What Manner

Of Men

Are They?

THEY come from all walks of native life—over one-third of them have entered their occupa tion simply as “village native”. In addition, there are a few school teachers; half a dozen luluais; clerks; truck owners and drivers; an imposing array of Native Local Government Council presidents; co operative and other native associa tion secretaries; public servants — and one lone goldminer.

But what they do for a living is less important in this context than how they appear to other men. There is not, in the entire 108 of them, one who can be regarded as a national leader.

I Not Widely Known One may have a certain amount of influence around, say, Port Moresby, or Rabaul —and none at all in Wewak or Goroka, where even his name will likely be com pletely unknown to the people.

Prominent natives are far better known to the European community than to the native community, although few Europeans even of 30 years residence know more than half a dozen of the candidates well.

Mr. Hal Evans, before he left New Guinea to live in Sydney a couple of years ago, had the distinction of being one of the youngest old-timers there. He went to Rabaul as a small boy in the 1920’5, and except for some time at school in Australia, grew up there. He lived and worked closely with natives all these years and, at the end of his Administra tion career, organised the now flourishing Native Co-operative Societies in New Ireland.

(Continued on p. 141)

With one exception, which is in dicated, it is Mr. Evans who has supplied these notes on the more interesting election candidates;

Some Names

The New Guinea Islands’ Elec torate, which includes the Admin istration Districts of Manus, New Ireland and Bougainville, nominated 25 native candidates altogether, of whom the following four can be said to represent a cross-section of native political thought: • BOSKI TOM: Middle-aged, a wise native and a gentleman.

Boski can speak, read and write English fluently; he has had many years experience as an Administra tion schoolteacher going back to pre-war days.

When I last saw him he was teacher-in-charge of an Administra tion school on New Hanover but he has served in other parts of the Territory. He is well thought of by his own people of New Hanover as well as by most of the indigenous population of New Ireland and by Europeans. I have never heard a European or a native speak un favourably of Boski —which in itself speaks volumes as some Europeans were particularly inclined to be critical of any native who was educated.

Of all the native candidates standing in New Guinea Islands’

Electorate I believe he is the man most suitable, for either the native or European communities.

• Joseph Watori: Middle

aged, highly intelligent and quietly spoken: he is a deep thinker and understands, reads and writes Eng lish but does not speak it. Before the war he was employed as an Ad

ministration clerk in the Sepik dis trict.

He was under my control in Kavieng for a couple of years.

Later he became chairman of the North-West Kara Native Co operative Society and was also elected to the Board of Directors of New Ireland Native Societies As sociation Ltd.

Subsequently, Watori was chairman of one of the Native Local Govern ment Councils. He was educated by the Catholic Mission. He is a man who could be a lot of use to his people and to the Territory.

• Hitter Eratius: He Is A

young man of hisfh intelligence who comes from a village in the Nalik linguistic area of New Ireland. The Nalik people are renowned as being “difficult” and are often referred to as “Big Heads” by native leaders from other parts of New Ireland.

There is, too, in this area, an anti- European feeling among some of the people.

A Nationalist

Hitter himself is, in my opinion, a nationalist and I found an under current of antagonism towards Europeans in his area. I would imagine his views on Europeans in the Territory coincide with those expressed by Titimur Epinery, of New Britain.

Nationalism in itself is, of course, to be commended but unfortun ately among native people it nearly always goes hand-in-hand with an anti-European feeling which in the long-run is detrimental to the in digenous people themselves, and their country.

Hitter is an undoubted leader among the Nalik people, particularly in the village of Luapol and one or two adjacent villages. After that his influence wanes a bit.

Upon his return from school at Keravat, which he attended after the war, he lost no time in getting a following of people who, at his instigation, erected a village school building and village trade-store; the store was stocked through money collected from the local people, and Hitter personally managed and supervised its operations which, of course, were in competition with these peoples’ own Co-operative Society trade store.

The school was eventually supervised by the Department of Education, although I understand that when it was first built it had been Hitter’s intention that it be a school operated independently of the Administration and the Missions and was to have been supervised by him personally. However, the Educa tion Officer of the District at the time took a hand in affairs.

What Hitter was aiming at, of course, in both store and school en terprises, was to create something exclusively native, whose success, if any. could not be attributed in any way to European guidance.

• MAZAKMAT ; He comes from the same area in New Ireland as does Hitter, where there is this pocket of anti-European feeling.

He is well on in middle age and his influence in the area is limited and less spectacular than that of Hitter; but I could not say his prestige is any less; he was for some time a school teacher. • PALIAU MALOAT is a native of Baluan Island, in the Manus Dis trict, and he has given his occupa tion as “village native”. However, in the years after the war, Paliau was more than that.

When I visited Baluan in 1951 he was still a thorn in the side of the Administration although not so much so as previously—the Admin istration had established a patrol post on Baluan (still Manus Dis trict’s only one) and a Patrol Officer; later still an Education Officer was stationed there. All this was for Paliau’s benefit and to cut his influence down to size.

