Humanities and Social Sciences

Anthropology Program

Tongan History Association Newsletter

Vol.9 No.1, May 1998

THA Conference 1998

The next THA conference will be held in Nuku'alofa, Tonga, in 1999. Dates will be finalised when the dates of school holidays in late August/early September '99 are decided; the conference will be held during these holidays to enable teachers in Tonga to participate. The conference theme is: "Versions of the Past, Visions of the Future: Tonga at the End of the Twentieth Century". At this stage we are still negotiating venues. Further details will be in the October newsletter, and on the THA web site. It would be most helpful if the organisers can receive expressions of interest from those wishing to present papers and/or attend the conference by October 1998. Abstracts of papers will be due in December 1998 and full versions of papers by May 1999. Contact Salote Fukofuka or Helen Morton (addresses page 6).

Conferences and Events

Association for Asian American Studies conference, Honolulu, Hawai'i, 24-28 June 1998, has the theme 'Rethinking Asian and Pacific Colonial/Post-colonial Nations, Identities, and Histories'. Email: aaasconference@cornell.edu Web site: http://www.aasp.cornell.edu

Pacific Images Film Festival, Hawai'i, July 1998, showcases the work of indigenous filmmakers from the Pacific. Further details from The Center for Pacific Island Studies, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, 1890 East-West Road, Honolulu, HI 96822.

Email: ctisha@hawaii.edu

International Small Islands Studies Association conference, Mauritius, 2-5 July 1998.

Email: thills@felix.geog.mcgill.ca (Prof. Theo Hills);

Web site: http://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/Centres/SouthPacific/ISISA.html

Pacific Representations: Culture, Identity, Media, University of Canberra, 22-25 September 1998, will focus on changing representations of the Pacific in the face of new global pressures and emerging local tensions. Contact Dr Alaine Chanter, Faculty of Communication, University of Canberra, ACT 2602, Australia. Fax: (02) 6247 3406; email: arc@comserver.canberra.edu.au

Pacific Islands Political Studies Association, Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury, New Zealand, 7-10 December 1998. The conference theme is 'Preparing for the Twenty-First Century'.

http://www.conference.canterbury.ac.nz/pipsa/hmpage.html

Association for Social Anthropology in Oceania (ASAO), Hilo, Hawai'i, 2-6 February 1999. For details check: http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/asao/pacific/hawaiki.html

The European Society for Oceanists (ESfO), Leiden, Netherlands, 27-29 May 1999. The conference theme is 'Asia in the Pacific'. Fax 31-071-5272632.

Email: isiresfo@rullet.leidenuni.nl

Members

The THA homepage now has a list of members (see 'Internet' below). Those of you who visit the THA discussion forum will have noted in February this year a discussion about the role and membership of our association. For those who did not see this, I described the diversity of our membership in response to comments that the association is narrowly historical in its focus: we currently have more anthropologists than historians as members, and many other fields are also represented, including political science, education, development studies, philosophy, law, ethnomusicology, linguistics, and volcanology. In addition, there are ministers of religion, directors of cultural centres, representatives from Tongan government, a librarian and a film-maker, and there are an increasing number of members (both Tongan and palangi) who are simply interested in Tonga and see the THA as a useful source of information.

Members' News

Roger Cowell reports that during his trip to Tonga, New Zealand and Australia earlier this year, he met with Siosiua Fonua at Tongasat, who confirmed hopes of opening the new National Museum of Tonga in time for the King's birthday in July. He also saw Vou Vaea at the Palace Office, who 'expressed keeness to make systematic recording of local traditions of title succession and folk memory, but emphasised the lack of resources of the Traditions Committee.'

'I Futa Helu has taken leave as Director of 'Atenisi Institute and gave his farewell lecture in April, entitled 'Suggestions for the Economic Development of Tonga'. Futa reports that he will still teach some courses at 'Atenisi and will also be writing.'Okusitino Mahina has taken over as Director.

