Masalai are a type of supernatural spirit in
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...
.
Margaret Mead
Margaret Mead (December 16, 1901 – November 15, 1978) was an American cultural anthropologist who featured frequently as an author and speaker in the mass media during the 1960s and the 1970s.
She earned her bachelor's degree at Barnard Co ...
defined them as: "supernatural beings that inhabit
specific places, usually distinguished by some special natural feature (a water hole, waterfall, bend in a river, cliff, marsh, etc.), and that exercise limited jurisdiction over their own area; they may manifest themselves as snakes, crocodiles and other creatures, often with bizarre features, such as strange coloring, two heads, etc. Masalai may be associated with descent lines, moieties, hamlets, villages."
According to legend, Masalai may employ trickery to seduce people, causing genital bleeding and death. White people were sometimes mistaken for masalai because their clothes resembled snake skin being shed. There are numerous folk tales about the masalai.
References
External links
Masalai in Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinean culture
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