“First Contact”
Class Assignment
(10 points)

Directions: Write a 200-250 word essay answering the following question. I prefer a typed essay, but handwritten assignments will be accepted if it's legible.

Even though the highland peoples of New Guinea were the last in the Pacific to come into contact with the whiteman, how can their experience help us understand “first contact” in general? (Pay particular attention to the reactions of the New Guinea highlanders and the explanations of the Australian gold prospectors.)