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Anthropology ProgramTongan History Association NewsletterVol.7 No.2, October 1996THA Constitution Attached to this issue of the THA newsletter is a draft constitution for your consideration.The constitution has been compiled from constitutions of similar associations, such as the Pacific History Association, with the specific nature of THA taken into account. It is intended to clarify and formalise the operation of THA, and we have tried to keep it as simple and straightforward as possible. It will speed up our General Meeting at the conference if you have already read the draft and either forwarded comments and suggestions to me (Helen Morton) or at least prepared them for discussion. For those of you on email and/or internet, two venues for raising matters relating to the constitution are the THA discussion list (email) and the THA discussion forum (internet): see below for details. Conferences and EventsThe eagerly awaited Tongan History Association conference is approaching: 28-31 January, 1997, at the Australian National University in Canberra. The theme is `Tonga: World War II to the Present'. A preliminary program is attached to the newsletter. For any further information, contact `Alopi Latukefu by email <Alopi.Latukefu@anu.edu.au> or chairperson of the conference convenors, Deryck Scarr, in the Division of Pacific and Asian History, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. 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> THA member Paul van der Grijp writes that he will be chairing a session at this conference on Local Economic History (a.o. local realities and global connections, subsistence and cash, change and continuity). Those interested to participate in this session are invited to contact him: Weezenhof 67-55, 6536 BG Nijmegen, The Netherlands. People Wendy Arbeit spent two weeks in Tonga recently filming aspects of the King's birthday celebrations and other events. Since returning to Hawai`i she has continued work on a 25-minute educational video about the art and culture of the Pacific Islands to be used in social studies classes, grades 7-12.
Fax Numbers and Email Addresses Aletta Biersack: Fax: 541-346-0668 (USA); email: <abiersac@oregon.uoregon.edu> New MembersMeredith Filihia is an M.A. student in history at La Trobe University, Melbourne. Meredith taught at Tupou High for three years, then at Taufa`ahau Pilolevu High in Ha`apai for a year. Her MA looks at the Tu`i Tonga investiture ceremony, comparing it with Tahitian investiture rituals, and is due to be completed by the end of 1998. Meredith also teaches fulltime at Loyola College in Melbourne. Her address is 4/9 Burton St., Chadstone 3148, Victoria. Phone: 03-9807-7979. Frances Reardon Finney is an M.A. student in anthropology at the Australian National University in Canberra. The tentative title of her thesis is `Migration, Gender and an Overseas Tongan Community'. Frances is working with Tongans in Canberra for her thesis. She also works fulltime in the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs. Her address is 10/43 Kirkland Cct, Macgregor 2615, ACT. Email: <Frances.Reardon@anu.edu.au> Gareth Grainger. Address is 1/74 Elizabeth Bay Rd, Elizabeth Bay 2011, NSW, Australia. Phone: 02-356-4824 or 02-334-7834. Fax: 02-334-7968 Garth Hamblin has made some Tongan friends in Alaska, and is now learning Tongan and reading about Tonga, and has joined the THA. His address is 3870 Killewich, Juneau, Alaska 99801. Phone 907-789-7294. Garth's email address is <ghamblin@ptialaska.net> Maris King: 51 Cambridge Drive, Alexandra Hills, Queensland 4161 Bonita Maywald: 2 Baseby Place, Kambah, NSW 2902. Paul Taylor is a volcanic geologist, or vulcanologist, with interest in the active volcanoes and the processes occurring in the southwest Pacific. He is particularly interested in the volcanoes of Tonga and the effect that they have had on the population through time. One area of great interest is the use of myths and legends to enhance the geological history of an area. Paul completed a Bsc in Geology at Macquarie University, Sydney, then went into an Msc which looked at the volcanic island of Niuafo`ou. He is currently involved in further work on Niuafo`ou and a detailed study fo the active volcanoes including Tofua, Late, Fonualei, etc. PO Box 291, Pymble, NSW 2073. Phone: 02-9878-4990. Email: <avitaylor@peg.apc.org> John Uri is the co-ordinator of the Multicultural Youth Project in Campbelltown in Sydney, a project funded by the NSW Department of Community Services. He is also convener of the South Pacific Issues Network with members comprising mainly Pacific Islander community workers. John's email address is <uri@enternet.com.au> Changes to Members' AddressesKerry James: