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Anthropology ProgramTongan History Association NewsletterVol.7 No.1, May 1996Membership - Urgent Call to All MembersMany THA members are neglecting to pay their annual dues!! Please remember that your dues pay for the production of the newsletter and more importantly they go towards assisting scholars from Tonga to attend our conferences. While the THA membership is looking healthy, with new members joining, the dues coming in from existing members are slowing to a trickle. If you wish to continue receiving the newsletter please renew your subscription. There is a form at the end of the newsletter that you may wish to use to update your details, and a list of overseas representatives. There is now a representative from the USA (thanks Adrienne!) so those of you who have been patiently waiting please forward your dues to her. The executive have decided to introduce a five-year subscription, for $35 (salaried) and $18 (student), which may cut down some of the complications of renewing memberships. Remember, subscriptions are due at the beginning of July. Vice-PresidentThe executive has invited Elizabeth (Pesi) Wood Ellem to step in as vice-president until the next general meeting, and Pesi has graciously accepted. THA-TNC Archieve In 1993 the Tongan History Association - Tongan National Centre Archive was established and researchers were requested to send reprints or copies of their writings on Tonga, together with a 3"x5" index card detailing author, title, place and date of publication. The director of the centre, Afu Taumoepeau, reports that only 11 or 12 papers have been sent. To get the archive established much more is needed, so please remember to send copies of your work soon. Send to Afu at the Tongan National Centre, PO Box 2598, Nuku`alofa, Tonga. Conferences and EventsThe 1996 Annual Meeting of the ASAO (Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania) was held in Kailua-Kona, Hawai`i, February 6-12 1996. The THA had a very good representation at this conference with members Phyllis Herda, Adrienne Kaeppler, Barbara McGrath, Helen Morton, Nancy Pollock, and Jehanne Teilhet-Fisk in attendance. Although a planned session on `Tonga: ties from the local to the international' was unfortunately not scheduled, numerous papers on Tonga were discussed at this meeting. THA members' contributions included: Phyllis Herda: `The creation of koloa: women's wealth in Tonga' and `The transfiguration of koloa in Tonga' Nancy Pollock: `Cloth, cash and gendered economies in Futuna'. Nancy also contributed to a session on `Sustaining Islanders: political ecology and Pacific Island nations' Jehanne Teilhet-Fisk: `Hair as sacred cordage', `The Heilala Festival' and `A reconstruction of the meanings of hair in ancient Polynesia: hair wigs, hairstyles, hair embellishments, and hair objects' Adrienne Kaeppler: `Kie Hingoa'. Adrienne also acted as discussant in a session on `Weaving the World: Cloth in Oceania' Helen Morton contributed to the informal session on `Cultural memory/cultural identity', discussing her work with Tongans in Melbourne. Other presentations on Tonga included: Mike Evans (Norther British Colombia): `Beyond money: cultural impediments to the development of class in a Tongan village'. Leialoha Perkins (Hawaii-West Oahu): `Folk structures in Pacific oral traditions' Susan Philips (Arizona): `How Tongan magistrates' courts deal with bad language'. Heather Young Leslie (McMaster): `...Like a mat being woven' and `Hands across the water: Tongan women's katoanga exchanges' Mike Evans and Charlie Stevens (Arizona) organised the session on `Sustaining Islanders: political ecology and Pacific Island nations' and both spoke about Tonga. A very successful dinner was held during the conference for people interested in Tonga, and some active recruiting done on behalf of the THA! Tongan History Association Conference Our biennial conference will be held 28-31 January, 1997 at the Australian National University in Canberra. Conference theme is `Tonga: World War II to the Present'. Papers are called for in the following categories: World War II; Economic History; Law and Politics; Religion; Education; Perceptions of the Past; Tonga in the Wider World. These are very broad categories, but if you have a paper that you feel does not fit anywhere, please still let the organisers know. For information contact `Alopi Latukefu, National Centre for Development Studies, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia. Email: <Alopi.Latukefu@anu.edu.au> Please note that committee chair Deryck Scarr will be away until mid-July. * scheduling approximately 12 substantial papers, each of which will be around 45-50 minutes in duration, with another 30 minutes allowed for discussion. * having only one session at a time: no concurrent sessions * possibly having evening sessions if many papers are offered * allowing for the tabling of papers: i.e. providing multiple copies of a paper for distribution, without formally presenting the paper. This option may help those who rely on giving a paper to qualify for institutional funding to attend. * possibly having some sessions as workshop discussions * possibly having a session in Tongan * arranging an exhibition of material on Tonga at the National Library * Niel Gunson will be exhibiting his material on Tonga in the Menzies Library, ANU * possibly arranging the screening of films on Tonga, organised by the National Sound and Film Archive ** The conference will be "low key but with high standards"** The Pacific History Association: July 9-13, University of Hawai`i at Hilo. Conference theme is `History, Culture and Power in the Pacific'. For information contact Dr Letitia Hickson, Centre for Pacific Island Studies, University of Hawai`i at Manoa, Moore Hall, Room 215, 1890 East-West Road, Honolulu HI 96822. Fax: 808/956-7053 email: <ctisha@uhunix.uhcc.hawaii.edu> The 7th Pacific Festival of Arts, 8-23 September 1996 is to be in Western Samoa. THA member Marco Kappenberger is keen to meet any other THA members attending the festival: his address is below in `People'. The European Society for Oceanists (ESO): 13-15 December 1996, Copenhagen, Denmark. Conference theme is `Pacific Peoples in the Pacific Century: Society, Culture and Nature'. For information contact Bente Wolff, Institute of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen, Frederiksholms Kanal 4, DK-1220 Copenhagen K, Denmark. Fax: 45 3532 3465. Email: <es-bw@palais.natmus.min.dk> PeopleKerry James is now living in Sydney. Kerry and her partner, Antony Hooper, have established themselves as consultants under the name Hooper James Consultants, contactable at the address below. Kerry has recently spent some time in Tonga in this capacity. Marco Kappenberger: THA member in Western Samoa, asks whether any THA members are knowledgable about the archaeology and history of the important sites on the island of Savai`i. If so, he would be interested to correspond: his address is PO Box 1438, Apia. Helen Morton will continue with her 18-month research fellowship at the University of Melbourne until the end of June, when she will take up a three-year Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in the School of Sociology and Anthropology at La Trobe University. During this fellowship Helen will continue her work with Tongan migrants in Melbourne; her project is entitled `Children and Migration: Constructing Cultural Identities'. Helen recently visited Tonga briefly with her children. Elizabeth Wood Ellem has returned to live in Melbourne and is a Research Associate of the Department of History, the University of Melbourne. Fax Numbers and Email AddressesIan Campbell: <i.campbell@hist.canterbury.ac.nz> Steven Francis: Fax 9416-1827 (Aust.) Salote Fukofuka: <salote@tonga.usp.ac.fj> Ngalu Havea: Fax 054-41-7575 (Aust.) Phyllis Herda: <p.herda@auckland.ac.nz> Futa Helu: Fax 24-819 (Tonga) Henry Ivarature: Fax 675 260213 (PNG) Adrienne Kaeppler: Fax 202/357-2208 (Washington DC, USA) Barbara Burns McGrath: <bbmcgrat@u.washington.edu> Fax 206/685-9551 (Washington, USA) Ute Meiser: Fax 0202-740160 (Germany) Avigail Morris: Fax 972 7 356465 (Israel) Helen Morton: <h.morton@history.unimelb.edu.au> Fax 03-9479-2705 (Aust.) Richard Moyle: <rmm@antnov1.auckland.ac.nz> Fax 649-4747441 (NZ) Nancy Pollock: <nancy.pollock@vuw.ac.nz> Fax 04-471-2070 (NZ) Jehanne Teilhet-Fisk: Fax 904/644-8777 (Florida, USA) Any other members who would like their fax numbers and email addresses published in the newsletter please let me know. I also have a full membership list with postal addresses that you may request. New MembersWendy Arbeit is a film-maker whose work will be familiar to many members: she produced From mortal to ancestor - the funeral in Tonga. Lately Wendy has been covering