Missionaries, Headhunters & Colonial Officers

Captions: 1. Book cover. 2. Christopher Robinson (1872 – 1904) the first Australian born governor of British New Guinea. 3. James Chalmers.

 

James Chalmers was the so-called “Livingstone of New Guinea”.
He was a star in the London Missionary Society’s firmament.
For 34 years from the 1860s onwards he preached the Gospel in the South Seas.
He also loved whisky, enjoyed exploring the unknown territory and had a genuine rapport with the Papuan people.
But not even this charisma and courage could save him when late in his career he and his party were lured into an ambush on Goaribari Island.
They were beheaded and eaten by the natives.
It is the Goaribari incident that lies at the heart of Peter Maiden’s extraordinary history of what was then British New Guinea.
This is a history that proves that fact is indeed stranger than fiction.
Sorcery, magic, head-hunting and cannibalism were rife.
To possess a skull collection was to enhance one’s standing in the spirit world.
In 1901, on Goaribari Island alone, a missionary, Harry Dauncey, found about 10,000 skulls in the island’s Long Houses.
The second half of Maiden’s history focuses on the career and tragic end of the very first Australian-born governor of British New Guinea, the Brisbane solicitor Christopher Robinson.
He arrived in BNG in May 1903 and soon afterwards witnessed a savage conflict between the native constabulary and Papuan warriors.
In March 1904, Governor Robinson committed a catastrophic error in the Goaribari Affray.
June 9th, 1903, was a proud day for Queenslanders in general, but most particularly for the people of Brisbane, for that day the Australian Prime Minister, Edmund Barton, had appointed a local man, 30-year-old Christopher Robinson, as acting-governor of British New Guinea (BNG).
Robinson spent practically all his life in Brisbane, settling here as a five-year-old boy, after his father became rector of All Saints, Brisbane in 1878.
Christopher was educated in Brisbane, and then articled to T. W. Daly, a Brisbane solicitor.
A clever student, Robinson graduated top of his year and was admitted as a solicitor in 1895.
He practiced law briefly on the Etheridge and Croydon goldfields, before returning to Brisbane where he took up a private practice in 1898.
He was a handsome and highly presentable bachelor and the first Australian born governor of BNG.
However, it was a difficult assignment and despite his legal skills Robinson was quite inexperienced.
For this shortcoming he was to pay a terrible price.
In 1903, Britain was in the process of passing control of BNG to the Australian government and the colony’s administrators, operating on a shoestring budget, faced fearful difficulties.
Sorcery, cannibalism and headhunting were endemic in Papuan society.
Sorcery was a criminal offence but still it flourished.
Its practitioners “spoke” directly to the Spirit World and could simply frighten a Papuan to death.
A sorcerer had only to tap his victim on the shoulder, tell him he would soon die and within a week the unfortunate native would be in his grave.
And these magicians seemed omnipotent.
In 1903, for instance, a disgruntled sorcerer in eastern New Guinea announced that within three days he was turning every man in the village into a woman, and every woman into a man.
The men were panic stricken, New Guinea being such a male dominated society, but, as the investigating white magistrate observed, “the women viewed the threat with supreme complacency”.
Headhunting was another obsession.
To possess a skull collection was to enhance one’s standing in the spirit world.
In 1901, on Goaribari Island in the Gulf of Papua, a missionary, Harry Dauncey, found 10,000 skulls in the island’s Long Houses.
Even as late as 1957, Australian government officials on one occasion confiscated 78 skulls on Papua’s Casuarina Coast.
Fortunately, cannibalism was not quite as widely practiced.
As one writer, Wilfred Beaver, pointed out, “the population would eventually be reduced to small proportions”, if everybody was a cannibal.
The weakest tribes were most vulnerable.
West of Port Moresby the Mohohai tribe, according to Beaver, was regarded as “a kind of larder” for the predatory Ukiaravi warriors.
Elsewhere, the Scottish missionary, James Chalmers, newly arrived at Suau in 1878, was pleased to be invited to his first tribal feast – before learning that a terrified young boy was on the menu.
Chalmers, the so-called “Livingstone of New Guinea” was a star in the London Missionary Society’s firmament.
For 34 years he served in the South Seas islands as a near-perfect example of “muscular Christianity”.
Chalmers was a physically impressive man with a commanding presence and he possessed a cool head in a dangerous situation.
He liked whisky, loved exploring the magnificent countryside and had a genuine, albeit paternal affection for the Papuan people.
But for a white man, life in New Guinea was anything but a sinecure.
‘If a man escaped dying of fever in the first three weeks he was eaten by cannibals within the fourth week’, wrote Wilfred Beaver.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, even the humble toothache could be a major problem.
With dental help thousands of kilometres away, treatment could be crude: “A red-hot wire jammed into the gum, or a crystal of crude carbolic inserted into the raging stump.”
Murder and massacres were commonplace.
In 1900 a single government patrol led by the ex-Queensland policeman, turned magistrate, William Armit, killed at least 54 natives on the Upper Kumusi River.
In 1901 Alexander Elliot’s constables killed 42
On another patrol, magistrate Allan Walsh’s men disposed of 32 more Papuans in 1902, and in 1903, Whitmore ‘Old Shoot and Loot’ Monckton, a highly regarded magistrate, allowed his constables to kill 18 Paiwa natives.
Of course, the Papuan warriors, too, were aggressive.
Numerous lonely miners and missionaries met with a grisly end, most notably in 1901 when the Reverend Chalmers’ party of 12 was lured into an ambush on Goaribari Island.
There they were beheaded and eaten by natives.
This atrocity demanded revenge and more than 20 Goaribaris were killed in a government reprisal raid.
Soon after arriving in BNG, Christopher Robinson joined a government patrol along the Yodda River and saw at first hand the savage conflict between the native constabulary and Papuan warriors.
This patrol appears to have soured Robinson’s attitude towards the Papuans.
Afterwards, Robinson seemed to show little sympathy to the indigenous population.
He once declared that he had “an intense loathing” for these “inhuman creatures”.
He had no friends among the colourful Port Moresby expatriates and he was overwhelmed by a monumental backlog of work.
Robinson was capable and one local identity described him as ‘one of the most promising officers New Guinea ever possessed’.
Others, though, believed he was arrogant, and even frightened by the very people he was supposed to be protecting.
In March 1904 Robinson led a strongly armed commando to Goaribari, intent on arresting those responsible for the Chalmers’ missionary massacre.
Unfortunately his serious mismanagement of a confrontation with the Goaribaris became the subject of a sensational Royal Commission in Sydney in July.
While the native bowmen fired only a handful of arrows in anger, Robinson’s men replied with a murderous fusillade of 250 rounds.
At least eight natives were shot dead and two European witnesses testified that the governor had shot at least three of the Papuans.
Robinson’s career prospects were in tatters.
The lonely young governor, now afflicted with a severe bout of malaria lost heart and fell into a mood of deep depression that worsened as the date of the Royal commission approached.
Finally, on June 20th, 1904, Robinson took his own life under the flagpole at government house, Port Moresby.
This is a history that makes the clash of the proselytising white colonials with the Papuan warriors come vividly alive.
It is a story of dedication and courage, but also a story of tragic failure.
A riveting read.

