Sana,a man of humility

PEOPLE will always remember the man who helped them pull up their canoe. This is the wisdom of Sana.
Late Grand Chief Sir Michael Somare held onto his father’s wisdom and advice in his political journey.
His book Sana which is about his life story and of his connection to the different places that he lived in and basically a sum up of the influences of people, places and traditions that he had experienced.
“We absorb the practices of culture, values, beliefs, pain, joy and share our lives with others from all walks of life.
“We are influenced by others and we in turn influence them.”
The first Sana was a fight leader and peacemaker in the Sepik village of Karau.
In 1974 he inherited the title from his father.
During ceremony, the wisdom and the fighting spirit of Sana were passed on to him.
But more important to Somare was the fact that he assumed Sana’s traditional role as peacemaker.
In the tradition of Sana, Somare believes a man must invite his enemies to sit down and eat with them before going to fight, and as chief minister he constantly seeks guidance from his philosophy.
And that has made Sir Michael unique in his style of leadership.
Since his passing, many have referred to him as a great leader, friend to all and enemy to none.
He was the gel that held Papua New Guinea together since 1975.
A piece taken out from Sana resonates his style of leadership.
From his father Sana – ‘every clan has its own special magic, and ours is the magic of peace.
When people come to fight us, we call them to eat first.
We sit down together.
We walk, we eat. Then we say to them: All right, if you want to fight take your spears and stand over there.
We also will take our weapons, and we will stand on this side.”
But we believe that after eating, their minds will be changed.
They will not want to fight us anymore.’
Sir Michael had an incredible humility, so much sincerity and huge ability to forgive and with that he was able to unite a country of 800 languages and the many different tribes.
We echo sentiments shared by his last born daughter Dulciana Somare-Brash that with his departing to a spiritual life, his memory remains in his courage to not bring conflict amongst our people and not to bring conflict to other people.
My father always started with peace and he started with peace in the home.
He made sure that we didn’t argue, that we didn’t carry on internal turmoil to the detriment of those with less power and less influence.
Sir Michael relied on the tradition of Sana that he was born into, brought up in and initiated into.
The modern nation state faced problems which his grandfather never dreamed about; but the wisdom of Sana is just as relevant today as it was in the time of his grandfather timing.
Such an approach went a long way to explain the success of the man who has fought harder than any other to achieve a united and independent Papua New Guinea.
The Sana book is a must-read for all Papua New Guineans and should be made available in all school libraries.