Current Pambu Projects

LIST OF SOME CURRENT PAMBU MICROFILMING AND ARCHIVAL PROJECTS

June 2006

Report on PMB Fieldwork in Niue, 3-18 July 2004.

There has been no PMB fieldwork in Niue since Bob Langdon microfilmed London Missionary Society correspondence, registers and other church records, 1910-1953, in November 1974, just after declaration of self-government in Niue.

 On 5-6 January this year Cyclone Heta caused severe damage in the Cook Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Niue and Tonga. In Niue at Alofi South, the main government centre, winds of up to 350km/hour were followed by massive sea surges at high tide which crashed over the cliff-line, flooding areas more than 40 metres above normal sea level.

 One woman and her child were killed; many residential, commercial and government buildings in Alofi South were destroyed or damaged, including the hospital. Most of the contents of the Huanaki Museum and Cultural Centre were destroyed. The National Archives and Library building was damaged and much of it contents was water damaged. The offices of the Department of Justice, Lands and Survey were also badly damaged; some of its records were destroyed and most of the remainder was water damaged.

 Niue administration staff efforts to rescue damaged documents were supported by two conservators, Jocelyn Cuming and Tharron Bloomfield of the NZ National Preservation Office, who worked in Niue, 9-16 February. The conservators mainly worked with the staff of the National Archives (also known as the Community Affairs Archives) to dry out its water damaged files in the sun and store them.

 Ms Cuming passed on the Bureau’s offer of microfilming assistance, if required. In response Togia Sioneholo, the Secretary for Justice, contacted the Bureau in March asking the Bureau to microfilm old land records damaged by saltwater.

 Prior to this visit the Bureau was able to assist the Niue Justice Department in several other ways. The Bureau arranged for W & F Pascoe Pty Ltd to scan a Latter Day Saints’ microfilm of a Niue births register which had been lost in the cyclone. In April the Bureau despatched a Dukane microfilm reader, surplus to the requirements of the Department of Anthropology, RSPAS, to the Justice Department. As the AusAID Niue Program had already spent its Niue budget for the financial year, the costs of scanning and freight were borne by the Niue Justice Department. The Bureau also gave the Department advice on cleaning microfilm exposed to saltwater.

 I had planned to combine the trip to Niue with fieldwork in Rarotonga but, due to family commitments and PMB work in Canberra, was only able to visit Niue. The Cook Islands fieldwork has been postponed until later in the year. There was, however, time to pursue a second stage survey and some microfilming of Greenpeace NZ archives in Auckland, on the way to Niue.

 The fieldwork produced 16 reels of microfilm, as follows:

• PMB 1238        GREENPEACE NEW ZEALAND / PEACE MEDIA ORGANISATION, voyages protesting against nuclear testing in the Pacific: press cuttings and scrapbooks, 1973-1976, 1985. 1 reel. (Available for reference.)
• PMB Doc 464   GREENPEACE NEW ZEALAND NEWSLETTER, 1974-2004. 1 reel. (Available for reference.)
• PMB 1239        GOVERNMENT OF NIUE, Justice, Lands and Survey Department, Land Court: Minutes, 1941-2003. Reels 1-4. (Available for reference.)
• PMB 1240        GOVERNMENT OF NIUE, Justice, Lands and Survey Department, Registers of Births and Deaths, 1910-1916, and Marriages, 1900-1972. Reels 1-6. (Available for reference.)
• PMB 1241        GOVERNMENT OF NIUE, Justice, Lands and Survey Department, Land Court: Wills, 1888-1986. Reels 1-3. (Restricted access.)
• PMB 1242        GOVERNMENT OF NIUE, Justice, Lands and Survey Department: Land Titling Project Reports, 1994-1999. 1 reel. (Available for reference.)

