Image of Black, white and gold : gold mining in Papua New Guinea, 1878-1930

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Black, white and gold : gold mining in Papua New Guinea, 1878-1930

Australian goldminers were among the first white men to have sustained contact with Papua New Guineans. Some Papua New Guineans welcomed them, worked for them, traded with them and learnt their skills and soon were mining on their own account. Others met them with hostility, either by direct confrontation or by stealthy ambush. Many of the indigenous people and some miners were killed. The miners were dependent on the local people for labourers, guides, producers of food and women. Some women lived willingly in the miners’ camps, a few were legally married, and some were raped. Working conditions for Papua New Guineans on the claims were mixed; some being well treated by the miners, others being poorly housed and fed, ill-treated, and subject to devastating epidemics. Conditions were rough, not only for them but for the diggers too. This book, republished in its original format, shows the differences in the experience of various Papua New Guinean communities which encountered the miners and tries to explain these differences. It is a graphic description of what happens when people from vastly different cultures meet. The author has drawn on documentary sources and interviews with the local people to produce, for the first time, a lively history.

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Detail Information
Series Title
-
Call Number
622.3420995 NEL b
Publisher
Acton : ANU Press (Australian National University).,
Collation
xx, 298p. : ill.
Language
English
ISBN/ISSN
9781921934346
Classification
622.3420995
Content Type
-
Media Type
-
Carrier Type
-
Edition
-
Subject(s)
Papua New Guinea
Gold mines and mining
Gold mines and mining--Social aspects
Specific Detail Info
-
Statement of Responsibility
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