Information sheets and reel lists for the new PMB
Microfilm Series titles are accessible from the PMB’s on-line database
catalogue at http://rspas.anu.edu.au/pambu/
Recent PMB field work has consisted of the
following trips:
- Melbourne, 2 February, to the Library of the
Bible College of Victoria, Lilydale, to return microfilmed archives of the
Unevangelized Fields Mission and to select a further batch of UFM archives for
microfilming at W & F Pascoe P/L, under agreement with Yale Divinity
Library.
- Newcastle, 20 February, to microfilm
correspondence of Carl Diercke, of Tinputz (Woskawitz) Plantation,
Bougainville, held by his grandson, Chris Diercke.
- Currumbin and Brisbane, 26-27 February, to
make digital copies of paintings of Captain Brett Hilder held by Jean-Louis
Boglio, to meet with Peter Cahill and Laurie McNiece, Fryer Library Manager, to
discuss matters of coordination with the PNGAA Collection, Special Collections,
Fryer Library, University of Queensland, and the transfer of master negatives
of University of Queensland Press microfilm of PNG newspapers. Also to participate
in a Pacific Memories session
organized by Jim Burton.
- Wanniassa, Canberra, 25 March, to survey
and transfer selected PNG papers and publications of Dr Ron May for selective
microfilming and deposit in the Pacific Research Archives at the ANU.
- Sydney, 6 April, to meet Mr Richard
Neville, the new Mitchell Librarian; and Kylie Moloney to visit W & F
Pascoe P/L for orientation.
- East New Britain and Port Moresby, 3-17
May, with the GeoScience Australia-RVO Twinning Project to complete work on Rabaul
Volcanological Observatory archives, and to begin microfilming the MSC journal Hiltruper
Monatshefte in the MSC Brothers’ Library at Vunapope.
In July the Bureau will work in Santo and
Ambae surveying and microfilming archives of the (Anglican) Church of Melanesia
with Bishop Terry Brown and Bishop James Ligo; and microfilming missing issues
of the Vanuatu Hebdomadaire at the National Library of Vanuatu in Port
Vila. In-house the Bureau microfilmed letters
from New Guinea and associated papers of Hector Robinson, 1928-1946, which his
son, Alby Robinson, and given to Hank Nelson and Bill Gammage. Miss Jill Clingan of Canberra has allowed
the Bureau to borrow, microfilm and digitise papers, photographs and drawings
documenting her work with the Baptist Mission in the PNG Western Highlands,
1971-1973, and her research on the indigenization of the Baptist Church in the
New Guinea Highlands, 1990s. Mrs Jacquie Drohan, of Canberra, has permitted
the Bureau to borrow Fiji diaries and photograph albums of her grandfather,
Rev. Louis Barnard, 1929-1930, for microfilming and digitisation. Dr R.W. Johnson lent the Bureau correspond-ence
of the PNG volcanologist, R.J.S. Cooke, for microfilming. Professor Russell Blong transferred his Time of Darkness questionnaire returns
and related correspondence for microfilming and deposit in the Pacific Research
Archives at the ANU. These new PMB Manuscripts Series Microfilm
titles are listed on the last page of this Pambu
newsletter.
In the PMB offices we have continued
arrangement and description of the papers and photographs of Professor Murray
Groves (working with Karina Taylor of the Pacific Research Archives), the
papers of Mr Geoffrey Luck, and the papers of C.J. (Joe) Lynch. We have
prepared the next batch of UFM archives for microfilming. We completed work on
microfilming and digitization of the R.J.S. Cooke Collection on reported
observations of volcanic activity in PNG before 1944. Ewan has also carried out
major editing of Endangered Archives Programme, Tuvalu Major Project, microfilm
and digitization of GEIC, Ellice Islands District administration archives, and
Tuvaluan serials.
The Bureau has also received one carton of
papers of George Whittaker, a planter in the Markham Valley who served with the
New Guinea Volunteer Rifles during the War, became President of the PNG RSL after
the War, and was elected in 1954 as an unofficial member of the PNG Legislative
Assembly.
There have been four additions to the PMB
Photo Series:
PMB Photo 20 HILDER, Captain Brett, Digital copies of
paintings and sketches, 1947-1968.
PMB Photo 21 PARHAM, W.L., Fiji photographs, scanned
notebooks and press cuttings, 1932-1942.
PMB Photo 22 CLINGAN, J.M., (1942-…), Photograph albums
and sketch book documenting the Baptist Mission in the Western Highlands of
PNG, 1971-1973 & 1999.
