belief that what looks human may not always belong to the human world.

Gallery

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.

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Begeredubu

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Spirit

The Myth

Begeredubu is the mythical being of Waboda, a figure who is both man and spirit. He first appears in stories set in another place, but during a great flood he was carried away by a powerful torrent and brought to Waboda, where he remained.

At first, Begeredubu lived inside a large tree called gagoro. The tree was closely bound to his existence, and in time Begeredubu himself came to be identified with it. When the gagoro tree eventually fell, he built a house for himself and continued to dwell there, maintaining his presence in the area.

Begeredubu is remembered as a powerful and unusual being, marked by physical traits that set him apart from ordinary men. Through his arrival by flood, his dwelling in the gagoro tree, and his continued presence after its fall, he became firmly rooted in the land and memory of Waboda, existing at the boundary between the human world and the realm of spirits.

Gallery

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.

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Erumia

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Sea Dweller, Jellyfish

The Myth

On a reef near the village of Mawata lives Erumia, an enormous jellyfish feared and respected by the people. All ordinary jellyfish are said to be her children, spreading through the sea as extensions of her presence. Many men claim to have seen her with their own eyes.

Erumia is deadly. Her sting can kill a person, and when swimmers see long, slimy strings drifting toward them in the water, they know these are her trailing tendrils. At such a sight, there is no thought of bravery—only flight. To remain is to risk death.

Yet Erumia is not merely a threat. She is the patron of all fish and holds power over the sea’s abundance. To certain men she appears in dreams, granting them “lucky things” for fishing—signs, charms, or knowledge that ensure a successful catch. Through these gifts, she sustains life even as she threatens it.

The Mawata people themselves are closely linked with Erumia. Neighboring groups regard her as their ororodrora, a powerful mysterious being bound to their identity. When Mawata visitors arrive elsewhere, they may be greeted with the words, “The Erumia people have come,” acknowledging this spiritual association.

Erumia’s presence is also remembered in song. In a serial chant describing a journey eastward from Adiri, her domain is marked by the hanging jellyfish strings near the mouth of the Bina River—a sign that one has entered her waters.

Thus Erumia remains both guardian and danger: mother of jellyfish, ruler of fish, giver of fortune, and bringer of death, dwelling silently on her reef while her influence drifts far beyond it.

Gallery

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.

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The Gebaro Crab

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Crab, Sea Dweller

The Myth

Near the village of Gebaro there once lived a monstrous crab, feared by all who knew of it. Its body was enormous, and its shell was as hard as solid stone.

The people tried many times to destroy the creature. They shot arrows at it and struck it with clubs, but every weapon failed. Arrow points shattered, and blows rang out uselessly against its armored shell. No wound could be made, and no crack appeared.

Because the crab could not be harmed, the people learned to avoid the place where it lived. It remained there, undefeated and unchallenged, a living proof that some beings cannot be overcome by human strength.

The Gebaro crab became a symbol of invulnerability—an enemy not meant to be slain, but endured and respected from a distance.

Gallery

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.

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The Gigantic Crab of Aibinio

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Crab, Sea Dweller

The Myth

Near Aibinio there was once a small island where the Wiorubi people found an enormous crab, far larger than any ever seen before. Its shell was vast, its claws powerful, and it stood unmoving as men and women gathered around it.

Believing it could be captured, several people approached together. At that moment, the crab suddenly opened one of its great nippers. With terrifying speed, it seized the hands of those closest to it and dragged them into the lagoon. None could break free.

As the people were pulled under, the creature stirred the water with immense force. The lagoon began to spin, churning faster and faster until the water rose and roared. The island itself was torn apart and washed away, swallowed by the whirling waters. When the storm of water finally ceased, nothing remained of the island. Only a deep whirlpool marked the place where it had once stood.

The gigantic crab still dwells there beneath the surface. At every high tide, the water twists and surges in a powerful eddy, just as it did on the day the island vanished. The people say the creature is not a true crab, but an or or dr or a—a mysterious and dangerous being whose form only resembles an animal.

To this day, the waters near Aibinio are treated with fear and caution, for the crab waits below, and the sea still remembers its strength.

Gallery

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.

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Basai and Kaibani

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: Basai, Kaibani
Category: Spirit

The Myth

On Paho Island there is a hollow place beneath the ground that answers when people stamp upon it. The earth itself gives back a deep echo, and for this reason the place is known as Basai’s drum. Nearby lies a stone called Basai’s stone, linked to the beeswax once fixed to drum skins to strengthen and purify their sound.

