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Deborah Carlyon
`Mama Kuma' and Writing 'Herstory'
Kuma Kelage was the daughter of a Chimbu Chieftain in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea. Kuma challenged and redirected the course of collective tribal fears through her own independent freedom. Her story takes place in the 1930's when first contact with the outside world was taking place.
As a young girl, Kuma was the first female of her village to travel beyond the boundaries of her tribe; bringing her knowledge of the Western Highlands to her people. Her desire, drive and courage to travel with a 'white man' - at a time when 'white men' were perceived as spirits - was a palpable threat to the tribe's status quo for females. Travel was an abstract concept and her hunger for adventure was incomprehendable and regarded as irrational.
Kuma also defied the tradition of polygamy and dared to marry the 'white (spirit) man'. Through her marriage she brought money (as we know it) to her village. Kuma gave birth to the first mixed-race child of her village. Later, she willingly consented to take bush medicine which rendered her infertile (after her husband died during the War.)
She was the first of her tribe to fly in a plane and travel to the Coast. When Kuma returned, her experience and knowledge exceeded that of her father, the chieftain.
She sought formal education for her daughter at a time when no one in her village understood the purpose of schools, while resisting the paternal demands of the Governing Australian Officials. Kuma pursued education for her daughter at the cost of physical and geographical separation.
She was the first of her people to negotiate and own land outside her village area, one of the first Highlander women to drive a car, and her home became the first safe house for women in Goroka town.
Ultimately, Kuma led the way for her people.
In writing Mama Kuma's story Deborah Carlyon delineates
the way in which she (and indeed Kuma's own people) conceptualise Kuma's unique place in Papua New Guinea's history.
In writing Kuma's story, Carlyon set out to give voice to 'the other'. Her story is a deliberate contrast to standard colonial history and dominant (white male) perspectives.
The prologue of the book Mama Kuma: One woman, two cultures begins with Carlyon stating the perspective of Kuma's people:
'My relatives have never spoken as if they were found or discovered. In their minds they have always existed; therefore it was they who made the discovery of white men, whom many interpreted to be lost souls, seemingly displaced. Why else would these white spirit men choose to wander unless they were not content?...'
In the personal biography about her grandmother, Mama Kuma,
Carlyon shares some of the rich cultural soil and fertility of the life of highlanders. She explores how Kuma Kelage's intriguing choices - many of which defied her cultural and tribal norms - led to her archetypal status.
In her book, Carlyon echoes the voices of Kuma's people while sharing the restrictions and repressions of a tribal consciousness.
Specifically, the tribal suspicion and fear of anyone outside of the tribe. By doing so she illuminates Kuma's rare and unique capacity to transcend many of these mental and geographical boundaries.
In painting a picture of Kuma's life within the context of her traditional tribal culture Carlyon shares the traditional considerations and rituals associated with marriage, menstruation, celibacy and polygamy.
In `Mama Kuma and Writing 'Herstory' Deborah Carlyon, will discuss and
explore the interpersonal dynamics between father and daughter in Kuma's village, the dynamics between husband and wife in a tribal and polygamous context, as well as chastitiy, celibacy and freedom for village woman in the third world.
Bio: Deborah Carlyon is a debut writer whose first novel won the 2001 Queensland Premier's Literary Award for best emerging author. Her book Mama Kuma: One Woman, Two Cultures, is an authorized biography about the incredible life of Kuma Kelage; (Deborah's maternal grandmother), who was the daughter of a Chimbu Chieftain in the Highlands of Papua New Guinea.
Deborah was born in Goroka, a small town in the Eastern Highlands of Papua New Guinea in 1970. Her childhood was nourished from the heart of a proud Chimbu heritage. At adolescence, her rite of passage into womanhood was celebrated with her Sina Sina people before she attended boarding school at St. Peters College in Brisbane. On completing a Bachelor of Arts Degree and a Post-Graduate Diploma of Education she taught in Queensland schools. She studied Steiner Education and became the founding teacher for the Noosa Pengari Steiner School in 1996. There she began writing children's stories before completing a Diploma of Professional Children's Writing.
Deborah is currently working on her second novel - an adult fiction about a Sicilian family, and two children's stories - one about a New Guinean boy and the other about Indian orphans. Deborah is widely travelled and speaks Pidgin as well as conversational Bahasa Indonesia. In addition to her prose talents, Deborah is also an avid poet. Her poems have been published in Reflections of Tomorrow and Radiant Light magazine. Deborah performed her poetry at the Woodford Folk Festival in 2002. Deborah is also an artist and illustrated her book Mama Kuma.
<debcarlyon@optusnet.com.au>