Bougainville Politics: Father of Meekamui (A)

The idea of Meekamui was just recently promoted into Bougainville politics by the late Francis Ona who actually adopted it. The concept was actually older than himself and was created by a student at Saint Joseph High School, Damien Dameng from Irang-Panga valley in the Panguna District.

Damien Dameng was born in 1930 in his Dongtare hamlet. He was in primary school at Sovele Catholic Mission, Bana District, when WW2 came to Bougainville. After WW2 he reenrolled at Orami Tokples school learning mainly the Catholic's catechism. Later in transfered to Buiana, a school led by Fr Mueller still in Panguna. In the 1950s he was in Tunuru Catholic Mission where he was once suspected with Betoro, a woman from Topinang, and was punished. In retaliation for this, he attacked a nun, he recalls as Sr Julianna for reporting him to an American priest Fr Hogan.

Fr Hogan removed from Tunuru to transfer him to Puru'ata in Torokina but ended him in Mamarego Catholic Mission in Bana where he remained for 2 years. After he was moved to Rigu where he did Standards 9 and 10.

And it was in Rigu's libraries that certain literature on the shelves to not interest him. By this time, he was to go to Tsiroge in Buka to learn trade but saw that the mission was destroying Bougainville and Bougainvilleans so he decided to attack  the Catholic Church. So he called a Br Bozaar, an Australian, that, 'I am not going to Tsiroge, but I am going home'. This was now the 1960s!

By this time, the Hahalis Welfare Society in Buka and others were on, and Damien Dameng called a few leaders in Kieta to Irang and told them: 'Mission is killing us so let's go to our culture'. So, born was his group, the Meekamui Ponto'ku Onoring.

He began protesting against the CRA exploration in the area (as shown above) with his moment that immediately had many followers across the now Panguna District. As supports came in, agendas broaded as well to nationalism and independence for Bougainville.

What is Meekamui Pontoku Onoring? Meekamui is simply 'holy land' in the Nasioi language. Pontoku is the sacred sites, eg caves with a significant deveopment a clan's mythological historical deeds. Then, Onoring, which means,'I am secure', comes from the culture where by, a person when dealing with external forces, eg disputes, feels more comfortable right at his home. Often, when dealing with issues he might ask his enemies to his home for negotiations.

And for his movement, the pillars were 3, he wanted all these concerns to drive Bougainville to its roots of pureness. The pillars are:

• Western education, belongs to the bad spirits
• Western health belongs to the dogs
• Western religion belongs to immature kids

These ideas, he says, were also presented to the United Nations at Kieta when they visited along side the 6 live pigs he brought for the church and government representatives.

The movement, forcefully closed schools in Deumori and others for 3 years in the early 1970s when the late Francis Ona was a young student but was exposed to its impact. Thus, when he took it, he added a bit on, he called it: 'Meekamui Pontoku Si'punng eta osi'kaai-aang'.
(to be continued)

(hating my camera was Dameng when I visited him)

 He is around 82 years old today and was suffering weak legs from malaria. A very famous dog meat eater in Kieta.

He told me also that he was about to close a school that educates the children to grow stupid in a cultural sense.

But when I left him, I was told he fell off a landslide and was in a critical condition in his Dong'tare hamlet that I was in with him and toured his 1960s government (after 1975 was called, 50 toea govt) monuments.