Natalie Whiting* says Bougainville’s women are working to retake their traditional positions as leaders and decision-makers.
Huddled together in one of the few buildings in the Bougainville village of Sivuna, six women are in deep discussion.
They talk about an upcoming fundraiser and plans for a community hall before moving on to concerns that young people are drinking too much alcohol.
There’s debate about whether they should try to ban alcohol, or if that will be counterproductive.
It might sound like an ordinary chat between friends.
But this is serious business.
This is a village meeting.
And these women are in charge.
Doreen Nauvana leads the discussion as the women take votes on decisions that affect their whole community.
Ms Nauvana says the idea of these gatherings is for women to “consult each other”.
Women making a living from the land
While the majority of the rest of Papua New Guinea to the west and Solomon Islands to the east is patriarchal, most of Bougainville is matrilineal.
That means the land — which is believed to be their most valuable asset — is passed from mother to daughter.
For Susan Paai, having her own land means she can look after her family and make a living.
She spends hours tending to her market garden to grow food for her family and sells the rest to pay for her children’s school fees and any medical needs.
A long tradition of having women in charge
Bougainville’s largely matrilineal society also meant traditionally women in Bougainville regularly took up positions as leaders and decision-makers.
“In matrilineal society, women are the main decision-making body,” Ms Nauvana said.
“We make decisions for the land — how the land will be cultivated or how it is to be used.”
Former Bougainville MP and Minister Magdalene Toroansi (pictured), who lives near the village and regularly visits, said the views of women were respected.
While customs vary between different clans in Bougainville, in Sivuna, both men and women occupied the role of chiefs and male leaders would consult with the women.
But things began to shift in modern times, with men taking on more of the leadership roles, and in some regions even decision-making about land use.
This change has been variously attributed to colonisation, the introduction of Western-style political systems and the introduction of Christianity.
Sivuna didn’t escape this change, with Ms Nauvana explaining that it was mostly men who were in charge in the village.
“There was little chance for women to become leaders,” she said.
Some female leaders in Bougainville have blamed colonialism for the erosion of women’s traditional leadership roles.
Even now, despite the tradition of matrilineal society, most positions of power in Bougainville are held by men.
The widows of war
Sivuna is now a different place.
It is in some ways being seen as a return to the days of old, with women back making decisions.
Many women here have also taken on roles traditionally performed by men, like chopping firewood.
The move has been prompted by necessity.
Everywhere you look in the village, there are women and children.
But hardly any men.
Ms Nauvana explains that it wasn’t always this way.
The village had plenty of men 40 years ago.
But then came Bougainville’s civil war in the 1980s and 1990s, which is thought to have killed as many as 20,000 people.
How women are looking to empower other women
Decades on from the civil war and with the hope of independence in front of them, many Bougainvilleans are now focused on the next generation.
“The women have been rebuilding, raising their families,” Ms Nauvana said.
“They work hard to bring up the kids, put them in schools.”
Delwin Ketsian is one of the widows from the war and has been working hard to empower women.
“As a woman, I’m a widow too, so I understand the situation, the life that widows go through,” she said.
A prominent woman in the area, Ms Ketsian is hoping to provide a more lucrative market for the women.
Having moved into nearby Arawa, she is now building a small business manufacturing and selling oils and dried spices and cocoa to local shops.
She makes sure that she buys the raw materials from local villages.
“We have to establish something that can help village people, especially the women back in the village,” she said.
“For that reason, I started all this because I want to empower women.”
“I want to show them that we can do this on our own.”
Bougainville ‘is ready for a female President’
As the region contemplates its future and possible independence from Papua New Guinea, the women of Bougainville — who played a crucial role in resolving the civil war — are also hopeful of taking up more decision-making roles.
Currently, the Pacific has some of the lowest rates of female representation in parliament — less than 9 per cent of MPs are women.
Bougainville has always had three seats reserved for women in its Parliament, and a fourth woman was voted in at the last election.
Four years ago, it introduced legislation to ensure there was equal representation of men and women in community-level government.
Ms Nauvana, who is the Vice-Chair of her Ward Council, is hoping the Bougainville election will see more women voted into the regional Parliament.
“Definitely, I’d like to see more women in the government level, because women, we see different sides when making decisions,” she said.
Bougainville has always maintained a strong grassroots network of female leaders and women’s groups and participation in political processes has been growing in recent years.
Ms Toroansi is even planning to stand for President.
“I have no doubt [Bougainville is ready for a female President],” she said.
As Bougainville considers its future, Ms Toroansi believes it is vital the voice of the village women is heard.
“I may have seen the world, but the village women are very wise — they have wisdom, they have knowledge of culture, they manage the homes,” she said.
“I’m still learning from the women of Bougainville.”
* Natalie Whiting is the ABC’s Papua New Guinea Correspondent. She tweets at @Nat_Whiting.
This article first appeared at www.abc.net.au.