Missionaries, Cannibals and Colonial Officers
British New Guinea and the Goaribari Affair 1860s-1907
Written by Peter Maiden
Central Queensland University Press RRP $25.95

 

My reading over Easter

I had a great Easter weekend with my four young children at home as well as went through a lot of reading, especially on the history of Papua New Guinea, given my avid interest in this subject.

This is not my first time to read these books, and they are certainly not hot off the press, but given all the problems the country is currently going through, I felt duty-bound to read through and refresh my history.

I will do same with all PNG books in my collection.

I spent the best part of Easter Saturday, Sunday and Monday reading two absorbing books of PNG history – Michael J Leahy’s Explorations into Highlands New Guinea and Peter Maiden’s Missionaries, Headhunters and Colonial Officers.

A review of Missionaries, Headhunters and Colonial Officers is given separately above.

Explorations into Highlands New Guinea (cover pictured) tells of the 1920s and 1930s when there were adventures to be lived and fortunes to be made by strong young men in the outback of Australia and the gold fields of New Guinea.

This is the diary of five years spent in hot pursuit – not of honor and glory, but of excitement and riches – by one such adventurer Michael ‘Mick’ Leahy, his brothers Jim and Pat, and friends Mick Dwyer and Jim Taylor.

Leahy and his associates explored the unknown interior of New Guinea, seeking gold and making contact for the first time with the aborigines of the interior mountains and valleys.

Their explorations recounted here probably represent the last of their kind in this century.

The discovery of gold in New Guinea in 1926 lured Mick Leahy (and a short time later his brothers Pat, Jim and Dan) into an adventure that resulted in important geologic, geographic, and ethnographic observations of Stone Age people in a region unknown to the rest of the world at that time.