PMB Photo 23 BARNARD, Rev. Lewis E., Photographs from the
Methodist Mission in Fiji, 1929-1930.
In addition, Dr Peter Cahill has
transferred to the PMB digital copies of two large sets of photographs documenting
volcanic eruptions at Rabaul in 1937 and in 1994 and subsequently:
PMB Photo 24 HOSKING, Dr H.C., Rabaul, 1937.
PMB Photo 25 READ, Chris, Rabaul , East New Britain,
Papua New Guinea, 19 September 1994-2008.
Dr Richard Eves (ANU) has agreed to allow
the Bureau to make copies of his collection of PNG AIDS posters and
publications. The posters are now being flattened in preparation for digital
copying. Valerie Wilson has sent the Bureau a box of photographs and slides
made by Robert Kent Wilson in PNG.
In February the Fryer Library transferred
125 reels of 35mm master negative of the following PNG newspapers microfilmed
by the University of Queensland Press in the 1980s.
Guinea Gold, 19 Nov 1942-30 May 1943, +
1 print issue 1944, 5 reels.
Lagasai (Kavieng, New Ireland), Nov
1947-Jul 1948, 1 reel.
Morobe News, 20 Jul 1940-10 Aug 1940, 1
reel.
Namanula Times, 22 Dec 1915-1 Jan 1916,
1 reel.
New Guinea Courier, 4 Jun 1958 -29 Jul
1959, 1 reel.
New Guinea Highlands Bulletin,
1960-1969, 2 reels.
New Guinea Times, Aug 1959-Apr 1969, 20
reels.
Niugini Nius (Niugini News), Nov-Dec 1982, 1 reel.
Nugini Tok Tok, 4 Oct 1962-1965,
1968-Sep 1970, 3 reels.
Papuan Courier, 1917-1942, 9 reels.
Papuan Times, 28 Jan 1911-1912, Feb
1913-13 Dec 1916, 2 reels.
Rabaul Record, 1 Mar 1916-Jul 1918, 1
reel.
Rabaul Times, 1925-1940, 1957-1959, 14
reels.
South Pacific Post, Sep 1950-30 June
1969, 50 reels.
Times of Papua New Guinea, 1980-1982, 4
reels .
Wantok, Aug 1970-Dec 1982, 9 reels.
These are in addition to Papua New Guinea
Post-Courier, 30 Jun 1969-30 Jun 1981, 103 reels, transferred to the PMB in
July 2006. The PMB has been granted reproduction and distribution rights for
the microfilms. Duplicate masters will have to be printed if the microfilm is
to be preserved. It is hoped that sales of these titles will help finance the
duplication and long term preservation of this valuable resource.
In December 2008 and January 2009 the PMB
collaborated with the Pacific Research Archives and several academics at the
ANU to mount an exhibition of Pacific Health Services documents, posters and
photographs exhibition which is still on show in Menzies Building at the ANU. A
catalogue of the exhibition is available from the PMB. Kylie has collated papers given in the
Library-Archives stream at the PHA conference in Suva in December for web
publication at http://rspas.anu.edu.au/pambu/links.html. With assistance from
many librarians and archivists, Ewan has written a Report on Pacific
Collections in Australia for the National Report of the Australian
Association for the Advancement of Pacific Studies to be published later this
year.
Ms Camilla Borrevik, an ANU Masters student in Visual
Anthropology, undertook a student internship at the PMB for 4 weeks during
March/April. Camilla began to collate a listing of PNG movie films using data
from Libraries Australia, the National Film and Sound Archives, the UH Film
Catalogue, and a large number of other bibliographic sources. The Bureau is
planning to complete this project and publish a union catalogue of PNG movies
on the web this year.
Kylie Moloney and Ewan Maidment
30 June 2009
The
PMB staff wish to apologise for an error made on page 2 of the January 2009 Pambu
newsletter. The title of the PMB Map 003 should read, KERLEY, Fr Kevin SM.
Errata
The
PMB staff wish to apologise for an error made on page 2 of the January 2009 Pambu
newsletter. The title of the PMB Map 003 should read, KERLEY, Fr Kevin SM.
Finschhafen/Neuendettelsau Mission in New Guinea: Online Collection
Martin Vollet is a native of Neuendettelsau
(Franconia/Bavaria in Germany). His mother used to work for the mission
publisher, Freimund.
