Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies
The Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, 0200 Australia
Telephone: (61) (2) 6125 2521 Fax: (61) (2) 6125 0198
E-mail:
pambu@coombs.anu.edu.au
Congratulations to Brij Lal, the Chair of the PMB Management Committee, who was recently promoted to Professor. Maureen Kattau, the ANU Pacific Librarian, who has been working closely with the Bureau has accepted a 6 month secondment to the position of User Services Coordinator, Asia-Pacific Cluster at the ANU Library. Mr Peter Elder is currently working at the PMB on the arrangement and description of Professor Alan Ward's papers on Melanesian land matters. Mr Elder has just completed his PhD in History and has been granted Visitor status in the Division of Pacific and Asian History, RSPAS.
The Bureau launched its Internet page in July. This site provides general information on the Bureau's activities, as well as current and future projects. The most recent editions of Pambu are now online; the Bureau plans to expand the site, and attach an updated version of its catalogues to it.
The Bureau has also been busy co-organising a Pacific History Workshop to be held between the 5th and 6th of December, 1997. The Workshop is an annual event organised by the Division of Pacific and Asian History at the ANU. This year's theme focuses on the teaching of Pacific History in the past, present and future. The Bureau is organising a Resources Session, at the end of which a resource kit for Pacific scholars will be distributed. Contact the Bureau for details.
Readers may not be aware that the proposal to close the ANU's Noel Butlin Archives Centre has been averted. This major non-government Archives holds records of Australian businesses, trade unions and employer associations, including some record groups of special significance for the Pacific Islands, such as the archives of CSR, Burns Philp and the British New Guinea Company, and the papers of Sir John Gunther. The acting Archives Officer, Emma Jolley, is in Sydney this week packing Burns Philp archives for transfer to the NBAC. The survival of these archives was threatened by the sale of the Company's Bridge Street building and the approaching retirement of their Archivist, Mrs Joan Humphries, who will not be replaced. Their transfer will complete the NBAC's holdings of the Burns Philp archives which document its trading, shipping and plantations in the South Western Pacific.
Ken Sigrah stated, that the return of such sacred artefacts and bones to his clan was one of the most important moments in his life. 'It is hard to explain just how precious these items that date back 300-400 years are to our people. To us they are priceless.'
Ken Sigrah was visiting Canberra in November with Stacey King, the Secretary of the Banaba Heritage Society, and Manabu Kitaguchi, a member of the Society who is researching Japanese participation in the Pacific War. Mr Sigrah, who has been taught Banaban customs, culture and genealogy by Clan Elders, has been given the authority by the Aurakeia, Tabwewa and Te Aka clans to write a history of Banaba which includes authorised family information. In Canberra Mr Sigrah and Stacey King were searching for various sources of Banaban history and investigating funding possibilities for the publication of Mr Sigrah's history.
According to Stacey King, the site of Te Aka village on Banaba is surrounded by controversy, secrecy and is sacred and taboo in nature: 'The mining company tried to mine the site in the mid 1960s. The company went so far as bull dozing all the trees from the site and destroying ancient Banaban shrines, etc. But the night following the company's first efforts to actually mine the place the man in charge died mysteriously and all mining ceased in the area. Today the Te Aka site is like an island in the middle of the island's mined out interior, in a sea of 80 foot high pinnacles.'
The Bureau microfilmed Dr Lampert's file of field notes, maps, plans and sketches made during his archaeological dig at Te Aka. The file is to be given to the Banaban community, together with the excavated materials, by the Division of Archaeology and Natural History. Mr Sigrah gave his consent for the Bureau to microfilm a number of colonial and legal documents on Banaba which he had collected. The Bureau also made a photocopy, for safe keeping (not for access), of two lengthy volumes of Banaban genealogies compiled by Mr Sigrah's grandfather in the 1920s.
Monica Wehner made a primary arrangement of Professor Ward's papers dealing with PNG in August and since early October her work has been continued by Peter Elder who is collating and recording a series description of the Ward appears in preparation for microfilming as a PMB title.
