The making of the ‘green axes’ during the Stone Age in Papua New Guinea

Before the first Australian patrol to Mt. Hagen in 1933, stones axes (green axes) were used daily in the highlands of Papua New Guinea and were widely traded, often in the context of ceremonial exchanges.

In recent times, a group of axe factories located in Waghi and Jimi Valleys accounted for the bulk of production was in circulation at the time.

An anthropologist had spent 3 months, during the late 1963 and early 1964, journeying through the New Guinea highlands in an attempt to trace sites where stone axes (green axes) have been made in recent past. In the Simbai (Tsembaga) and Kaironk areas in Simbu, steel axe has effectively replaced stone axe only within the last ten years, though some steel axe have been traded in a decade or so earlier.

In other highlands areas, stone working axes had probably dropped out of use by the early 1940’s, of the ten quarry sites then examined, three had been visited before by earlier workers, two were reported to the writer by an anthropologist, C. Criper, working in the Upper Simbu, and the others were found by walking about the country pursuing local information.

Stone axes (green axes) were also used in West Papua (Irian Jaya), when Ronnajdn Frank traveled up the isolated Brazza River in West Papua in 1989, the ‘tree-house’ men would only trade a stone axe in exchange for steel axe. They needed their steel axes on a daily basis and would not easily replace the stone axes (green axes). Something which money, tobacco or other traded items wouldn’t do.

During the Stone Age period, there are many known areas on the Island of New Guinea where green axes are used and traded but only few areas were tipped as ‘factory’ where it was made. 

Display of some of the carvings made by Simeon Nikints from imagination. Image Credit: Peter Kinjap.

Display of traditional Green Axes and small carvings Simeon Nikints had made. Image Credit: Peter Kinjap. 

Simeon Nikints of Moika village in Mt. Hagen Central district, Western Highlands Province could be one of the last remaining survivors of the ‘green axe’ makers in the highlands of PNG, acquiring the skills from his father and grandfather. Simon is currently living in Taurama suburb in Port Moresby with his daughter Grace Mone selling some of the last remains of his produce from the highlands, the ‘green axes’ he made. He renamed the stones axes as ‘green axes’ that he produces because of the colour of the fine stone that he gets after months of rubbing against each other. Simeon is married to a lady from Sinasina village in Simbu Province. He has 3 daughters and a son.      

“My father made the stone axe and I watched him when I was a small boy. I started imitating my father and trial few myself when I was still young. I later realized I could make stone axes from this experience.” Simon said.

“I started collecting stones (raw material) from the Rondon River upstream in Mt. Hagen and started sharpening them against each other” he added. “It’s not an easy task to rub them against each other to get the expected sharpness and toughness of the stone axes. It took us months to rub the stones against each other. Only the committed men could do that.” A confident Nikints said.   

“We have to rub, sharpen and publish until we get to the core which is the green part of the stone that gives us the sharpness and the ‘green’ colour” he added. “Too much energy; you got to spend hours to strain your muscles to get to it. I had to spend hours of my days in the afternoon to do that.” He said. “When I spend full day working on it, I can get a finished product in few weeks. But when I spend few hours in the afternoon, I get to it in months”, he said.   

Simeon said he had never used the ‘green axe’ himself. He made them to sell or trade. In his youthful days, steel axe was introduced.  Jim Taylor, the first explorer of Western Highlands Province arrived in his village when he was only a boy. He recalled he was only a child during World War 2 which ended in 1945 when Japanese and American war planes flying over and making strange noises up in the air. “Jim offered us salt; some kids especially young girls tasted it first. I was amongst those kids but did taste as I was afraid of the white man. I was also afraid of my village elders. They restrict us from getting anything he offered or going closer to him saying he could be a spirit of a dead man from the enemy tribe to kill us or poison us,” Simeon added. After leaving the Moika village, Taylor later settled in Nebilyer valley.  

One of the traditional green axe made by Simeon Nikints. Image Credit: Peter Kinjap.