From the 1970s, Martin has been collecting stamps and items about local history
and, over the last four to five years, he has accumulated a fairly large
collection of postcards, maps, and published material on the history of the
Finschhafen/Neuendettelsau Mission in New Guinea, some of which is represented on his web
site: http://www.ansichtskarten-briefe.de/
NOTE ON FRENCH GENDARMERIE
ARCHIVES RELATING NEW CALEDONIA
In 1898 responsibility for the day-to-day
administration of “native affairs” in New Caledonia was transferred to the
Gendarmerie, a wing of the French military; gendarmes posted in the brigades
and posts of the interior became syndics
(agents) for the Service of Native Affairs and Immigration (the Service des
affaires indigènes et de l’immigration or SAI). Remnants of the SAI archives
can be found at the New Caledonia Archives at Nouville, Nouméa (notably in the
series 97W). However, some material has been conserved in the archives of the
Gendarmerie in France.
The archives of the
Service historique de la gendarmerie nationale (Historical Service of the
National Gendarmerie) are held at the Chateau de Vincennes just outside central
Paris, alongside the archives for the other armed services—the Navy, Army and
Airforce. Some of these records previously were held at Le Blanc and more
recently at the Fort de Charenton (Maisons-Alfort).
Concerning New Caledonia,
there are sixty-five linear metres of archives for the period 1913 to 1976. Of particular interest is
the sub-series 98 E: Détachement de
Gendarmerie de la Nouvelle-Calédonie (1913-1946). This comprises just two linear
metres and has been inventoried. It is made up almost entirely of bound registers of
correspondence (some designated ‘confidential’, but mostly ‘ordinary’) sent
from the various gendarmerie posts or brigades in the interior to Nouméa.
The 1913-1946
coverage is very uneven (see table below). There is very little material dating
from before the mid-1920s. The 1930s and 1940s are better represented. For no
post or brigade are there complete sets of correspondence and there are no
records at all for many of the East coast posts, notably Hienghène, Touho,
Poindimié and Ponérihouen. Records for Houaïlou are only for 1937-39 and Koné
only for 1945-46. There are more for Canala (1922-35 and 1937-46) and the
Bourail post has good but not complete holdings between 1926 and 1945. Of the Loyalty Islands, Ouvéa
(1933-47) appears to be the best represented while Lifou appears not to be
represented at all (though
researchers should verify that it has not been covered by material from Maré
and Ouvéa).
The correspondence includes monthly reports, memos and
letters on matters relating to immigration and native affairs, and requests for
punishments against indigènes and
indentured labourers. The collection is of particular value for researchers
wanting insights into the practical administration of native affairs (e.g. the introduction and organisation
of prestations, a form of labour tax,
on the Grande Terre in the late 1920s) and New Caledonia during World War Two.
Other subjects include: observations on relations among settlers, observations on activities in the tribus (reserves), reports on criminal
investigations and workplace or industrial disturbances, agricultural
development in the reserves, the granting of licences and permits, and the
movements of indentured labourers and immigrants.
Summary of holdings, ‘Détachement de
Gendarmerie de la Nouvelle-Calédonie 1913-1946’
|
98
E 1-6
|
Détachement de la Nouvelle-Calédonie à Nouméa
|
1913-1925, 1939-1947
|
|
98
E 7-10
|
Poste de Boulouparis
|
1927-1942, 1945-1946
|
|
98
E 11-20
|
Brigade de Bourail
|
1926-1927, 1931-1933, 1936-1946
|
|
98
E 21-25
|
Brigade territoriale de Canala
|
1922-1935, 1937-1946
|
|
98
E 26-28
|
Brigade territoriale de Houaïlou
|
1937-1946
|
|
98
E 29-30
|
Poste de Kaala-Gomen
|
1939-1946
|
|
98
E 31-34
|
Poste de Koumac
|
1939-1947
|
|
98
E 35
|
Poste de Kuto
|
1940-1946
|
|
98
E 36-37
|
Poste de Maré
|
1943-1946
|
|
98
E 38-40
|
Poste de Moindou
|
1924-1947
|
|
98
E 41-48
|
Poste de Muéo
|
1924-1946
|
|
98
E 49-51
|
Poste d’Ouvéa
|
1933-1947
|
|
98
E 52-57
|
Poste de Païta
|
1927-1946
|
|
98
E 58-59
|
Poste Pont-des-Français
|
1937-1946
|
|
98
E 60-62
|
Poste de Pouébo
|
1937-1947
|
|
98
E 63-65
|
Poste de Pouembout
|
1937-1947
|
|
98
E 66-71
|
Brigade territoriale de Thio
|
1922-1946
|
|
98
E 72
|
Brigade territoriale de Voh
|
1946
|
|
98
E 73
|
Poste de Koné
|
1945-1946
|
Source: ‘Répertoire de
la sous-série 98E’ (document available in the archives reading room and
including a more detailed inventory for each post or brigade).