Thirty files have been processed of which 29 are documents compiled between 1972 and 1975, the final pre-independence years of de-colonisation in PNG. The latest file processed contains the proceedings of a conference on public land convened by the University of the South Pacific in Honiara late in 1979. This includes a paper presented by the delegate from PNG that declared only 3% of the land in the new nation had been registered under the head title of the state, while the remainder was held as customary land. This shows the problem faced by academics and others attempting a resolution of land administration. Most of the documents examined so far deal with the plan to bring plantations owned by expatriates on the Gazelle Peninsula of New Britain into ownership using funds accumulated since 1920 following the sale of expropriated land formerly in German hands.
Non-indigenous involvement in the politics of nation building in PNG is revealed in Ward's correspondence, papers prepared by him and others including Nigel Oram, Peter Sack, Owen Jessup, M.J. Meggitt, Jim Fingleton, Ron Crocombe, Peter Fitzpatrick, Ben Finney, S. Rowton Simpson and Anthony Voutas in connection with the Commission of Inquiry into Land Matters in 1973. Ward was an adviser to the Commission and had been critical of land bills drafted in 1971 while he was a lecturer at the University of Papua New Guinea. The documents also reveal the interplay between significant public figures such as John Kaputin, John Guise, Father Ignatius Kilage, Sinaka Goava, Albert Maori Kiki, Cletus Harepa, Thomas Kavali, Posa Kilori, Pokwari Kale, Father John Momis and the Australian administration when dealing with the return of alienated land to Papua New Guineans and the prevention of the rise of a rentier class.
The remainder of the Ward papers will continue to be processed in a manner similar to that adopted for the Papua New Guinean material.
Peter Elder
Nov 1997
The papers on the Royal genealogy of Tonga include Dr Latukefu's notes on his interview with Her Majesty Queen Salote Tupou about her dream, Ko e Lika (Misi) a 'Ene 'Afio ko Kuini Salote Tupou, together with genealogy of her mother and chart made in the 1940s. There is a copy of the Order of Service: the Coronation of Her Majesty Queen Salote Tubou, The Chapel Royal, Nukualofa, 11 Oct 1918. Dr Latukefu's papers on the Royal genealogy also include a single page (fragment) which has four lists: children of George Tupou I and their mothers; children of George Tupou II and their mothers; children of Tuku'aho and their mothers; and names of chiefs and kings.
Among the papers on traditions is a 104 page undated carbon copy typescript compiled by Her Majesty Queen Salote, Ko e Tohi 'A 'Ena 'Afio Ko Kuine Salote Tupou, and a 36 page manuscript which consists of a set of statements made by Her Majesty at Atalanga in early 1965 about the war in Velata, the dispute on the constitution and several other matters.
There is also a file on Tongan traditions, probably compiled under the direction of Her Majesty Queen Salote by the Tongan Traditions Committee, which has typescript and roneoed descriptions, in Tongan, of the Chiefly titles and lineages of Tonga, the instalment of titles, Chiefly weddings, the distribution of governors to different districts of Tonga, burial sites, attirement, tapa cloth, the history of fine mats, different kinds of mats, Tongan arts, the family house and the Tongan extended family.
Among the many other documents on traditions and genealogy in the Latukefu papers are: an account 'of national importance', by S. Tupou in Tongan, of the political development of the Tu'i Kanokupolu line, Fakafonua 1; an account by Hafoka (Havili) concerning 'Akau'ola, Fulivai, Tu'uheava and the Moala; a description of the Hafoka title by Leisi Hafoka of 'Eua, 3 July 1959; and information from Fetuani about the transition from Pulotu to Maama up to the time of the Tu'i Tonga dynasties.
The manuscripts of Fetuani of Kolovai ('the Samoan') are his Story in four exercise books and another containing verse. The diary of J. Fekau 'Ofeahemooni gives an account of the persecution in January/February 1887. Dr Niel Gunson and Dr Elizabeth Wood-Ellem intend to have the diary translated and published.
