Acknowledgements

When I went to the Territory of Papua and New Guinea in 1966 I knew little of the people who lived there. Out of choice and necessity I was soon pretending to teach some of them their history. I learnt slowly that many of the students came from communities which valued information about their past, retained much detail, judged the past actions of men and wondered about the road that they were on. After I had done some work we could share knowledge. I could tell a class when men from a particular area first joined the police force, what training they were given, what official powers they had, what dramatic incidents they were involved in, and what their white officers thought of them. The students could tell me why some men joined the police, what village people thought were the powers of the police, how the police behaved in the villages, what the police thought of their officers, and what happened to men who returned to the village after service with the police. I wish to thank the students who gave me the chance to learn about the history of the people of Papua New Guinea. In the notes attached to chapters I have mentioned only those students who gave particular help.

Kevin Green, Jim Gibbney, Moeka Helai and Bob Langdon helped me find written material. The staffs of the Library of the University of Papua New Guinea, the National Archives of Papua New Guinea, the Australian Archives, the Menzies Library of the Australian National University, the National Library of Australia, the Fryer Library of the University of Queensland, the Oxley Memorial Library of Queensland, the La Trobe Library of the State Library of Victoria, the Mitchell Library of the Library of New South Wales, the Australian Museum and the National Museum of Victoria gave courteous assistance.

Don Affleck, Elton Brash, Bert Brown, Leonie Christopherson, Fred and Nancy Damon, Don Denoon, Tom Dutton, Amirah Inglis, John Kolia, Diane Langmore, Jerry Leach, Nancy Lutton, Louise and Mekere Morauta, Alby Munt, Nigel Oram, Eddie Parr, Frank Pryke, Leo Pryke, Tony Pryke, Roger Southern, Jim Specht, Mary-Cath Togolo and John Waiko gave information on particular points. Barry Smith, Francis West, Robin Gollan and Bill Gammage gave advice about the manuscript; and Stewart Firth and Ken Inglis made detailed comments on a completed draft.

Most of the book was written during 1973 and 1974 while I was a Research Fellow in the Department of History in the Research School of Social Sciences, Australian National University. I have done some revision since shifting to the Department of Pacific and Southeast Asian History. I would like to thank the staffs of both Departments for their hospitality. Jean Dillon, Jan Hicks, Janice Aldridge, Lois Simms and Christine Waring typed the manuscript. Maureen Krascum typed the footnoted copy of the manuscript placed in libraries in Canberra and Port Moresby. All were tolerant and skilful.

I also thank my wife, Janet, and my children, Tanya, Lauren and Michael, for putting up with me while I wrote or looked for lost pieces of paper.

For the presentation of this book I am indebted to the staff of the A.N.U. Press and the Graphic Design Unit, and to the Nauru Fund for a loan to help meet the cost of the drawings used in the text. Mr P. Belbin drew the illustrations appearing in the text.