Pei

Like many peoples of the Sepik River basin, the Pei descend from groups that settled along the region's tributaries generations ago, forming small, scattered communities, each with its own language. The geographical isolation typical of the East Sepik interior helped preserve a distinct way of life centered on hunting and fishing for a long time.

With increasing contact with neighboring peoples and the expansion of Tok Pisin as Papua New Guinea's common language, Pefiyahe gradually lost ground even within Hauna itself, to the point that today few fluent speakers remain, most of them older people.

The Pei live by hunting, fishing in the Walio River, and simple subsistence farming, in harmony with the rhythm of the forest surrounding Hauna. Life revolves around the extended family and the few families who still speak the ancestral language every day.

Tok Pisin, Papua New Guinea’s lingua franca, has already become part of daily life for many, a sign of how interaction with neighboring peoples is reshaping old customs. Even so, hunting and fishing skills and knowledge of the forest continue to be passed from one generation to the next through the spoken word.

Most Pei follow traditional beliefs associated with forest and ancestral spirits, a system of faith that organizes the community’s relationship with nature, hunting, and rites of passage. This spirituality is intertwined with the group’s very identity, passed down orally along with language and customs.

Some members of the community already identify as Christian and are now counted among the region’s few evangelicals through contact with churches in other parts of the Sepik, but traditional faith remains deeply embedded in Hauna’s daily life, especially among older people.

Pefiyahe, an almost entirely oral language, does not yet have a translation of the complete Bible or the New Testament, although translation work has already begun. Few speakers read in their own language, and Tok Pisin, used by part of the community, is currently the main bridge to any written material. Audio recordings of Bible stories already exist in the language, a valuable resource for a people who pass everything on through speech.

The small number of speakers and isolation along the Walio River make any sustained contact with the Pei difficult. The predominance of traditional religions, associated with the forest and ancestors, has shaped the community’s identity for generations, and the distance from Papua New Guinea’s urban centers means that Christians from outside who speak their language or know their customs are rarely present.

As a small and isolated people, the Pei need basic healthcare and support to keep their language and history from being lost in coming generations. Literacy, both in Tok Pisin and in their own language, is still limited, making access to any written material, including spiritual resources, difficult.

Spiritually, the Pei lack closer contact with Christians who understand their language and culture. They also lack a local Christian community where those interested in Jesus can receive support and grow in faith.

Audio recordings of Bible stories already exist in Pefiyahe, a rare and valuable resource for a people with an oral tradition. This material, produced especially for communities that do not read in their own language, opens a real door for the gospel message to reach a small, isolated community like Hauna in a form they can understand.