correction to the address given in the last newsletter: 10 Curtin (not Curtain) Avenue, Wahroonga, NSW 2076, Australia. Adrienne Kaeppler: the correct address is Department of Anthropology, Natural History Building MRC 112, Washington, D.C. 20560, USA Helen Morton: School of Sociology and Anthropology, La Trobe University, Bundoora 3083, Victoria, Australia. (Home address remains the same) John Spurway: P.O Box S 214, Homebush South, 2140, NSW Australia. Ph.: 02-746-5753. Melenaite Taumoefolau: Pacific Studies Centre, University of Auckland, Private Bag 92019, Auckland NZ Recent PublicationsAhlburg, Dennis 1996 `Remittances and income distribution in Tonga' Population Research and Policy Review 15 (4):391-400. Burley, David 1995 `Contexts of meaning: beer bottles and cans in contemporary burial practices in the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga' Historical Archaeology 29 (1):75-83 Douaire-Marsaudon, Francoise 1996 `Neither black nor white: the father's sister in Tonga' The Journal of the Polynesian Society 105 (2):139-164 Faeamani, Sione `U 1995 `The impact of remittances on rural development in Tongan villages' Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 4 (1):139-155 Gailey, Christine Ward 1996 `Women and the democratization movement in Tonga: nation versus state, authority versus power' Women's Studies International Forum 19 (1/2): 169-178 George, Lisa O'Rourke 1995 `Ethnomedicine in the Tongan islands' Harvard Papers in Botany 6:1 Gordon, Tamar 1995 Review of Paul van der Grijp's Islanders of the south: Production, kinship and ideology in the Polynesian kingdom of Tonga' in L`Homme 135:185-186 Jowitt, Glenn 1995 `Planting the true vine' New Zealand Geographic 27:84 [re Tongan community in Auckland building a new church complex] Kaeppler, Adrienne 1993 (with Christian Kaufmann and Douglas Newton) L`Art Oceanien. Paris: Citadelles and Mazenod. Kavapalu, Helen 1995 `Power and personhood in Tonga' Social Analysis 37. Pollard, Kelvin 1996 `The 1996 Olympics: and the winner is - Tonga?' Population Today 24 (9):3 Thaman, Konai Helu 1995 `Concepts of learning, knowledge and wisdom in Tonga, and their relevance to modern education' Prospects 25 (4):723 Vete, Mele Fuka 1995 `The determinants of remittances among Tongans in Auckland' Asian and Pacific Migration Journal 4 (1):55-68. **Thanks to THA discussion list member, Orion Pozo, for letting me know about some of the recent publications; and to Aletta Biersack for passing on the PAMBU newsletter (see below). Pacific Manuscripts BureauFurther details on the microfilming project mentioned in the last THA newsletter are available in the Pambu Newsletter, Series 5, No. 3, May 1996. The report briefly outlines the judicial system in Tonga, the location of relevant records, and some background information on the filming project. A list of records filmed by Pambu is given, and more details on the Government letterbooks filmed. The report also notes that moves are afoot to make stronger arrangements for the preservation of Tonga Government archives in general, and Pambu is encouraging this. Hon. Vou Vaea, Secretary of the Tonga Traditions Committee, and the Palace Archivist, Ms `Ami Latu are interested in having the holdings of the Palace Archives and the records of the Traditions Committee microfilmed; however due to the desire for continued Tongan control over these records Pambu cannot microfilm them. Funding from other sources will be sought. The Traditions Committee will consider an application from Pambu to film the Veikune genealogy but it seems unlikely to be approved, once again because this would remove access to the record from Tongan control. The report also mentions that the Archives of the Catholic Diocese of Tonga do not appear to contain the set of Ko e Makaasini a Koliji (the magazine published by Tupou College in the 1890s). Theses from the Pacific Theological College submitted from 1968 to 1993 have now been microfilmed by Pambu (PMB 1084). For further information on Pambu's Tongan project, contact Ewan Maidment, Fax: 06-249-0198, email: <pambu@coombs.anu.edu.au> South Pacific Economic and Social DatabaseThe SPESD is a comprehensive source of official statistical and economic data gathered from agencies throughout the South Pacific. Eighteen categories of data are maintained (eg education, health, foreign aid, tourism...) as well as relevant working papers, monographs and policy papers. The SPESD is managed by the Islands/Australia Program at the National Centre for Development Studies at the Australian National University and is available in disk and hardcopy formats. For further information contact `Alopi Latukefu, SPESD, National Centre for Development Studies, ANU, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia. Fax: +(616) 