As we approach PNG’s 50th Independence celebration, this is a question we must ask ourselves.
The political system we use today was introduced by European explorers under the authority of the British Crown. The first recorded European to set foot on our shores was Jorge de Meneses, a Portuguese navigator, in 1526. He landed in the northern part of New Guinea what we now call the New Guinea Islands.
This means the northern coast of New Guinea and the New Guinea Islands were the first places in our country to make contact with the white man. Yet it took Europeans 300 to 400 years before they finally settled here.
Why did it take so long?
History tells us that in those days, New Guinea had no army, no police, and no centralized government only small villages and close knit communities. In other countries, this would have made colonial conquest easier. But our grandparents and great-grandparents had a secret strength:
Their belief system.
Our tumbuna believed only in their own chiefs, their own land, their own ocean, their own traditions, their own resources, and their own people. That loyalty was their greatest power and protection.
By the 1800s, Europeans realized New Guinea was difficult to control. The people simply weren’t interested in foreign rulers. So, they tried a different tactic: introducing religion bringing the idea of a foreign God in heaven and distributing “cargo” in His name.
Some of our ancestors resisted fiercely. There were clashes. Some of our people were taken away to work on sugar plantations in Queensland a dark chapter known as blackbirding often through trickery or force.
By the early 1900s, the world was in turmoil. World War II erupted in 1942, with Japan and the United States fighting across our islands. The war, like many before it, was ultimately about land and resources to feed the wealth of kings and queens.
During this time, one man rose to protect his people and their way of life: Paliau Maloat of Baluan Island, Manus Province. Witnessing the injustices of both Japanese soldiers and the Australian Administration, Paliau began defending his people politically, culturally, and spiritually.
In 1942 33 years before PNG independence he founded The Paliau Movement, the first Indigenous political movement that openly rejected the white man’s governance and religion. For nine solid years, he fought for self rule.
In 1951, the Australian and British Administration finally granted him the right to establish Baluan Native Council PNG’s first form of self government.
Thirteen years later, in 1964, Paliau became the first Member of Parliament for Manus. In Parliament, he met Michael Somare whom he himself name when born in Rabaul during the war, and together with other visionary leaders, they laid the groundwork for PNG’s independence in 1975.
Today, Paliau’s movement survives as Win Nation of which I am the current Interim President. For decades, outsiders have tried to dismiss it as a “cargo cult,” but we have always been clear: we believe in a government entirely run by our own culture, traditions, and Melanesian ways.
If Papua New Guinea truly wants to be independent not just in name but in spirit and governance Win Nation Manus has the answer.
Uroh.
Ngenge Sasa
Interim President, Win Nation Manus
Photo:
Paliau Maloat OBE, KBE, Esq. with Lady Paliau, MBE at 100 years old
Baluan Native Council, 1951 – First Self-Government of PNG
Flag of Win Nation Manus – Southern Cross and Kalopeu (Nautilus)
