Mingende Catholic Mission, New Guinea;
1969

Over a thousand worshipers came to Mass this Sunday, many decked with feathers & flowers, their faces painted, their bodies covered with clay. A few old men were armed, for display, not defense. One woman nursed a baby on one breast, a puppy on the other. Marvelous singing filled the high, old church with its earth floor & log pews. Men with large shells hanging from their noses had to lift these to take Communion. Between services, several clawing, mud-rolling brawls broke out between jealous women, egged on by whooping spectators, but a calm priest slowly drove an ancient truck into each crowd, breaking up the fights, then returned to perform the next Mass. One man wore a photograph of himself on his forehead, in front of his feathers; friends greeted him by examining his photograph.