The papers of Rev. J. E. Moulton comprise a dozen letters from E.W. Sandys, John Parsons, Rob Hauslip, Rainsford Ravin, Shirley Baker and others, 1885-89, letters from several Tongans in Fiji in 1887, and from the Australasian Methodist Church in 1910. The papers of Rev Ernest Crosby consist of: several manuscript drafts of his Story of King George of Tonga, parts 1 & 2; correspondence relating to Mr Baker, Crosby's adverse report about him and a copy of the report itself, 1884-87; about 65 items of general correspondence received 1884-1925; and Crosby's land titles folder, 1883-1889.
Siosiua Lafitani and Loveti Fakaosi kindly provided invaluable help with identification of the papers and translation of their titles, many of which are in Tongan. A detailed listing of the papers is available from the Bureau.
On returning to Australia, Rev. Gray became involved in a campaign with Dr John G. Paton against the Kanaka labour trade, writing several pamphlets and press articles while making lecture tours in the period 1892-1895. Mrs Audrey Harvey, Rev. Gray's grand-daughter, has recently loaned the Bureau some of his documents concerning the campaign against the labour trade for microfilming, prior to transfer to the Mortlock Library in South Australia. They consist of the manuscript of Gray's pamphlet, The Kanaka Labour Traffic from a Missionary's Point of View or how the Queensland Sugar Planters get and treat the Kanaka, 1895, two of his other manuscripts on the Vanuatu labour trade, 'Plantation Life' and 'Inquiry on Labour Traffic', published pamphlets by Rev John Inglis, Rev John Paton and Rev Alex Smith on the labour trade, as well as press cuttings and research material.
Also being microfilmed with this material is the Gray's wonderful album of some 65 photographs taken in Weasisi Bay, Port Resolution and Kwamera in Tanna during the 1880s of the mission house, its school, the grass church, various missionaries, the local people and their arts, the mission schooner, Dayspring, and other ships at Port Resolution, Aucklander, Daydawn, Ute, Meg Merriles, and the copra stations. Finally, there are three volumes of press cuttings on the New Hebrides compiled by the Cosby family covering the period August 1913 till June 1915.
These documents are being microfilmed by the Bureau at:
| PMB 1123 | GRAY, Rev. William: press cuttings, pamphlets and articles on Kanaka labour traffic and missionary life in the New Hebrides. (Access not specified.) |
The letters, which are partly written in French, have been microfilmed by the Mitchell Library, which holds the negative, together with an annotated transcript, translations and a few associated papers and photographs. Copies of the microfilm have been lodged in the Records Room of the Division of Pacific and Asian History, RSPAS, ANU, and in the University of Papua New Guinea.
A recent proposal for the transfer of the Western Pacific Archives from the UK to the Islands was raised at the PARBICA conference without any substantial comment, except to note that the Solomon Islands National Archives does have a complete set of the WPA series and item lists which are available to PARBICA members. Esther Karibongi, the SI National Archivist, said, outside the conference, that the SI National Archives is gearing up to accommodate the Western Pacific High Commission archives if a transfer eventuates. The PMB has informed the British FCO that it would be happy to embark on extensive microfilming of the WPA should the governments concerned so wish.
PMB Management Committee agreed to allocate funds to the Bureau for the purchase of a new computer and software to run a database for the PMB catalogue and other archival controls. The Committee also agreed to have duplicating masters for the whole of the PMB stock produced and to transfer the master negatives to the National Library of Australia for storage. The Bureau's current microfilm programs were endorsed. In addition it was agreed that an effort be made to microfilm the Fiji correspondence of CSR Ltd, as the fate of the CSR archives was considered to be in jeopardy at the time with the possible closure and dispersal of the holdings of the Noel Butlin Archives Centre at the ANU. The Committee also recommended renewal of the Executive Officer's contract beyond its expiry in March 1998.
