Shark-calling event to be included in calendar

NEW Ireland’s shark-calling event will be declared a national event in the Tourism Promotion Authority calendar, says chairman of the special parliamentary committee for Tourism and Culture Kennedy Wenge.
Wenge made the announcement during a two-day shark-calling event at Messi on Thursday and Friday.
Governor Sir Julius Chan when speaking during the event told the people in the province: “Hold onto your traditions so you and your future generations can appreciate where you came from.
“Without your cultural and traditional history, you are like a tree without roots.”
Event organiser and local John Merebo said there was a lot more that happened in the lead-up to the actual shark-calling event.
“It’s a whole body, mind and spiritual process,” he explained.
“Initiation begins in the haus boi and involves a whole month of fasting and other restrictions to remain pure and clean before going out to sea.
“It’s a sacred tradition and most of its information are kept secret within the confines of individual hausbois.
“Individual clans also have their own distinct conch shell calls, once a shark is caught and brought back to shore, the conch is blown to notify the clan that their clan member has caught a shark ready to share with the entire village.”