Humanities and Social Sciences

Anthropology Program

Tongan History Association Newsletter

Vol.10 No.1, May 1999

THA Conference - June 1999

The conference, to be held in Tonga at the USP Centre, has the theme Versions of the Past, Visions of the Future: Tonga at the End of the Twentieth Century.

Thus far there are ten confirmed papers, and seven other expressions of interest. There will be four sessions each day including the opening, and the AGM and closing on the last session. There will be an informal gathering on the first evening, a history workshop on Wednesday evening on "How to Keep Tongan History Alive", and a farewell dinner on the last night. The organisers hope to have a display of Tongan/Pacific books throughout the conference as well as a display of Tongan handicrafts. The conference will be opened by a member of the royal family, and there will be a keynote address by a prominent Tongan (to be confirmed). The conference fee is $TOP50.

The order of presentations has not been finalised but at present the papers are:

Claire Bleakley "Impact of Development Intervention and Initiatives on Women in Tonga in the 1990s";

Malia Talakai "A Tongan Rationality to the Problem of Physical Discipline: The Concepts of Ta and Ta Vale";

Arne Aleksej Perminow "The Nature of Precedence in Tonga. 'Leading' and 'Following' as Naturalized Concepts";

Steve Francis "Religion and Mobility: Tongan Population Movement";

Max Rimoldi "Uneven Globalisation and the Dynamics of Local Communities";

'Opeti Taliai "The Ambivalence in Queen Salote's Poetry";

Heather Young Leslie "Maternal Health Practices in the Ha'apai Region";

Elizabeth Wood-Ellem "Tonga under the Four Tupous and the Contribution of each to the 'Independence' of Tonga";

Meredith Filihia "Rituals that Construct and Maintain Authority: The Use of Coercion in the Maintenance of Chiefly Power"; and

Lu'isa Latukefu "Healthy Women, Healthy Nation".

Persons interested in attending the conference should contact Mrs Salote Fukofuka at the USP Centre, PO Box 278, Nuku'alofa, Tonga. Email: Salote@TONGA.USP.AC.FJ
* Please note that Tonga will still be in mourning after the death of HRH Prince Tu'ipelehake, so you may wish to consider showing your respect by wearing black although this is not compulsory. Also, the Heilala Festival has been postponed until August.

Conferences and Events

Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania (ASAO): the next conference will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, from Februrary 15-19, 2000. Website:

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/asao/pacific/hawaiki.html

The European Society for Oceanists (ESfO), Leiden, Netherlands, June 25-27, 1999. The conference theme is "Asia in the Pacific". Fax 31-071-5272632.

Email: isiresfo@rullet.leidenuni.nl

The Pacific Science Association will hold its congress from 4-9 July, 1999, at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. The theme of the conference is "Science for Pacific Posterity: Environments, Resources and Welfare of the Pacific Peoples". Direct inquiries to XIX Pacific Science Congress Secretariat, GPO Box 2609, Sydney NSW, Australia. Fax: 61-2-92513552.

Email: reply@icmsaust.com.au.

A one day symposium will be held during the conference, on July 9: Update on kava: what has happened in a decade? Contact Grant McCall: g.mccall@unsw.edu.au

Australian Anthropological Society conference will also be held at the University of New South Wales, July 10-13, 1999. Contact Grant McCall, School of Sociology, University of NSW, Sydney NSW 2052, or see the website: http://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/Centres/Southpacific/AAS/AAS1999UNSWConference.html

University of Hawai'i Pacific Islands Studies Conference: October 20-23, 1999, entitled "Out of Oceania: Diaspora, Community, and Identity". The conference will focus on the expanding diasporic communities of Pacific Islanders, with special attention to: (1) capital, labor and class; (2) culture, ideas and boundaries; (3) biography, representation and identity. Abstracts due June 1. Contact Terence Wesley-Smith (twsmith@hawaii.edu) or Tisha Hickson (ctisha@hawaii.edu), Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 1890 East-West Rd, Moore Hall 215, Honolulu, Hawai'i 96822. Or see the website: http://www.hawaii.edu/cpis/conference.