“One day I saw a group of foreigners taking photos and videos. A man was invited to demonstrate cutting a tree using a ‘green axe’ and those photographers and video crew were taking photos and video footages. The ‘green axe’ cut like a steel axe. It was exciting watching the show,” he said.

Like many other traditionally made items, ‘green axe’ was also used in the ceremonial events such as the traditional singing. The Western Highlands men in traditional full attire would hold a traditional green axe or carry a green axe under his armpit while marching around in traditional attires and chanting out in loud voices the ritual traditional songs.

The green axe was mainly a tool for gardening, cutting trees and building houses. Rough hard rocks were found near the rivers and creeks.

The handle of the green axe is made separately. Then it was fitted. The hardest task was to get the stone from the river side or creek and rubbing against each other. Smoothing and making the handle is easy.

One of the wood carvings made by Simeon Nikints from his imagination. Image Credit: Peter Kinjap

 “Some tourists told me when I was selling some green axes during the 2028 APEC in Port Moresby that I have done the toughest job of all indigenous artwork, that is, to make a green axe.” Nikints said.

“Carving is another special gift that I have. I produced through my own imagination a board of paradise and carved it. Or a human face and carve it, as well as other designs too. I can produce a human face from a wood or any other design from my imagination,” he added.

“I am still carving and doing my artwork in producing the green axes today. Any museums or historians or just about anyone who is interested to get a ‘green axe’ for their display and exhibition or a souvenir from the Island of New Guinea, you can find me at the back of Holiday Inn Hotel in Port Moresby where there is a craft and paint market or alternatively you can contact the writer of this story who knows where I live.” Simeon Nikints said.

Simeon Nikints with one of his green axes he produced. Image Credit: Peter Kinjap

The ‘green’ axe is a sustainable and eco-friendly tool that has been used in the past, especially during the Stone Age. Today when humanity is facing humiliation and suffocation from climate crisis, remains of such tools as the ‘green axe’ being produced and used without causing any disturbance to the environment should find a special spot in the museum exhibitions and environmental conservation forums around the global.  

The article was first published in;

The National - https://www.thenational.com.pg/ten-million-trees-by-2030/

PNG Attitude Blog - https://www.pngattitude.com/2020/02/planting-trees-to-fight-climate-change.html

PNG Online News - https://news.pngfacts.com/2020/02/planting-more-trees-to-fight-climate.html

UN recognizes PNG’s climate initiatives

(The Article was first published in The National Newspaper)

By PETER S. KINJAP
At the panel discussion in New York, US on Nature Base Solution for climate change, NCD Governor Hon. Powes Parkop delivered his keynote speech to the following effect. The Governor of PNG’s capital city Port Moresby was in New York with the PNG delegation on climate change UN Summit.



Powes Parkop with Ms Inger Anderson, Executive Director of United Nations Environmental Programmes in New York after the panel session.

“As a former environmentalist and human rights activists, I take issue of climate crisis most seriously at heart. It is absolutely critical that we all work together at all levels to address the common challenge facing us globally,” Mr Parkop told the fellow panelists. 

“There are a number of pertinent facts that places our country in this critical global effort to mitigate and reserve the effect of climate change. Firstly, our tidal waters are rising at double the global average. Many tribes and clans still live on the ocean and off the great rivers of our country,” the governor said. “PNG is one of the first countries in the world to have environmental refugees due to sea level rising and sinking of islands. We are a living proof that climatic change is real.

Secondly, PNG waters are part of the Coral Triangle, the area of world’s highest known marine biological diversity. Its coral reefs and associated marine habitant are home to 2,800 species of fishes, about 10% of the world total. If we don’t save these coral reefs and marine life, the world loses 10 percent of this world’s rare jewel. It will also have effect on tuna stock in the world too where we have 25 percent of the world tuna found in our waters,” he added.

“Thirdly and very importantly, PNG is home of the third largest intact remaining tropical forests in the world, and 10% of the world’s biodiversity. That makes our island nation an important voice at the UN Climate change table.

While forests of the Amazon burn, so too are our forests threatened. PNG has the highest endemic mammals globally, and as such, when a species becomes extinct, it is likely to become extinct globally.