At the Territorial Archives in Noumea, I surveyed the Journal Officiel de la Nouvelle Calédonie, No.1400, 21 July 1886-No.7240, Aug 1997, which Bruno Corre, the Territorial Archivist, has given the Bureau permission to microfilm. The Bureau has already microfilmed its predecessor, Le Moniteur de la Nouvelle Calédonie, Oct 1859-Jun 1886, at PMB Doc 11-21. It is planned to commence filming this title in 1997.
Readers may be interested to note that the Territorial Archives holds the following early New Caledonia newspapers.
| Newspaper | Actual run details (O'Reilly) | Territorial Archives's holdings |
| La Baitaille | Nos 1-176, 17 Jun 1893-19 May 1894 | 1893 (1st year) |
| Le Radical | Nos 1-175, Aug 1896-1897 | 1897 (2nd year) |
| La Verité | Nos 1-44, Jan-Aug 1895 | 1895 (1st year) |
| L'Avenir de la Nouvelle Caldéonie | Nos 1-520, Dec 1886-21 Jun 1892 | 1888 (2nd year) |
| Le Messager | Nos 1-109+, 1919-1921 | 1920-1921 (2nd & 3rd years) |
| Le Pacifique Français | Nos 1-11, 1911 | Oct 1911 |
| L'Indépendant | Nos 1-732, 1884-1888 | 1884-1888 |
| Le Démocrate | Nos 1-7530, 1923-1932 | 1925-1929 |
| Le Républicain | Nos 1-774+, 1906-1910 | 1906-1911 |
| Le Néo Calédonie | Nos 1-1218, 3 Mar 1880-18 Jun 1889 | 1880-1886 |
| La Nouvelle Calédonie | ||
| La Calédonie | Nos 1-5268, 16 Feb 1892-15 May 1907 | 1878-1879 |
Pierre Chauvat, a Vice President of Union Syndicale des Travailleurs Kanaks et des Exploités (USTKE) and Secretary of its Transport Federation, said that there are few surviving records of USTKE from the period 1984-88, but that some records do exist: about 1,000 sheets, for the period from the formation of USTKE in November 1981. He took the PMB's request to microfilm this material to an Executive meeting which agreed to make the records available to the PMB for microfilming in 1998. Mr Deveni Temu, the South Pacific Commission Librarian, took me on a survey of SPC archives held in the Library. We noted files on the South Pacific Games, a series of field notes and reports from SPC program officers in Island countries, a series of photographs (many poorly labelled) held in two 4-drawer filing cabinets, and various SPC publications (Technical Information Circulars, Technical Papers Nos. 1-200, handbooks, various newsletters and copies of the South Pacific Bulletin.) Mr Temu also informed the Bureau that the SPC is interested in having the Bureau microfilm hard copies of their Fisheries Database. The National Archives of Vanuatu now operates under the Archives Act of 1992 as a separate entity within the Department of Culture, Religion, Women's Affairs and Archives. It was originally constituted as part of the Cultural Centre, along with the National Library, under a Joint Regulation in 1974 and, subsequently, under the National Cultural Council legislation in 1985. The Archives occupies a converted mental asylum (haus bilong kranki), a strongly constructed concrete building with a flat roof, renovated for the purpose of housing archives with the help of AusAID funding. It has the favourable reputation of being situated between two hills for protection from cyclones, however the staff keep well clear during earthquakes. There are eight air-conditioned cells, well lined with shelving a little too widely spaced. There is no unused repository space in the building: records are stacked on the floor of each of the rooms. In fact there was so little spare room that we had to use the Archivists' office/reference room for microfilming, shutting the Archives for all but essential reference services for three days, as it was the only space available in the Archives for the purpose.