Pacific Arts Association will hold a special session in honor of Dr Philip J.C. Dark, who is retiring from the editorship of Pacific Arts. The session will be held at the Field Museum (Chicago, Illinois), October 20-24, 1999 [the museum holds more than 50,000 objects from the South Pacific]. Contact: Robert Welsch, Department of Anthropology, 6047 Carpenter Hall, Darmouth College, Hanover, NH 03755, USA. Email: Robert.Welsch@Dartmouth.Edu

C.O.R.A.I.L. Association colloquium at the University of New Caledonia, November 25-27, 1999 on Religion and the Sacred in Oceania. Contact Frederic Angleviel, University of New Caledonia, B.P. 4477, 98845, Noumea, New Caledonia. Fax: 687-26-38-26.

The Museum of Foreign Art Sinebrychoff, of the Finnish National Gallery, Helsinki, is preparing a multimedia exhibition about Tonga at the dawn of the new millennium. The exhibition, "It is Always Morning - Somewhere", will open on December 31, 1999, until May 31, 2000. The work is set in a Tongan grave inside of which the exhibition visitor "steps into Polynesian tradition and modern Western technology... the installation completely surrounds the visitor with images and sounds". For further information contact the director of the musuem, Mrs Ulla Huhtamaki (Fax: 09-17336476. Email: uhuhtama@fng.fi).

The Centre for the Contemporary Pacific was opened in December 1998 at the Australian National University, with Brij Lal as foundation head of the centre. The centre produces a newsletter, Talanoa. See the website: http://coombs.anu.edu.au/CCP or write to the centre at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, ANU, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia.

Tongan Link Program

Green Point Christian College, of NSW, Australia, is sending a group of adults and students to Tonga in late June, hosted by Tupou College. The group will run sports clinics for primary children and participate in other church and school activities. The group hopes to meet up with participants at the THA conference. Contact Ross Carlyon by email: rcarlyon@gpcc.nsw.edu.au or mail: Locked Bag 1, Kincumber NSW 2251.

Members

THA members are encouraged to inform the newsletter editor of any recent publications, current research, or other news.

New Members

Lucrecia Bosson is an undergraduate student in Social and Behavioral Science at Arizona State University West, in Phoenix, Arizona. She is currently doing research with a Tongan community at a Methodist church in Phoenix. Her specific interest is in "the neo-colonial remittance economy and its contingency upon creation and maintenance of a Tongan national identity (nationalism as a concept not bounded by geographic borders) - a perilous state in the face of assimilation". Email: creppy@aol.com

Susan Ervin is a doctoral student in the department of anthropology at the University of Nevada, Reno, as well as being a faculty member of the School of Nursing at the same university. She has worked with Tongans in Nevada, Utah and Tonga on the topics of fahu, childbearing and infertility.

Hillary Scothorn, 4821 Bakman Ave, North Hollywood, California 91601, USA.

Cliff Thornton, 51 Glebe Rd, Wickford, Essex SS11 8ET, U.K. Cliff has pursued an interest in Captain James Cook for the past 25 years, having been the Capt. Cook Birthplace Museum at Marton, Middlesbrough. He now wants to broaden his knowledge of the countries and peoples Cook encountered. Email: cthornton@cableinet.co.uk

Siaosi Tuihalangingie is a senior at Brigham Young University - Hawai'i, studying Political Science with an emphasis on Public Administration. He hopes to attend law school in future then return to Tonga, and is very interested in the legal system of Tonga, especially the constitution. Email: st003@byuh.edu

Obituaries

HRH PRINCE TU'IPELEHAKE OF TONGA (7 January 1922 - 10 April 1999)

His Royal Highness, Prince Tu'ipelehake, brother of His Majesty King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV of Tonga, died in Auckland on 10 April after a long illness. Tu'ipelehake was Premier of Tonga from 1965 until 1991.

