PAPUA

Miklouho-Maclay describes the walking style of Papuan women in Papua New Guinea:

"The gait of women is somewhat shaped by upbringing. Men find it attractive when their wives move their hips in such a way that, with each step, one of their buttocks turns outward. I often saw young girls, around seven or eight years old, in villages being taught this movement by their relatives—spending hours practicing the swaying motion. Girls who wish to attract Papuan young men must perform this walk in an especially demonstrative manner, and some achieve great mastery in it."

As seen, Papuan women have a swaying (rocking) gait.

In Megrelian, the verb "papua" (ფაფუა), according to Kajaia’s dictionary, means the same as "pafafi" (ფაფაფი)—which translates to "to sway while walking", corresponding to the Georgian words "rkheva" (რხევა) and "mikanoba" (მიქანაობა).