Compelling reading for all who want to know about the history of a fascinating country!

 

Alcohol and drugs must cease in Papua New Guinea

By LYTHIA SUITAWA

 

CONSUMPTION of alcohol and drugs are revolting habits that must cease if Papua New Guinea is to progress.

University of Vudal Vice Chancellor Professor Philip Siaguru said this when opening the 39^th annual Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship (TSCF) conference at the university on Good Friday.

“Alcohol and drug abuse continues to infiltrate youths and matured workers alike in this country,” he said.

“Youths are making drinking their God because they learn from their fathers and mothers.

“The society must check itself and discard this habit.”

Prof Siaguru said many times alcohol and drug abuse caused youths as well as adults to assault, destroy or simply act in manners that defeated reason.

“The actions of a good majority of youths (and adults) today leave a lot to be desired,” he said.

“To be a God-fearing country, we must strive to follow procedures, compliance, good governance and live with disciplined and respectful principles.

“Sadly, many young Papua New Guineans allow themselves to stray from a disciplined code of conduct and create situations that place them in conflict with the law and they end up in cells and jails throughout the country which are simply filling up.”

He said young Papua New Guineans must begin to respect and obey the rule of law for a better country for themselves and their children.

Citing a recent report in the media on the high incidences of alcohol and sex related cases before the courts implicating university students, Prof Siaguru also urged educational institutions to unite to rid their campuses of what he termed as “alcohol related nonsense”.

“In a developing country with very little financial resources, we expect our educated youths to be responsible and humble enough to accept that the education sector receives very little financial attention from the government purse and whatever little we have acquired, we must care for,” he said.

He said students must accept that their present responsibility in society now is to successfully complete their studies.

The three-day TSCF event, which attracted more than 1000 students from tertiary institutions and secondary schools throughout the country as well as visitors from Australia, ended on Easter Sunday.

 

 

Fuel prices rise slightly in the wake of international demand

Domestic fuel prices have risen slightly following increased international demand for refined fuels.

Diesel increased the most (about 9 percent) with unleaded gasoline (ULP) and kerosene rising only marginally.

InterOil President Bill Jasper said the April fuel cost structures reflected the volatility of the international marketplace.

“It is driven by perceptions of future demand,” he said.

“Last month both diesel and kerosene eased in price, this month they have increased.

“Presently the overriding perception on international markets is that demand will increase in the months ahead as various government economic stimulus measures around the world begin to take effect.

“Unless supply also increases, higher international demand forces up the price, an economic fact we have seen in evidence during the past eighteen months.

“The price changes we are experiencing here in Papua New Guinea reflect what is going on throughout the globe.

“We are part of the international community and, as such, are not immune from the effects of what is happening overseas.

Mr. Jasper said there were two sets of forces in play.

“On one hand we have an international recession, which on its own would drive prices down,” he said.

“However, we also have a series of political tensions and civil unrest in oil producing countries in Africa and the Middle East.

“This coupled with expectations of increased future demand have forced up prices.

“For example, crude oil prices have edged upwards by about 10% in recent months.”

Crude prices are well below the record high of mid-2008 when they hit around $US150 a barrel.

The volatile nature of the international marketplace is such that making medium or long predictions is virtually impossible.

“Again we find ourselves at the mercy of a complex array of international factors”, Mr Jasper said.

For further information and to arrange media interviews contact:

 

Susuve Laumaea

Senior Manager Media Relations InterOil Corporation

Ph: (675) 321 7040

Mobile: (675) 684 5168

Email: susuve.laumaea@interoil.com  

 

 

Collateral damage when the Oil Explorers come

By JOHN FOWKE

 

Poor old Granddad's passed away, cut off in his prime,

 

He never had a day off crook - gone before his time,

 

We found him in the dunny, collapsed there on the seat,

 

A startled look upon his face, his pants around his feet,

 

The doctor said his heart was good - fit as any trout,

 

The Constable, he had his say, 'foul play' was not ruled out.

 

There were theories at the inquest of snakebite without trace,

 

 

Of redback spiders creeping and death from outer space,

 

No-one had a clue at all - the judge was in some doubt,

 

When Dad was called to have his say as to how it came about,

 

'I reckon I can clear it up,' said Dad with trembling breath,

 

It's a simple story - but it could explain his death.'