A Messiah

He had set himself up as a sort of Messiah, and there developed on Baluan a tendency to disregard the Administration entirely and follow

Paliau implicitly

The Paliau movement had similar ities to the Marching Rule of the Solomons. There was a parallel, too, in Hitter’s activities in New Ireland as both set up community stores and schools. Paliau’s leadership was. however, much more mature, and the fact that he is now standing for the Legislative Council proves that he still has a following.

Paliau and the Administration have learned to live together on Baluan—due in large measure to the men who were at the helm in Manus at the time Paliau was of great influence, and who handled the situation well at a time when the movement could have spread and become difficult.

Little has been heard of Paliau in recent years.

Another ex-New Guinea man sup plies this note on a candidate from Bougainville: • ANTON KEAREI : He is a Buka, from the village of Lonehan, Bougain ville, in his mid ’thirties. He is working as an unofficial assistant patrol officer, but just before the war he trained for the priesthood.

He was at Vunapope, near Rabaul, during the Japanese occupation, but gave up his studies in 1946 because he decided he didn’t like the life.

After this he worked for the Ad ministration as a clerk but later went out on his own and organised a kind of unofficial native co operative, which fell through. He has been with the Administration again since 1959 and undoubtedly is regarded as a leader by many Bougainville natives, and he has quite a lot of authority. But nobody really knows what the future holds for him, or in exactly what direc tion he would head if he were given

even more authority. He la sorr thing of a puzzle, with friends a opponents among both natives a Europeans.

Mainland Electorate

Although the New Guinea Mai land electorate is one of the larg< in area, it has nominated the le£ number of native candidates—seve • SIMOGUN PET A is one these. He has the distinction of ha ing served on the Legislative Cou cil right from its inception in 19 as one of the three native Nomi ated Members. This shows, if not ing else, that he has had the co tinued confidence of the Admi istration.

As things have turned out, Sim gun has voted with the unoffici minority more often than not; ci be said to be pro-Euronean—ai pro-Territory-European. He has fr quently flayed newspaper criticis and other Australian mainlai criticism of affairs in New Guin on the grounds that they kne nothing of conditions in the Ten tory. He speaks only Pidgin, b that fluently, and his contributio: to Legislative Council debate a invariably blunt and to the poinl He lives in Dagua, a coast village just north of Wewak. Befo the war he was a sergeant in tl NG native police force and had distinguished career with the Coas watchers during the war when 1 earned the British Empire Med and the Loyal Service Medal. Er Feldt gives him 14 mentions in h book, The Coast Watchers, and d scribes him as “big and cheerfi with a strong personality whit showed itself in his ability to hand other natives”.

Anton Kearei, of Bougainville, who is am [?] the candidates for the P-NG elections.

But ability to handle other natives twithstanding, even Simogun will ve an uphill battle—as will every ler candidate, of course—to exert y sort of influence over an elec •ate as big as this one and in Lich the people are still not con ioned to thinking much beyond ;ir village boundaries. For anyone :h nationalistic leanings, on the ier hand, he may be considered i pro-Status Quo. >imogun is one of the founding rubers of the United Progress rty. ► STAHL SALUM ; Another can iate in this electorate recently be ne the first native member of the MG Copra Marketing Board. le is the son of Salum, who was Paramount Luluai on Kar Kar 1 a big land holder—very wealthy his own right. Salum (Snr.) ned, among other lands on Kar r, a fully-planted and bearing ntation. le was educated by the Lutheran ssion, and can read, write and ak English. He is a young man 1 because of the plantation train he received from his father, 0 was a loyal native leader with igressive ideas, he would make a •d representative of his people the Council, although certainly ; one with radical ideas, le has had excellent experience the field of native economic de apment under the guidance of Administration, and although abilities as a leader are probably ; as high as his other qualifica is, or have yet to be proved, he > the advantage of education, is has already enabled him to e his place as a representative his people where more natural ive leaders are unable to venture ause of lack of education, includ the ability to speak English.

SO MU SIGAU: He is a native standing in his community, an dligent man who could be a per ality on the Council, n addition to his intelligence and qualities of leadership, Somu’s ading in his community has bably stemmed somewhat from fact that he took a leading part the filming in the Territory of production, Walk Into Paradise. »uring that period he apparently :ed quite a bit with European nbers of the cast, of both sexes— opeans who probably were not d to the ways of the Territory 1 its people.

'his experience, and his subse nt career, may not have endeared i to local Europeans, or Enro ns to him, but Somu is a ight” lad and could be a serious eat to Simogun’s re-election, he Bemhi, well known Sepik, , coastal and river vessel owned Mr. Laurie Thomas, went ound on a reef off Moem Point, wak, recently, and efforts to re t her failed.