You are probably wondering why on earth I would select this photo ?; the picture is of two ceremonial pieces worn by Papuan New Guineans. You look at me and make judgements about who I am. I am caucasian, and for those of you in the know, I am also Australian. My accent, although present, can throw people off because I have lived in a number of different countries which brings me back to this picture. When I first saw the Papua New Guinea section I immediately identified myself with that culture. Now I suspect that you are asking yourself the following: is she appropriating another culture because she lived there? Not in my mind. I am not suggesting that these masks represent exactly me, but it is a symbol of a foundational piece of my being. I moved to PNG (that’s what we call the country) when I was six weeks old and I lived there until I was 10. These were my formative years. Although I knew that I was Australian, it wasn’t until I moved back to Australia that I realized how different I was from my peers.
Fast forward to today and I still deal with the effects of my childhood in New Guinea. I struggle to grasp what it meant for the New Guineans to be colonized by western cultures. I feel a sense of guilt at being attached to that. To say that it weighs heavily upon me would be just a tip of the iceberg in terms of describing it. It is something that I rationally know I had no autonomy in, yet never-the-less I am part of that institution. But at the same time, I feel that I am part of the New Guinean culture. I experience a sense of comfort every time that I see reminders of that part of my childhood. It defined me in ways that prepared me for the challenges that I experience today. So there in lies my conundrum!