The Polynesian Airlines flight to Niue arrived early on Saturday morning having been delayed by 8 hours due to a mechanical fault. Touring around Niue by bicycle over the weekend, the island appeared to have made a rapid recovery from the cyclone. The roads were in good condition. The upper limbs of many of the bush trees were smashed but many giant coconut trees had survived. People said that after the cyclone the vegetation across whole island was turned brown by the sea spray. However now it is tropical green and there were many large taro gardens flourishing amidst the maketea on the high plateau. The Fale Fono, Ekalesia Niue Centenary Hall and Catholic Mission on the seaward side of the road at Alofi are all undamaged and the businesses and market on the other side of the road in central Alofi are operating normally. A few abandoned cyclone damaged houses are still standing, but most of the damaged residential and government buildings on the seaward side of the main road in Alofi South have been bulldozed leaving wide areas of vacant land where the Hospital and Hotel Niue once stood. A huge pile of rubble, smashed vehicles and ruined roofing is a memorial to the devastation. Another dump of asbestos building materials has been made in a more secluded area south of the airstrip. Most of the forty prefabricated houses, a gift from French Polynesia, have been erected in various spots near Alofi.

 
Department of Justice, Lands and Surveys.

On the morning of Monday 5 July I met Togia Sioneholo and the other Justice Department staff at their new office, a two-story residential house near the airport. Most of the staff are still occupied cleaning damaged records, sorting them, reconstituting some order and storing them in document boxes supplied by the NZ conservators. A new system of record keeping, based on village name, has been established. Most of the Justice Department records had been exposed to seawater. They had been stored in a lower room in the Justice Department building in Alofi South. The room had protected the records from the wind but it had been flooded by seawater. Mr Sioneholo said that electronic documents as well as hardcopy records were lost. One harddrive exposed to seawater has been sent to NZ for recovery but Mr Sioneholo had not yet received any word on progress. Two further rolls of LDS microfilms of births registers had also been sent to NZ Micrographic Services Ltd for scanning. Mr Sioneholo is working on a long-term project reconstituting authorised Niuean genealogies from original Justice Department records.
 

As there was no space to set up the microfilm camera in the house we decided to use a shipping container parked outside the house. It was being used to store water damaged records prior to cleaning, most of which had now been processed. We stacked up the remaining cartons of records at the end of the container, leaving space to set up the camera on a nice long table. With one door closed and a long strip of black cloth draped over the other doorway to control external sunlight, the container made a fine darkroom, though the ventilation was poor and it was hot in the afternoon as the day warmed up. The aroma of mouldy records added to the scholarly atmosphere.

Mr Sioneholo suggested that I start microfilming the Land Court minute books which are public documents. They consisted of 12 volumes, 1941-2003, plus 3 volumes of adoptions, 1917-1934, 1970-2001, and one volume Niue High Court, Land Division, appeals, 1992. All the volumes had been wet and all were damaged up to a point. In the worst cases the text had been washed away leaving only a blue tinge to the paper.

 
I completed microfilming the minute books on Wednesday 7 July. Mr Sioneholo then suggested that we go on to film old case files but his staff advised that they were still cleaning the papers and sorting them back into files. So he asked me to sort through two cartons of registers (bound and loose, in good condition, wrapped in tissue) which had been transferred from the Museum to the Justice Department prior to the cyclone. I arranged and listed the registers and compared them against the Department’s two sets LDS microfilms (35mm diazo positives) of Niue births and deaths registers, 1900-1994. (LDS file Nos.1886315-1886348. Note that copies of these LDS microfilms have been lodged in the Auckland City Library.) It was agreed that the Bureau would microfilm documents not filmed by the LDS, i.e. registers, marked “Savage Island”, of births and marriages involving Europeans, 1910-1916, and a deaths register, 1916-1917, together with two big series of marriage registers, church and civil, both gappy, 1900-1967. I proceeded to film those registers, plus sort the marriage certificates and film them, on Friday and Saturday, 9 & 10 July, and Monday 12 July.