 

'This here exploration mob had been looking at our soil,

 

And they reckoned that our farm was just the place for oil,

 

So they came and put a bore down and said they'd make some trials,

 

 They drilled a hole as deep as hell, they said about three miles.

 

 Well, they never found a trace of oil and off they went, post haste,

 

And I couldn't see a hole like that go to flamin' waste,

 

So I moved the dunny over it - real smart move I thought,

 

I'd never have to dig again - I'd never be 'caught short'.

 

The day I moved the dunny, it looked a proper sight,

 

But I didn't dream poor Granddad would pass away that night,

 

Now I reckon what has happened - poor Granddad didn't know,

 

The dunny was re-located when that night he had to go.

 

And you'll probably be wondering how poor Granddad did his dash--

 

Well, he always used to hold his breath

 

Until he heard the splash!!

 

Melanesian Law vs Western Law

Captions: 1. Villagers digging a drain for an airstrip in Ogerenang, Morobe district, in 1969. 2. Paul Oates. 3. Paul Oates as a young Australian kiap (patrol officer) at Pindiu, Morobe district, in 1970. 4. Paul Oates supervising construction of Ogerenang airstrip, Morobe district, in 1969. 5. Villagers building the Ogerenang aistrip in Finschhafen, Morobe district, in 1970.Pictures supplied by PAUL OATES.

My two recent Weekender articles in The National on April 27 regarding the violence in Wau, Morobe province, as well as John Fowke’s views on ‘The Melanesian Way’ have brought in mixed reaction from both Papua New Guinea and overseas.
Among those who wrote to me was Paul Oates, a kiap in PNG from 1969-1975, who served in out flung rural areas of Morobe district like Pindiu, Kabwum, Aseki, Wau, Sialum and Finschhafen before being transferred to Port Moresby.
He and his wife and I now run a small property in rural South Eastern Queensland where they breed stud Droughtmaster cattle and grow cabinet timber trees for the future.
“Like many kiaps and their families, I developed an affinity and empathy for Papua New Guinea and her people,” he wrote me.
“On my return to Australia in 1975, I found it very difficult to assimilate back into the Australian culture as did many others who worked in PNG.
“We paid the price of totally committing our time and effort to a highly-specialised vocation.
“Now with the opportunity to concentrate on matters other than fulltime work, I and many former kiaps, didimen, chalkies, etc,  would very much like to help PNG where possible and to educate our fellow Australians about our nearest neighbour.
“There is a move to try and foster more interest in PNG and some of us are trying to have the work of PNG kiaps recognised by the Australian government.
“If this move is successful, it will hopefully raise the profile of PNG in Australia.”
Mr Oates sent me his thoughts on now Melanesia Law and Western Law could co-exist and how selection exercises could be run without perceived bias.
“The laws of each country are based on a number of principles,” he says.
“In so-called Christian countries or those that have a history of Christian principles, there are some basic tenants of law derived from established precedents that have been laid down over many hundreds of years.
“English Common Law is established on this framework of previous decisions.
“Overlaid on this framework that goes back many centuries, are the laws that various Parliaments have then passed that refine these basic principles and establish rules and regulations under which a modern society regrettably needs to maintain cohesion.
“Sometimes laws are put into effect and then withdrawn when they are no longer required.
“Look at the previous law regarding playing cards in PNG.
“Now how does this square off against traditional Melanesian law?
“When I lived and worked in PNG some people would express to me their thoughts that everything about Western Society seemed to be right and everything about their traditional society appeared to be wrong.
“To this I would say, ‘Nogat tru!’
“There are many aspects of traditional Melanesian society that are, in my opinion, far better than the current precepts of so-called Western society.
“Take for instance how people in the villages look after widows and orphans.
“Look at the notion of family and the support for one's relatives.“Compare this to what happens in many Western countries and see how old people are treated and how the poor of each society are treated.
“Similarly, PNG was able to exist for thousands of years without a police force and traditional culture ensured traditional leaders maintained control over their communities.
“However, when the good aspects of Melanesian society are 'used' in a 'selective way' by those who are also immersed in a Western type culture, problems escalate out of control.
“Look at the 'wantok' system and how this can be used top 'bludge or sponge' off those who have paid work by those who haven't or couldn't be bothered finding it?
“So how can the two types of 'law' operate in practice?”
“So what's my suggestion?
Mr Oates suggested applying the type of legal environment that worked on Cocos Islands where traditional customs and culture that can be recognised in PNG, don’t conflict with enacted legislation
 “Now how does that fit with PNG at the moment?
“Not all that well I would suggest.
“Why?.... because there are two sets of rules and laws that are being hopelessly mixed up and where you have a mixture and therefore confusion, people are naturally liable to take and use whatever rule that affords them the maximum opportunity to do what they want.
“The same principle of human nature has been found to confuse and adversely affect some indigenous Australian communities.
“I can remember when indigenous Australians were not allowed to have alcohol because of the effects this had on their traditional lifestyle.
“This law was passed by those who thought they were doing the right thing but without reference to those to whom it applied as they didn't have the vote at that time.
“Fifty years later, with experience and now political power through being able to vote, the effects of alcohol are so disruptive to many traditional indigenous Australian communities that they themselves are now requesting and obtaining bans on it being brought into their community.
“So my suggestion is this.
“I've seen and experienced where traditional laws and western law can co-exist and work in harmony together.
“This situation was also not where traditional Christian laws were practised so that is an extra factor that could have created problems but it didn't.
“Partly however, this harmony was due to the effective size of the community where traditional customs were practiced.
“It was also due to the rigid maintenance of laws by the administration in an impartial way.
“Now here is where I offer some observations.
“Humans are by nature still at the Neolithic stage of personal development.
“That is, we are still cave men or women of the Cro Magnon level.
“Therefore, we are able to effectively manage human relations when a family group expands in number to a clan and even to a village.
“Once the size of a group of coexisting humans increases to more than the village size however, no one can control what happens within the community unless there are protocols and procedures that are made and enforced.
“At this point, a leader is either elected or takes control and a bureaucracy comes into existence and laws are made to keep control and to help satisfy the majority at the expense of the individual or minority.
“What is clear to me, given the world's very recent financial history, is that no one individual is either able to manage a country or to be on top of everything that can happen in our so called 'global village'.
“So what's my suggestion?
“Well... how about applying the type of legal environment that worked on Cocos Islands? That is traditional customs and culture that can be recognised in PNG where they don't conflict with enacted legislation.
“Where there is conflict, enacted legislation takes precedence, with the onus on the accused to defend their actions.
“How would this work?
“Well imagine where someone favoured a wantok and allowed him to break the law without being caught.
“Would there be a conflict of interest and for whom?
“Clearly, if there was a recognised hierarcy of laws, customary, traditional PNG law would have to take a back seat when enacted law must be followed.
“If the rules are well known and followed impartially and effectively, there is no conflict of interest.”

