One of Papua New Guinea’s bright minds and a man ahead of his time, a true Melanesian icon the late Sir Bernard Narokobi captured the heart of the Melanesian decolonization process in just four words,
“Melanesia cannot be Australia”
This sentence to me encapsulates the essence of colonization in Melanesia. Though Australia was not the only foreign power to administer colonial control and though Melanesia is not the only region in the Pacific to have been colonized, I feel as if this sentence is emblematic and is a mere representation of the vastness of colonialism in the South Pacific Islands.
Melanesia speaks of a people group in a subregion of Oceania extending from New Guinea island in the southwestern Pacific Ocean to the Arafura Sea, and eastward to Tonga. Australia is an independent nation, and in this context, symbolizes foreign powers that consumed Pacific Island countries especially Melanesia during decades of the colonial period.
“Melanesia cannot be Australia”, those four simple words resonated within me as a young Papua New Guinean feeling like I was and still am (to certain extents) constantly caught between cultures. It is true, I cannot be Australian, American or European or any other ethnicity. I cannot deny that yes, these powers and their systems of governance and way of life have influenced my life as well as many others but, they do not create who I am. I have lived part of my life in a Western country and growing up going to school in private institutions specializing in western thought and life have somewhat left me with a distorted image of who I really am.
I did not fully understand my place as a Melanesian in the world. This is not to say my parents did not raise me up in the ways of my culture nor is this to say I did not appreciate the different cultures and people I had interacted with. By saying this I offer myself as an example and I know there are others Pacifica youth in the same canoe. I am merely putting this concept into perspective for you to understand how the next generation of Melanesians have to contend with this notion of constantly being between cultural crossroads and the dangers of losing their cultural identity and nationalistic affiliation with their homeland in the process.
With the tide of Western influences on the rise, the introduction of foreign ideologies and lifestyle has found its way into the mix of modern life in Oceania. In my attempt to merge these worlds together in my life while still staying true to my roots I have chosen to embark on this personal journey of decolonization.
In this search and this journey, I look to the wisdom of bright pacific island men and women who mapped the paths of our national sovereignty and destiny. Continuing in the words of Narokobi,
“Some Melanesians hold to the view that the only way to be acknowledged as a person with worth is to negate his or her ancestral past and adopt the Western life style externally as well as internally. In effect they deny a significant part of their identity. They live in a world of fantasy, without a link to the past and a foggy connection with the future…”
Reading these words, I felt as if Sir Narokobi was describing me and I know the majority of the youth of today can relate. I’d like to think I know my cultural roots; I pride myself in speaking my mother tongue on an intermediary level and though that is praise worthy (being that it’s rare today), I know that’s just scratching the surface of understanding this unique Melanesian heritage I possess. After reading Narokobi’s works and other Pacific Island philosophers such as Epeli Hau‘ofa and Jean-Marie Tjibaou, as well as having the exposure to many different cultures throughout my life I felt a deeper sense of wanting to know more of whom I am. In order to learn more about myself I had to unlearn some of what I knew about myself.
Understanding how I needed to go about decolonization on a personal level required me to understand how colonization affected my people and myself included. The definition of Colonization from Oxford languages means “the action or process of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area”. Decolonization on the other hand, seeks to reverse and remedy this through direct action and listening to the voices of the First Nations people.
Many in the Pacific Islands will have different perspectives on colonialism. On the positive side, many will say it brought unity, civility and modernity. Putting an end to practices such as cannibalism and animism among others as well as bringing in much needed aid medically, economically, and politically. The vastness of how the Pacific Island region was colonized is so major that when reading about it I felt as if our islands were tossed around like a football between these superpowers. I felt emotions that surprised me because I never perceived colonization in that manner. We were only taught to focus on the benefits brought in by it that we often dismiss the negatives and it's generational impact on our people.
Our people have long lived with the negative effects of colonialism for a very long time. It has been ingrained in our culture that young people today perceive it as it being part of our original customary ways. I admit, I am one of them. White supremacy, placing politicians and foreigners on a pedestal and administering special treatment to them, thinking of our own people as less than etcetera are just examples of how we have been unconsciously fashioned into a colonist mentality. The effects are widespread in our society. People say we have not been fully colonized, others say we as Papua New Guineans were too challenging in nature to colonize. Regardless of all of those arguments, what I can say for a fact is that colonization not only impacts the first generation but also creates enduring issues.
With all this being said, I now introduce you to a blog series of topics under this concept of decolonization. Through this process of decolonization, we are rewriting our own narrative, unlearning some unhealthy ways of thinking and behavior and acting on new found knowledge to create a better sustainable future.
The aim of this series is to stir you up to think critically about this concept and focus on the negative impacts of colonization. To challenge you to learn to unlearn. Colonization is more than just physical; it is also cultural and psychological and it determines whose knowledge is privileged.
As a student in Sociology as well, I would like to begin this series with understanding decolonization in three aspects of behavioral sciences focusing on the psychological, cultural and social impacts. In this series I also wish to hone in to a more personal level and focus on decolonization in our provinces, local level governments, to our tribes, communities and mostly to oneself. My approach to the behavioral science process of decolonization is one of two parts by undergoing a paradigm shift in thought and behavior internally as well as externally.
To decolonize internally for me means to:
Become independent and to think freely without constrains
Be self-aware and to know what I need to change in the process of setting myself/ourselves free of practices that instill beliefs that acted in favor of the colonizer and not our people.
To decolonize externally for me means to:
Become responsible by creating our own narrative and being being accountable for the actions that come with it.
Regaining Control means to do away with external control/power (charting our own course) and in the process creating a better tomorrow (from an informed position now that we know better).
I must also disclose that I have not fully understood the concept of Decolonization in its entirety for it is one that’s far too complex. This series of articles stem from my attempts in undergoing the decolonization process on a personal level based upon my area of study in behavioral sciences accompanied with my personal experiences.This series is also not an attempt to disrespect or discredit colonial parties or the government but it is an open analysis of wanting to understand how our people have arrived at this juncture of behavior and thought in our modern society and how we can change for the better.