the Tongan community in Honolulu for a program aired on the local public access TV station and is working on a short piece on their Constitution Day activities. Wendy can be contacted at PO Box 23296, Honolulu, Hawai`i, 96823. Her book Tapa in Tonga is listed in Recent Publications, below. Ngalu Havea is an ear, nose and throat surgeon who did his primary and secondary schooling in Tonga, then studied in Fiji and Melbourne, becoming a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Surgeons in 1990. Between 1981 and 1984 Ngalu worked at Vaiola Hospital. His address is 16 Valentine Street, Bendigo, Victoria 3550, Australia. Ute Meiser: An abstract of Ute's book on disabilities and adoption in Tonga, based on her PhD thesis, can be found below. Ute did her fieldwork on Tongatapu in 1991-2. She is now lecturing in the School for Social Science and Special Education in Wuppertal and plans to continue her research on Tonga. Her address is Fur Waldesruh 221, 42329 Wuppertal, Germany. Phone: 0202-740127; Fax 0202-740160 John Spurway is working on his PhD at Macquarie University, under the supervision of Associate Professor Stewart Firth. His thesis is entitled (subject to alteration): `Ma`afu and Tongan imperialism in Fiji'. His address is PO Box 616, Strathfield, NSW 2135, Australia. Changes to Members' AddressesSteven Francis: Ecumenical Migration Centre, PO Box 1389 Collingwood 3066, Victoria, Australia Kerry James: 10 Curtain Avenue, Wahroonga, NSW 2076, Australia. Tel/Fax: (61 2) 489 0841 Elizabeth Wood Ellem: 28 View Street, Alphington 3078, Victoria, Australia. Phone: 3-9499-6883 Recent PublicationsAla`ilima, Leiataua Vaiao et al 1995 New politics in the South Pacific. Suva: Institute for Pacific Studies, USP. Arbeit, Wendy 1995 Tapa in Tonga. Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press. Distributed by Palm Frond Publications, not for sale in Tonga. Biersack, Aletta 1996 `Rivals and wives: affinal politics and the Tongan ramage' in Origin, ancestry, and alliance, J. Fox and C. Sather (eds). Canberra: Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Australian National University. Brown, Richard and Adrian Walker 1995 Migrants and their remittances: results of a household survey of Tongans and Western Samoans in Sydney. Pacific Studies Monograph No. 17. Sydney: Centre for South Pacific Studies, University of New South Wales. Burley, David 1995 `Mata`uvave and 15th century Ha`apai: narrative accounts and historical landscapes in the interpretation of classical Tongan history' Journal of Pacific History 30 (2). Feinberg, Richard and Karen Ann Watson-Gegeo (eds) 1996 Leadership and change in the Western Pacific: essays presented to Sir Raymond Firth on the occasion of his 90th birthday . London School of Economics Monographs on Social Anthropology 66. London: Athlone. Fleming, Euan and J. Brian Hardaker 1996 Pacific Policy Paper 15, Agricultural development in Polynesia. Canberra: National Centre for Development Studies [Includes Tonga] James, Kerry 1995 Review of Arne Aleksej Perminow's The long way home: Dilemmas of everyday life in a Tongan village. Oceania 66 (1):75. Latukefu, Ruth 1996 Review of Paul van der Grijp's Islanders of the south: Kinship and ideology in the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga. Oceania 66 (3):255-256. Latukefu, Sione 1995 `Tonga at independence and now' in Lines across the sea: colonial inheritance in the post colonial Pacific, B. Lal and H. Nelson (eds). Brisbane: Pacific History Association. Mageo, Jeannette and Alan Howard (eds) 1996 Spirits in culture, history, and mind. New York: Routledge. [Nine case studies from the Pacific on religious phenomena] Matangi Tonga October-December 1995 Includes articles on Sam Wong's latest plans for Tonga, pre-election news, private bills, and an interview with Hon. Fusitu`a. January-March 1996 Includes articles on the Reserve Bank's warning to slow down imports, Fiji as a market for Tongan produce, the elections, and an interview with Princess Pilolevu Tuita Vava`u Press Ltd, PO Box 427, Nuku`alofa, Tonga. Meiser, Ute 1995 Sie leben mit den Ahnen: Krankheit, Adoption und Tabukonflikt in der polynesisch-tonganischen Kultur. Schriften zur Ethnopsychoanalyse, Frankfurt: Brandes and Apsel. [see English abstract below] Morton, Helen 1996 Becoming Tongan: an ethnography of childhood. Honolulu: University of Hawai`i Press. Pacific Health Dialog 1995 Special