Tu'ipelehake was the third son of the late Queen Salote and her consort, Prince Tungi Mailefihi. He was born on 7 January 1922 and baptised as Sione (John) Ngu Manumataongo. He was educated at the Wesleyan Primary School in the capital of Tonga, Nuku'alofa, then at Tupou College, Nafualu, until 1937. In 1938 he was sent to a private tutor in Auckland before going to Newington College, Sydney, where he distinguished himself as a footballer. However, competing schools objected to their pupils playing against a prince who was nearly 190 cms in height and weighed about 150 kg. He could henceforth play only with adult teams. The prince also spent one year at Gatton Agricultural College in Queensland.

Queen Salote's eldest son (now His Majesty) was also educated at Newington, and was the first Tongan to take out a university degree (BA and LLB). The second son, Prince Tuku'aho, had stayed with his mother because of his poor health, and learned from her the traditional knowledge necessary for a Tongan chief. Tuku'aho died when he was 16 years of age (in 1936). Thereafter the Queen taught her youngest son the traditional knowledge and

encouraged the qualities that would make him a good Tongan chief. When he returned to Tonga early in 1944, the Queen did not immediately appoint him to the government of Tonga, as she had done with the eldest son, but kept him close to her at the Palace. She later appointed him as Governor of Vava'u, then as Governor of Ha'apai, and then as Minister for Lands and Health.

In 1945, Queen Salote appointed the prince to the title Tu'ipelehake, with the added personal name of Fatafehi. The Tu'ipelehake title is considered to be 'sacred' because it was fictionally descended from the divine half-brother of the semi-divine first king of Tonga. While Queen Salote was alive, only she could be addressed in the 'sacred' language. After her death, this language was used only for the King and his brother. Tu'ipelehake was also addressed by the honorifics 'Eiki Ha'ele (Royal Chief) and Tu'i Fale Ua (Ruler of the Second House), and certain privileges - largely ceremonial - were his alone.

By Tongan tradition, the eldest female member of the family chooses the bride or bridegroom for a younger member. Thus it was that Queen Salote chose for Tu'ipelehake a wife of high chiefly rank, the late Princess Melenaite Tupou Moheofo (1924-93). They had two sons (the elder of whom will succeed to the title of Tu'ipelehake) and four daughters, all of four of whom have married nobles of the realm.

Tonga had been rent by fratricidal wars in the nineteenth century, and Queen Salote did not intend history to repeat itself, so she asked Tu'ipelehake to promise always to be loyal to his elder brother. Ever the obedient son, Tu'ipelehake was totally loyal to his elder brother throughout his life.

After the death of Queen Salote on 16 December 1965, the new King appointed his younger brother the Premier of Tonga, a post he held until ill health forced him to retire in 1991. The Premier of Tonga presides over the cabinet, but all policy decisions are made by the King-in-Council. Hence the major input Tu'ipelehake had into policy was as a member of the Privy Council, whose deliberations are not publicised.

Tu'ipelehake was good natured and jovial. He was distinguished by a very robust and uninhibited laugh. Indeed this was a mark of his very high rank, for only one who could not be challenged could laugh in such a way. Tu'ipelehake liked some aspects of the foreign lifestyle, but he and his brother gave up alcohol and cigarettes in the late 1940s and his lifestyle became increasingly Tongan. From that time, Tu'ipelehake was always seen in

Tongan dress, which consisted of a wrap-around skirt (vala), a high-necked shirt (without tie), and a piece of mat tied around the waist (ta'ovala).

Tu'ipelehake was (like Queen Salote) a composer of songs. Before his marriage he founded a singing group called the Ko e Tau'ataina Talavou (The Bachelors) and after his marriage they continued to meet to drink kava and sing songs.

I first met Tu'ipelehake when he was my father's student at Tupou College, and a number of times over the last 25 years, while I was writing my biography of Queen Salote. In Nuku'alofa he would invite some of us after the Sunday evening service to his home to watch religious videos from America.