 
Having finished this work, Mr Sioneholo suggested that we should go on to microfilm a series of wills rescued from the damaged papers by the staff of the Department and arranged by village and name of the will-maker, which I did, Tuesday-Thursday, 13-15 July. On Thursday among the cartons in the container I found another box of registers holding marriage certificates filling the gaps in the series microfilmed earlier. These were combined with the others, put into numerical order and re-filmed over Friday and Saturday, 16-17 July. Among the damaged records in the container there were also some Land Titling Project Review reports, 1994-1999, which I microfilmed.

 Niue National Archives (Community Affairs Archives)

I visited the National Archives and Library at the re-located Department of Community Affairs office in Alofi on Wednesday 7 July. The Archivist, Joan Tahafa (formerly, Talagi) called in at the Justice Department on Wednesday 14 July. I visited the National Archives again on 15 July where I met Robin Hekau and Miss Tahafa.

 
Mr Hekau, curator of the Huanaki Museum and Cultural Centre, is formally responsible for the Library and Archives as well. He said that he supports the proposal to establish a cultural centre accommodating the library and archives as well as a re-constituted museum. He is aware of Lissant Bolton’s work on the distribution of Pacific artefacts and has compiled lists of Niuean materials held overseas. He is also in correspondence with overseas museums about possible repatriations but has his hands tied until sound accommodation is provided in Niue. He does not have a register of what was held in the Huanaki Museum. He mentioned that the Museum had held some archives, about 10-12 cartons, which had been transferred to the National Archives and Justice Department prior to the cyclone. They included the births, deaths and marriage registers on which I had been working.

 
Joan Tahafa and I made a rough survey of the extent of the holdings of the Archives. There are about 792 document boxes in the Archives room holding a series of registered closed files Nos. 1-1,385, plus some un-numbered files (of both the NZ Administration and the Government of Niue). More than half of them are on pallets, the remainder are shelved. About 150 loose closed files are on shelves, together with several hundred reports and bound publications, including a complete run of Tohi Tala Niue / Niue Newsletter, both Niuean and English issues, 1953-1995, and its successor, the Niue Star, 1996+. A further batch of records of the Niue Consulate Office, Auckland, and a recent transfer of local files is held in the corner of the Museum Room.

 
Most of the records are now in good condition, but Miss Tahafa confirmed that the Archives register (index) had been lost in the aftermath of the cyclone. The Archives needs more document boxes and shelving for storage. Miss Tahafa said that she would like to contact two Australian conservators who attended the PARBICA conference in Wellington last year. They had offered to ship equipment to the Archives. She stated that appointment of an ex-pat archivist for a period would be useful, as recommended by Cuming and Bloomfield, Niue: Report on Cultural Heritage Institutions after Cyclone Heta, 2004. Guidance on re-establishing controls over the records and indexing them is required. Miss Tahafa is hoping that a new building will be provided. Even before the cyclone the Archives did not have a permanent repository but shifted periodically from one building to another.

 
Miss Tahafa kindly allowed me borrow for microfilming two early births and deaths registers which complemented the “Savage Island” registers already filmed.

 Ekalesia Niue

A meeting with the management committee of the Ekalesia Niue was held on the morning of 14 July at the Centenary Hall in Alofi. One of the Justice Department senior staff, Levi, had kindly arranged the meeting. The President of Ekalesia Niue, Rev. Falkland Liuvaie, was present, together with the General Secretary, Rev. Hariesa Feitala, and the Vice-President, Rev. Hawea Jackson. I handed over lists of PMB microfilms of LMS documents, 1910-1953, made by Bob Langdon during the last PMB visit to Niue in 1974. Rev. Jackson said that the Church had not been aware of the existence of the microfilms until recently. No copies of the microfilms are known to be held on the Island and the original LMS records are no longer held by the Church. It was agreed that the Bureau would provide copies of the Niue LMS microfilm to Ekalesia Niue; that the Bureau would make a list of LMS London archives relating to Niue for Ekalesia Niue; and that Ekalesia Niue would consider having microfilms made by the Bureau of its records produced since 1953. Rev Liuvaie graciously thanked the Bureau for its past and present efforts in Niue.

