Humanities and Social Sciences

Anthropology Program

Tongan History Association Newsletter

Vol.9 No.2, October 1998

THA Conference Update

The 1999 Tongan History Association conference will commence on June 28, at the USP centre in Atele. The conference theme is Versions of the Past, Visions of the Future: Tonga at the End of the Twentieth Century. Some accommodation will be available in the student quarters of the centre at TOP$15 per night. Participants can also make alternative arrangements in Nuku'alofa, a short bus ride from the centre. Salote Fukofuka, Director of the USP Center and conference convenor, urges intending participants to contact her as soon as possible, whether or not they are intending to present a paper. Abstracts of papers will be due in December 1998 and full versions of the papers by May 1999. Salote's contact details are on the final page of this newsletter.

THA member Wendy Arbeit is keen to organise some practical workshops for the afternoons of the conference. These would include activities such as lei making, tapa making, dancing, etc., and would be an informal, fun way to wind down after the conference sessions. Nancy Pollock has suggested a workshop on Tongan food would also be interesting. Please get in touch with Wendy if you would be interested in participating, and/or if you have any ideas: <arbeit@pixi.com>

Conferences and Events

Pacific Islands Political Studies Association will hold its conference from 7-10 December, 1998, at the Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury. The theme is "Preparing for the 21st Century" and will focus upon key issues which have dominated post-colonial Pacific politics. Contact PIPSA 98 Conference Organiser, Centre for Continuing Education, University of Canterbury, Private bag 4800, Christchurch, NZ.

Fax: 64-3-3642 057. Email: pipsa@cont.canterbury.ac.nz

Web site: 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, 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

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 in December 1999 until May 2000. A group of museum employees will be visiting Tonga for three weeks in November to collect exhibition materials. For further information contact the directory of the Musuem, Mrs Ulla Huhtamaki (Fax: 09-17336476. Email: ulla.huhtamaki@fng.fi) or exhibition co-ordinator, Minerva Keltanen, (mkeltane@fng.fi).

Another proposed project in Helsinki is the founding of the Tyynenmeren Saarten Ystävyysseura - Pacific Islands Friendship Society. As one of the founders, Sam Elone, is a Tongan living in Finland there will be a strong Tongan focus to the society. Please contact Jouni Takalo (jounitakalo@hotmail.com) or Sam Elone (elone@dlc.fi) with any suggestions or comments on this project: Helsinginkatu 11 A 22, 00500 Helsinki, Finland.

Pacific Representations: Culture, Identity, Media was a conference held in the school of Creative Communication and Culture Studies of the University of Canberra, 22-25 September 1998. The conference explored the changing representations of culture and identity in the Pacific in the face of new global pressures and opportunities and emerging local tensions. Keynote speakers were Greg Dening, Epeli Hau'ofa, Don Aitkin and Tracey Bunda and there were numerous sessions on a range of issues. Several THA members were present, including Bradley Vaden, (who gave a paper entitled 'Slipping through the state: A new diasporic paradigm'); Frances Reardon Finney ('Keeping in touch: The media and the Tongan diaspora in Canberra'); Bonita Maywald, Freya Higgins Desbiolles, and Helen Morton. Collections of abstracts are available from the conference director, Alaine Chanter: arc@comserver.canberra.edu.au

Members

The members list on the THA web site has been updated, as there have been many changes of address and new members. Please take the time to check this list and send Helen Morton any changes of your details. For those of you who haven't yet bookmarked our site, the URL is:

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

Members' News

Françoise Douaire-Marsaudon has been working as a researcher of the CNRS (Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique) since October 1997, and is also a full member of the CREDO Oceania research group (Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l'Océanie). Her address is: CREDO, Centre de la Vieille Charité, 2 rue de la Charité, F-13002 Marseille, France. Tel. 33 4 91 14 01 20. Fax: 33 4 91 14 07 88. E-mail: credo@ehess.cnrs-mrs.fr

Paul van der Grijp has been appointed as 'Maitre de Conférences' (i.e. associate professor) at the Université de Provence (Université Aix-Marseille-I) as from 1 October 1998. Since this date, he has also been a full member of the Oceania research group CREDO (Centre de Recherche et de Documentation sur l'Òcéanie). Recently, he has been re-elected as a Board Member of the European Society for Oceanists (ESfO) and elected as its vice-president. He is also still the representative for Europe of the THA. His address is 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