I last met Tu'ipelehake in January 1995, at 'Atalanga, the royal residence in Auckland, where he had lived for most of his last years. He had been confined to a wheelchair for some time. I came with a Tongan friend, so there could be no afternoon tea, as Tongans could not eat in his royal presence. She asked him if he would preach in her church. Prince

Tu'ipelehake was very willing to preach (he was a lay preacher in the Free Wesleyan Church of Tonga), but he was adamant that he would not be lifted from his wheelchair into the president's chair. It would have been appropriate for the holder of the Tu'ipelehake title to be carried about in his wheelchair; but it was a very personal decision not to leave it. He reminded me of Queen Salote because he was so approachable to all people and yet firm.

In Tonga, brothers hold a sister, especially the 'eldest' sister, in great respect. The King and Tu'ipelehake had no sister to exercise her authority over them, nor to preside at the funeral, which will be the greatest ceremony in Tonga since the passing of Queen Salote in 1965. [By Dr Elizabeth Wood-Ellem]

TUPOU POSESI FANUA: (1 November 1913 - 23 Mar 1999)

Tupou Posesi Fanua was known to many researchers over the decades as a source of information and as a friend. I first met her in 1974 when she was working (on a casual basis) for the Tonga Traditions Committee. I saw her last in 1995, when she was still reciting genealogies and telling stories of her youth, her family, and of the many political events she had lived through. When she began a sentence with "This is just my own idea" you knew you were about to hear something very original (and credible).

Born as Tupou (she had many other names) Kaho on 1st Nov 1913 she later recalled in detail the day her mother died in the "Spanish" influenza epidemic of 1918. Her father Ve'iloakitau Kaho was the youngest of five brothers originally from Ha'apai. The oldest was Polutele, who became Premier and the noble Tu'ivakan in 1912. Th second was Siosiua, who was Chief Justice, a people's representative in Parliament, and after he succeeded to the Tu'ivakan title in 1923 a nobles' representative in Parliament. The third was Sioape, who was Minister for Police 1919-39 and member for Parliament thereafter. Manase was also a member of Parliament, but died relatively young in 1925. Fe'iloakitau was teacher at Government College (renamed Tonga College in 1943). There were also sisters, but it was Sioape's second wife, Muimui, (sister of queen Takip and stepmother of Queen Slote) who took Tupou under her wing.

Tupou was thus in the thick of Tongan politics prewar. Added to this was her "adoption" by Ragnar Hyne (director of ed 1919-38) and his wife, Betty, who took the child to Queensland with them while he was completing his legal studies, so giving Tupou the opportunity to perfect her English.

Tupou was, according to her own account (and those who knew her can only concur), a rebel throughout her life. In 1934, against the wishes of her family, she married Posesi Fanua Lofanga, chief of the island of Lofanga, a graduate of the Central Medical School, and a staunch member of the Free Wesleyan Church. During World War II, the couple divorced, but married again after and had eight children in all; one son and seven daughters.

Queen Salote had the gift of being able to discern ability in others, and she saw that the young Tupou had very considerable gifts. Excluded from the Free Wesleyan women's groups (she was born Free Church and joined the Assemblies of God later in life), she was ever-present in those secular groups of which Queen Salote was the patron. These included the Red Cross, and the First Aid groups set up by the Queen during World War II and the Tonga Traditions Committee and Langa Fonua 'a e Fefine Tonga, set up in the 1950s, and she worked with the Peace Corps which came to Tonga first in 1967. Tupou had been an interpreter during the war and studied law so she could represent people in law cases. She also authored several books, the best known being P Fananga.

In the early 1970s she went to Auckland on a fellowship organised by Dr Garth Rogers and made a number of tapes, now in the Pond collection at the Victoria University of Wellington. She spoke not only of legends but also of the genealogy of her own family, and of her own life. It was about this time that she met Lois Wimberg Webster and a close friendship was formed. Lois modestly ascribed to Tupou the authorship of her immensely readable account of Tupou's early life, Malo Tupou. The admirers of the book can only hope for another volume to cover the rest of Tupou's life.

The reason why many researchers went time and time again to visit Tupou, was her ability to put flesh on bones. It was not only that she had known many of the famous Tongans of the twentieth century, but (in true Tongan fashion) seemed to be able to recall those who had lived before her time.