Christian students gather at University of Vudal

By VERONICA MANUK

 

The University of Vudal is hosting the 39^th National Tertiary Students Christian Fellowship (TSCF) Easter Conference with more than 500 students from all tertiary institutions in the country attending the conference.

The conference officially begins tomorrow (Friday) and ends on Sunday with the theme “Appointed to Lead Across Cultures.”

The official welcome will be made by the university’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Philip Siaguru and main speech by East New Britain Governor Leo Dion.

The main speakers for the conference are Minister for Justice & Attorney General and Member for Rabaul Dr Allan Marat, Dr Richard Chin from the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students and former Chief Ombudsmen Ila Geno.

New Guinea Islands TSCF Coordinator, Ezekiel Lulu said the University of Vudal was selected to host the conference on behalf of New Guinea Islands region because of the modern facilities the university has and the dormitories to accommodate large number of students attending the workshop.

The TSCF ministry has six regions - Momase, Lae, Lower Highlands, Upper Highlands, Southern and New Guinea Islands region.

He said it would be the second time for the university to host the conference, the first time was in 2002.

Mr Lulu said the information in the conference would be vital for students, as apart from word of God, there would be workshops on different topics which include, academic excellence to be presented by Dr David Kavanamur, Christian leadership, HIV/AIDS its latest status in PNG, cult worship, family welfare, law and order in relation to alcohol and drug abuse and boy/girl relationship.

He encouraged majority of the students in the province and the region to attend.

The ministry’s vision is “Raising Young Generation to become men and women of integrity and God fearing people”.

The main aim of TSCF is to co-ordinate the work of affiliated Christian fellowship in PNG, encourage the evangelistic activities of the various affiliates, encourage promote training in leadership, assist members in Christian growth and faith and encourage members to consider full-time Christian work for churches of PNG and to encourage a missionary attitude among the churches and also TSCF work in the country.

Mr Lulu invites surrounding communities, churches and government organisations to also attend the conference to understand the vision of the ministry as it is an interdenominational ministry.