Ruth Latukefu is now on email: ruthlatu@dynamite.com.au

Meredith Filihia has commenced research for her PhD at La Trobe University, with the title 'New Gods, Old Rituals: A Comparative Study of Ritual in Tonga and Tahiti from the Early Post-Contact Period to the Close of the Nineteenth Century'. Meredith will be presenting a paper at the PHA conference in Honiara in June, entitled 'A Comparative Study of Ritual in Tonga and Tahiti'.

Steven Francis has left for 18 months' fieldwork in Tonga. His email address in Tonga is

sfrancis@candw.to and his mail address is PO Box 2797, Nuku'alofa.

Bonita Maywald has changed address: 52 Argyle Square, Reid, ACT 2612 Australia. Email: bonita_maywald@ausaid.gov.au

Peter Nightingale has moved to 56 Aroha Ave, Mt Albert, Auckland, New Zealand.

New Members

Tuinukuafe Foukimoana: was a high school teacher for 15 years in the Pacific and in Ohio State. Currently Tuinukuafe is the owner of the Pacific Island Resources Centre in Duvall, Washington. Address: 12432-275th Ave NE, Duvall, Washington 98019, USA.

Rosaline Uaniva Havea is a graduate in Political Science and Industrial Relations from the University of NSW, Australia, and is currently doing postgraduate work in Industrial Relations and Human Resources Management at the University of Sydney. She also works full time in the field of Human Resources Management. Her address is c/- PCA, GPO Box 100, Sydney NSW 2001, and she is on email: pssd@ozemail.com.au

Tevita Langi: PO Box 868 Delta Junction, Alaska 99737. Email:

msg_tevita_langi@alaska.smtplink.amedd.army.mil

Viliami Latu: 5 Fyvie, Three Kings, Mt Roskill, Auckland, New Zealand. Email:

v.latu@auckland.ac.nz

J.V.T (Vinnie) Niukapu: 453 Ellerslie-Panmure Highway, Panmure 1006, Auckland, New Zealand. Email: vinnie@ihug.co.nz

Taliana Kakala Pasi is a sophomore at Brigham Young University - Hawai'i Campus. Her address is 54-269 Kaipapau Loop, PO Box 454, Hau'ula, HI 96717. Fax: (808) 293 2525.

Brooke Thomas is a student at Flinders University in South Australia, majoring in English but also studying South Pacific history. Brooke taught at Queen Salote College in 1994, and she is particularly interested in the pro-democracy movement. Her address is: "Kettering", 21 Beaumont Street, Clovelly Park, South Australia 5042. Email: thom0376@flinders.edu.au

Publications

Bataille, Marie-Claire and Georges Benguigui 1997 L'enjeu identitaire aujourd'hui au royaume de Tonga. In Tcherkézoff, Serge and Françoise Douaire-Marsaudon (eds) Le Pacifique-sud Aujourd'hui: Identités et transformations culturelles. Pp. 289-308. Paris: CNRS Editions.

Besnier, Niko 1997 'Sluts and Superwomen: The Politics of Gender Liminality in Urban Tonga', Ethnos 62 (1-2):5-31.

Books Pasifika has an extensive Tonga Catalogue - contact by e-mail: books@pasifika.co.nz or by mail: PO Box 68446, Newton, Auckland 1, New Zealand. Phone: (+64) (9) 303 2349 and fax: (+64) (9) 377 9528.

Brown, Richard 1998 'Do Migrants' Remittances Decline over Time? Evidence from Tongans and Western Samoans in Australia', The Contemporary Pacific 10 (1): 107-151.

Douaire-Marsaudon, Françoise 1997 Nourritures et richesses: les objets cérémoniels comme signes d'identité à Tonga et à Wallis. [Nutrition and wealth: ceremonial objects as tokens of identity in Tonga and Wallis] Tcherkézoff, Serge and Françoise Douaire-Marsaudon (eds) Le Pacifique-sud Aujourd'hui: Identités et transformations culturelles. Pp. 261-288. Paris: CNRS Editions.

Ewins, Rory 1997 'Tradition in the Politics of the Pacific: Interviews with Simione Durutalo and Bishop Patelesio Finau', The Contemporary Pacific 9 (2): 430-445.

