page_title: Baining people
hierarchical_section_title: Baining people
caption_attribution_description: English: Firedancers of the Baining people on the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain in Papua New Guinea (2008). They live in the Baining Mountains and may have inhabited this area for thousands of years. The Baining are somewhat of an of an oddity amongst Melanesian cultures because they create art forms that have a very ephemeral existence. The dance mask in the picture is laboriously made from bark cloth, bamboo and leaves and used just once for the firedance ceremony before being thrown away or destroyed. The origin of these firedance ceremonies was to celebrate the birth of new children, the commencement of harvests, and also a way of remembering the dead. The Baining firedance is also a right of passage for initiating young men into adulthood. It's a totally male event and traditionally the Baining women and children do not take part in it or even watch the firedance. Deutsch: Feuertänzer des Baining-Volkes, das in den Bergen der Gazelle-Halbinsel auf Neubritannien in Papua-Neuguinea lebt (2008). Die Tanzmaske wurde aufwendig aus Baumrindenstoff, Bambus und Blättern hergestellt, wird aber nur ein einziges Mal bei einer Feuertanz-Zeremonie benutzt und anschließend entsorgt. Solche Zeremonien finden statt bei der Geburt eines Kindes, dem Beginn der Ernte, der Initiation von jungen Männern, und um der Toten zu gedenken und sich ihrer zu erinnern. Die Baining-Feuertänze sind ausschließlich Männern vorbehalten, Frauen dürfen weder teilnehmen noch die Tänze anschauen.
context_page_description: The Baining people are among the earliest and original inhabitants of the Gazelle Peninsula of East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. They currently inhabit the Baining Mountains into where they are thought to have been driven by the Tolai tribes who migrated to the coastal areas in comparatively recent times. Another factor that might have influenced their migration inland was major volcanic activity that took place over centuries.
  The Baining tribes get their name from the Baining Mountains which they inhabit. Their language is also called Baining of which there are a few different dialects.
context_section_description: The Baining people are among the earliest and original inhabitants of the Gazelle Peninsula of East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. They currently inhabit the Baining Mountains into where they are thought to have been driven by the Tolai tribes who migrated to the coastal areas in comparatively recent times. Another factor that might have influenced their migration inland was major volcanic activity that took place over centuries. (As recently as 1994, the nearby town of Rabaul was almost completely destroyed by two volcanoes, Tavurvur and Vulcan)
  The Baining tribes get their name from the Baining Mountains which they inhabit. Their language is also called Baining of which there are a few different dialects.
caption: A Fire Dancer of the Baining people
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