Urapmin people
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| about 375 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Urapmin language | |
| Religion | |
| Baptist | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Telefol people, Tifal people |
The Urapmin people are an ethnic group numbering about 375 people in the Telefomin District of the West Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea. One of the Min peoples who inhabit this area, the Urapmin share the common Min practices of hunter-gatherer subsistence, taro cultivation, and formerly, an elaborate secret cult available only to initiated men.
The Urapmin used to ally with the Telefolmin in war against other Min peoples, practicing cannibalism against the enemy dead, but warfare ceased by the 1960s with the arrival of colonialism. A Christian revival in the 1970s led to the near-wholesale abandonment of traditional beliefs and the adoption of a form of Charismatic Christianity originally derived from Baptist Christianity. The Urapmin vigorously use their native Urap language, and their small community maintains the practice of endogamy.
The Urapmin are one of the Min peoples, a group of related peoples in Papua New Guinea who number about thirty thousand in total. Min peoples are mainly found in the Telefomin District, spread from the mountains of the Strickland River to West Papua Province. The name Min derives from the suffix -min, meaning 'peoples', which is present in their names (e.g. Telefolmin, Wopkaimin, etc.).
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