The National Archivist, Mr Willie Toa, and his staff, Chantal Tariodo and Tom Sakias, are strenuously listing transfers of departmental archives, but are seriously hampered in their efforts by the space problem. The main categories of record groups held in the National Archives appear to be the following:
The staff of the National Archives of Vanuatu have produced indexes (or finding aids) to the record groups. See the following for details:
| Joint Court | Labour Department |
| British Residency | Social Affairs |
| British District Agent | Public Service Department |
| British National Service administration files | Ministry of Home Affairs |
| Southern District administration files | Medical Department |
| Northern District administration files | Cultural Centre |
| Central District No. 1 administration files | Local Government |
| Central District No. 2 Lakatoro Malekula administration files | Ministry of Finance |
| British District Agent Northern District Cooperative Department files | Agricultural Department |
| Religion files | British National Services, Audit Department |
| Industry Department | Independence celebration 1980 |
| Attorney General | Education Department |
| Archives des Nouvelle Hebrides à Noumea | Grace Molisa file |
Mr Willie Toa gave the Bureau permission to microfilm any pre-independence records so long as the National Archivist remains in control of access. The following titles were made at the National Archives with the help of the two staff who operated the microfilm camera for part of the time:
| PMB 1129 | WESTERN PACIFIC ARCHIVES. Lists of archives of the New Hebrides British Service and related records, 1979. 2 reels. (Available for reference) |
| PMB 1130 | ÉTABLISSEMENTS BALLANDE (traders, Port Vila and Santo, New Hebrides) Agendas(business diaries), 1933-1942, 1950-1954. 2 reels. (Restricted access.) |
| PMB 1131 | USSHER, J. (planter, Nguna, New Hebrides). Business correspondence, 1915-1919, accounts and wages books, 1935 - 1943. 1 reel. (Restricted access.) |
| PMB 1132 | GENEALOGIES OF THE SHEPHERD ISLANDS, VANUATU (by island, village and family), 1930s. 1 reel. (Restricted access.) |
| PMB 1133 | NEW HEBRIDES BRITISH SERVICE, Southern District Administration. Files on the John Frum Movement, Tanna, 1947-1956. 1 reel. (Restricted access.) |
Apart from the archival work I inspected the two inoperative microfilm cameras (a Durst AC.650 Cosixsel 35, and a Recordak Starfile Microfilmer RV-2 16mm) held in the Archives and accompanied Mr Toa on a visit to the Civil Status Department and to a meeting with Ms Clare Everson, the British Deputy High Commissioner. The latter meeting was to consider the implications of a possible transfer of the archives of the New Hebrides British Service to Vanuatu from the Western Pacific Archives in the UK. Ms Everson asked Mr Toa to request a response from the Prime Minster's Department on the proposed transfer. She noted the symbolic significance of the approaching 20th anniversary of Vanuatu independence. I again emphasised that the PMB is willing to consider undertaking the microfilming of major series in the WPA, including the NHBS archives, if the parties so wish.
The Vanuatu National Library, which comes under the wing of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, is located in a large timber building which had been badly damaged during the cyclone in 1987, causing the loss of many books. Mrs Eileen Boe, the National Librarian, and her staff were welcoming and encouraged the PMB work, allowing filming after hours under the glaring eye of the tam tam in the Library's store room. The Vanuatu Collection is mainly kept in the Librarians' office and consists of one large cupboard and 2 other bookcases of rare books, semi-published material and a few typescripts and manuscripts on Vanuatu. There is also a filing cabinet, which is completely full, holding research reports and journal articles. Further research papers are stacked up pending acquisition of another filing cabinet (for which the Library is attempting to raise funds: any donations would be welcome, addressed to Mrs Eileen Boe, National Librarian, PO Box 184 Port Vila). The following archival documents in the Vanuatu Collection were microfilmed:
