My gun, my brother : experiences of Papua New Guinea policemen 1920 - 1960
Date
1993
Authors
Kituai, August Ibrum Kumaniari
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Abstract
This study covers forty years, 1920 - 1960. It is concerned
with aspects of the social and political history of members of the
Royal Papuan Constabulary and the New Guinea Native police forces
when they were at the peak of their careers, and when Australian
rule was confident and expanding.
Rather than providing an exhaustive chronology for the
institutional development of the police, the thesis attempts to link
information about events, about policemen's relationships with
government officers (or kiaps) and villagers to wider issues in the
colonial history of Papua New Guinea and, by extension, of the
Pacific Islands and elsewhere.
Since their formation in the 1890s, the Royal Papuan
Constabulary and the New Guinea native police force played pivotal
roles in the spread of German and Australian colonial rule in Papua
New Guinea. Acting as middlemen, and occupying positions without
precedent in their traditional backgrounds, the policemen became the
eyes, ears, spokesmen and punishers of the colonial governments at
the main administrative centre and the frontier.
Policemen worked willingly for the government and acted as
civilizing agents of the general nupela pasin of law and order,
peace and hygiene. They also assisted villagers break away (some
with difficulty) from a past of cannibalism, homicide, infanticide,
and isolation. Some of the methods used in securing these results
were dictatorial and brutal, particularly when the rifle was the symbol and reality of much colonial expansion.
The thesis brings out the corporate strength felt by the police
- the sense of privileged brotherhood that bound them together and
the contradictions between the actions and ideals of many of the
police. It explores through specific cases the extent of and the
reasons for police violence. It connects the police to their own
village background, both before and after police service, and it
examines the relationships between police and other villagers.
In their given responsibilities - policing of minor matters,
exploration, apprehension of murderers, pacification of villagers,
participation in the World Wars - policemen showed exceptional
skills. So much of the Administration's dirty work was done by the
police that without their patience, allegiance, discipline and
courage colonial rule in Papua New Guinea would have been profoundly
different in form and application. At least, in their perceptions,
and in the views of the villagers, policemen were the most effective
and ubiquitous of the colonial agents. They consistently crossed the
divide between colonial rulers and the villagers under their
jurisdiction, and informed them about the new order.
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