New Guinea tribesman of the Eastern Highlands in traditional attire. Cutural show, Goroka, Papua New Guinea, 1964. IMG01003p1
Traveling to Papua and New Guinea in 1964 was an adventure! I knew something about it from stories I heard or read about World War II battles there. This was only 19 years after the end of the war and memories of it loomed large in the region. Each of the aircraft we flew from Port Moresby to Goroka and Lae had its own war story to tell. Our first stop was Goroka in the Eastern Highlands. We stayed at the Hotel New Guinea, a set of Bungalows in a clearing. The indigenous staff were all properly dressed in the British colonial fashion, something like Simla in India. A holdover from the days, I suppose. Papua New Guinea was an Australian administered territory and would not gain independence until 1975.
We saw a folkloric performance by members of the local Eastern Highlands tribe, though I cant say which one. Papua New Guinea is said to be one of the most language diverse places. A large proportion of the indigenous population lived in traditional dwellings out from town.
Lae, New Guinea, in 1964. The old Lae Airfield is visible. In the distance are the New Guinea Eastern Highlands. IMG00883p1
Earhart in 1937. A memorial near the her flight. The Lae airport was an important transportation and supply hub for all the Eastern Highlands region. Like in Alaska, Valene had arranged for us to board a TAA cargo flight to make the connection. As it happened, noted anthropologist Margaret Mead was speaking in town that night. The group went to hear her lecture, The Future as an Era of Shared Cultures. In the talk, she promoted the idea of a universal second language among the worlds peoples. One of the existing natural languages should be adopted, though she stated this should not be English or a European language. She went on to decry the problem of lack of foreign language instruction in American schools. I took issue with her pint, noting that my secondary school in Los Angeles offered French, Spanish and Japanese languages. (I went onto take four years of Spanish in high school and two of French at university.) Nevertheless, it was a never to be forgotten experience to hear this celebrated anthropologist in New Guinea. From Lae, we flew to Sydney for overnight, via Pot Moresby and Brisbane, before proceeding to Fiji.