The archives for the thirty years
from 1946 to 1976—the remaining sixty-three linear metres—appear far more
extensive. They
contain copies of monthly reports and registers of correspondence on native
affairs (including procès-verbaux de
palabre). As at January 2007 they had not been inventoried, but details of a survey of the series
(carried out by Claire Berthin between Oct.2005 and Feb.2006) can be found in
the bound table (104pp.) available in the reading room. As these archives are
subject to a sixty year delay,
special permission in the form of a dérogation
is required to consult more recent materials. As of 2005, the archives for
the period 1977-1993 (a further 196.5 linear metres) remained in an archival
holding centre, the Centre d’archives intermédiaires.
Adrian Muckle and Benoît Trépied
17 April 2009
N.b. The authors’ own research has concentrated on
the area of Koné, Pouembout, Poya, Muéo and Voh; not all geographical areas represented
by the series have been consulted. This research note also draws on information
made available in 2007 by the Service historique de la Gendarmerie, notably a
report prepared by lieutenant Karine Perrissin-Faber (Adjointe au chef du
Centre d’archives définitives), No. 403/2DEF/SGA/DMPA/SHD/DEPEND/CAD, Fontainebleau, le 11 mai 2005.
Contact details and information about opening
hours and reader registration for
all sections of France’s Defense Archives (Army, Navy, Airforce, Gendarmerie,
etc.) can be found on the website of
the Service historique de la défense: http://www.servicehistorique.sga.defense.gouv.fr/00bande_jaune/infopratique/sallelecture/horaires_vincennes.html
* * *
REVISITING THE TAIM BIPO
THE NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA’S ‘AUSTRALIANS IN PNG, 1942-1975’ ORAL
HISTORY PROJECT
Over the past eighteen months, the National Library of
Australia’s Oral History and Folklore Collection has undertaken a project
recording the recollections of a diverse group of Australians who lived and
worked in Papua New Guinea between the Second World War and the arrival of
independence in 1975.
Nearly forty interviews have been conducted
so far, primarily by Dr Jonathan Ritchie of Deakin University, although the
experienced interviewers Bill Gammage and Helga Griffin have also participated
in the project. While the project is close to completion following interviews
to be held during Jonathan’s visit to PNG in June 2009, there has been general
interest in its continuation from a number of organisations and work is under
way to seek further funding.
The women and men interviewed so far were
selected to reflect the diversity of the Australian experience in PNG during
the three decades before independence. Quirks of timing and availability have
meant that the resulting group may not be necessarily a truly statistically
significant sample. Nevertheless, there
is sufficient variety among the interviewees to give researchers something of
both the differences and the similarities among the Australians who were there.
Among those interviewed are missionaries
such as Marjorie Deasey, teachers including John Rumens and Peter Munster, settlers
such as Barbara Jephcott and Tom Leahy, patrol officers and magistrates
including Peter Kraehenbuhl, Rick Giddings and David Marsh, scientists such as
the archaeologist Jim Allen, journalists including Sean Dorney and John
Farquharson, doctors including Ian Maddocks and Mary Guntner, administrators,
academics, and artists. Some of the more recent interviewees are the writer
Ulli Beier, the artist Georgina Beier, and the administrator Bert Speer. The businessman Richard Leahy and the film
maker Chris Owen will be interviewed in PNG in June.
The interviews cover not only the time the
interviewees spent in PNG, but their lives before arriving, including the
important question of why they chose to go to PNG. At the other end, most of
the interviewees talk about what happened following their return to Australia,
including some of the trauma involved in readjusting to life in the modern
post-industrial society after many years in the Territory. All interviewees
discuss their thoughts on the coming of independence and the impact of their
time in PNG on their own lives.
The interviews are stored digitally at the National
Library, under the reference TRC 5920, ‘Australians in Papua New Guinea (PNG)
1942-1975’. Access conditions vary, and summaries are becoming available.
Dr Jonathan Ritchie
May 2009
Dr Jonathan
Ritchie interviewing Mr Bert Speer MBE, a former administrative officer in
Papua New Guinea.
* * *
VISIT TO W. & F. PASCOE
PTY. LTD.
On Monday 6 April 2009 I visited W & F Pascoe in
Sydney. Pascoe’s are a family owned business specialising in providing
microfilm, microfiche and digital imaging services. The Pacific Manuscripts
Bureau has worked with Pascoes for over 40 years. The PMB sends all of our
master negative microfilms to Pascoe’s for processing and duplication. W. & F. Pascoe Pty. Ltd. was founded in
1957 by brothers Wilfrid and Frank Pascoe. The Pascoes elected from the start
to specialize in the microfilming of newspapers, periodicals and manuscripts
and other archival material. Over the years Pascoes have established a close
working relationship with major libraries around Australia.
