Understanding a Melanesian woman’s position in a society will take you on a journey 9000 years back to the discovery of planting and gardening in the mainland of Papua New Guinea.

Before that era-the Neolithic revolution, as it was called-archaeology proved that a woman was regarded most special because of their reproductive finesse.

In other parts of the world, little statues found from the era of hunters and gatherersalso gave more emphasis on a woman’s procreative abilities.

It is somewhat fascinating however to see that a woman’s sensuality was linked with agriculture because it was perceived at that time that they may have stemmed from the two experiences of maternity and gardening.

Even the myths in Melanesia seem to tell of the powers possessed originally by woman and in due course men assumed control over these powers.

These myths suggest that it was actually women who discovered agriculture and that women made known that planting a certain part of a certain plant would guarantee a steady supply of food.

Imagine living the nomadic life of a hunter or gatherer constantly moving places in search of food without no knowledge of how to “make” food of your own.

The discovery of gardening as you can imagine in the life of such a person was life-changing or more like revolutionary!

There was no more hunting and gathering and searching because food could now be accessed in a precisely marked area.

That was not the only good that came about. The once feared outcome of a larger social unit became desirable and as these social changes occurred, an ideological change was brought.

The gardens proved that women held special knowledge about them and it is so in the modern times.

We are all too familiar that with such discoveries comes recognition and as recognition for their discovery, women became the specialists for the community.

Whereas other cultures or even less powerful and insecure men might view a woman’s work in the garden inferior, they were in fact regarded by the society as possessing a special power that the whole community relied on.

A solid alibi to this claim is found in the Discovery of Gardening chapter in Ennio Mantovani’s “Male and Female Relationships in Melanesia”.

He says whatever expatriate women and men mighty think and feel about the sociological and ideological position of women in Melanesia, the Melanesian woman in her own culture is experienced, recognized and celebrated as powerful. This experience is the foundation of the woman’s identity.

He goes on to describe the strong sense of identity women in traditional Melanesia had and how that gave them the inner strength to overcome the difficulties of their position.

All in all, Melanesian mythology implies that the woman in Melanesia has a very high status and has no doubt about her identity.

Women in former eras were adored because of their reproductive capabilities but their “powers” were accentuated because of gardening.

People in traditional times not only recognized the strength of a woman but “any society that fails to harness the energy and creativity of its women is at a huge disadvantage in the modern world” ~Tian Wei~.

Amanda Kundil