Huli people

Huli
Haroli

Huli wigman, Papua New Guinea
Total population
(Approximately 90,000 )
Regions with significant populations
Southern Highlands districts of Tari, Koroba, Margaraima and Komo, Papua New Guinea.
Languages
Huli language
Religion
Traditional beliefs, Christianity
Related ethnic groups
Indigenous Papuan peoples of West Papua and Papua New Guinea, other Melanesians

The Huli or Haroli are an indigenous people who live in the Southern Highlands districts of Tari, Koroba, Margaraima and Komo, of Papua New Guinea. They have lived in their current area for about 1000 years. They speak primarily Huli and Tok Pisin; many also speak some of the surrounding languages, and some also speak English. They are one of the largest cultural groups in Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 90,000.

The Huli have lived in their region for 1,000 years and recount lengthy oral histories relating to individuals and their clans. They were extensive travellers (predominantly for trade) in both the highlands and lowlands surrounding their homeland, particularly to the south. The Huli were not known to Europeans until November 1934, when at least fifty of them were killed by the Fox brothers, two adventurers unsuccesfuly looking for gold who had just parted with the more famous explorers Mick and Dan Leahy.