Tupou died on the 23rd of March, 1999, and was buried on 24th March at Taukaunove Cemetery. I often think when I hear of yet another elderly Tongan passing on that Tonga will never be the same again. Now Tupou has gone, Tonga will truly never be the same again.

[By Dr Elizabeth Wood-Ellem (Pesi Wood)].

KEITH MORTON died in August, 1998. He conducted fieldwork in Tonga in 1970-71, and was awarded his doctorate at the University of Oregon in 1972. In 1978 he served as a consultant on Tongan culture for the Peace Corps, and later he studied the Tongan community in Los Angeles. Morton taught anthropology at California State University - Northridge, for 26 years. [From the December 1998 ASAO Newsletter]

Publications

Ewins, Rory 1998 Changing their minds: tradition and politics in contemporary Fiji and Tonga. Christchurch: Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies. For an extract from the book's introduction and a table of contents, see the web site: http://www.pol.adfa.edu.au/resources/changing.html

Helu, 'I. Futa 1999 Critical essays: cultural perspectives from the South Seas. Canberra: Journal of Pacific History. [See Reviews, below]

Kami, Simana et al 1998 Pacific islander youths: the 'stressed' and unplaced. A concept paper by Community Workers from PETTA (an association promoting education and training for Pacific Islanders). Available from PETTA, Level 3, 6-8 Holden St, Ashfield NSW 2131.

Moving images of the Pacific Islands (4th Edition): a valuable resource of Pacific Islands films listing over 2,300 films and videos. Contact the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 1890 East-West Rd, 215 Moore Hall, Honolulu, HI 96822-2362, USA. (See also the web site: www2.hawaii.edu/oceanic/film)

Scarr, Deryck, Niel Gunson and Jennifer Terrell (eds) 1998 Echoes of Pacific war. Canberra: Target Oceania. This is the collection of papers from the 1997 THA conference held in Canberra. The book costs AUD$18.50 plus $4 packaging and postage, and orders can be placed with Jennifer Terrell, Division of Pacific and Asian History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, ANU, Canberra ACT 0200. Payment can be made by credit card: supply the number and expiry date. Contact Jennifer by email: jterrell@coombs.anu.edu.au

Whitty, Julia 1998 "A tortoise for the Queen of Tonga." Harper's Magazine June:77-86.

Wood-Ellem, Elizabeth 1999 Queen Salote: The story of an era 1900-1965. Auckland: Auckland University Press. [See Reviews, below]

Theses

Finney, Frances Reardon 1999 "I thought it would be heaven": migration, gender, and community amongst overseas Tongans. Australian National University, M.A.

Horan, Jane 1997 The production of textile koloa as 'development' in the kingdom of Tonga: a case study of culture, development and anthropology. University of Auckland, M.A.

Lo'au Newsletter

The Lo'au Research Society produced its first newsletter in February, 1999. The society's objectives are "To promote critical thinking and disinterested inquiry in all disciplines of research [and] To promote critical thinking and disinterested inquiry in the studies of Tongan culture and history". Contact: Siosiua Lafitani, 82A Wakefield Gardens, Ainslie ACT Australia 2602.

Reviews

Queen Salote of Tonga: The story of an era 1900-1965, Elizabeth Wood-Ellem.

Auckland: Auckland University Press, 1999. xix, 376pp., photos, maps, figs, glossary, notes, bibliog., index. NZ$69.95 (hardcover) ISBN 1-86940-205-7 [Reviewed by Helen Morton]

As I read this book, I frequently turned back to its beautifully designed cover, in rich blue tones and with a striking photograph of Queen Salote gazing directly at the camera. It is a carefully arranged photograph, with the Queen seated amongst draped ngatu (decorated barkcloth), holding a fan and wearing a delicate head decoration, but it is her expression that kept drawing me back: what was she thinking as she posed, regal and relaxed, yet unsmiling? We will never know, but with Wood-Ellem's wonderful biography we can now gain an understanding of this woman, Salote, and see beneath her mantle of monarchy and the mythology that has shaped popular memories of her reign.

