Headhunt Revisited - About the Expedition

The Dream

“Headhunt Revisited” is the realization of a dream for each of us. Since receiving a copy of Caroline Mytinger's book, New Guinea Headhunt, from her mother’s dying friend, Michele became passionate about pursuing the story. “You will cherish this book, as I think Caroline is a bit of you,” the woman said. For Michele, a veteran traveler, photographer, and diver, this is a project with a subject close to her heart. For Karen, a photographer with a long-ago earned degree in anthropology, a mother, and refugee from the corporate world, it’s a project of personal discovery.

We encountered each other over five years ago in a bit of serendipity, although we now think that Caroline brought us together. Hardly knowing each other at the time, we teamed up and then spent countless hours researching Caroline’s life and art, writing proposals, and discovering the joys of fundraising. We have had many “goose-bump” moments. After we spent two years searching probate documents and hiring investigators, Michele discovered 23 of Caroline’s original oils, on the Phoebe Hearst Museum of Anthropology website that had just gone live the day before. We had to wait six months to see just a few of them, and when we did we were near tears. They were beautiful and in great condition, with the original etched bamboo frames intact.

While researching field studies and sketches at the Monterey Museum of Art, the director nonchalantly mentioned that he had a few of Caroline’s personal scrapbooks. Would we like to see them? Four giant, tapa-cloth covered scrapbooks filled with photos, letters, and other memorabilia carefully collected by Caroline, rounded out our picture of her. On that same trip, we found the house she had lived in for 40 years, and we stood at the same picture window where she painted. Continued research and planning brought us to the spring of 2005, when we finally set off for Papua New Guinea and the Solomons, completing the expedition in April, May and June.

We hoped to rekindle the spirit of the original expedition and to locate descendants of Caroline’s paintings. We succeeded beyond our dreams, locating six individuals directly related to the portrait subjects, and discovering much about the people that live in the region today, and a lot about ourselves.

Expedition Map

The Itinerary

We began in Port Moresby where all trips to Papua New Guinea must, but soon flew to Rabaul on New Britain Island. Here we interviewed the last living example of headbinding. We helicoptered over active volcanoes, and witnessed local Arawe ceremonies. From Rabual we boarded a 72’ liveaboard diveboat, the M/V Febrina. After a 44 hour crossing we anchored in the western Solomon Islands. We spent two weeks motoring through the Solomons, and then headed off to the Louisiade Archipelago in Papua New Guinea, the Conflict and DeBoyne Groups, Samarai, East Cape and Tawali, Alotau and Milne Bay Province, then up the southeast coast. Our original plan to cross the Gulf of Papua to the Fly River had to be aborted due to heavy seas and wind. But serendipity had played a part again, as it was on this coast that we discovered four of the last remaining fully tattooed women. Their patterns exactly matched those in Caroline’s paintings “Sarli and Wife.” We spent three days and nights in Kofure village near Tufi, and Karen got her own native tattoo. We ended our trip in Port Moresby, with a reception at the U.S. ambassador’s residence. A local artist from the nearby village of Hanuabada was the star attraction, resplendent in a headdress we commissioned him to create, and which we donated to the National Museum. (Detailed information about the trip can be found in the “Expedition Journal” section.) Now that the expedition is finished, the hard work of continued fundraising, writing a book proposal, post-production of the documentary film and organizing an exhibit keeps us busy and challenged.

Values

In addition to our personal interest in this story, we are pleased that the project will contribute in so many direct and indirect ways to others. Caroline Mytinger is an inspiration to women of all ages. Telling her story will empower and excite a new generation to reach for their own dreams and goals. Her life, and her art, is an example of possibility. Many westerners don’t know where Papua New Guinea is located, and all they know about the Solomon Islands is that they had something to do with WWII. We hope that our photos will raise awareness and increase understanding of the amazing people and vibrant cultures, as well as the rich environment that exist in the region.

Tangibly, the project will donate large prints of Caroline’s artwork to the national museums of Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Since the originals reside in the United States, these high quality reproductions will allow the museums to display these otherwise inaccessible images that pay homage to their traditional heritage. The paintings are also rich in ethnographic detail, which will contribute to further cultural understanding.

We commissioned the recreation of the headdress as seen in the painting “Heera” and showcased it at the reception at the end of the expedition in Port Moresby. Siaka Heni, the artist, was given recognition, and we donated the headdress to the Papua New Guinea National Museum.

Finally, the project will donate a portion of proceeds from the book to a special fund established through the PNG Parliament, to assist a worthy female student in art or anthropology.

Caroline dreamed big, and we are honoring her spirit by doing the same.