Where ‘Morobe’ came from

COVER STORY

By DAVID HARRO
THE wheels of time are turning and spinning our lives like the fine sand flowing through the hour glass.
I surreptitiously had this notion to put pen to paper to reveal how Morobe got its name, something that the province’s young generation may or may not have known.
This is well-kept secret and I am letting the rabbit out of the bag after serving the Morobe government for 29 years.
I have travelled the length and breadth of this province in stormy weather, in rough seas and ventured into some of the toughest terrains with geographical features comprising of high mountain peaks, dangerous deep gorges and treacherous fast flowing rivers. One notable river is the Busu, recorded as the seventh fastest in the world and third in the Southern Hemisphere.
My orchestration begins with the transition of three tribal groups; Yekore, Mawai, and Zuena in Morobe South Coast. The Mawai tribe dwelled in the hinterland of Waria Valley whilst the Yekores came across the border from Tufi in Oro. They were warriors with lesser and smaller neighbouring tribes who shared the border with the Binandere tribe of Oro.
The Binanderes across the border were fearsome head hunters who practised cannibalism. Of course their carnivorous cult practices were magnanimous for they used hunting spears and clubs to kill, then butchered and roasted the bodies of their enemies limb by limb.
The Mawae tribesmen and women whose lives were in danger abandoned their mountain habitats and tribal surroundings as many were in a cluster of close knitted family groups or clans.
They trekked down towards the coast from Waria Valley following Wara Waria, (Waria River) to establish settlements known today as Pela, Gomena, Owagi, Popoe, Yaemba, Siu, Zare-Ainze, Dona and Sapa villages.
Their wantoks the Yekore crossed over the coastal border from Tufi into Morobe and settled along the coastline along the fringes of picturesque sandy beaches and shores of what is now Kuwi-Boso, Eia, Gugumi, Sowara, Wainzaduna (Eue Primary School), Bau, Kobo and Saigara.
The late migration of another tribal group, the Suena people who travelled across further east from Oro seeking safer havens settled amongst the Yekore populace towards west of Lae at Eware, Mou, Bosadi Kobio-Amoa, Zinamba, Maema, Siboma, Paewa and Kui.
When Eastern Europe was invaded by Adolf Hitler’s German army during WW1, New Guinea was then under German colonisation. They purchased coconut plantations in Madang and Kavieng and established their trading headquarters at Rabaul. This area was annexed as German New Guinea. However, the Germans were seeking greener pastures and located this undiscovered remote coastline of the Huon Peninsular, (Morobe Patrol Post), and shifted the headquarters from Rabaul.
Adolf Hitler’s quest in his wildest dream to conquer the world vehemently came to a sad ending as the tentacles of Allied forces withstood the “D-Day”, and that dream became a history. New Guinea was handed over to Great Britain which then became British New Guinea.
Adolfhaven

The Germans did settle at Morobe Patrol Post and called it Adolfhaven. After the defeat of Hitler’s army the patrol post was gracefully handed over to the British. What of the misgivings that transpired during the cold war? Well, today we can say that was another passage of time and millions of lost lives.
Then came WW2 when Japan invaded parts of South East Asia. The passage of this invasion sprawled down from jungles of Borneo, Burma, Thailand, and spread into Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia and eventually Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands and across the Pacific. A fierce bloody battle was fought at Guadalcanal between the Allied forces and the might of Hirohito’s Nippon Army.
Morobe can be remembered for the battles of Salamaua, Lae and Bulolo along the Bulldog Track.
After the US Naval fleet was annihilated by Japanese submarines at Pearl Habour, in retaliation the US dropped two atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nakasaki, which wiped out hundreds of thousands of civilian lives. The death and carnage caused by the A-Bomb was the turning point of WW2; Hirohito surrendered to the Allied forces.
Great Britain took charge of Adolfhaven, then again handed over the patrol post to the Australian neo-colonial administration. The unknown patrol post became an intricate business centre and headquarters of New Guinea.
During the gold rush when the mineral was first discovered in Wau-Bulolo area, opportunists, treasure hunters and expatriate gold miners flocked in and established Salamaua as a rendezvous trading post. As incoming and outgoing businesses materialised the trading post became a popular bustling mini-township. The Australian administration seat at Adolfhaven was shifted to Salamaua.
With an ever-growing white population amongst the local populace, this local habitat was congested with human traffic and business operations, prompting the creation of a more conducive and a permanent base. The Australian administration headquarters was again shifted from Salamaua to Lae.
Under the auspices of three separate colonial administrations, the first two tribal settlers Yekore and Mawai and late arrivals the Suena language speaking people were not comfortable with the name Adolfhaven it was foreign. Though the British had eloped with the Germans at that time, the Australians were looking at other means of a possible name change.
Eventually Mother Nature gave birth to an original name that has a special place in the history of this province.
Narratives and pronunciations of the name are natively distinctive and synonymous. People sing-song, harangue and ululate the provincial name. Characteristically the cultural heritage is so diverse and cross-pollinated within Momase region and parts of West New Britain, thus there are 11 language groupings, the major ones being Kate in Morobe’s hinterland and Yabem along the coast.
The name is symbolic of exciting features, archaeological discoveries of artefacts, historical events, unique cultures, including the Anga (Menyamya) people’s traditional methodologies for preservation of smoked bodies (mummies) buried in caves. Other memorabilia are stored in archives and museums abroad, at home and in the memories of those who have passed on and still alive.
The provincial name is derived from a special tree species that grows at the mouth of “Wara Morobe” (small river) that demarcates coastal village hamlets of Bosadi perched on the fringes of Morobe Bay and Mou nestled amongst coconut palms within the pristine clear lagoon adjoined by the Eware Mangrove swamp. Adolfhaven was named after the German Deutsch Neuguinea-Kompagnie’s Adolf von Hanseman and have in German means port.
In the local tribal language moro is name of these tree species and be means mouth of the river. Therefore the name “moro-be” originated from moro growing at the be (trees growing at the mouth). The acronym of the unique local dialect, moro and be were then merged and in that context was given the provincial name we now call Morobe.
It is a long-kept secret and wherever you come from the nine districts and 33 LLGs of Morobe, hold your heads high and be proud as Morobeans by right, by birth and by blood. Call Morobe home and the place to be.
Adolfhave, alias Morobe Patrol Post is today a forgotten small government station that hosts the headquarters of Morobe Local Level Government.
I pay homage especially to the Yekore, Mawai and Suena people for their ever popular ogling of oro, oro chants. They have a special place in Morobe’s history. I have great respect and enjoyed Morobe’s unique cultures but my favourite traditional dances are that of Singsing Sabic along the Bukawa coastline (Yabem), a sacred Singsing Kumul from Popof people in the mountains of Boana in Nawaeb District, Singsing Sia among the Rooke’s group of islands of Tewae-Siassi and Baruga of Morobe South Coast.
The colourful way of life and history that has been evoked in the provincial name under originality of colours on the provincial flag depict the idioms of the vernacular that must be honoured whole-heartedly with due respected.
The name moro-be gives you that identity and must be harnessed by the young generation of today, tomorrow and the future. Not only is this province spectacularly beautiful in its geography but also her people are contented and carefree.
Morobe’s most valuable assets are her people.
Time has caught up and I will bow out of public service life gracefully with dignity, decorum and respect. As I ululate Asa Sumba (Who says no), your ogling, giggles and gaggles under the wings of the kumul in flight. Ah, fair dinkum! I will see you in another place and in another time.
Special thanks to Eric Elorau Gurupa and Thomas Merire for their kind and invaluable assistance for this story.

• David Harro is an information officer in the Morobe provincial administration.