Papua New Guinea

16 September is Papua New Guinea’s Independence Day. The largest section of the country is the eastern half of the island New Guinea (the western part consists of the Indonesian provinces Papua and West Papua) and there are also a lot of islands that belong to the nation. Prior to independence, Papua New Guinea was self-governing for two years before, in 1975, gaining full independence from Australia. I have a few friends who have lived in Papua New Guinea and tell me it is incredibly beautiful—I’m hungry to go there myself. There are hundreds of indigenous languages—over 800 actually, more than any other countries—and traditional societies. It’s a corner of the world that hasn’t been explored as much as—well, most other areas of the world. I’m torn between wanting to leave it that way, and wanting to know more. As well as having an urge to visit it myself. Maybe it’s all the volcanoes—eruptions are frequent, and volcanic activity fascinates me.

You think of it as a small island, don’t you? Well, it’s really not that small—the country is bigger than California.

It looks like other people have been happy with Papua New Guinea—for about 50,000 years. Oh, and I’m thrilled to read that Papua New Guineans developed agriculture independently, domesticating plants thousands of years ago. Subsequent developments? Around 500 BCE there was a migration of Austronesian peoples to the coast of New Guinea, and they brought the winning combination of pottery, pigs and new fishing techniques. More recently, after Europeans had been kicking around the region for a while, the sweet potato arrived, pretty well replacing taro as the staple.

Papua New Guinea is a member of the commonwealth—that means that, yes, Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is still the official head of state, and she is represented on the ground by the Governor-General. Of course, the real power is in the hands of the Prime Minister.

People of course know that Australia is blessed with a veritable menagerie of marsupials—Papua New Guinea also has a lot of marsupials, closely related to Australian species. Do yourself a favour—look at tree kangaroos. They are wonderful.

Today’s Papua New Guinean poem is by Loujaya Kouza and comes from Nuanua: Pacific Writing in English Since 1980.


The Expatriate

He was what folks called
an expat-ri-ate
And when he came to visit
chose to sit on Mother’s mat
And called it ex-qui-site.

He didn’t eat taro, fish or rice
Just sat and said
“The food looks nice.”

He refused every drop
of what we gave him to drink
He doesn’t take water
I solemnly think.

Until at last it was time to go
he bowed and said Thank you
for so and so.

Mother quietly whispered and said
‘He didn’t touch a thing I cooked
nor take a drop to drink
There’s something awful queer
about these expat-ri-ates
I think.’

—Loujaya Kouza
from Nuanua: Pacific Writing in English Since 1980