Today, a significant part of Pascoes output
is in the area of preservation microfilming. Libraries and archives use
preservation microfilming as a long term secure storage medium. (Polyester film
has a life expectancy of 500 years in suitable storage conditions.) Each year Pascoes prints at least 1,000
reels of silver halide positive microfilm to supply the Pacific Manuscripts
Bureau’s member libraries. The company
also has automated equipment for scanning microfilms to digital format which is
used regularly to convert PMB Microfilm Series titles for supply to researchers. As part of my visit I was shown around the business
and met many staff members including administrators, microfilmers and those working
on digitisation. I saw a new microfilming camera from Germany which is entirely
automatic and digital. I was shown the chemical plant which is used for
processing PMB microfilms and learned about different types of positive film —
vesicular, diazo and silver halide. I observed the quality control steps taken
by Pascoes, including checking reduction ratios, focal accuracy, density and
sequencing of images on the film. I watched how the ultrasonic splicing machine
works to fuse film together with vibration and movement. I also observed the
process of microfilm reels being converted into digital image and PDF files.
Kylie Moloney
PMB Archivist
PMB
printing master microfilms in the cool store vault at W & F Pascoe Pty Ltd in
Sydney.
PNG NATIONAL ARCHIVES
PROVINCIAL RECORDS PROJECTS
Since 2000 the National Archives and Public Records
Services of Papua New Guinea has carried out records rescue projects in nine
PNG Provinces. In each case two Officers of the National Archives visit the
Provincial capital and all districts of each Province. The records are surveyed
by the Archives Officers. All Provincial and District Records Officers are
called in for a three-day workshop on basic records management. Provincial
authorities are encouraged to establish a Records Centre and Records Officers
are instructed on how to bring in records, identify records for disposal and
take care of those for retention at the storage centre.
So far, the PNG National Archives records rescue
projects have been carried out in East Sepik (Wewak), Madang Province, Morobe
Province (Lae), East New Britain (Rabaul and Kokopo), New Ireland (Kavieng),
Central Province, North Solomons (Buka and Kieta), Milne Bay (Alotau), and Enga
Province (Wabag). Two National Archives Officers will be
travelling to Sandaun (West Sepik) Province in late May 2009. Based at Vanimo,
they will travel by vehicle to Aitape and then by boat to other district
centres. A call will be made to all Records Officers from West Sepik Districts
to attend a records management workshop in Vanimo.
The PNG National Archives funds these rescue projects
from its own budget. There is no assistance from the Provincial governments.
However the Morobe Provincial Government is going ahead with plans to construct
a new Records Centre in Lae, including a library. The National Archives plans
to undertake two Provincial projects each year. If there are enough funds, a
second project will be carried out this year in the Southern Highlands Province
(Mundi).
Elias Masuali
Acting PNG National Archivist
May 2009
* * *
ARCHIVES RELOCATION STARTS TO
YIELD TREASURES
[This article was first published in the Vanuatu Daily Post on Thursday 16 April 2009. Re-published
with permission from Vanuatu Daily Post and
Dr. Matthew Spriggs.]
The dedication of the two national
librarians, Ann Naupa and June Norman, has led to the relocation to the
Cultural Centre of what has been up to now the completely-neglected National
Archives. Previously stored, in an unsecured building and essentially
inaccessible to students of Vanuatu's history, the collection is at least now
safe. But it will require an enormous effort and commensurate resources to get
the material catalogued and conserved. After its years of neglect some of the
collection is now in very poor condition.
It is fair to say that over the years the dominant
view among the Powers-That Be about the Archives has been that it is
"samting blong ol waetman nomo", only about the history of the
colonial powers. This of course can't be true of the post-1980 Independence
records held there. But it is also NOT true of the pre-Independence records
either, and the Authorities need to be convinced to take the Collection
seriously and develop a plan for its future, including the long-promised
dedicated Archives building adjacent to the National Museum.
Vanuatu
National librarians Ann Naupa and
June Norman.
I will try to demonstrate the value of the
Archives to the people of Vanuatu with the remarkable story of a single small
"treasure" which has come to light as part of the relocation process.
The document was found by Jimmy Kauatonga, Curator of the National Museum,
during an initial sorting of the collection that has just got underway within
the last couple of weeks. It is a book of the marriage records of the island of
Aneityum between 1914 and 1952. Dry stuff, you might think. But it is in fact a
key document for the history of that Island.
