Yesterday we were treated to a 'sing sing' (kind of a local version of a cultural concert of singing and dancing) to celebrate bougainville autonomous day. There's quite a few bougainvilleans who live and work on Lihir Island (there are quite a lot of people from all provinces around the country who either fly in and out or live here to work at the mine or various other businesses), so they shared their celebration and put on a show and a barbie.
For a bit of background on Bougainville , it is an independent region of Papua New Guinea. It is named after the French navigator Louis Antoine de Bougainville(whose name has also been lent to the creeping tropical flowering vines that you're probably familiar with). It consists of a few islands, and Bougainville is the largest of those. It also includes the island of Buka, where some of the local haus maris are from, and lots of other outlying islands including the Caterets. There are about 175, 000 people who live in the region. They are reknowned through the rest of PNG for their particularly dark skin (one of the guys who works with Stu once told him you can draw a white line on a Bukan in charcoal!). You've probably heard of Bogainville before because of the independence conflict from 1990 to 1997. Because the island is rich in copper and gold, a large mine was established in the early 1970s by Rio Tinto. Due to disputes over the environmental impact, financial benefits and social change brought by the mine, a secessionist movement grew in the region, and the Bougainville Revolutionary Army (BRA) drove a rebellion from the late 1980's. From 1990, PNG ordered the Papua New Guinea Defence Force to put down the rebellion, but the conflict escalated into a civil war which claimed an estimated 20,000 lives. In 1996, the PNG prime minister Sir Julius Chan employd a private miliary/ mercenary company 'Sandline' to put down the rebellion. The conflict finally ended in 1997, after negotiations. My tok pisin (pidgeon) teacher and one of our neighbours, Clara, a Bougainvillean woman, was involved in these negotiations. A peace agreement was finalised in 2000 and disarmament provided for the establishment of an Autonomous Bougainville Government, and for a referendum in the future on whether the island should become politically independent, which was successful for the establishment of Bougainville. Hence autonomous day. And our Saturday afternoon of entertainment this weekend!
Even though the dancers weren't in traditional dress (which is reportedly spectacular), the sing sing was fantastic. Those Bougainvillean ladies sure know how to shake their booties. Notice the tall guy in the blue shirt in the background, who was doing some kind of impressive and comedic bird dance around all the girls.
Ed had a top time with a couple of his biggest fans nursing him and his little girlfriend Tahlou. Wow he looks particularly pale here!
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