An evocative account of white women's experiences in Papua between the 1920s and 1960s.

Maggie Wilson was born in the highlands of Papua New Guinea to Melka Amp Jara, a woman of the highlands, and Patrick Leahy, brother of Australian explorers Michael and Daniel Leahy, who were among the first Australian explorers to encounter people in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea, during an expedition in search for gold. Maggie's life serves as a window into the complex social and cultural transformations experienced during the early years of the Australian administration in Papua New Guinea and the first three decades after independence. This ethnography--started as an autobiography and completed by Rosita Henry after Maggie's death in 2009--tells Maggie's story and the stories of those whose lives she touched. Their recollections of Maggie Wilson offer insights into life in Papua New Guinea today.

Australians in Papua New Guinea provides a history of the late Australian years in Papua New Guinea through the eyes of 13 Australians and four Papua New Guineans by presenting the experiences of Australians who went to work in Papua New Guinea (PNG) over several decades before the 1970s. This extraordinary book balances expatriates with indigenous Papua New Guineans, balances gender, and pioneers an innovative combination of written reminiscences and interviews that reveal the impact of Australian colonial policy on pre-indendence PNG. It follows medical practitioners Michael Alpers, Ken Clezy, Margaret Smith, Ian Maddocks, and Anthony Radford (with accompanying reflections by wife, Robin) who grappled with complex medical issues in difficult surroundings. Other contributors—John Langmore, John Ley, and Bill Brown—became experts in governance. The final group featured was involved in education and social change: Ken Inglis, Bill Gammage, and Christine Stewart. Papua New Guinean contributors: medical expert Sir Isi Henao Kevau, diplomats Charles Lepani and Dame Meg Taylor, and educator and politician Dame Carol Kidu further deepen the insights of this collection. A final reflection is provided by historian Jonathan Ritchie, himself part of an Australian family in PNG. The history of this important Pacific nation unfolds as do the histories of individuals who were involved in its formative decades.

In October 1996, The East Asia and Pacific Region developed a Regional Gender Action Plan that stressed the importance of country-specific strategies regarding gender issues. This report on gender in Papua New Guinea intends to lay the foundation for such a strategy. The report provides an outline of the key historical, economic, demographic, political, geographic, socio-cultural, legal and institutional issues that are relevant to understanding the status of women in Papua New Guinea today.

Forty years after independence, Papua New Guinea is the largest single recipient of aid from Australia. Yet Australians seem to be largely ambivalent about the country. Few Australians know the history of our colonial rule in PNG and our long ties to the country are quickly being forgotten. PNG expert Sean Dorney examines PNG's weaknesses and strengths since independence and argues that, for moral and practical reasons, Australia needs to reconnect with Papua New Guinea. It is time we shed our embarrassment about our colonial past and embrace our relationship with our nearest neighbour.

An evocative account of white women's experiences in Papua between the 1920s and 1960s.

Australian goldminers were among the first white men to have sustained contact with Papua New Guineans. Some Papua New Guineans welcomed them, worked for them, traded with them and learnt their skills and soon were mining on their own account. Others met them with hostility, either by direct confrontation or by stealthy ambush. Many of the indigenous people and some miners were killed. The miners were dependent on the local people for labourers, guides, producers of food and women. Some women lived willingly in the miners’ camps, a few were legally married, and some were raped. Working conditions for Papua New Guineans on the claims were mixed; some being well treated by the miners, others being poorly housed and fed, ill-treated, and subject to devastating epidemics. Conditions were rough, not only for them but for the diggers too. This book, republished in its original format, shows the differences in the experience of various Papua New Guinean communities which encountered the miners and tries to explain these differences. It is a graphic description of what happens when people from vastly different cultures meet. The author has drawn on documentary sources and interviews with the local people to produce, for the first time, a lively history.