Jimmy mentioned the find to me, knowing
that I have had a thirty-year interest in Aneityum's history. I rushed straight
to the National Library to have a look. The first entry can no longer be read
but the second reads "Yaufati of Umeij and Nisinakro of Umeij married at
Anelcauhat Church 20 Dec. 1914. Officiating elder Nadunipcev". Of the
first 20 marriages recorded between 1914 and 1917, in 13 of them the bride and
groom are from the same island district. This follows the traditional Aneityum
practice of marrying within the district, mentioned by the missionaries as
being insisted on by all concerned long after the population became Christian
in the 1850s and 1860s.
This pattern of marrying within the
district broke down completely in the period 1917 to 1935, with almost all
marriages (73 out of 80) taking place between partners from different
districts. But from 1936 until the last entry, number 132 for 1952, almost all
marriages were between people of the same district, and almost all were from
Anelcauhat, Umej or Aname (Port Patrick). So what happened to change
time-honoured marriage arrangements? Aneityum has the sad distinction of being
probably the best-documented case of population collapse through introduced
diseases in the entire Pacific. As the first successfully-missionised island in
Melanesia, it has remarkably good population census records from within a
decade of the arrival of pioneer Presbyterian missionary John Geddie in 1848.
But he was already following in the footsteps of sandalwood traders and others,
and two major outbreaks of introduced disease had already occurred in the 18
years since the first documented landing of Europeans on Aneityum in 1830.
In 1854 the missionary census revealed a
population of about 3800 people on the Island. Estimates from my PhD thesis on
Aneityum suggest the population in 1830 could have easily been about 4600 to
5800 people; some writers have suggested it might have been as high as10,000
inhabitants. In 1861 the missionaries recorded a devastating measles epidemic
and one third of the entire population-more than 1200 people - died in a matter
of months. As the people lamented at the time, there were not enough people
left living to bury all the dead. The population had no immunity to such
introduced diseases and continued to decline sharply until by 1939 there were
only 187 people left on Aneityum, a population crash of well over ninety
percent. This terrible story is revealed in the Presbyterian Church and
Condominium records of the time, and was first documented by the demographer
Norma McArthur in her PhD thesis in 1974. And what was true of Aneityum was
probably also the case on many other islands – we just don't have the detailed
records for other areas.
So back to our marriage records in the
National Archives. Clearly by 1917 the population had declined so much that the
traditional pattern of marrying the district could no longer be kept up. In
December of that year missionary William Gunn recorded the total population as
being "about 320". There were simply not enough people in each
district to find suitable marriage partners. They were forced to find husbands
and wives from other districts. But people still kept to living in their
traditional districts, even as the overall population declined. The
missionaries couldn't understand why people did not all concentrate in a few
centres such as Anelcauhat and Umej in the south and Port Patrick in the north,
but ancestral ties to land were strong.
Then by 1936 the population had become so small, about 193 on the entire
island, that people were forced to congregate in just a handful of districts.
This again is reflected in the marriage register information.
With such death and distress, much
knowledge of family ties to particular districts has been lost. Even the names
of great-grandparents may not be fully remembered – people might recall the
man's name, but not his wife. Or they may not know where they came from
originally. All of this is recorded in the marriage register, however, and it
will be of tremendous value to the Aneityumese as they seek to understand their
history and re-establish their ties to the traditional districts on the island. One of the most interesting things in the
marriage records is the district names tied to the date of the marriage, as
they show that there were still people living on their ancestral lands at that
particular date. These lands were long-abandoned when I first went to Aneityum
in 1978. As part of my PhD, and working with the oldest people on the island, I
recorded many hundreds of names of village sites, taro swamps and garden areas
and placed them on maps at that time. As well, many of the names are doubtless
remembered on the island to this day. What the register gives us is a date when
people still lived in inland districts such as Anumej (at least up to1927),
Ohuul (1926) and Ipijcau (1919).
The register records the marriages too of
some of the old men that I worked with in 1978, all but one of them now
deceased many years ago: Wariso (married 1949), Balau (married 1946) and
Tamadui of Kalili (married 1930). The latest marriage recorded in the book is the
only one where one of the partners is still alive in 2009: Chief David Yautaea
of Umej whom I also worked with in the late 1970s. The marriage register is a vital document
for all Aneityumese people, vital for establishing family history and
connections to ancestral lands. With the help of Vanuatu Cultural Centre and
Library staff I have spent my Easter holidays transcribing the register and we
will be sending copies to Aneityum through the Cultural Centre fieldworker for
the Island, Frank Inhat. So let us hear
no more of the "Samting blong ol waetman" attitude to Vanuatu's
National Archives! This treasure trove of information about Aneityum is just
one out of thousands of valuable documents that the Archives contain. Many more
remain to be found as the Collection is sorted through. But it requires that
serious effort be made by the Government and all concerned – perhaps helped by
Business sponsorship - to resource the cataloguing and preservation of the
Nation's history.