| PMB 1125 | FAK-AO TINAPUA MATA, Dick. Two texts in the language of Tongoa Island in the Shepherd Islands group, Vanuatu: Natulakeana ni nawasiana ni tuai [The beginning of work long ago] and Ranginatulatean waina teatere eruumai [Inthe beginning when white people first came], 1944. 1 reel. (Available for reference.) |
| PMB 1126 | FERGUSON, J. A. Bibliography of the New Hebrides Islands, 1610-1942. 1 reel. (Available for reference.) |
| PMB 1127 | J. W. MANSFIELD & CO (traders, Vila, New Hebrides). Ledger, 1903-1913. 1 reel. (Available for reference.) |
| PMB 1128 | NATIONAL LIBRARY OF VANUATU. Miscellaneous papers: photographs of the Presbyterian mission at West Ambrym, 1913; Final Report on Tropical Cyclone Uma, 1987; Tavue: acollection of short stories from East Aoba, n.d.; Autobiography of Chief Silas Nari Leo Bulr of Labultamata NorthPentecost, 1984. 1 reel. (Available for reference.) |
A good collection of Vanuatu newspapers is held in a locked cupboard in the main reading room. It complements a similar collection held in the National Archives. The National Library's holdings consist of the following newspapers:
| Balance (Fiji Women's Right Movement) | Dec 1992, Jan, May, Jun, Jul/Sep 1993, nd, Jan/Feb 1994 |
| British Newsletter (British Residency, Vila) | 1966-1973 (big gaps?) |
| Bulletin of the Chamber of Commerce | Nov 1976-Dec 1983 |
| Eklesia (newsheet of the Catholic Church in Vanuatu) | Nos 1-124 (gaps?); 13 Jun 1978-May 1997 |
| Le Fenua Times | Nos 1-27 (gaps?); 4 Apr-18 Oct |
| Health Department Newsletter | Nos 1,3-5: Nov 1982-Jan 1984 |
| Information Politiques: la lettre des independants | Mar, Apr, May, Aug, & Sep 1977 |
| Island News (Presbyterian Church of New Hebrides) | Feb, Jun, Nov 1974; Jan, Apr, nd [Jul?], nd [Nov?] 1975; nd [Mar?], nd, [Jul?], nd [Sep?] 1977 |
| Jeune Mélanésie, (A. Bigord) | Nos 1-13; Apr-Aug 1980 |
| Le Mélanésien | 18 issues; 1980-1981 |
| Naika (Vanuatu Natural Science Society) | Nos 1-19, 21-39; Feb 1981-Jul 1992 |
| Nasiko (Hilda Lini) | Nos 1-11; Feb-May 1980 |
| Navara (Voice of the Vanuatu students – VNUS – UPNG) | Jun 1978, nd [Aug 1981?] |
| New Hebrides News (British Information Office, Vila) | Nos? [31 Jan 1975], 28-30, 32-36, 39-46, 50-54, 58-60, 62-66, 68-69, 71-73, 92-95, 12-114; Jan 1975-Dec 1978 |
| Nitutu (Beslama newsheet of the Department of Agriculture, Horticulture, Livestock and Forestry) | Nos 1-35; Apr 1981-Dec 1992 |
| Nius bilong ol Woman | Nos. 1-3, 6, 10, 11, 14, 16, Oct & Dec 1994 (unnumbered), 19-22; Jan 1990-Dec 1995 |
| One Bread (Bulletin of the Diocese of the New Hebrides, Lowowai, Omba, NH) | Nos 15-23, 25-27; 1977-1979 |
| Pacnews | May-Jul 1994 |
| Tam Tam (Port Vila) | Nos 1, 2, 4, 6, 10-12, sp, 13, 15, 17, 18-25, 27-58, 61-75, 77-86, 88-102, 105-107, 109, 111-119, sp, 121-138, 140-159, 161-167, 169-188; 21 May 1980-Jul 1984 |
| Tan Union (G Leymong & V Boulekone) | Nos 1, 2, 5 & 6; Apr-Sep 1977 |
| Vanuaaku Pati Seli Hoo (Newsletter of the National Party) | No. 1/92-No. 19/95 (big gaps) |
| Vanua Aku Viewpoints | Nos 1-73 (big gaps), 1977-1983, with platform, Seli Hoo, 1979, (26pp.), & 5 Point Communique, Sep 1977 (8pp., roneoed) |
| Vanuatu Weekly Hebdomadaire | 1985-1996 |
| Vaua Scope (Patrick Antoine Decloitre) | 3 Mar 1993-26 Jan 1994 |
| Voice of the New Hebrides | Nos 1-61, 63-95, 97-105, 107-111, 113-137, 139, 141, 142; Dec 1979-1983 |
| Women's Club News | Mar 1971-Jun 1980 |
