Nikita Miklouho-Maclay, 8 y.o., became the youngest explorer of the New Guinea Island.
“I took the preserving traditions from the Elders of the Maclay Coast villages and would tell my son about his family every day. These short stories about our ancestors and their lives helped my son learn about our family and, of course, about Papua New Guinea (PNG), which I study as a scientist at the Institute of Oriental Studies RAS.
Nikita wanted much to go on the expedition with me, but it was not easy for me to organize this particular expedition with my son to the Maclay Coast, as the visit to remote villages and non-tourist routes requires a lot of approvals and resources, frankly saying, it is a very difficult undertaking even for very trained specialists”.
Nickolay Miklouho-Maclay Jr.
The expedition, not just a trip, was undertaken in July-August 2024.
«It is known that no one in the last half of a century has made research in the remote PNG villages. Except me, carrying it out as a leader or alone with the support of the Miklouho-Maclay Foundation.
To carry out a successful field research it takes a lot of time and effort working out all the details; and safety was the most important aspect for me on the expedition with the youngest Miklouho-Maclay, my son, who was only 8 y.o., which ultimately determined the success of the expedition.
People of the Maclay Coast realizing the responsibility helped me and provided the best possible welcome.
We met with Asel Tui, a descendant of the then local friend of the outstanding scientist and our great-grandfather N. N. Miklouho-Maclay. Our goal was to visit the schools of the Maclay Coast, which the Miklouho-Maclay Foundation started to support in 2024».
In April 2024, a computer room was opened on the Maclay Coast (Madang region), the equipment of many classrooms was upgraded which improved the quality of education at the school, which is attended by more than 800 children.
Nikita, a 3 gr. pupil from a Russian school, prepared his school uniform as a gift to the children of the Bongu school.
Bongu pupils made drawings about their lives for interaction with Russian pupils, which can be viewed in the album “Children of Papua New Guinea about their lives”
During the expedition, Nikita Miklouho-Maclay had a chance to master the elements of hunting, receiving personalized bow and arrow as a gift, and tried the not-so-simple procedure of peeling a coconut using a machete. He saw with his own eyes how to properly care for a tree-kangaroo, which lives as a pet in the village.
In Bili Bili village, the young explorer learnt traditional canoeing and making pots without a potter’s wheel using the oldest technology kept secret from outsiders.
In each of the four villages (Gorendu, Bongu, Yanglam, Bili Bili) the villagers arranged a festive reception for Miklouho-Maclays.
At Garagassi Point, where a memorial to N. N. Miklouho-Maclay placed, the locals at their own initiative raised the flags of Russia and Papua New Guinea as a sign of friendship, which lasts more than 150 years.
This was not a tourism and what the locals did for us is worth a lot, their gratitude for the contribution that the Miklouho-Maclay Foundation is making nowadays and for the memory that is preserved in Russia about friendly Papua New Guinea is priceless.
Nickolay Miklouho-Maclay Jr.
