History of Papua New Guinea
Today's staples – sweet potatoes and pigs – were later arrivals, but shellfish and fish have long been mainstays of coastal dwellers' diets.
Recent archaeological research suggests that 50,000 years ago people may have occupied sites in the highlands at altitudes of up to 2,000 m (6,600 ft), rather than being restricted to warmer coastal areas.
[3] When Europeans first arrived, inhabitants of New Guinea and nearby islands, whose technologies included bone, wood, and stone tools, had a productive agricultural system.
In 1526–1527 the Portuguese explorer Jorge de Menezes accidentally came upon the principal island and is credited with naming it "Papua", after a Malay word for the frizzled quality of Melanesian people's hair.
However, when Germany began settlements in the north a British protectorate was proclaimed in 1884 over the southern coast of New Guinea and its adjacent islands.
During the Pacific War, Papua was governed by an Australian military administration from Port Moresby, where General Douglas MacArthur occasionally made his headquarters.
Not until recent years has New Guinea's exploration been planned; much of it has been the work of miners, labour recruiters, missionaries, adventurers, with different objectives in mind.
[6] An exception is the record of the Akmana Gold Prospecting Company's Field Party which carried out two expeditions from September to December 1929 and from mid February to the end of June 1930.
During their first expedition the Akmana Field Party prospected the tributaries of the Arrabundio and then trekked across a spur of the Central Mountain Range to sample the Upper Karrawaddi River.
Returning to Madang at the end of December 1929, several of the party went back to Sydney to obtain instructions from the Akmana Gold Prospecting Company.
Finally they prospected the Tarua River south past the tributary which flows to Waipai, once more without success and on the advice of mining engineer Seale, it was decided there was nothing to justify further exploration.
'We made a peaceful entry into this new country, establishing a reputation for fair trade and decent behaviour ... but gold was our interest and we had traced the rivers and tributaries as far as practicable where conditions and results justified the effort and found nothing worthwhile.
Current records at the Australian Museum show that Beazley's wig, described as "a cap composed of human hair from the headwaters of the U–at River, Central Mountains, Mandated Territory of NG", was lodged on 31 January 1930, presumably on his quick visit to Sydney after the first expedition.
The wigs at The Australian Museum were later confused with some brought out of the Highlands 10 years afterwards by Jim Taylor during his Hagen–Sepik patrol, and wrongly attributed to him when put on display.
Rabaul, the capital of the Territory was overwhelmed on 22–23 January and was established as a major Japanese base from whence they landed on mainland New Guinea and advanced towards Port Moresby and Australia.
From July 1942, a few Australian reserve battalions, many of them very young and untrained, fought a stubborn rearguard action against a Japanese advance along the Kokoda Track, towards Port Moresby, over the rugged Owen Stanley Ranges.
The militia, worn out and severely depleted by casualties, were relieved in late August by regular troops from the Second Australian Imperial Force, returning from action in the Mediterranean theatre.
The bitter Battle of Buna-Gona followed in which Australian and United States forces attacked the main Japanese beachheads in New Guinea, at Buna, Sanananda and Gona.
Facing tropical disease, difficult terrain and well constructed Japanese defences, the allies only secured victory with heavy casualties.
[12] In early September 1942 Japanese marines attacked a strategic Royal Australian Air Force base at Milne Bay, near the eastern tip of Papua.
They were beaten back by the Australian Army, and the Battle of Milne Bay is remembered as the first outright defeat on Japanese land forces during World War II.
[13] The offensives in Papua and New Guinea of 1943–44 were the single largest series of connected operations ever mounted by the Australian armed forces.
The Act provided for a Legislative Council (established in 1951), a judicial organization, a public service, and a system of local government, with Sir Donald Cleland as administrator.
Australia's change of policy towards Papua New Guinea largely commenced with the invitation from the Australian Government to the World Bank to send a mission to the Territory to advise on measures to be taken towards its economic development and political preparation.
Elections in 1972 resulted in the formation of a ministry headed by Chief Minister Michael Somare, who pledged to lead the country to self-government and then to independence.
In November 1985, the Somare government lost another vote of no confidence, and the parliamentary majority elected Paias Wingti, at the head of a five-party coalition, as prime minister.
In July 1988, a no-confidence vote toppled Wingti and brought to power Rabbie Namaliu, who a few weeks earlier had replaced Somare as leader of the Pangu Party.