Mrs Boe was particularly keen for the Bureau to copy the Tam Tam, 1980-1984, but there was not time to undertake this work, though we did microfilm the following newspapers:
| PMB Doc 425 | BULLETIN OF THE NEW HEBRIDES CHAMBER OF COMMERCE, INDUSTRY AND AGRICULTURE / BULLETIN OF THE VANUATU CHAMBER OF COMMERCE (Port Vila), 1976 -1986. 1 reel. (Available for reference.) |
| PMB Doc 426 | WOMEN'S CLUB NEWS (New Hebrides), Mar 1971-Jun 1980. 1 reel. (Available for reference.) |
| PMB Doc 427 | VANUA SCOPE (ed. Patrick Antoine Delcoitre, Port Vila, Vanuatu), Mar 1993-Jan 1994. (Available for reference.) |
| PMB Doc 428 | NAIKA (Journal of the Vanuatu Natural Science Society), Nos 1- 42, 1981-1993. 1 reel. (Available for reference.) |
Kirk Huffman, the former Director of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre, who happened to be in Vanuatu making a film with David Suzuki, made several recommendations about possible microfilming projects. and noted that the papers of Will Stober, who died in December, are being sorted by Richard Doorman and are likely to be transferred to the University of Cambridge Library. He recommended that Pambu film the original French Residency reports, which he and Howard Van Trease had found in the rubbish heap behind the French Residency the day after independence in 1980. The reports were microfilmed as the following PMB title:
| PMB 1135 | NEW HEBRIDES FRENCH RESIDENCY: monthly reports, Dec 1966-Dec 1978. 3 reels. (Available for reference.) |
Ralph Regenvanu, the current Director, recommended that Pambu negotiate to film the papers of the Presbyterian missionary Peter Milne, and possibly other material relating to Vanuatu, held in the Hocken Library at Dunedin. He noted that the Cultural Centre is developing a project in conjunction with the National Film and Sound Archive (Canberra) for the survey and preservation of sound and visual recordings in Vanuatu, including the recordings collected by Paul Gardissat, some of which are held at the Vanuatu Broadcasting Corporation. We surveyed Cultural Centre's impressive archival facilities for audio-visual recordings, photographs, field notes and administrative papers.
Mr Willie Toa and I visited Mr Godwin Ligo, Director of the Civil Status Department. Mr Ligo said that he wished to have the entire births and deaths registers microfilmed and that the Civil Registration Act would be amended in January/February next year to enable computerisation and microfilming of the vital statistics which is now considered to be proper practice. The registers cover all Vanuatu from 1900 to the present and include Western Pacific High Commission registers. They are in 9 vaults each holding approximately 300 volumes. Mr Ligo would like the Bureau to explore the possibility of undertaking the microfilming.
Both Ephraim Kalsakau, General Secretary of the Vanuatu Council of Trade Unions, and Obed Masingiow, President of the Vanuatu Teachers Union, were happy to cooperate with Pambu on microfilming projects, however no records were on hand during the visit to Vila. Mr Kalsakau said that the Public Service Association records have survived and would be available for filming. According to Mr Kalsakau the VCTU and/or National Union of Labour records from 1980 were seized by the Registrar in 1993 or 1994. However, the Registrar, Mr Julian Ala, stated that he does not have internal records of the unions, only the official returns, such as constitutions and financial reports, which are required under the Trade Unions Act. He is happy to make such public documents available to Pambu for microfilming. The National Archives has 10 boxes of Labour Department archives, 1971-1979, (nicely listed) which Kevin Hince used for his recent article, "The Emergence of Trade Unionism in the New Hebrides (Vanuatu)".