NZ High Commissioner

Sandra Lee-Vercoe, the High Commissioner, invited me to meet her on Monday 12 July. Ms Lee-Vercoe expressed her passionate support for the preservation of Niue’s documentary and cultural heritage. She supported construction of a cultural centre, including an archives repository, in principle without any commitment of NZ funding for the proposition. She asked whether the Australian government would be likely to give funding support for temporary appointment of an ex-pat archivist to stabilize the National Archives, as recommended in the Cuming-Bloomfield report. I reported that, short of a purpose built secure repository, the Community Affairs Archives needs: 1. shelves; 2. an inventory; 3. a computer; and 4. document boxes.

 
Ms Lee-Vercoe also discussed the destruction of the Museum and asked for information on Niuean artefacts held in Australia, NZ and the UK. She also asked about LMS records relating to Niue held in London.

 
Fale Fono Archives

The Executive Officer of the Fale Fono, Moira Enetama, left a phone message for me at the Justice Department of Friday 16 July but we did not make contact. I understand that there are documents at the Fale Fono which she would like microfilmed, but have no specific information to date.

 Niue NZ Administration archives

An important archival question is what has happened to the records of the NZ Resident Commissioner in Niue? There does not appear to be a complete record group of Resident Commissioner’s Office files comparable with those held by the Cook Islands National Archives. Some NZ administration documents are held in the Justice Department files but not a substantial series. The National Archives’ registered archival series also includes some NZ administration files, in particular personnel files. Mr Sioneholo thought that it is quite possible that the bulk of the Resident Commissioner’s files would have been destroyed. Other people suggested that the remnants, at least, may be held in the Fale Fono Archives.

 
Although the fieldwork in Niue was relatively successful there are good reasons to return for another two weeks if the Bureau is invited. The early case files of the Justice Department look very interesting and the documents held in them are very fragile. The apparently complete sets of Tohi Tala Niue, the Niue Newsletter and the Niue Star held in the National Archives would be a very useful microfilm title. (The National Library of NZ catalogue indicates that it does not have complete hardcopy sets of these titles). A selection of the 400 or so reports held at the National Archives would also be well worthwhile microfilming. The PMB microfilms of the Ekalesia Niue archives could be brought up to date and, possibly, at-risk documents in the Fale Fono Archives could be microfilmed.

 
It should be noted that Pambu does not have the capacity to address the two fundamental structural archival issues in Niue, as indicated in the Cuming-Bloomfield report: construction of a permanent archival repository and reconstruction of archival control systems in the National Archives.

 
I feel privileged to have been able to stay in Niue and to work on some of the island’s precious archives. I enjoyed my brief visit immensely and am very grateful to the people of Niue for their warm welcome, especially to Togia Sioneholo and his staff at the Justice Department, Joan Tahafa and Rev. Hawea Jackson. I also wish to thank Jocelyn Cuming, Richard Overy and Michael Hoyle for information and guidance leading up to the fieldwork.

Ewan Maidment

PMB Executive Officer

19 August 2004

 Report of PMB Fieldwork in Rarotonga and Auckland, 1-21 November 2004

This fieldtrip was aimed at continuing the PMB preservation microfilming project with the Cook Islands National Archives (CINA). This project commenced in November 2001 when the Bureau surveyed the Resident Commissioner’s Office files and, with the approval of the Cook Islands Cabinet, begun microfilming correspondence of the Resident Commissioner with Resident Agents in the outer islands, producing PMB 1295/Reels 1-5, Aitutaki correspondence, 1908-1967 (restricted access). The Bureau returned to Rarotonga in April 2002 but was not able to continue microfilming the outer island correspondence series due to concern that the series may contain sensitive documents. However a previously disarranged body of papers were organised, listed and microfilmed producing PMB 1200/Reels 1-14, Cook Islands Federation and New Zealand administration archives, 1890-1941 (restricted access). Further follow-up work in Rarotonga was delayed by illness in November last year and by the move of the CINA repository from the Cultural Centre to a new building in the Te Ko’u Valley at the back of Avarua earlier this year.

