First Contact (1983 )

[bunniefuu]

I was really young at that time,
but already off breast milk.

I was on the road with my father
when for the first time I saw a whitemen.

I was so scared, I didn't dare to look
at him. I cried.

The whitemen came from over there.
We have never seen such a thing.

Did he came from underground?

Did he came from heaven?

We didn't understand a thing.

We had no idea of his existence,
or what he was doing here.

We were completely confused.

The white man thought our leader
was going to attack him.

That's why he shot him down.

That was Masta Mick.
He was very strict.

We were not ought to steal
nor destroy gardens ...

... nor fight eachother.

He came into our area ...

... and he was the master of
all of us. Masta Mick.

Now he is dead.

I still was a child when they came.

We were just beaten by our enemies.

We heard thunder had arrived.

We thought these white men ...

would be the thunder from the sky.

This is what people said:

These must be our ancestors,
coming from the realm of the dead.

We knew nothing of the outside world.

We thought we were the only
people.

We thought our dead would
go to the other side ...

... then turned white,
and returned as ghosts

That's why we couldn't
sh**t at them.

Our dead were back.

The escorters carried backpacks
on their backs.

And our people said:

Their wives must be in there.

The escorters were wearing
red cloths around their waists ...

... and a bayonet to the side.

And the men said, the women
weren't allowed to watch.

Under the cloths there must have been
enormous penises around their waists.

When we saw these cloths and pants,
we thought ...

... they wouldn't have excrements.

They were wrapped up so neatly ...

... we asked ourselves: how should the
excrements get out of there?

We showed them our exchange goods ...

... and said: Bring us a pig.

That's how we snored then.

Then, they would bring us a pig.

They ran away ...

... and came back with a huge pig.

They brought corn ...

... and potatoes.

A variety of things they brought in.

That's what I bought ...

... exchanged it for small shells,
or big ones for a pig.

They brought pieces of cloth too.

Too small to wear.
They were just savages.

One of us had seen a white men
taking a poop.

The man from heaven did it, he said.

As soon as the whitemen left ...

... everybody went to take a look.

Their skin is very different, they said ...

... but their excrements just smell
like ours.

Masta Mick said: If the savages bring
food, then it's okay.

You're not gonna be in trouble then.

We will be best friends then.

But even if they will grab their g*ns,
you can't do anything.

Don't sh**t.

Only if one of our men ...

... will be hit by a spear or an arrow ...

... then you'll sh**t them.

He said: Stop the nonsense, sh**t sharp
right away.

sh**ting women and children
was prohibited.

But sh**ting at men was allowed.

The white man said we stole a piece
of cloth.

That's why they came to fight us.

Our people said the spirits were coming.

But we men didn't accept to be
fooled around.

A r*fle was fired.

I didn't notice anything at first.

Suddenly blood gushed out.
I stood perplex.

Two other men were shot dead.

Kundwai and Mogai Gee.

When I realized what the b*llet
had done to me ...

I collapsed as well.

Mick Leahy was a strong man.

He was though when it came to fighting...

... and also when we were walking.

He never missed when he shot.

When he shot at someone,
that person collapsed immediately

He shot one man down in Kukukuka.

He shot one down in Chuave.

He shot one down in Dotiwara.

He shot one down in Bena.

He shot one down in Wabag.

He shot many in Tari.

I think ...

... he shot nine down in Tari.

Everybody gathered here.
Our leader, Pingeta ...

... came running down the hill.
It went like this.

Pingeta, my father, got shot
in his head.

Then they shot people down over
there ...

... and back there, and all around.

Over there, Teatahan got k*lled.

Down there, Ambon and Nambon
got shot dead.

And over there, Lo's mother was shot
dead.

At that side, Kiahoa collapsed.

Over there, only Pingeta was shot dead.

Let alone all the wounded,
I don't even count them.

I was very small when the
first plane arrived.

My parents had told me ...

... that good things came down
from the clouds.

Masta Mick was mimicking an airplane.