Some say that Basai is the name of the being who inhabits this place beneath the earth. Others tell that the spirit there is a woman named Kaibani, who lives beneath the stone. In earlier times, Kaibani was said to appear at the stone, seated and patiently working on a belt, her hands moving steadily as she wove.

The place is not only hers. The spirits of the dead pass by it on their journey to Adiri, and as they do, they dance around the stone. They beat Basai’s drum by leaping upon the hollow ground, causing it to resound beneath their feet.

In the past, whenever the Mawata people traveled to Paho Island to gather crabs and fish, they performed ritual dances at this sacred spot. The sound of the drum was taken as an omen. If the echo rang out clear and strong, the people believed their journey would be free of trouble. If the sound was dull or broken, hardship and difficulty were expected.

A verse from an old song preserves the memory of Kaibani and her work:

“Mother of Paho made the belt;
Kaibani’s belt was no good.”

Thus the drum, the stone, and the woman beneath the earth remain bound together—listening, answering, and foretelling the fate of those who pass through the island.

Gallery

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.

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Sorea

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: Sorea, snake of Davare
Category: Snake

The Myth

The Tabio people once encountered an enormous snake in the bush at Davare. When they attempted to kill it, the creature did not flee or strike. Instead, it coiled itself into a great ring, placing its head at the center. From there, it beckoned to them, moving its head and flickering its tongue.

This, the people understood, was the way of snakes when they wished to make friends. To show this intent more clearly, the snake also beat the ground with its tail, signaling peace rather than threat.

The people named the snake Sorea. Rather than destroying it, they chose to settle at Davare, living alongside the great serpent. Sorea became their ororora—a protective and ancestral being bound to the land and the people.

One night, Sorea moved through the land with great force, cleaving a path as it crawled. This track became the Sorea-creek, known as Soreaturi, a lasting mark of the serpent’s passage through the earth.

Thus Sorea remained not as a monster, but as a guardian and origin-being, shaping the land and establishing a bond between the Tabio people and the place they came to call home.

Gallery

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.

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Wiobadara

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Snake, Shapeshifter

The Myth

Beneath the ground of Abuara Island lives a being known as Wiobadara.

By day, Wiobadara is seen in the form of a snake, moving unseen beneath the sand. By night, he sometimes emerges in human shape, revealing that his nature is not bound to a single form. His presence is known not by his appearance alone, but by the changes he leaves upon the land.

Wiobadara pushes the sand upward into small hills and ridges. At times, he alters the ground so thoroughly that women searching for crabs can no longer find the holes where they usually dig. Paths become unfamiliar, signs are erased, and the shore no longer responds as it should.

When this happens, the women do not confront him with force. Instead, they place food upon the ground for Wiobadara and speak to him respectfully, asking that he restore the land and allow them to find crabs again.

If properly appeased, Wiobadara relents. The sand settles, the hidden signs return, and the crabs once more reveal themselves. In this way, Wiobadara is understood as a powerful being of the earth—capable of withholding sustenance, but also of granting it when approached with respect.

Gallery

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.

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Tube

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Tradition / Region: Papua New Guinea Mythology
Alternate Names: —
Category: Lizard, Shapeshifter, Snake

The Myth

At Haemuba lives a being named Tube, one of the etengena—spirits connected to the land and its fertility.

Tube is closely bound to a particular man of the Mawata people. To him, Tube appears in dreams, teaching the knowledge of garden medicines and the proper ways to use them. The man, in turn, shares this knowledge with others, spreading what Tube has revealed.

At times, Tube does not remain unseen. He may appear in the garden or the bush in the form of a snake or an iguana. Though his shape is that of an animal, the man recognizes him by signs made with the creature’s head, subtle movements that reveal its true identity.

Once, the man encountered Tube in the bush in the form of an iguana. The animal held a small branch in its mouth—a branch that was itself a medicine. The man gently patted the creature on the head, and by this act received the medicine from Tube.

The bond between them is sealed through sharing. When the first taro is pulled from the ground, it is divided between the man and Tube, acknowledging the spirit’s role in the growth of the garden and honoring the partnership between human and land-being.

Thus Tube remains a quiet teacher and guardian of cultivated ground, passing knowledge through dreams, signs, and shared harvest, and ensuring that the wisdom of the land continues among the people.

Gallery

Sources

Landtman, G. (1970). The Kiwai Papuans of British New Guinea: A nature-born instance of Rousseau’s ideal community.

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