Finally jewellery, body ornaments and accessories are made up of a number of components including pigs' teeth, shell, orchid stems, dogs' teeth, seed, snake spine, and pigs' tusks. The Sepik region is an immense grassland reserve, surrounded by one of the world's greatest rivers which runs 1,126kms from its origins in the mountains to the sea. The people along the river depend heavily on it for transportation, water and food. Their cultural links with the Sepik river are symbolised in many of their ancient and spiritual rituals, such as the manhood initiation. This requires painful carving of flesh on the backs of young men with razor blades.
Patterns are that of a crocodile lying on the banks of the river.
The history of the Sepik region reflects the influence over the years of the missionaries, traders, labour recruiters and administrators. Here river and crocodiles, man and nature have learned to live in mutual respect. Parts of the Highlands remain untouched just as they were when first 'discovered' in 1933. In fact, some remote villagers have yet to see a white man. The people are hardy and village life depends on subsistence farming.