issue: `AIDS, STD and Sexuality in the Pacific'. Vol. 2 (2). [Some papers on Tonga] Pacific Islands Communications Journal 1995 Special issue: `Media freedom in the South Pacific'. Vol. 16 (2). [Some papers on Tonga] Pacific Journal of Theology London Missionary Society Commemorative Issue on `The Legacy of Christian Mission in the Pacific'. Includes a tribute by Doug Munro to Sione L_t_kefu and a bibliography of L_t_kefu's writings. [Contact: South Pacific Association of Theological Schools, PO Box 2426 GB, Suva, FIJI; fax: 679-307-005] Perminow, Arne Aleksej 1995 `"Recreational" drinking in Tonga: kava and the constitution of social relationships' Canberra Anthropology 18 (1&2):119-135. Pollock, Nancy 1995 `Introduction: The power of kava' Canberra Anthropology 18 (1&2):1-16. [Nancy edited this Special Issue on `The power of kava'] Taylor, Paul 1995 `Myths, legends and volcanic activity: an example from northern Tonga' Journal of the Polynesian Society 104 (3): 323-346. Another thesis to add to the list: McGrath, Barbara Burns 1993 Making Meaning of Illness, Dying and Death in the Kingdom of Tonga. PhD University of Washington, Seattle, Washington. Pacific Manuscripts BureauPambu has microfilmed key archives of the Tonga Ministry of Justice, including all births, deaths and marriage records to the early 20th century available in the Nuku`alofa Registry; Land Court minute books, 1923-1940, and case files, 1947-1992; Supreme Court case registers, 1905-1992; and miscellaneous judgements of the Supreme Court, Courts of Appeal and Privy Council. A third stage of the project, targeting 20th century births and deaths registers, is being considered for 1997. Two Tongan Government letterbooks, 1873-74, 1880-83, were discovered in the `Justice Archives' in Nuku`alofa and also filmed. Pambu is awaiting permission to film four more volumes in the same series, 1884-1890, now held at the State Library of Victoria. For information contact Ewan Maidment, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau, ANU, Canberra 0200, Australia. Tel. (06) 2492521; Fax (06) 2490198. Email: pambu@coombs.anu.edu.au Abstract Ute Meiser's book title translates as "Living among ancestors: illness, adoption and taboo within the Polynesian-Tongan culture". If any THA members read German and would like to review the book, please contact Ute (address under New Members, above). The following is an abstract provided by the author [emphases in original]: Based on Paul Parin's theories of group-ego, adaptation, aggression and the social role, the author reflects the cultural conceptions of socialization, adoption and illness. Besides other important functions, adoption is - similar to the significance of neutralizing tensions in rituals - another cultural possibility of coping with chronic diseases. Children are not expected to live permanently in the nuclear family, nor are they attached to their parents in a way European children are. The trauma of having a child with chronic impairments, and aggressions that may occur in the mother-child relationship, do not necessarily lead to family problems. Giving the child to another person, that acts like the mother, means `sharing' the conflicts as much in the same way as the economic system of exchange allows people to share basic products and supplies. The widespread practice of adoption in Oceania can be considered as a cultural phenomenon, embedded in the traditional social and economic system. The adoptee becomes a `channel' between the various Clans, where goods and gifts are exchanged and transferred through - and in the relationship to foreigners. Therefore, adoption implies a specific cultural possibility of dealing with foreign people. In the centre of her analysis, the author presents two case studies - an adolescent girl and a Tongan woman - based on long-term interviews over a period of about one year. Meiser analyzes the psychodynamic development, transference and countertransference, in the relationship to her informants. In giving ethno-psychoanalytical interpretations which are mainly based on the concepts of Weiss, Morgenthaler and Erdheim, the author illuminates the subject's position and perceptions within a changing society. She analyzes the individual's struggle in coping with modernization, especially within a Western oriented health system that causes isolation and produces marginalization. Meiser shows how the individual