However, like rainforests around the world, which now cover just 6% of the Earth’s surface, PNG’s wilderness is being threatened not only by logging interests but mining and agricultural plantations, especially palm oil, found in cosmetics, processed foods, biofuels and pharmaceuticals, amongst other uses. However, by far and large our forests remain intact although vulnerable,” he added.

“We need urgent global support to maintain them as they are not just ours but also belongs to the indigenous people and life on the planet earth.  

PNG might be small country in size, population, technology and economy but in the global challenge to mitigate and reserve the effect of climatic change, we can play a bigger role, we already played and we need global support and help. We need real effort to make forest carbon stocks trading real so we can conserve and preserve the third of the world’s oxygen (lungs); we need support to make re-forestation real, we need real effort to control sea level rising and a lot more and it has to happen now, as a matter of emergency. 

In Port Moresby, urbanization is transforming our city. In 2014, population in Port Moresby was 400 thousand, today it is close to one million. Small, by comparison to the mega cities of the world, but still faced with an affordable housing crisis with bulging informal settlements where nearly a third of city resident dwell, a huge population of unemployed youth; and where infrastructure, and basic services are challenged.    

In the city, we have made a commitment we will plant and nurture one million trees a year -  one tree for each person. As a growing city, we do our part by planting trees to lower the temperature of the earth and we need global support to enhance our efforts.   

We are looking at re-planting our mangroves, and cleaning the plastics and pollution from our rivers and tidal waters near Port Moresby.

PNG is ready, amazing Port Moresby is ready – we are ready. But we need to work together. PNG, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the countries that are host to the Amazon – we are developing nations. We must work together.

Think of it this way. The United Nations controls one third of the global economy. Well, PNG controls one third of the world’s lungs. Without the global economy, we can still survive – without the lungs of the planet earth we cannot survive.

Meanwhile, the United Nations has formerly accepted PNG’s Climate Roadmap and Action Initiatives at the Compendium of the Nature Based Solutions (NBS).  The announcement of the formal recognition at the NBS Momentum High Level event during the 27^th United Nation General Assembly Annual General-UNGA Meeting in New York.

 The NBS Momentum High Level event was convened by the UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, featuring Heads of State and Ministers, and leaders from international organizations, civil society, private sector, youth and indigenous peoples, among other key stakeholders.

In preparing of the September 2019 Climate Action Summit called by UN Secretary-General, the NBS Coalition put out a global call for initiatives on how NBS can be enhanced and scaled-up.

The call attracted 450 initiatives globally, however only 180 proposals were received and posted online prior to the summit in which PNG’s three initiatives were all considered and accepted. 

The three initiatives include;

1. Sustainable Forest Management – Sustainable Land Use Planning, Forest Management and Improved Agri-culture Practice.
2. Fossil Fuel abatement for diesel based power systems, and action to implement SDG 13 through Sustainable Electricity in PNG.
3. Scaling up of hydropower/solar energy in PNG.

“This is a tremendous achievement of PNG in the UN Summit on Climate Action. The initiatives will set the scene and offers opportunities for PNG to leverage support to implement these initiatives,” Minister for Environment and Conservation and Climate Change Hon. Jeffery Kama said when hearing the announcement.

Head of the PNG Delegation to UN Climate Action Summit in New York and Minister for Foreign Affairs Hon. Soroi Eoi said this is actually what we are here for and this also paves the way and have shown leadership in the region that we as a country with the largest population and vast natural forests have shown to the global community that we are serious in addressing climate change.

“This is a major achievement to have the initiative package and presented to the world for support and investment into initiatives that are applicable and scalable to all parts of the country,” Minister Soroi Eoi added.

Until then next week, we look at another piece of the good work CCDA and stakeholders are doing for PNG to combat climate crisis.

 *Peter Solo Kinjap is a REDD+ advocacy on climate change mitigation with Travel4Green (T4G) PNG, email: contact@t4gpng.org 

Governor powes Parkop with Ms. Maimunah Mold Shariff, Executive Director for United Nations Habitat in New York.

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