ABG Day celebrations

ABG stands for ‘Autonomous Bougainville Government’, and on 15 June the celebrated the anniversary of when the ABG first started in 2005. It was a very ceremonious occasion, with the Governor General of PNG coming, and there’s a lot of protocol involved with that.

Sir Michael Ogio, GG of PNG, and in the background, spectators with their cameras out, and people dressed up ready to perform traditional dances.

Have I mentioned that Sir Michael Ogio is a Teop speaker from the inland dialect? I have met his relatives and visited his village.

Here he is giving his speech:

The President of the ABG, Chief John Momis, was also present and gave a speech. This is a picture of him:

Three flags flying – PNG flag, Bougainville flag, PNG royal flag (flown to signify the presence of the GG):

A traditional dance group. I forget where this group was from. Maybe Central or South Bougainville.

A female dance group from the Carterets Islands.

Men from Mortlock Atoll. Their items are always a real hit as they are so different from what the other groups in Bougainville do. It reminds me of the Maori Haka dance, but it is different. Its popularity draws the crowd in closer to get a good look, as you can see in the background.

ABG day cultural items – Part Two

Some more photos of cultural performances from ABG day 2011.

Modern-day bamboo band, PVC pipes instead of bamboo. It still sounds good!

Performance by Carterets Islanders:

The men from the Mortlock Atoll do a performance that is quite different from all the rest, and because of that it is very popular with the crowds (which you can see have come closer in the background of these photos). It’s hard to describe what it’s like, but when the beat gets quicker, they move faster. Maybe you can get the idea from these two photos.

Finally, a photo of the faithful late-afternoon crowd after many people had gone home.

ABG day cultural items – Part One

Groups of performers from all over Bougainville performed various cultural items for the entertainment on ABG day. I have so many good photos to share with you that it will take two blog posts! I don’t remember where all the groups came from, but I will mention the area for those that I do remember.

A couple of performers walking past:

Men performing:

Boys:

Ladies with bows and arrows as well as a bamboo tube:

Men from Nissan Island:

Governor General's visit

The Governor General (GG) of PNG came to Buka and attended the ABG Day celebrations yesterday, Wednesday 15 June. (ABG day is a day which celebrates Bougainville’s autonomy and the formation of the Autonomous Bougainville Government – ABG).

The GG is the Queen’s representative and the highest position in a Commonwealth country. I’ve never been near a GG before, so I’ve never seen before all the protocol that has to be followed just like with real royalty. Part of that protocol includes having a guard of honour, which you can see being formed by the Bougainville police in this photo:

Local school children also forming their guard of honour:

According to protocol, the President of the ABG has to arrive at the celebrations 10 minutes before the GG. He came in his own car, with police cars escorting him and sounding their sirens. The President’s car has a special number plate:

Here is the President, Chief John Momis, standing on the podium:

The GG arrived in similar fashion to the President, with sirens wailing and several cars before and after the one he was in. He even waved at people like the Queen from inside the car! He also stood on the podium before sitting under the grandstand (not sure that’s quite the right word for the structure!). Presenting the GG of PNG, Sir Michael Ogio:

He gave a speech from the grandstand, which you can see him doing in the photo below.

Another part of the protocol is that whenever the GG is present, a special flag has to be flown, maybe it is the Royal Standard of PNG. It is the flag on the right in the picture below. The other two flags are: left – PNG flag; middle – Bougainville flag.

(Remember, you can click on photos to see a larger version).

New Autonomous Bougainville Government (ABG)

I was lucky enough to be in Buka for the swearing in ceremony of the new president and the second house of representatives for the ABG. It was far from boring! There were lots of song and dance items presented by the various language groups in the Bougainville region. The politicians’ speeches weren’t boring either, in fact I thought they were rather inspiring.

One of the cultural items:

At one stage when we were standing around watching the dances, the police shooed us away, saying ‘Hide, hide’. We didn’t do much other than just move along a little bit, then they told us all to sit down, which we did. The police were actually enforcing culturally appropriate respect for the next group who were coming out. There were some ‘born-chiefs’ in this group and they wear traditional ‘upe’ hats. They stay in their houses in the bush all the time and you would never see them walking around town. Women aren’t supposed to be near them and should show respect to them, so that is why we were told to hide and sit down. The men grow their hair and the hats are only held on by their hair inside it. I’m amazed that some of the ones that are on a bit of an angle don’t fall off!

Here are some of the men with the upe hats.

It was a really hot sunny day, and we wanted to be in the shade, but still see everything, so we ended up joining others who had crawled under a stage that the dignitaries were seated on. I turned around and took this photo of the people behind me under the stage:

The people of Bougainville are hoping that this new government will prepare Bougainville for independence. The earliest that they could gain independence is in five years, but it could be 15 years away at the latest. My friend Ailyne told me that three things need to be established before they gain independence: weapons disposal; economy; and good governance. Mining is Bougainville’s best option for economy, but that was what caused the civil war from 1988-2000. The new president, the honourable John Momis, is considering re-opening the mine however, in consultation with the landowners. The local newspaper recently said that independence for Bougainville is still a long way off.