Maisin people

They make extensive use of the rainforest for swidden (slash and burn) gardens, hunting and materials for houses and canoes. Despite the 'traditional' appearance of villages, however, the Maisin have long been integrated into the larger Papua New Guinea society.

Schools, initially set up by the Anglican mission and now run by the government, have existed in the villages since 1902 and today almost all adults can communicate in at least basic English as well as Tok Pisin and the Maisin language. The Maisin are best known internationally for their exquisitely designed painted bark cloth (tapa cloth).

During the 1990s, Maisin aligned themselves with a number of environmental non governmental organizations, most notably Greenpeace, in opposition to commercial logging in the rainforests behind their villages and to foster small scale, environmentally friendly development. Their fight against a logging company, which had illegally claimed access to their lands, garnered a great deal of international attention up to 2002, when the Maisin defeated the company in a national court case. Despite this victory, the area continues to be eyed by logging and mining interests. The Maisin community is divided in their support or opposition to large scale 'development' projects in the region.

In November 2007, the Maisin villages, along with much of Oro Province were hit by devastating floods that destroyed gardens and undermined many houses.

• John Barker. Ancestral Lines: The Maisin of Papua New Guinea and the Fate of the Rainforest. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2016.

• The Maisin Archives
• Maisin Christianity: An Ethnography of the Contemporary Religion of a Seaboard Melanesian People
• Missionaries, environmentalists, and the Maisin, Papua New Guinea
• Engendering Objects: Dynamics of Barkcloth and Gender among the Maisin of Papua New Guinea