My clan told me good things would
come down from the sky.

That's why we assisted them
in their work.

When we heard all that noise,
we fell straight down.

We were sh1tting in our pants.
We were totally baffled.

I remember very well the first
airplane flying over.

Like a big bird.
We all ran.

Some jumped into the river, others
were hiding in the bushes.

We held eachother and
were crying from fear.

We thought this would be the end.

Masta Mick calmed them down.

He said: It's alright, it is only
deliviring our supplies.

They brought a phonograph.

They winded it up ...

... and said we could dance
to the music.

We heard that sound and thought it
to be a box full of spirits.

With our dead ancestors
contained in it.

When they said it again,
we started to dance.

We thought the dead would
dance with us.

The top of the can was
blinking in the sun.

I slowly crawled toward it.

Like I do now.

I put my feet on it.

I held it close to my body.

... and told my friend:

I've got it.

I thought they were going
to catch me ...

... but that did not happen.

I was so glad to have this.

I stood up ...

... and secured myself, so it
would not fall down ...

... and I ran straight back home.

I was running that way.

I said I had seen spirits.

You are lying, they told me.

Look at this, is what I said.
And everybody went crazy.

And my father used it for making
a head ornament.

You all, come have a look.

This man's name is Joe.

He lives in Mount Hagen with Masta Dan.

He used to be the chief escorter.

This is me, with that big nose.

Come look closer, all of you.

That's me.

I was very little.

Masta Mick put me in the airplane.

He told the pilot to check if
I didn't jump out.

My parents said: He is been taken
by the spirits.

They said: Don't eat their rice.

Don't eat anything they give, or
you'll be crazy.

We landed in Wau ...

... and I saw green and
red houses ...

... white houses.

I thought: The devil lives here.
I am going crazy.

And then ...

... I thought of my mother
and started to cry.

Back in the days, everyone was
his own master.

But that came to an end
when whitemen came.

They told us to do labor, and
so we did.

They told us on which days ...

we needed to work, and we had
to be on time.

We knew nothing about money.

We didn't know what it looked like.

We'd rather have shells.

We would wear those shells.

We were given to the whitemen's
escorters ...

... in exchange for this kind
of shells.

My parents would give me away
to the strangers.

My breasts were still small.

The strangers would pay to get me,
and the other girls ...

... pay with shells and steal axes.

They were very rich and bought
many more girls.

I was the first one.

Didn't you want to marry them?
- Not at all, we were scared to death.

We were crying for our
fathers and mothers.

We thought they might eat us.

But they turned out to be very kind.

We started to make love as soon
as we understood them to be males.

That's true.

Did it happen right away?
- No.

I was so scared the first week,
so nothing happened.

Then we saw they were human beings,
having normal sexual organs.

Initially we didn't know they had them.

But they were real men.

Because the whitemen gave nice
things to women ...

... my husband brought me to them.

It gave me a son of a mixed race.

That is good.

Were you scared? Did you think the
whitemen were spirits?

I was scared, but they gave beautiful
things in exchange for women.

For these gifts, I forgot about my
fears, and went with them.

He took photos of me ...

... and gave me presents.

He took care of me getting
good dinners.

He was very kind to me.

When you expected a child,
did you tell him about it?

No, I went back to my village.

I raised him by myself.

It was not easy.

He had many women.

That's why so many children were born.

We hided them because of
our shame.

Only at school they saw whitemen again.

Long before whitemen came ...

... before we had ever seen a white man ...

... we mastered everything ourselves:
Fights, festivities ...

... ceremonies and weddings.

When whitemen came to the Highlands ...

... they had a disc with them ...

... and also a shovel.

They put sand in the disc ...

... and washed it in the river.

We thought: Back then, when our
ancestors passed away ...

... we burned the corpses and
gathered the bones.

We threw them into the water.

So, when we saw whitemen
using that disc ...

... we thought they were our
ancestors, looking for their bones.

We didn't understand it yet.

But now we know ...

they were paid money for the gold
they dug up from our ground.