Kaluli and Language

How Kaluli Use Language, Stories and Songs, to Express Social Connections, Cultural Values and Selfhood

The Kaluli, an indigenous group from the rainforests of Papua New Guinea, are a striking example of language as not just a form of communication but as a principal way to convey and articulate social bonds, values, and individual and collective identities. For Kalulis, language forms a part of everyday life, organizing social relations and embedding cultural knowledge in the brains of those who use it. Through language, narrative, and song, the Kaluli share complicated values, keep their community unified, and express their worldviews. In this essay, I look at how Kaluli utilizes these languages to construct social order, establish a culture, and maintain their distinctive identity. When we can understand Kaluli’s discourse patterns, we can better appreciate how culture is constructed and defended through language and how it can allow values and identity to be transmitted between generations.