Queen Salote Tupou III ruled the kingdom of Tonga from 1918 until her death in 1965, and is revered in Tongan memories as a strong and wise leader. Wood-Ellem's biography also depicts her in this way, but fills out this picture by closely examining all facets of Salote's life and, as the subtitle indicates, by situating Salote's story within that of the wider events in Tonga and beyond. The historical details are meticulously researched and are presented in an engaging narrative which, far from being a dry recitation of events, reveals their complexities and the human frailties and strengths of the characters involved. The sheer depth of Wood-Ellem's knowledge, her gentle humour and her acute sensitivity to 'the Tongan way', will help to make this book accessible - and fascinating - to Tongans and anyone with an interest in Tongan culture and history.

As becomes clear in the book's preface, Wood-Ellem was uniquely positioned to write this biography, from her birth and childhood in Tonga, her family's close association with Tonga's royal family, her inheritance of the task of writing the history the Queen originally asked Elizabeth Bott Spillius to write, and her research and continuing involvement with Tonga over the ensuing years. As Wood-Ellem points out, it was highly unlikely that an account such as this would be written by a Tongan, given Salote the powerful and enduring mana.

Although the book basically is ordered by the chronology of events from Salote's birth to the immediate aftermath of her death, each chapter of the book deals with a particular aspect of her life and reign. Thus, there are separate chapters focusing on topics such as church history, the judiciary, World War II, and, of course, Salote's famous attendance at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The story of these wider events and the people involved are carefully interwoven with the narrative of Salote's life. By this means Wood-Ellem builds an account of other significant Tongans of the time, about whom little has been written previously, including Salote's consort, Tung Mailefihi, and her half-sister Fusipala. Wood-Ellem also fills out the picture of Tongans' relationships with papalangi (Europeans) such as missionaries, consuls, judges, and traders, as well as the dynamics within the ever-changing population of papalangi residing in or visiting Tonga (see in particular Chapter Six). She reveals the tensions that often marked all of these relationships as well as the instances of co-operation and friendship. Where the historical record is unclear or unhelpful - for example, in explaining the motivations of Chief Justice William Stuart, whose actions divided the community - Wood-Ellem offers her own perceptive suggestions without pushing one particular viewpoint.

By going beyond the story of Salote to an account of that era of Tongan history, the book also provides a backdrop to our understanding of Tonga as it is today. In particular, the reader can gain many insights into the rule of the current king, Salote's eldest son, born Siaosi Taufa'ahau Tupoulahi in July 1918. Chapter Fifteen, "Mother and Sons", tells us much of his relationship with his mother, his upbringing, and his role in Tonga after his father's death in 1941. In Chapter Seventeen, "Changing Roles", Wood-Ellem describes the Queen's increasing reliance on the Crown Prince throughout the 1950s and we see the beginning of the 'opening up' of Tonga that came to characterise his own reign.

The main text is enhanced by 125 photographs which, like the cover portrait, invite more than one viewing. These photographs give faces to many of the names in the book as well as giving the reader a pictorial history of Salote from her early teens to her final years. In addition, there are numerous maps, genealogies, and diagrams, a detailed glossary, comprehensive notes and index, and a "Who's Who", all of which make this an invaluable resource and so much more than simply a biography.

* Orders can be made to Auckland University Press, Private Bag 92019, Auckland, NZ or see the AUP website: http://www.auckland.ac.nz/aup. For orders in the USA, ask your bookshop to contact the AUP US agents, Paul and Co., P.O. Box 442, Concord, MA. For orders of 10 copies a 40% discount is offered.