257 2886. William Mariner's DescendantTHA member Roger Cowell visited Denis McCulloch, great great grandson of William Mariner. He reports on his visit: Early this year, while re-reading the 1981 reprint of Martin's `An account...', I noticed that the Preface's writer, a Mr Denis Joroyal McCulloch, lived then in Oxfordshire. Inquiries showed he'd moved, but a letter to the Oxford Times resulted in his contacting me, and our arranging a date for me to visit him, in his current home in Colwall, Herfordshire, about 2 hours by train from Oxford. Mr McCulloch, a fit 77 year old, originally from Queensland, entertained me from late morning until late afternoon. Over lunch, he told me of visiting Australia, New Zealand and Tonga, in 1980, referring warmly to the late Garth Rogers, Harry and Honore Maude, Patricia Matheson, and many others. Having devoted his life to his family history, he has assembled an impressive amount of material - books, documents, original letters by Mariner, photographs, genealogies and prints - about William Mariner and his descendants, and on his life as a stockbroker after returning from Tonga to England. Of particular interest was Mariner's account of the Exchequer Bills Affair, a financial scandal in which Mariner was implicated, and cleared his name. McCulloch's card index runs to over 450 entries, and he has a three drawer filing cabinet, two bookshelves, and the entire collection housed in two rooms of his house. I had an entertaining day, as Mr McCulloch has intimate knowledge of, and great love and enthusiasm for his ancestor. In the time available to me, it was impossible to get more of an overview of the material, and I anticipate a return visit soon. Currently, Mr McCulloch is writing a 500 word article on Mariner for a forthcoming revision of the Dictionary of National Biography (Oxford University Press). For me, it added a living dimension to my knowledge of Tongan History. InternetThere have been numerous compliments from many parts of the world about the THA homepage, set up by `Alopi Latukefu. It has also brought in quite a few new members, so it has been well worth his hard work. For those of you who have not had a look at it yet, the address is: http://sunsite.anu.edu.au/region/spin/PACASSOC/TONGHIST/tonghist.htm The May newsletter is already on the homepage, however this newsletter (October) and future newsletters will only be available after a six-month lag. The homepage now offers links to other Tongan and Pacific sites. The SPIN pages are particularly well worth a look. There is also a THA discussion list, which has already had some interesting contributions. Hopefully as the conference approaches it will liven up even more! Its address is tonga-history-l@sunsite.anu.edu.au and to subscribe you should mail to majordomo@sunsite.anu.edu.au with the command subscribe tonga-history-l in the body of the message. As well as this, `Alopi Latukefu and Taholo Kami have put up the Tongan History Discussion Forum, which can be linked through the THA homepage and Tonga Online. This forum is open to anyone and will be useful to people who are not on email. The direct address is: http://www.netstorage.com/kami/forum/tongahistory/ `Alopi also hopes to open a Conference page which could be used as a discussion list and/or a forum to bring up various issues. Tonga Online's address is now http://www.netstorage.com/kami/tonga/tstonga.htm There is a surprising amount on the internet relating to Tonga and the Pacific more generally. Apart from the Kava Bowl forum and Tonga Online, mentioned in the last newsletter, there is the Polynesian Cafe; Polynesia, Polynesia - A Cultural Heritage Society; CocoNET wireless, with Pacific news and info; as well as many sites on Tonga that provide maps, slides, holiday information, news, sports, etc. It can be quite overwhelming but also fascinating and with so much going on in Tonga lately it is a good way to get news and opinions very quickly. Election of Office BearersElections of THA office bearers will occur at the General Meeting to be held at the conference in Canberra, January 1997. Now is the time to start thinking of possible candidates, and although there will be no formal nomination process as the Constitution is not yet in place, any suggestions are welcome. Current office bearers are: MEMBERSHIP: $10 one year or $35 five years. Students $5 one year, $18 five years. Please address checks or money orders to Tongan History Association, except for those sending dues to US representative, in which case send payable to Adrienne Kaeppler. Payments are from July 1 to June 30 each year. Country representatives: Tonga: Salote Fukofuka (see above) Return to Newsletter Index Content Approved by: Head of School
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