The PMB microfilming in Rarotonga this year went smoothly. 17 rolls were made at:
PMB 1248 Cook Islands Administration, Resident Commissioner’s Office Correspondence with Resident Agents in the Outer Islands, 1893-1974. Restricted access. This title consists of general correspondence with Atiu 1893-1966, Mauke 1909-1968, Mangaia 1899-1967, Penrhyn 1909-1974 and Manihiki 1909-1957.

There are another 15 boxes of correspondence yet to microfilm, as follows: Rakahanga (2 boxes), Pukapuka (5 boxes), Suvarrow (2 boxes), Palmerston (2 boxes), Takutea (1 box) and Mitiaro (3 boxes). The Niue correspondence (14/2, 1 box) would also be worthwhile considering for microfilming as Niue was administered by the Cook Islands Administration until the 1930s. This would be 2-3 weeks work which I would aim to carry out in 2005. The remaining gap in this aspect of the Cook Islands Administration records series would be the Rarotonga - General correspondence (probably held by CINA in the Resident Commissioner’s Office files at 1/2/10). However this may well be adequately documented in the NZ Island Territories archives. Island Council minutes and ordinances have not been microfilmed. It would be well worthwhile doing so but there may not be the time available for the Bureau to undertake this task in the near future.

Returning from Rarotonga I did one and a half days more work on the survey of the Greenpeace NZ archives held at the Auckland City Libraries adding some more detail to the list and clarifying the record keeping system. A number of record items documenting the GPNZ campaign against nuclear testing in the Pacific have now been identified. However more survey work is required before compiling a list of documents to be considered for microfilming.

Rarotonga, 1-17 November.

George Paniani had been re-appointed Cook Islands National Archivist earlier in 2004. He confirmed that the Bureau may return to continue microfilming the correspondence with the outer islands Resident Agents once the move to the new repository had been completed. Justina Nicholas, the Cook Islands National Librarian who had formerly been responsible for the Archives, remained an important contact especially as the Library has a direct email connection, whereas the Archives does not yet have an email connection. Justina kindly arranged for me to stay at the Aitutaki Hostel which not only provided congenial company, good food and conversation but also greatly reduced the accommodation cost of the fieldwork. Justina also arranged Ministry of Cultural Development transport for me however, apart from the first day, it was not required as Kanny Vaile, one of the Archivists, was able to pick me up from the Hostel and drop me back to Avarua which was very useful during the stormy weather which hit Rarotonga during the first week of my visit.

 
Once the weather had cleared I took the beautiful walk following the creek up the valley to the Archives in the mornings. It is one of the most pleasantly situated Archives repositories I have seen in the Pacific islands, tucked into the narrow valley, its ridges rising up to the mountain peak, Te Ko’u, above. The the repository holds about 700 shelf metres of government records in cartons arranged by record group on timber shelves on first floor garret roof space. The ground floor holds offices and a reading room, a storage area for audio visual and sensitive materials, and sorting space. While I was at the Archives 3 or 4 utility loads of Ministry of Justice records, including Court minute books and registers from the earliest period of the Cook Islands Administration, were transferred to the archives which filled the remaining shelf space in the repository. (It would be worthwhile asking an engineer or building inspector to assess the floor loading capacity of the first floor.)

 
Mr Paniani stipulated that I was only able to work while his staff were available, i.e. Monday to Friday, 8am-4pm. The papers in a number of the files needed to be re-organised, having been disturbed by researchers, which reduced the amount of time available for microfilming. Ake Wille kindly helped with the re-arrangement of some of the files. The correspondence includes routine reports on agricultural production, shipping, education, health, building and port construction and island Council matters together with detailed accounts of irregular events such as labour and land disputes, criminal activities, boats lost at sea, serious illness, cyclones and storms. Certain documents which may have embarrassed individuals were not microfilmed. However there were very few documents of that kind and they were of no particular consequence. Some supplies documents which had become mixed with the correspondence were also not microfilmed. Nevertheless there is still a large proportion (about 30%) of routine administrative documentation among the papers microfilmed.

