Unsung Land, Aspiring Nation: Journeys in Bougainville

178 Pages·2022·0.679 MB·English

by  Gordon Peake

UNSUNG LAND,
ASPIRING NATION
JOURNEYS IN BOUGAINVILLE

UNSUNG LAND,
ASPIRING NATION
JOURNEYS IN BOUGAINVILLE
GORDON PEAKE
PACIFIC SERIES

For Patrick
Published by ANU Press
The Australian National University
Canberra ACT 2600, Australia
Email: [email protected]
Available to download for free at press.anu.edu.au
ISBN (print): 9781760465438
ISBN (online): 9781760465445
WorldCat (print): 1346579423
WorldCat (online): 1346581358
DOI: 10.22459/ULAN.2022
This title is published under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-
NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence.
The full licence terms are available at
creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode
Printed by Lightning Source
ingramcontent.com/publishers-page/environmental-responsibility
Cover design and layout by ANU Press. Cover photograph: Bougainville Referendum
Commission/Jeremy Miller.
This book is published under the aegis of the Pacific Editorial Board of ANU Press.
This edition © 2022 ANU Press
Some names in this book have been changed in the interests of privacy.
Contents
Abbreviations and other shortened forms xi
Acknowledgements xiii
Foreword xv
Introduction 1
Part One
1. Aid comes to my aid 11
2. Arrival 21
3. Make-work and workshops 27
4. Bookanville 37
5. Have licence, lack engine 51
6. A trip to Port Moresby 57
Part Two
7. The road to Arawa 69
8. Town of ghosts 79
9. Buka’s bestseller 89
10. Beatrice’s Bougainville 95
11. Plan A 103
12. Plan B and whiskey to the rescue 107
13. Institutions new and old, seen and unseen 115
Part Three
14. Odd jobs, family trips and a friend worth fighting for 129
15. Referendum days 139
16. The stone pillars 143
17. The result of all this 147
Epilogue 151
Glossary 157

See enough and write it down.
— Joan Didion