The word “Kunume” derives from Lani language of the Lani people in the highlands of Papua. It refers to a sacred house belonging to men. Kunume is also crucial for the Lani people: it is a place where political, religious, economic, social, cultural, legal, and educational matters are discussed. Children are trained and equipped with ancient knowledge and wisdom in this institution. Women are prohibited from entering Kunume for various cultural reasons; however, this institution is starting to lose its authority as the older generations pass on and the younger generations move away to modern cities, no longer upholding the traditional values and wisdom. Kunume is equivalent to the White House in the U.S., or Oxford University in the U.K. It was once the most highly respected institution.
Despite the significance of Kunume to local Lani people, those who come from “sophisticated” and “civilised” society see a grass hut and nothing more beyond that; they think that this grass hut is a temporal house for primitive people, somewhere at the periphery of a civilisation devoid of moral virtue, as propagated by their colonial literature and media. This “civilised” man is so naïve and ignorant to the significance and authority of the Kunume, perhaps because it does not fit into the concrete jungle of his modern society. They do not know how Kunume played a key role in maintaining order for our ancestors around the world for millennia, prior to modern destruction. The natural materials with which our ancestors used to build these sacred institutions does not reflect a lack of understanding of infrastructure and technology, yet modern man uses this to mock our culture and call us primitive and stupid. Our ancestors saw the world as a sacred, mystical place; the modern man sees our world as a meaningless rock floating through space. From relentless inquiry into the nature of things, the modern human has uncovered the secret laws that govern the natural world. With these discoveries comes an inflated sense of power and ego, and a motivation to exploit the Earth to the point of no return, toward imminent, cataclysmic destruction that awaits us all.
Science and technology have given us the conveniences of modern life and enabled us to explore the universe beyond our backyards. But it has also taken away many precious things in the process. Our ambition for infinite conquest in a finite world is a threat to all life on this planet, including our own. We have become misguided, thinking that our issues stem from GDP problems or military budgets, but the real problem confronting humanity is that we have lost our way – we have disconnected ourselves from the source of our creation.
The human heart is filled with greed and corruption; we have built global institutions such as Kunume, but we are no longer about Wone or Logos inside them – these sacred places are desecrated with discussion of plots to exploit nature and humanity. We have built what should be global Kunume for humanity such as the United Nations, but this powerful institution is used as a tool for exploiting the original humans of this planet, by industrial countries such as the U.S., England, China, and Russia. No longer a house of Wone (Logos), but instead a den of thieves.
As the world faces unprecedented crises, we need to question everything that has been accepted as absolute truth in the past. We now know that no one on this planet has the ultimate authority to give a moral verdict to humankind. The so-called “absolute” is being named, defined, perceived, and understood differently by all humans in their respective cultural worldviews. This does not mean that a possible absolute truth doesn’t exist, it just means that such truth cannot be known yet with our current limitations. The only thing that seems absolute at the moment is the differences in our own truths. It is tragic how some groups of people have declared themselves as the sole arbiters of absolute truth (often in the name of science) and are forcing the rest of mankind to accept it. All other non-scientific and irrational information in the knowledge system has been rejected. This website is designed to share ancient knowledge, information, and Kunume Wone that is often rejected for being “irrelevant” in the making of the modern human-machine.
The word “Wone” derives from the Lani language. It isn’t simply a single word, idea, or belief: Wone is understood to be the principle of understanding life – not just human life, but all life, both visible and invisible, fallible and infallible. Wone is the primordial intelligent source of energy that guides creation. It is the principle of order and chaos, good and bad, light and darkness. Wone is the science of understanding, it is a mechanism upon which, and through which, the entire cosmic phenomenon is perceived and understood. That is why Lani’s elders say, “to know Wone is to know life; to understand Wone is to understand the structure of creation with all its complexities and fullness.” Kunume is the place where Wone is kept, discussed, shared, and taught. The elders of the Lani people say that all institutions that have been built by human on this planet were to safeguard this Wone so that children of humankind can be taught about the principle of life and creation.
Unfortunately, the Lani elders say that we are now entering into a dark age of chaos because the institution of Kunume has been destroyed, and Wone no longer resides in the Kunume or in the heart of man.
The Lani people view Jesus of Nazareth as the full incarnation of Wone; he embodied Wone’s principle and transformed his entire worldview through Wone’s spirit and power; he became the living Wone. That is why he was making many radical statements like “I am the way, the truth and the life; I am the vine, and you are the branches; I am the bread of life; I am the living water.” He was the eternal primordial energy out of which creation emerges. He was the embodiment of the Wone, the causer of what modern cosmologists now refer to as the Big Bang (the genesis of creation).
Kunume Wone is not about specific rules, ideas, information, or knowledge concocted by men in the hut; it is the transcendent principle of knowing and understanding Wone that our ancestors protected in Kunume from time immemorial. It is the blueprint of creation written in the DNA and soul of all creation as understood by our ancestors. Kunume is the house built for that blueprint – the Wone, the Logos. This is not to say that this way of seeing the world is absolute – what I am saying here is that this is how the Lani people of the highland of Papua view the world.
I strongly encourage all original first nation family, clans, and tribes to revitalise their own ancient cosmologies, knowledge, and wisdom and use them as a cornerstone as we adapt to a new world. We thought that science and technology would take us to the next stage of civilisation, but instead, they come in the name of “civilisation,” took our lands, devastating our ancestral home, and building their high-power weapons with everything that they took from us, eliminating us. Therefore, this is the time where we need to return to our original Kunume and rediscover ourselves in the light of Wone because that’s who we are, where we come from and our ancestors protected that for millennia because it was sacred.
The following four principles are examples of the kinds of teaching received by young ones in the Kunume by the elders of Lani people:
- Mage Wone (Ancient teaching on prohibition)
This teaching is given by people who understand the principle of order and chaos. They foresee the potential future conflicts and chaos if certain words are uttered, and specific actions are performed. It is a premonition to prevent future crises.
- Kurumbi Wone (Ancient teaching on life-threatening warnings)
This teaching is about early warning messages that need to be conveyed to loved ones or friends when they are about to face imminent death at the hands of both suspected and unsuspected enemies. Kurumbi Wone is the message of salvation. Hence, all messages of warning given by religious prophets can be considered as Kurumbi Wone.
- Maluk Wone (Ancient teaching on disorder and death)
The word “Maluk” in ancient Lani language means “not good, bad, error, disorder, twisted, deficient, imperfect, or substandard.” Elders teach the young men and women in their respective institutions about Maluk Wone. Example: A pub could be considered as Maluk’me, meaning a place where one can drink alcohol, get drunk, and cause problems. Maluk, indicating the bad nature, and me indicating a place where terrible things can happen.
- Obelom Wone (Ancient teaching on logos and order)
This teaching is focused on compassion, love, kindness, justice, mercy, grace, respect, patience, order, and sharing. Obelom means “the right path, good, desirable, order, peace, harmony, and balance.” The Lani elders say that some humans, by nature, have Maluk Wone in them, and others by nature have Obelom Wone in them. The order is always restored by those who have Obelom Wone in their hearts.
There are many other teachings from Kunume, and these are only the tip of the iceberg of rich ancient wisdom and knowledge. All original humans on this planet have their own Kunume and Wone. It is our duty to revive them and to revive them now before our elders pass on. We must save the past to save the future.
[…] What does Kunume Wone mean for the Lani people in the highland of Papua? […]