Critical Essays: Cultural Perspectives from the South Pacific. 'I.F.Helu, 1999. vi, 332pp., figs, illus., notes. ISBN 0-9595-477-9-7. AUD/US$26 plus $5 p&p. [Reviewed by Helen Morton]

For many years, students of Tongan culture and history have sought out Futa Helu, who has built a reputation as being both knowledgeable and approachable. He is known to have a perspective that often unsettles the 'official' versions of history and cultural knowledge; this perspective has been embodied since 1963 in his 'Atenisi Institute in Tonga. As the new web page for 'Atenisi states, "'Atenisi's educational perspective places criticism at the very heart of education". The Institute "upholds both intellectual independence and social democracy". Yet those who have sought Helu's wisdom have long been frustrated by the unavailability of much of his writing, most of which has gone unpublished until the Journal of Pacific History produced this compilation of thirty-five essays, addresses and lectures.

In his unique position as both Tongan and philosopher - at least, to my knowledge, the only one to have his work published - Helu has a certain freedom to think ideas through and make conjectures, where anthropologists or historians would proceed more cautiously, compiling evidence, and thereby losing the grander sweep of vision. Take, for example, Helu's "speculative history" of the effects of the early migrations within Polynesia (paper 14), in which he makes some intriguing and plausible suggestions about the origins of modern family dynamics and attitudes to food in Tonga.

In this collection, Helu brings his vast general knowledge to bear on each topic, using examples from historical events and from a range of thinkers to produce his own insights. The range of topics is extensive: language, education, politics, law, illness, dance, clothing, and so much more. Not all of the papers are about Tonga, or even the Pacific more generally - for example, the papers "Scientific method in ancient Greece" (8) and "A new basis for jurisprudence" (20), yet they all reveal the scope of his knowledge and his commitment to what Deryck Scarr refers to in his introduction as Helu's "sense of intellectual and social responsibility"(v). The influences on his thinking of his training at the University of Sydney in the 1960s, with philosopher John Anderson, are evident throughout the papers, as is his abiding interest in the modes of scientific thinking in ancient Greece. Helu's prose is engaging and readily accessible, and often enlivened by his dry humour.

Despite the vast range of topics covered in this volume, a number of themes recur: in particular, social change in Tonga and the Pacific, mythology and poetry, and gender relations. Helu's commitment to education is also demonstrated in a number of papers, and the cluster of four papers on the topic of education (24-27) give much food for thought, especially for those involved in higher education within the Pacific. The usefulness of the volume to other scholars would have been enhanced if the other papers had been similarly arranged, by theme. There appears to be no particular ordering within the collection, either thematically or chronologically, which makes it difficult for the reader to follow the development of Helu's ideas over time or to appreciate the scope of his ideas on any one topic. Instead, we find vastly different papers juxtaposed, and given the lack of an index this may make it difficult for some to make full use of the riches that lie within the covers of this book.

* Order from The Journal of Pacific History Inc., c/- Division of Pacific and Asian History, RSPAS, ANU, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia. Email: jterrell@coombs.anu.edu.au

Internet

THA Forum: Our association's discussion forum, which would greatly benefit from input from members, continues to receive a steady flow of messages.

http://www.pacificforum.com/kavabowl/tongahistory

THA Homepage: http://sunsite.anu.edu.au/spin/PACASSOC/TONGHIST/tonghist.htm

'Atenisi Institute:The Tongan site Kalianet now has a section on 'Atenisi Institute, with historical information, news from the research centre and Foundation for Performing Arts, publications, and other information. http://kalianet.candw.to/atenisi/institute/institute.html

South Pacific Island Web Atlas: A collection of maps by the University of the South Pacific, with up-to-date information. http://www.usp.ac.fj/~geography (or ~gisunit)

Pacific Women's Resource Bureau Online: Contains all the bureau's publications. http://www.spc.org.nc/women/

Pacific Studies Virtual Library: this is part of 'Alopi Latukefu's SPIN site and is a rich resource with many links to useful Tongan and other Pacific sites.

http://sunsite.anu.edu.au/spin/wwwvl-pacific

Pacific Links is a site listing links to Pacific web pages: http://www.cynetcity.com/deepwaters/191/pacific.htm

TONGAN BIBLIOGRAPHY: The URL has changed yet again - hopefully for the last time! The bibliography can now be found at:

http://www.webzines-vancouver.bc.ca/AnthroGlobe/biblios/biblio_tonga.html

The bibliography is not a THA site but THA members will find it a useful resource and can make it even more useful by helping to make it as comprehensive as possible. Please send your contributions to Helen Morton (address below).