Kathy Creely, of the Melanesia Research Center, University of California, was particularly keen to set up a copying program for Nicolaï Michoutouchkine's papers, to which he happily agreed. Michoutouchkine, from a family of Russian emigrés based in Paris, set out to travel in the Near and Middle East, India and South East Asia in 1953. After a period of military service and work in New Caledonia, Michoutouchkine settled in Port Vila in 1961 with Aloi Pilioko, a Futuna Islander artist. Together they have collected more than 6,000 indigenous art objects from across the South Pacific which they have exhibited, with their own works, in Noumea, French Polynesia, PNG, Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Japan, France, Sweden, Russia and Central Europe, Taiwan and Indonesia. Michoutouchkine's papers are kept with a large collection of tapa and mats on open shelves in a secure repository, which has fairly good ventilation and a dehumidifier. We filmed the earliest travel journals:
| PMB 1134 | MICHOUTOUCHKINE, Nicolaï. Travel journals, Sep 1953-Jan 1956.3 reels. (Available for reference.) |
Although Michoutouchkine's papers are in good condition, they are neither well-arranged in order nor boxed for protection. One volume of the journals could not be located during the visit. There are also several volumes of material associated with the various exhibitions and some rare catalogues which would be available for filming on a subsequent visit.
Ewan Maidment
PMB Executive Officer
In some academic circles, the Internet remains an under-utilised and under-valued resource, regarded with suspicion by those researchers more comfortable with conventional, document-based archives. However, as the process of coming online gains momentum, information will be increasingly disseminated by electronic means alone, challenging the nature and priorities of preservation in, say, the Pacific, while also marginalising those who remain outside this new information-based economy.
Pambu encourages students and scholars to use the Internet for
research purposes, and has come across some sites which may be useful.
Pambu's own homepage is located within the larger South Pacific
Information Network (SPIN) set up and maintained by 'Alopi Sione
Latukefu. The address of SPIN is:
This site provides a range of links and archived material on Pacific countries and issues.
The Pacific Islands Liaisons Centre (PILC) has recently launched its
homepage; this is presently maintained by Allison Ley. Its address is:
http://www.anu.edu.au/pilc
This page provides scholars with regular updates on seminars and conferences held by the Division, as well as general information for people interested in studying Pacific issues at the ANU.
The PNG Archive on the Coombs server at the Australian National
University is one of the original virtual libraries to be established,
and was set up by Mathew T. Ciolek. It contains a virtual library of
PNG material, and links to all major sites around the world. Its
address is:
Another important site is the Gaia Forest Conservation Archives.
This site is devoted to environmental issues around the world, and is a
rich source of archived and up-to-date articles relating to PNG and the
Pacific. These articles have been collated by NGOs operating in the
region, such as Pacific Greenpeace, and smaller, regional
organisations. The site is meticulously organised and regularly
maintained; not only does it serve to highlight the major issues facing
Island nations as the pressures of globalisation and multi- nationalism
intrude on domestic economic and environmental issues; it also serves
to highlight local, community responses to those pressures. The address
is:
http://forests.org
Michael Ogden's Pacific Island Internet Resources site also provides
terrific information and links to a range of sites and organisations
focusing on Pacific issues. It includes email addresses of NGO and
regional organisations in the Pacific, as well as the sites of Pacific
Interest groups. Its address is:
http://www2.hawaii.edu/~ogden/piir/index.html
There are of course other sites, many of which Pambu has not come across yet. The Bureau would be delighted to hear from anyone who has come across a useful site in addition to those listed.
Monica Wehner
PMB Executive Assistant
Copies are available for AU$12 ALIA members, AU$15 non-members,
including postage and handling, from the Australian Library and
Information Association, PO Box E441, Kingston, ACT 2604, Australia.
Telephone +612 6258 1877, fax +61 2 6282 2249 or e-mail
enquiry@alia.org.au
Please note that prepayment is required.
Susan MacDougall
ALIA APSIG Committee member
The new book concentrates on the immediate war period and its aftermath, focusing on the role of the churches as the war ended and Island states began agitating for independence.
Those interested in purchasing a copy of this book can contact the publisher at the following address:
Institute of Pacific Studies
University of the South Pacific
PO Box 1168, Suva FIJI
Tel: 679 313900 x2018
Fax: 679 301 594