PNGBLOGS

by FRANK MENEM JR Our forefathers were the first celebrated people on earth to have toiled the land and farm the upper Wahgi Valley. We have survived without any resources apart from our land from which we cultivate and propagate our fresh vegetables and green coffee beans. Those legendary men and women were among the prominent Highlanders to embrace the ‘white men’ during the wave of civilization. They were classified as the first known primitives who were hospitable and capable of forging lasting relationships with the Europeans. Our people were classified as permanently rich in culture and abundantly wealthy by the first Europeans. A Catholic Missionary had this to write about our people; “The Hagen people of the Wagi raised pigs in abundance and at times, they would even slaughter up to a thousand in a day for their neighbors or allies to celebrate or mark their relationship”. During the migration epochs after the onset of the Leahy brothers, we had more than a