 
Just after setting up the camera the wiring on one of the flood lights shorted out and destroyed the dimmer/voltage meter. The spare dimmer does not have a voltage meter so I relied on a newly acquired (second hand) Gossen Lunasix light meter to set the exposures. Pascoes report that the test film was good, but the remainder of the negatives have not been processed at this stage.

 
Having some spare time I was able to proof read the reports of Library and Archives staff short term training attachments to the NZ National Library and Archives. I was also able to help with the handling of two of the transfers of Justice Ministry archives. The CINA and the National Library made photocopies of file lists of Cook Islands Administration/Premier’s Department files and lists of Latter Day Saints microfilms of Cook islands vital records which I had located among Bob Langdon’s papers. (Bob had possibly obtained them from Bill Coppell.) Justina Nicholas gave me borrowing rights at the National Library for which I am very grateful and kindly allowed me to use the Library’s computer on several occasions to receive and send emails. Combined with the internet café access to the Pambu email, this enabled me to monitor PMB administration while on the fieldwork.

 
A planned meeting with Mr Sonny Williams, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Cultural Development, fell through as Mr Williams was not in his office for the meeting. At an informal encounter later, Mr Williams welcomed me back and expressed encouragement for the project. There was no discussion of the proposed Memorandum of Understanding. Having received request for access to earlier PMB microfilms of Cook Islands Administration archives, Mr Paniani asked about access charges and procedures. I affirmed that there are no charges where researchers access microfilms held in PMB member libraries (except the usual copying charges) and that the restriction on access is administered by each of the member libraries, not centrally by the Bureau.  On completion of this stage of the project Mr Paniani indicated that he was pleased with the work done so far and that the Bureau would be welcome back in 2005 to complete the project.

 
Thank you to the Archives and Library staff for their continued collaboration on this project and for the friendships which we have developed. I am very grateful to Maria and Mata at the Aitutaki Hostel for their hospitality and to the Fijian nurses who were also staying at the Hostel, for the South Pacific Nursing Forum, for their kindness, laughter conversation and wonderful singing.

*                      *                      *

Tuvalu National Library and Archives, Funafuti, 1-17 September 2005.

At the PARBICA Conference in Palau in August 2001 Mila Tulimanu (formerly Mila Tafao), the National Librarian and Archivist of Tuvalu, had suggested that the PMB help with preservation of key Tuvaluan archives. In 2002-2003 Di Giambattisa negotiated with the PMB on combining with Pan Pacifica to undertake a copying project in Tuvalu but, cautious of involvement with a commercial organisation, the Bureau did not proceed. Last year Kathy Creely pointed out the applicability to PMB operations of the Endangered Archives Programme (supported by the Lisbet Rausing Foundation and administered by the British Library) grants aimed at encouraging preservation of records of pre-industrial societies.

 
Consequently, I asked Richard Overy whether he would like to collaborate on a project in Tuvalu. Richard and the Tuvalu National Library and Archives (TNLA) agreed to apply for funding for an EAP pilot project, with Richard as the principal applicant and the PMB as co-applicant and host institution. Mr Overy is a former National Librarian and Archivist of Kiribati and Yap State Archivist. I had worked with him on copying projects in Yap in 2000 and 2001. The EAP accepted our application, granting £5,150 toward the costs, the project to be carried out in September, copies of documents, the final report and financial acquittal to be given to the EAP by December 2005. Richard was appointed as a Visiting Fellow in RSPAS for the duration of the pilot project. In making the grant, the EAP International Advisory panel commented: that, in general, the copying of state/national archives for the purpose of archival preservation is the responsibility of the state concerned not the EAP. That said, exceptional cases occur, where the part or all of the archives is in imminent danger and where the state, or archive itself, may lack resources, skills, or, in some cases, the political will to ensure proper conservation. The Panel agreed that in such cases EAP support for Pilot projects to assess the risk and feasibility of copying and to prepare proposals for major grants to carry out that copying, especially where such projects will enable local people to gain such expertise, is entirely suitable. Your project seems clearly to fall under this heading.