The need for an Archives building at the
National Museum site needs to be shifted up the priority list; at present it
seems to be near the bottom. And a building isn't enough. There is also need
for trained staff dedicated to maintaining the collection. When Rakasa of Anahija (Anaia) and Necreiyag of
Aneijpou (Anejpou) were married at Anelcauhat Church on 5 May 1921 by Elder
Name, they could never have known that one day the recording of that event
might be a vital part of putting together the history of Aneityum and
reconnecting families with their ancestral lands. Without the dedication of Anne
Naupa and June Norman in saving the Archives by relocating it to the National
Library in the face of general indifference from almost everybody, we would
never know either.
Dr. Matthew Spriggs
April 2009
* * *
NOTES ON PMB FIELD WORK IN EAST NEW BRITAIN, MAY 2009
The main aim of this fieldwork was to microfilm
remaining unidentified volcanological records at the Rabaul Volcanological
Observatory. In addition it was planned to locate and if possible microfilm a
journal of the Sacred Heart Missionaries, Hiltruper Monatshefte, in the
MSC library at Vunapope.
Nine reels of microfilm were made, as follows:
PMB 1327 RABAUL VOLCANOLOGICAL OBSERVATORY, Additional
volcanological records, 1953-2008. Reels 1-5. (Restricted access.)
PMB Doc 500 Hiltruper Monatshefte (Missionaries of the Sacred
Heart), Vols.3, 5-10, 12-13, 1886, 1888-1893, 1895-1896. Reels 1-4. (Available
for reference.) See Reel Lists for
details.
The PMB work at the RVO is being carried
out in conjunction with the GeoScience Australia-RVO Twinning Project. The PMB
fieldwork was timed to coincide with the visit of Wally Johnson, the Twinning
Project Convenor, and Shane Nancarrow, the Project Manager. Dr Johnson was
convinced that there would be volcanological records in addition to those
identified by the PNG National Archives and microfilmed by the Bureau during my
visit in May 2007.
There had been heavy rain in East New
Britain. The road between Kokopo and Rabaul was flooded and washed out in
several spots by banks of ash and mud. The mud had washed through houses and
businesses in Rabaul, but Tarvurvur was quiet – no eruptions or rumbles, just
masses of gaseous vapour being blown away from the town by the trade wind. A
grader was clearing the roads and everyone in Rabaul was hoping for a period of
relief from the constant rain of ash from the volcano. A meeting of hundreds of
Highlander landowners was being held in Kokopo to negotiate a compensation
agreement for a Liquefied Natural Gas project at Lake Kutubu. Accommodation at
Kokopo and Rabaul was scarce, but luckily Mr Nancarrow let me share his room at
the Rabaul Hotel until another room became free.
Shortly after arrival at the Observatory on
Tuesday 5 May I participated in a special meeting of RVO senior staff, chaired
by Ima Itikarai, RVO Head, which discussed the development of the RVO
information management system (IMS) in general and the PMB preservation
reformatting project in particular. Dr Johnson reported that AusAID had extended
the Twinning Project to the end of 2009 and that there was likely to be three
year extension of the Project from January 2010. He stated that the idea of an
RVO IMS had been around for two or three years; it has been endorsed in
principle by the RVO PCC; and AusAID assumes that it will be part of the
on-going Twinning Program. I confirmed that the PMB Management Committee has
endorsed the Bureau’s involvement in reformatting RVO documents and making the
microfilms available for conversion to a digital format compatible with the
proposed RVO IMS. Mr Nancarrow reported that the Twinning Project is continuing
to meet the costs of conversion of the PMB microfilm to digital format.
Road outside Rabaul Hotel, deep with ash and mud, RVO on escarpment
in the distance, May 2009.
RVO
buildings, Tarvurvur smoking
in the background, May 2009.
Staff at the meeting listed volcanological
records to be considered for copying, including papers held by Ima Itikarai at
the RVO and Chris McKee in Port Moresby, correspondence of Tony Taylor and Rob
Cooke held by Wally Johnson in Canberra, field maps held by David Lindley in
Yass, and volcanological correspondence files held at the PNG National
Archives.
