A Sanctuary For Primitive Man

Recent Discoveries in Central New Guinea

The following article came as a letter, addressed to the editor of the Pacific Islands Monthly. The writer, Mr. James N. Hall, is a well-known and widely esteemed author, who is now a resident of Tahiti. His plea will tie warmly endorsed by everyone who has made a study of mankind in general, and of primitive races in particular.

MANY Pacific Islanders, beside myself, must have read, with the keenest in terest, the account, in your December issue, of the recent discoveries in Central New Guinea.

What is to be the future of this newly explored territory and of the people who inhabit it? I have a suggestion to make which will appeal neither to missionaries nor to the commercial exploiters; neverthe less, it is one deserving, I believe, the seri ous consideration of those who have the fortunes of New Guinea in their keeping.

The planet, Earth, is now all but com pletely known. Despite the occasional sanguine prophecies of the more romantic astronomers, it is likely to be the only planet mankind shall ever inhabit. There now remains on the surface of this globe a few small areas containing the remnants of primitive races which have not, thus far, been brought into subjection by one or another of the white races. Central New Guinea is one of these areas; and my suggestion is that it may be allowed to remain so.

Your comment upon the recent discov ery has an ominous ring from the the standpoint of those who feel as I do in this matter. You say: “From Australia’s point of-view, the discovery has two important aspects. First, this is a rich country of definite agricultural and pastoral value; second, the people are not primitive sav ages, but appear to be of a type superior to the bush ‘kanakas’ with a definite cul ture of their own.”

It is the first of these observations that has the ominous ring, for you appear to be thinking of the country and its people in terms of possible exploitation at the hands of white colonists.

What you might have said—what, in my opinion, you should have said—is some thing to the following effect: “From the point-of-view of mankind at large, this discovery is of the highest im portance. There has been found a primitive race, or, more likely, a mixture of races living in complete isolation from the rest of mankind.

What shall be done with these people whose numbers have been estimated at between two and three hundred thousand?

Shall we Christianize them, ‘civilize’ them, exploit and hybridize them as the white races have invariably done with such folk in similar situations all over the Pacific?

Or shall we, for once in the history of white overlordship, think first of the inter ests of the people themselves and spare them from any widespread contact with us?

“The results in the former case can be foretold with certainty. The results in the latter case might be, and, probably, wouild be, of the highest value. Civilized man has much to learn from primitive man, and opportunities for studying him in a pure state have all but disappeared.

“Let entrance into this newly-explored country be forever barred to all save a

small group of carefully-selected men— anthropologists, ethnologists, and the like — who shall be permitted to live among its people for the purpose of studying their language, customs, religious and social or ganization.

“We have sanctuaries for plant-life, bird life, animal-life; but never, thus far, has any nation been disinterested and far sighted enough to set aside a sanctuary for primitive man. It is to be hoped that the opportunity in Central New Guinea may not be lost.”

Were you to write or speak to this effect, the shout of approval that would arise from every part of the civilized world would more than drown the vehement and scan dalised protests of the missionaries, and those, yet more vehement, of the commer cial exploiters.