Paper short abstract:

In PNG, people, Monsters and Ancestors live underground in social harmony and ancient power, mirroring villages, swamps, and islands above the surface. I explore this underground world and its intimate connection to those on the surface, inextricably linked through actions, relations and movement.

Paper long abstract:

In the Western Province of Papua New Guinea, a community of people live underground in a world of plenty characterised by social harmony and ancient power. Aside from the latter, their environment, practices and lifestyle mirror the villages, swamps, and islands above the surface. These 'underground people' speak Gogodala, a dialect also spoken by the villagers on the surface and communicate with those living above through dreams. In this world, the underground is a dynamic, breathing, living space, redolent with ancestral power and ability. Here, rapid movement is enabled through a series of tunnels or pathways, only open to those either living underground or creatures referred to as Monsters, who access these tunnels through the waterways on the surface. Monsters use the tunnels and other underground spaces to move at great speed between places on the surface. Ancestors also move in and out of these underground spaces, connecting these with elaborate networks of underground passages and places outside of this underground world. In this paper, I explore what/ who lives and travels beneath the surface of Gogodala villages; charting some central spaces and beings moving around and through, as well as living, underground. I also note the intimacy of relations between this underground world and people who live above, inextricably linked through actions, relations and movement.