percieves cultural transformation processes. In developing specific mechanisms of adaptation and on the other hand strategies of refusal, the individual intends to protect his or her own cultural concept and participates actively in the process of cultural changes. Book Review(Contributed by Elizabeth Wood Ellem) The Church of England in Tonga was born twice, on both occasions as a form of protest. The first birth was in 1899, by (ex-Rev) Shirley Baker, after the Free Church refused to give him nine years' back pay. The second birth was a protest by the supporters of `Ofa-ki-Vava`u, when Tupou II chose to marry Lavinia Veiongo, not `Ofa. There was a third protest involved, because Bishop Alfred Willis had been forced to relinquish his diocese in Hawaii when those islands were annexed by the United States of America, and then came to Tonga, in 1902. This book is not a biography of Willis, since his colourful and contentious career in Hawaii is only just touched upon, but it is the first detailed account of the coming of the Church of England to Tonga. During Willis's 18 years in Tonga, the Church of England took root, but did not flourish, a major blow being the death of a number of his flock in the Spanish influenza epidemic of 1918. Part of the reason for the smallness of the church was Willis's own supreme arrogance. Assuming against evidence that the Church of England would become the national church of Tonga, he made unreasonable demands - for grants of land on the Mala`e Pangai and the Mala`e Kula, for example. Willis was not enthusiastic about indigenous ministry. While in Tonga, he arranged for the ordination in 1910 of only one priest, his Chinese assistant, the hard-working Yim Sang Mark (who ran the school and food gardens as well as acting as interpreter and secretary). A Tongan deacon served for only one year before he died, but Willis licensed untrained and unpaid layreaders to care for parishes, visiting them every 4-6 months. Not only did Willis "fail to foster local initiative or responsibility", but the church was almost entirely dependent on overseas funding, including a subsidy from Willis's own resources. Within three years of his arrival in Tonga Willis had translated 100 hymns into Tongan. And he would translate part of the Bible before he died (in England) in 1920. Stephen Donald has a "just in time" arrangement with Colcom Press to produce copies of the book as required. This will, I hope, allow correction of the many errors in the text. The most glaring of these are the omission of names (there are blanks on pages 13-14); repeated lines (pages 16 and 19); missing and transposed words, and dozens of missing and misplaced full stops. The poor quality of the printing is very distracting for the reader. A list of abbreviations would be helpful. Video(Contributed by Elizabeth Wood Ellem) Those THA members who attended the 1992 THA conference will recall the occasion when Princess Pilolevu bestowed the mat_pule title Mafi Fakapotu on the PCC's President, Lester W. B. Moore. Mafi Fakapotu presented his pongipongi to H.M. T_ufa`_hau Tupou IV on 18 July 1993. This was, according to the blurb, the first royal kava ceremony outside the kingdom of Tonga. Dr. Eric Shumway, the only other Caucasian foreigner to hold a Tongan chiefly title, gave the principle oration. Two of His Majesty's mat_pules , Motu`apuaka and T_kapu, were present. The ceremony gave Tongan students at BYU the opportunity to participate in the taumafa kava. Although I have looked at the video, I cannot review it (as I have no expertise re the taumafa kava), so I simply quote the sleeve of the video: "Every Tongan grows up believing in his heart that Tonga is the best of all possible worlds. As this days ends, the generosity of spirit which unifies Tongans everywhere has embraced a world of many different cultures in a new unity, genuine love, and a shared respect for each other. "In this manner, the title, Mafi Fakapotu, is bestowed in a Centre far away from the homeland yet close to the king's heart. By it, His Majesty leaves part of his duty - the charge that all men come together in freedom, spirit, cultural respect and sharing. "For it is these values which typify the reign of T_ufa`_hau Tupou IV, both in the Kingdom of Tonga and among all the people of the Pacific." Publication of Proceedings from 1993 THA ConferenceAfu Taumoepeau reports that 17 papers have been