Dreadlocks in Oceania: a journal of new writing and cultural debates in Oceania, published annually by the Department of Literature and Language, University of the South Pacific, PO BOx 1168, Suva, Fiji.

Garrett, John 1998 The History of Christianity in Oceania (volume 3). Available from IPS, Suva, for $US13, or $US36 for the three volumes. Fax: 679-301594

Gordon, Tamar 1998 'Border-crossing in Tonga: Marriage in the Field', in Julianna Flinn, Leslie Marshall and Jocelyn Armstrong (eds) Fieldwork and Families: Constructing New Models for Ethnographic Research, pp.130-141. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.

Gunson, Niel 1996 'Manuscript XIV Part 2: A further view from a consular verandah: Tonga 1885-86', Journal of Pacific History 31 (2):224-37.

Gunson, Niel 1997 'Great Families of Polynesia: Inter-Island Links and Marriage Patterns', Journal of Pacific History 32 (2): 139-152.

Gunson, Niel 1997 'British Missionaries and Sexuality: The Polynesian Legacy and its Aftermath', in H. Hiery and J. Mackenzie (eds) European Impact and Pacific Influence. London: German Historical Institute of London and Tauris Academic Studies.

James, Kerry 1998 'Tonga' [in 'Polynesia in Review: Issues and Events, 1 July 1996 to 30 June 1997], The Contemporary Pacific 10 (1): 236-9.

Latukefu, Sione 1997 'The Impact of the British on the Tongan Traditional Concept of Justice and Law', in H. Hiery and J. Mackenzie (eds) European Impact and Pacific Influence. London: German Historical Institute of London and Tauris Academic Studies.

Lay, Graeme and Evotia Tamua 1996 Pacific Pride: Tonga. Auckland: Pasifika Press.

Leslie, Heather Young 1998 'The Anthropologist, the Mother, and the Cross-Cultured Child: Lessons in the Relativity of Cultural Relativity' in Fieldwork and Families pp.45-59 [see Tamar Gordon, above].

Levine, Stephen 1997 Review of Stephanie Lawson's Tradition Versus Democracy in the South Pacific: Fiji, Tonga and Western Samoa. The Contemporary Pacific 9 (2): 510-513.

Lynch, John 1998 Pacific Languages: An Introduction. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press.

Mageo, Jeannette and Alan Howard (eds) 1996 Spirits in Culture, History, and Mind. New York: Routledge. [Chapter by Tamar Gordon on Tonga.]

McGrath, Barbara Burns 1998 'Through the Eyes of a Child: A Gaze More Pure?', in Fieldwork and Families pp.60-70 [see Tamar Gordon, above].

Morton, Helen 1998 'Creating Their Own Culture: Diasporic Tongans', The Contemporary Pacific 10 (1):1-30.

Nakamoto, Hirotsugu 1998 'Dilemmas and Difficulties of Economic Development in Tonga' Economic Journal 71. (The Economic Society, Daito Bunka University)

Neich, Roger and Mick Pendergrast 1998 Traditional Tapa Textiles of the Pacific. London: Thames and Hudson.

Ogawa, Kazuyoshi 1997 Tonga, Tenka Taiheiyou Monogatari [Story of the Peaceful Pacific]. Tokyo: Ryokonin.

Pepa, Kimi 1997 'Tongans in Niuean Oral Traditions: a Critique', Journal of Pacific History 32 (1):103-108

Poirine, Bernard 1998 'Should we Love or Hate MIRAB?', The Contemporary Pacific 10 (1): 65-106. [Includes discussion of Tonga]

Thaman, Konai Helu 1997 'Reclaiming place: towards a Pacific concept of education for cultural development', Journal of the Polynesian Society 106 (2):119-130.

Thaman, Konai Helu 1998 Review of Helen Morton's Becoming Tongan: An Ethnography of Childhood. The Contemporary Pacific 10 (1): 256-9.

Thomas, Nicholas 1997 In Oceania: Visions, Artifacts, Histories. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Women's Study Journal Spring 1997 issue is edited by Phyllis Herda and has the theme 'Indigenous Women in the Pacific'. Available from University of Otago Press, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand. Fax: (03) 479-8385.

