Tales From The Bush: I was an avid non-smoker when I met the Huli of Papua New Guinea

Tales From The Bush: I was an avid non-smoker when I met the Huli of Papua New Guinea. So it was a predicament when I sat around the fire one night and the big-man (chief) passed the bamboo pipe to me. I knew that this was a big thing — not so much smoking the native tobacco, but him passing the fire to me to light the pipe. It was a sign of respect to share the fire with me. So I took a long drag on the pipe, not knowing what I was doing, and boy did I cough. I got dizzy and turned white as can be, the men all laughing at their crazy missionary. I in turn passed the pipe to the person on my right, and I thought he’d just pass it around, but no, he gave it back to the white man I swear just to make me whiter than I am. (By the way, the Huli call Caucasians “pink men” since our skin tone is more pink than white). I finally decided to get up, and bam, my knees were shaking so much that I fell right over. It was a great laugh for everyone. The men talked about it with me, and I learned that as a big-man myself, I need to pass the fire and pipe to the person on my right and left whenever I sat around the fire. They also taught me how to load the pipe with native tobacco. And I’ve been smoking ever since…

Here I am in native dress smoking my pipe:

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