 
The pilot project proceeded extremely well. The TNLA holds lists compiled by the Western Pacific Archives (WPA) of Gilbert and Ellice Islands Colony, Ellice Islands District, administration archives deposited at the TNLA in 1978 when the WPA closed down. The TNLA also has a register of records deposited since then, including some further colonial documentation. Using the WPA lists, under Mila’s direction, assisted from time to time by Togiola Funafuti and Tutaima Tolauapai, I proceeded to microfilm land records and related Land Commission and Island Council papers for the Islands of Funafuti and Nanumea, making 11 rolls. In the meantime Richard, enthusiastically assisted by Tutuila Tekui and other TNLA staff, made digital copies of selected Ellice Islands administration documents, amounting almost 5,000 images.

 
The PMB microfilms are being converted to digital documents (.tif image files, grouped by document in .pdf files) for supply to the EAP and the TNLA, at EAP expense. (The TNLA does not have a microfilm reader.) PMB members will be supplied with prints of the microfilms and copies of the digital documents. As the EAP makes no provision for archiving digital masters they will be migrated to the ANU’s DSpace repository for long term storage. The microfilm master negatives will be put in NLA cold storage as usual. A copy of our informal report on the pilot project and detailed lists of the documents copied are available from the Bureau. With the permission of the PMB Management Committee, we intend to apply for a major EAP grant aimed at completing copying of land and other records in the TNLA documenting customary society in Tuvalu, and extending to records in the outer Islands; the project to begin in September 2006.

 
It was a great privilege to visit the wonderful island of Funafuti. I wish to express my gratitude to the staff and families of the TNLA for their enormous hospitality. I would also like to express my appreciation of Richard Overy’s knowledge of GEIC archives administration and his familiarity with Island ways which were instrumental to the success of the project. This was the first field project, in which the PMB has been involved, to use a digital camera for reformatting. The digital camera was purchased with EAP funds and will be transferred to the TNLA at the completion of the project. It should be noted that a good deal of the TNLA staff’s enthusiastic support for the project derived from their ability to operate the camera, migrate the digital files to disk, manage the naming and organisation of the files, back-up to CD, and view the results. This hands-on experience of the total process of reformatting gave the TNLA staff, as well as Richard and me, a high degree of satisfaction which is not possible to achieve in the microfilming process.

Supreme Court of Vanuatu, Oct 2005.

Links to the photos taken at Vanuatu :

The purpose of this fieldwork was to microfilm the records of the Tribunal Mixte des Nouvelles-Hébrides (Joint Court of the New Hebrides) located in the archive of the Tribunaux français des Nouvelles-Hébrides at the Supreme Court of Vanuatu. Microfilming proceeded according to the Répertoire prepared by Bruno Corre (Archives Territoriales de Nouvelle-Calédonie) and the microfilming plan prepared by Ewan Maidment. Half the costs of this fieldwork will be borne by the Archives Territoriales de Nouvelle-Calédonie through purchase of the completed microfilm. Alex Roberts commenced work at the Court on 17 October and Ewan Maidment arrived in Port Vila on 31 October to help complete the large amount of microfilming. Further background details of the project, including a description of the repository, are contained in "Report of PMB Fieldwork in Port Vila, 8-12 August 2005".

 
During the visit, we met the Chief Justice of Vanuatu, His Lordship Vincent Lunabek, and the Registrar of the Court, Mr John Alilee. Both reiterated their support for the project and their desire to improve management of archival and non-current records at the Court. The Registrar and the Chief Justice also repeated their request that the PMB selected some material from the archive to display at the opening of the Supreme Court in January 2006. Mrs Anne Naupa, the Vanuatu National Librarian, offered help with the exhibition if the Court requested it.