received thus far, and that the publications committee is awaiting 4-5 further papers. For those of you yet to send papers, please hurry: we are all eagerly awaiting this publication! Internet/World Wide WebTHA is on the internet!! Thanks to the efforts of `Alopi Sione Latukefu, son of our late President, we now have an impressive Tongan History Association Homepage and Discussion List. The homepage includes the introduction and foreward from Herda, Terrell and Gunson (eds) Tongan Culture and History, which give the background of THA's formation; a call for papers for the 1997 conference; information about the newsletter, with some of the early issues for viewing; registration details; and Niel Gunson's tribute to Sione Latukefu. The address is: http://sunsite.anu.edu.au/region/spin/PACASSOC/TONGHIST/tonghist.htm `Alopi advises that it is best viewed on netscape. The discussion list is called tonga-history-l@sunsite.anu.edu.au To subscribe, mail to majordomo@sunsite.anu.edu.au with the command subscribe tonga-history-l in the body of the message. The homepage is already resulting in inquiries about the THA, so may increase our membership significantly. The establishment of the discussion list is well timed to enable exchange of ideas and information prior to the 1997 conference. The Kava Bowl is a forum for South Pacific Discussion, designed by Tongan Taholo Kami. URL: http://www.microstate.com/pub/micro/tonga/msg/msgs.html Another site is Tonga Online - The Kingdom of Tonga in Cyberspace (also created by Taholo Kami) URL: http://www.microstate.com/pub/micros/tonga/ Contact Mitch Levanthal, President, Microstate Ltd. email: <mitchlev@microstat.com> URL: http://www.microstate.com/pub/micros/ The Pacific Islands Network is based at the Australian National University. Contact Allison Ley, Dept. of Political and Social Change, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, ANU, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia. email: <allison@coombs.anu.edu.au> Fax: 06 249 5523 THA ExecutivePresident (interim): Professor Futa Helu, Director, `Atenisi Institute, PO Box 220, Nuku`alofa, TONGA Vice-President (interim): Dr Elizabeth Wood Ellem, 28 View Street, Alphington 3078, Victoria, AUSTRALIA (phone: 3-9499-6883) Secretary/Treasurer - Tonga: Ms Salote Fukofuka, USP Centre, PO Box 278, Nuku`alofa, TONGA Secretary/Treasurer - Overseas (interim): Dr Helen Morton, 2 Moran Street, Viewbank 3084, Victoria, AUSTRALIA Overseas Representatives 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. New Zealand: Edgar Tu`inukuafe, 36 Sequoia Place, Sunnynook, Auckland 1310 USA: Adrienne Kaeppler, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institute, Washington D.C. Europe: Paul van der Grijp, Weezenhof 67-55, 6536 BG Nijmegen, The Netherlands Australia: Helen Morton (see above) Call for ContributionsAs members of THA this newsletter is your opportunity to let people know what you are working on, what you have presented or published lately, information you would like, and so on. Please send any contributions to Helen Morton, 2 Moran Street, Viewbank 3084, Victoria, Australia. [email and fax: see above] Renewal and Membership FormI would like to join/renew my membership in the Tongan History Association. I enclose $10 regular/ $5 student/ $35 five-year regular/ $18 five-year student membership fees. Name:............................................................ Address:......................................................... Phone:........................ Fax:.............................. Email:............................ Anything you would like included in the newsletter (information to share or request, recent publications or theses, your interest in Tonga):........................................................... .................................................................. .................................................................. I have no record of the renewal of your membership in the Tongan History Association. This may be because the information was not passed on to me, so if you have paid please let me know - a brief email message will suffice. If you have not paid this will be the last newsletter sent to you: I hope you will renew your membership as we greatly value your involvement in this association. Return to Newsletter Index Content Approved by: Head of School
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