Dressed in black meri blouses and red laplaps, the women swayed as if in welcome of the oncoming canoes and their passengers.
“We are the mothers of men who own tumbuans,” one of the women told Loop PNG.
By carrying these white cloths, the women were demonstrating how a mother cares for her baby.
In the Tolai society, when a man’s tumbuan makes its debut, the mother of the men who own these tumbuans perform this ritual as a sign of embracing the tumbuans and dukduks.