White, Geoffrey and Lamont Lindstrom (eds) 1998 Chiefs Today: Traditional Pacific Leadership and the Postcolonial State. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Request for Information

Jean Marcel Franca has requested information on missionary George Vason, for a book he is researching on voyagers visiting Rio de Janeiro between 1531 and 1800. Anyone who can assist please contact Jean at: Rua Firmino Borges Escada 77, Lorena - SP - Brasil, 12600-000. Fax: 00-55-12-5521579; email: jean@visionet.com.br

THA Conference Papers

In the last newsletter a project was announced in which previously unpublished papers from the past THA conferences were to be published on our web site. Unfortunately there has been very little response to the letters sent out inviting people to contribute their papers to this project. To date I have only five papers either sent to me already or promised, including two in hard copy only. Therefore I have decided not to continue with this project for now; perhaps it can be revived at the next conference.

Internet

THA Homepage: the list of members is now on the page. If any members would like their entry expanded by adding a note about their research interests, publications, etc., please send me the details by email or on disk (WordPerfect, Word 6/7, or straight text)

The THA discussion forum has an altered address:

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

The forum has now been archived and continues to get a steady flow of postings on a range of issues. The forum is also being used for announcements about relevant events and conferences, for inquiries, etc, but receives very few contributions from THA members as yet.

Paideusis: Journal for Interdisciplinary and Cross-Cultural Studies This new electronic journal aims to be a meeting place for specialist from different fields, who would otherwise seldom come together. Deadline for submissions for the first volume, on the theme 'Change in Meaning and Values', is June 15, 1998. Volume 1, Number 2 will be on the topic 'Inventing Peace: Between the Roots and the Fruit of Conflict', with a submission deadline of November 6, 1998. The editor-in-chief, Cristian Suteanu invites THA members to contribute. For further details see the journal's web site:

Http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Parthenon/7867/ Or email: paideusis@geocities.com

Pacific Islands Studies syllabus and bibliography web site: a useful resource for both new and experienced teachers of Pacific studies, and for teachers wishing to include Pacific material in other courses. Http://library.kcc.hawaii.edu/psiweb/

Pacific Islands Report has new address: http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/PIReport/

Centre for Pacific Island Studies at the University of NSW, Australia, has a useful site:

http://www.arts.unsw.edu.au/Centres/SouthPacific

Macmillan Brown Centre, University of Canterbury, New Zealand:

http://www.pacs.canterbury.ac.nz

University of Hawai'i Press : http://www2.hawaii.edu/uhpress

TONGAN BIBLIOGRAPHY: Http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/AnthroGlobe/biblio_tonga.html

Thanks to Cyril Belshaw and AnthroGlobe (Kent University, UK), the online Tongan bibliography is now up and running and has recently been revised and updated. If you have bibliographic items already on disk (from papers, books, reports, etc) why not help build this into a truly comprehensive resource on Tonga? Please send any contributions to Helen Morton (address below), either within or attached to an email message, or on disk. I use WordPerfect 8 on Windows 95 - so early versions of WordPerfect, or Word 6/7 are OK, otherwise plain text is best. It will save me a great deal of time if you remove all formatting, quotation marks, italics, bold, etc.

The bibliography already contains separate sections listing theses and the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau's items related to Tonga (the latter kindly contributed by Ewan Maidment) and I hope to include other lists such as films, main archival holdings on Tonga, and internet sources. Contributions in these areas will be very welcome - particularly information on archives and libraries with significant holdings on Tonga.

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.

Payment of Dues

Our financial year is from July to June, so dues should be renewed by the end of June. In the top right hand corner of the first page of your newsletter is a box indicating the year in which you are due to renew your membership. If there is a question mark this indicates that I have not received details of your last payment from your country representative: please contact me directly with details of the date and amount of your last payment.

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). 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, Weezenhof 67-55, 6536 BG Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Australia: Helen Morton (see above)

Call for Contributors

Many thanks to those who sent in information for this newsletter. Readers are invited to contribute to the next newsletter, planned for October 1998. Brief 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 item will be most welcome. Please send these items to Helen Morton ( address above).

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

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