Madang Province

General Situation:

Madang has many of PNG's highest peaks, it's most active volcanos, and it's biggest mix of languages (175). The province is the countrys third leading producer of cocoa and copra and second producer of cattle. Ramu Sugar and Jant/Gogol woodchip mill are amongst PNG's biggest employers. Most areas are still far from transport and undeveloped.

History:

Man's contact with the New Guinea mainland has extended through the past 50,000 years, and although as yet unproven one would presume this figure to be true for this region also. Scientists have found evidence of human settlement 12,000 to 15,000 years ago near Simbai. In the past 6,000 years sailors originating from around Korea have traversed this area, leaving their mark in the Austronesian languages which are unevenly distributed along the coastline amongst the Papuan language villages.

The Yabob and Bilbil people used big sailing canoes to trade their pots from Karkar Island to western Morobe. They were part of the Vitiaz Strait trade network. Bundi was the centre of trade between Astrolabe Bay and the Highlands. Trade involved shells, salt, clay pots and wooden bowls from the lowlands and stone axes, feathers and women from the Asaro, Simbu and Jimi valleys.

The Madang coast received its first real western exploration at the hands of the Russian explorer Nicolai Miklouho-Maclay in 1871. He introduced pineapples, mangoes, beans, pumpkins and other new foods. In 1884 the German New Guinea Kompagnie started development of the region, building tobacco, cotton and coffee plantations at Bogia and around Astrolabe Bay. In 1886, Johannes Flierl started a Lutheran Mission at Simbang. The Catholic Divine Word Order established missions at Bogia in 1901 and Alexishafen in 1904.

In 1914, Australian troops captured Rabaul and took control of German New Guinea. A military administration continued for 7 years. This was ratified by the Treaty of Versailles in 1919. Once again, very little development took place and the next momentous occasion was the occupation of the region by the Japanese in the second World War (1 May 1942 for Madang Town). Madang was destroyed in heavy fighting with much loss of life on both sides. The township was recaptured by Allied soldiers on 24th April 1944. Post war developments have been few and mainly restricted to the coast and Madang town.

Geography:

Madang Province is a large and deep region some 300 kilometres long and 160 kilometres wide with four large and many small offshore islands. The province totals 27,970 square kilometres and has a population of over 240,000 people. To the south lies the towering Bismark Ranges with heights ranging over 4,000 metres, with Mt Wilhelm (4509), PNG's tallest mountain being found in those ranges. The warm Bismark Sea laps the northern coast, and the region is drained northward by the larger Ramu, Sogeram, Gogol and Malas Rivers. The mountains are timber rich with large stands of trees and rain forest, whilst the coastal plain is open and palm studded.

Off shore islands are, in almost all cases, actively volcanic with many of the islands causing their populations to be moved to the coast on regular occasions when eruptions occur. Part of the Pacific's "ring of fire" this active volcanic region has created crater lakes, smoking volcanic cones and black sand beaches.

The Madang province receives ample rainfall (3.2 metres in Madang itself) with the months of November to June being the wettest.

People and Culture:

Due to changes caused by outside contact over the years, cultural loss has been great but isolation of many groups has caused that rate of change to be diversely uneven. Because of the environmental diversity, this province also has a very diverse culture as well. Tall lithe coastal people from Kar Kar, short nuggety highlkands men from Simbai and river people from the Ramu.

Many Madang area costumes include bamboo frames decorated with the very common cockatoo and parrot feathers as birds of paradise are relatively uncommon. The Ramu people are prolific carvers and the lower Ramu has cultural links with the villages of the artistically diverse Sepik River region. It is interesting to note that the resurgance of cultural festivals (i.e. Maborasa Festival) has seen many people donning the fantastic traditional dress, feathers and paints of their ancestors.

Foods eaten include those grown in fertile coastal gardens, shellfish and fish, fruit, green vegetables, bananas, taro, sweet potato and yams which relish dry soils. Sago is a staple of the Ramu river people especially in it's lower reaches. The mountain people have very good gardens with excellent produce.

Languages:

Austronesian sailors settled on this coast some 5 to 6,000 years ago and the languages of these intrepid but largely unknown sailors are found along the coast of the province. Takia, Lukep, Gedaged, Manam and Bilbil languages are examples of this. Inland, the Katiati, Hinihon, Saki and Waskia languages are examples of Papuan or non-Austronesian languages found in the region. The Ramu river languages include Gamei, Giri, Tangu, Romkun and Igana and the Rai Coast languages include Garia and Usino. Linguistically, Madang province is typified by a large number of very small language groups, many with less than 1,000 people.