When Dr. Ben Shaw from the ANU School of Culture, History & Language received an email from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in 2023, he had no idea it would lead to significant advancements in student training and historical research in Papua New Guinea. The email detailed an initiative aimed at recovering the remains of American soldiers lost during World War II in battles across the Pacific.
The opportunity arrived at a peculiar time; the annual PNG Field School had been cancelled due to a kidnapping incident in the area. Seizing this moment, Dr. Shaw and his colleague, Dr. Simon Coxe, initiated training and traveled to PNG to assess the feasibility of the project. Their discoveries, including the remains of forgotten aircraft, became personal and poignant connections to history. As Dr. Shaw expressed, “It’s not just academic research anymore.”
However, conducting two major operations each year turned out to be unsustainable. In collaboration with the DPAA, they devised a solution: integrating the recovery efforts into the PNG Field School. A recent Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between ANU and the U.S. Department of Defense formally established this partnership for a five-year period. It focuses on locating and recovering aircraft wreckage, particularly in New Britain.
Under this agreement, ANU students will actively engage in archaeological and diplomatic efforts on-site, contributing to the recovery of lost history and navigating sensitive cultural landscapes. This initiative provides students with hands-on experience in excavations and community dialogue while giving them insight into diplomacy and international cooperation. Dr. Shaw affirmed, “It’s policy in action,” depicting this collaboration as a powerful learning opportunity.
Moreover, the recent repatriation of ancestral human skulls from the Chau Chak Wing Museum to Papua New Guinea underscores a growing movement toward recognizing and returning historical artifacts to their rightful owners. This event reflects a collective responsibility to restore historical narratives and foster a deeper connection to heritage. Such initiatives embody a hopeful movement toward intertwining past injustices with present corrective actions, affirming indigenous rights and celebrating cultural legacies.
The confluence of these efforts — archaeological recovery work and cultural repatriation — stands as a promising example of how academic institutions and governmental agencies can work together to create meaningful impacts in communities, paving the way for a collaborative and respectful dialogue about history and heritage.
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