 
Following usual PMB practice, microfilm copies of the documents will be provided to the Court free of charge. The Registrar indicated that the Court would prefer digital copies as there is no microfilm reader available. However the extra costs of digitisation cannot be met by the PMB. This problem may need to be revisited. Microfilm provided by PMB can often not be used by the custodians of documents in the Islands.

 
Nicolas Dubuisson, an archivist from the Archives Territoriales de Nouvelle-Calédonie, arrived on 23 October to assist in identifying documents for microfilming. With the support of the Court and the PMB, M. Dubuisson is preparing formal recommendations on arrangements for long term storage of the archives and for improvements in management of the Court’s non-current records. Mr Dubuisson is also liaising with the Vanuatu National Archivist, Mr Tom Sakias, about these records. M.Dubuisson began work on revising Bruno Corre's Répertoire, so that the archives can be clearly identified, boxed and re-located in an arrangement which will be accessible to the staff of the Court. He is planning to return to Port Vila in June 2006 to complete his revision of Bruno Corre’s Répertoire. M. Dubuisson will forward copies of his revision to both the Court and the PMB in due course.

 
A large number of company registration case files dating from the late 1980s to 2000 are currently stored in a disused cell underneath the main Court building. The Registrar is concerned that they pose fire hazard under the wooden floor. It was agreed by all parties that these records need to be moved into the main repository as soon as possible.

 
Our microfilming produced 17 reels of microfilm covering the organisation of the judiciary, judgements of the Tribunel criminel de Port Vila, 1913-1963, and other items on the microfilming plan up to number 269. This includes Tribunal Mixte arrêtés et décisions 1910-1978 (Nos.33-93), conférences 1910-1939 (Nos.94-100) and correspondance 1915-1979 (Nos. 222-269). The microfilms will be included in the next PMB distribution of microfilm as:

PMB 1254      COUR SUPRÊME DE LA RÉPUBLIQUE DE VANUATU, Tribunaux français des Nouvelles-Hébrides, Tribunal Mixte: Archives, 1900-1979. Reels 1-17. (Restricted access.) 

One further roll of was also produced, as follows:

PMB 1262      Supreme Court of Vanuatu: Labour judgements, 1975-1977. 1 reel. (Available for reference.)

 
PMB 1254 is complemented by the judgements of the Joint Court of the New Hebrides, 1911-1977, microfilmed in 1999 by Greg Rawlings at PMB 1145/Reels 1-7. PMB 1145 covers the Joint Court civil and criminal judgements listed as items 1-21 in Bruno Corre's Répertoire. However the Registrar was not able to unlock the security cabinet (le coffre) holding items 1-21 so we could not sight them. A label on the security cabinet indicates that it also holds minutes of the Court which should also be microfilmed if access can be obtained.

 
The set of Procédure files (item Nos.101-221 on Bruno Corre's Répertoire) were located by Mr. Dubuisson. The set consists of several thousand files detailing cases before the Court, 1910-1979. Although microfilming this set is currently beyond the resources of the PMB, requiring at least five weeks’ fieldwork, they were identified as unique and valuable records well worth of preservation.

 
It is estimated that two to three more weeks are required to complete microfilming the remaining French records of the Joint Court, excluding the Procédures. It is planned that the PMB will return in June 2006 to work again with Nicholas Dubuisson on this project.

 
We wish to thank the Chief Justice, the Registrar and all the staff at the Supreme Court of Vanuatu for granting PMB access to their records and for being so supportive during our stay. We would also like to thank Nicolas Dubuisson for his collaboration and M. Ismet Kurtovitch, Director of the Archives Territoriales de Nouvelle-Calédonie, for agreeing to help fund the project.

 
 Alex Roberts and Ewan Maidment

14 November 2005