Searching for Bitapaka: creating voices for history's silenced

Abstract

At the battle of Bitapaka, thirty New Guineans died defending a German wireless station against invading Australian forces. Other indigenous Pacific Islander First World War servicemen have been commemorated through memorials, parades and literature, but history has been unkind to the New Guinean servicemen. Colonial, geographic and cultural conditions as well as the limitations of historical methodology have left them without a voice. This paper argues that empirical history has failed the indigenous servicemen of Bitapaka, and advocates the use of imaginative forms of historical methodology, in an attempt to create voices for history's silenced.

Keywords

• indigenous service
• first world war
• papua new guinea
• commemoration
• recognition
• bitapaka