THA Executive

President: Professor Futa Helu, 'Atenisi Institute, PO Box 90, Nuku'alofa, Tonga.

Fax: 676-24819.

Vice-President: Dr Elizabeth Wood-Ellem, 28 View St, Alphington 3078, Victoria, Australia. E-mail: eowe@rubens.its.unimelb.edu.au

Secretary-Treasurer (Tonga): Ms Salote Fukofuka, USP Centre, PO Box 278, Nuku'alofa, Tonga. E-mail: Salote@TONGA.USP.AC.FJ

Secretary-Treasurer (Overseas) / Newsletter Editor: Dr Helen Morton, School of Sociology, Politics and Anthropology, La Trobe University, Bundoora 3083, Victoria, Australia. E-mail: h.morton@latrobe.edu.au Fax: (03) 9749-2705.

Committee members: Mrs 'Eseta Fusitu'a, Prime Minister's Office, PO Box 62, Nuku'alofa, Tonga; Mrs Meredith Filihia, 6/18-20 Rosanna Rd, Heidelberg 3081, Victoria, Australia.

THA CONSTITUTION: Any members who would like a copy of the THA Constitution please contact Helen Morton.

PAYMENT OF DUES: Our financial year is from July to June, so dues should be renewed by the end of June each year. When sending dues please address checks or money orders to the Tongan History Association, except for those sending to the USA rep., in which case send payable to Adrienne Kaeppler. Dues are $10 per year or $35 per five years for salaried members, and $5 per year and $18 per five years for students/unsalaried members (all amounts in the currency of your country e.g. 10 dollars/pounds/pa'anga etc). When you send your dues, please give a mail address so the newsletter can be posted to you.

Dues can be sent to any of the following THA representatives:

Tonga: Salote Fukofuka (see above)

New Zealand: Edgar Tu'inukuafe, 36 Sequoia Place, Sunnynook, Auckland 1310, N.Z.

USA: Dr Adrienne Kaeppler, Department of Anthopology, National Museum of Natural History MRC 112, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C. 20560.

Europe: Dr Paul van der Grijp, CREDO, Centre de la Vieille Charité, 2 rue de la Charité, F-13002 Marseille, France. Tel. 33 4 91 14 07 79. Fax 33 4 91 14 07 88. E-mail: credo@ehess.mrs.fr

Australia: Helen Morton (see above)

Call for Contributions

Many thanks to those who sent in information for this newsletter. Readers are invited to contribute to the next newsletter, planned for October 1999. Book reviews, news of current research, details of recent published or unpublished material on Tonga or Tongans overseas, requests for information, or any other relevant items will be most welcome. Please send these items to Helen Morton ( address above).

Some of the information in the newsletters is drawn from the ASAO newsletter and Centre for South Pacific Studies newsletter: both are excellent sources of information on the Pacific. To join ASAO and receive the newsletter contact Jan Rensel, 2499 Kapi'olani Blvd #2403, Honolulu, HI 96826 USA. Email: rensel@hawaii.edu. For the CSPS newsletter write to the Director, Centre for South Pacific Studies, University of NSW, Kensington NSW 2052, Aust.

I will be resigning as Secretary-Treasurer (Overseas) - and thus as newsletter editor - as of the General Meeting to be held at the June 1999 THA conference. I would like to thank all THA members who have contributed to the newsletter over the past four and half years for their greatly valued input, and urge you all to assist the new editor by contributing in future. Until the next newsletter, which will have contact details for the new editor, please continue to send your contributions to me; alternatively keep an eye on the THA forum where an announcement will be made about the new editor as soon as possible after the conference.

*THA logo thanks to 'Alopi Sione Latukefu, from the THA discussion forum site.

Return to Newsletter Index

Return to the Tonga Research Association Home Page