Kila Mulina, who looks after the RVO
Library, tabled a list of published Geological Survey of PNG Reports and
Technical Notes held in the RVO Library, to be considered for copying.
It was noted the PNG Mineral Resources Authority is also proposing a copying
project and that duplication of effort should be avoided.
After the meeting Mr Mulina and I surveyed
the library shelves noting additional copies of serial publications of the
Australian Bureau of Mineral Resources (Records, Report, Bulletin),
and the PNG Dept of Lands, Surveys & Mines, Geological Section / PNG Dept
of Mining, Geological Survey of PNG (Note on Investigation, Technical
Notes, Memoir). Making the survey we located a cupboard holding
additional box files: Research of Tony Taylor, Long Island, Langila, Karkar,
Bagana, Ulawun, Other PNG Volcanoes, etc. Located on the library shelves
were a group of papers collected by Patrice de Saint Ours, Head of the
Observatory in the late 1980s and early 1990s, under the headings RVO History,
RVO Contingency Planning, Earthquake, Manam, Langila, Karkar, Lamington, Rabaul
and History of Events, Rabaul 1994 Eruption. A set of RVO annual reports and
additional loose unpublished reports were also located on the library shelves.
One box of R.J.S. Cooke’s papers, including a file of correspondence of J.H.
Latter mainly with G.A. Taylor, was located in the store room housing the
seismographic records. These documents were selected in consultation with Dr
Johnson and Mr Mulina and microfilmed 6-11 May on 5 reels. Microfilm of Rob
Cooke’s correspondence, held among these papers, will be spliced with microfilm
of another set of Cooke correspondence held by Dr Johnson in Canberra for
release as a separate PMB Manuscripts Series title.
Part of RVO Library compactus holding documents compiled by P. de
Saint Ours, May 2009.
Vunapope, 5 & 11 May. Researchers who had not been able to locate copies of
the Hiltruper Monatshefte in Australia had contacted the Bureau.
Archbishop Hesse had given verbal permission for the PMB to microfilm the
copies held in the MSC library at Vunapope. The Bureau did not have any MSC
contacts in Vunapope, other than the Archbishop who is very busy, so it was not
possible to make arrangement in advance. Dr Steve Saunders, the Geodicist at
the RVO, kindly gave me a lift to Vunapope in the late afternoon of 5 May. I
located the MSC Centre but did not find Br Hermann Ostgathe who is in charge of
the Library. However I was able to make arrangements with Br Hermann by phone
later on from the RVO. Early in the morning on Monday 11 May, John Bosco, the
RVO Technical Officer, kindly gave me a lift to Vunapope. Br Hermann explained
that the Brothers are very protective of the Library as it has been mis-used in
the past – pages torn from book – books missing. The Library holds an
incomplete set of the Hiltruper Monatshefte, 1886-1982, which reports on
Sacred Heart missions in Africa, South America and New Guinea. Br Hermann
issued the bound volumes to me three at a time for microfilming in the
Recreation Room. Each volume amounts to 400pp. I spent all day microfilming 1886-1896
(gaps) on 4 reels.
Ewan Maidment
PMB Executive Officer
22 May 2009
* * *
Joseph Binskin diary acquired
by the National Library of Australia
The 1909 diary of
Joseph Binskin has been acquired by the Manuscripts Section of the National
Library of Australia. Binskin was a plantation owner on the small island of
Inia, near Bagga Island, Western Province of the Solomon Islands. He and his
wife Florrie and children lived in Sydney for some years and his children were
educated in Australia. In 1909 his first wife, two of his children and some his
workers were brutally murdered on the instructions of Sito, an outlaw from the
Mbava tribe on neighbouring island Vela La Vella. The diary covers the murder
of his wife and children and the subsequent retribution exacted by European
settlers on the Mbava tribe. National Library of Australia Manuscript reference
no.: MS Acc09/031.
Pacific
Health Programs Exhibition 27 January – 6 July 2009
Menzies Library, Australian National
University
Poster promoting maternal
& child health in PNG, c.1956. (Jean Chambers collection, PMB 1255/1.)
The Pacific Health Programs exhibition was developed
using archival collections from the Pacific Research Archives (PRA) and the Pacific
Manuscripts Bureau (PMB). The exhibition highlights both historical and
contemporary health issues in the Pacific, including health services,
nutrition, maternal health, tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS.
Eye testing chart, Papua New
Guinea, 1935.
(Dr
Stanley Wigley Papers, PMB 1182.)
The Pacific Health Services Exhibition
Catalogue is available from the PMB, AU$8.80, plus postage.
