Sumsuma (1903?–August 20, 1965) was one of the leaders of the Rabaul strike, the first industrial strike in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea, officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is an island country in Oceania that comprises the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and offshore islands in Melanesia, a region of the southwestern Pacific Ocean n ...

. Sumsuma was born in the village of Sasa on Boang Island sometime around 1903. He became a seaman at age 10 and by 1927 was the captain of a small trading schooner. His wage of £12 a month made him one of the higher-paid seamen, the average wage of a Papua New Guinean at the time being half that. On January 2, 1929, Sumsuma organized a strike in

Rabaul Rabaul () is a township in the East New Britain province of Papua New Guinea, on the island of New Britain. It lies about to the east of the island of New Guinea. Rabaul was the provincial capital and most important settlement in the province ...

with the goal of increased wages. He was assisted by N'Dramei of Manus, the senior sergeant-major of the police. The employers refusal to negotiate combined with the general inexperience of the strikers caused the strike to quickly fizzle out by the afternoon of January 3. Sumsuma, along with N'Dramei and the other strike leaders were sentenced to 3 years in prison. After being released in 1932, Sumsuma helped establish multiple agrarian

cooperatives A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned and democr ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, he

collaborated Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. The f ...

with Japan. Sumsuma died on August 20, 1965 of

asthma Asthma is a common long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wh ...

References

1900s births 1965 deaths People from New Ireland Province People from Namatanai People from Tanga Islands {{PapuaNewGuinea-bio-stub