Michael Poltorak has commenced his doctoral fieldwork in Neiafu, Vava'u. Michael can be contacted by mail at Poste Restante, Neiafu, Vava'u or via email: michael@tongatapu.net.to

Rory Ewins has completed his fellowship at the Macmillan Brown Centre, where he prepared his thesis for publication, and has returned to Canberra to work in the School of Politics at the Australian Defence Force Academy. His new address is: 26 Tarana Street, Narrabundah ACT 2604. Phone: 02-6295 0219 (home) or 02-6268 8851 (work).

Email: R.Ewins@adfa.edu.au

Siosiua Lafitani reports that the topic for his PhD thesis is 'Tongans and Obligation Overseas: Multiculturalism, Welfare and Community in Australia'. He is looking at the place of obligation in the behaviours and lives of Tongan migrants abroad. Siosiua is enrolled in the Department of Social Work and Social Policy of the University of Sydney, and Dr Peter Camilleri of the School of Social Work at the Australian Catholic University in Canberra has been appointed his associate supervisor. Siosiua was a Lecturer (casual) at ACU in 1996. Siosiua would like THA members to know that his Masters Thesis, 'Tongan Diaspora: Perceptions, Values and Behaviours of Tongans in Canberra' is available from the Department of Sociology, Faculty of Arts, ANU (not the main libraries); 'Atenisi, Oxford, and Harvard Universities; THA members Finau Kolo, 'Opeti Taliai, and Helen Morton; and of course from Siosiua himself. He writes: "I'm happy to keep in touch and exchange ideas with any person who is interested in the topic of Tongan migration - the diaspora of the Vikings of the South Seas". He hopes to be on email soon but for now his contact details are:

82A Wakefield Gardens, Ainslie, ACT 2602, Phone/Fax: 61-2-6257-9907.

Helen Morton has been appointed to a continuing lectureship in the School of Sociology, Politics and Anthropology at La Trobe University, Melbourne, to commence at the end of here current research fellowship (i.e. July 1999).

Steven Francis has a new email address: sfrancis@kalianet.to

Rosaline Uaniva Havea has a new email address: MHAVEA@rocky.econ.usyd.edu.au

New Members

Natasha Lemoto, originally from Tatakamotonga, Tonga, is now residing in Sydney, Australia, where she is a final year student at the University of Technology pursuing a B.A. in Tourism Management. Natasha hopes to use her educational qualifications and six years' experience in the travel industry to contribute to improving Tongan tourism operations. Natasha is also an avid genealogist, and has traced her family history back to the early 1700s. She hopes to write a book on her Lokotui and Tongilava ancestors. Another interest is community work and Natasha has helped to organise the Tongan Youth Council of Sydney and hopes to organise a performing arts festival involving a musical telling of Tonga's history. Address: 41 Eastbourne Rd, Homebush West, NSW 2140, Australia. Fax: 61-2-9519-9419. Email: nclemoto@hotmail.com

Wendy Cowling: Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Waikato University, Hamilton, New Zealand.

Taueva Fa'otusia: Honolulu, Hawai'i. Email: martinez@aloha.net

Sela Fua: Tonga National Form 7, Nuku'alofa, Tonga.

Leonaitasi Hoponoa: Department of Anthropology, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, 109 Davenport Hall MC-148, 607 South Matthews Avenue, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.

Eric Shumway, PLD, President, Brigham Young University, Hawai'i Campus, Laie, HI 96762, USA. Email: shumway@byuh.edu

Mele Taumoepeau, Liahona High School, Tongatapu, Tonga.

Vernice Wineera: Director of the Institute for Polynesian Studies, Brigham Young Unviersity, Hawai'i Campus, Laie, HI 96762, USA.

Dr Phillip McCarther: Humanities Department, Brigham Young University, Hawai'i Campus, Laie, HI 96762, USA.

Obituary - Shirley Hughes

(By Ian Campbell)

Shirley Hughes died in April this year of leukaemia at the age of 67. Members of the Tongan History Association knew her as the resourceful and gracious lady who was researching the life of Elizabeth Morey. Shirley was born in England, but spent all her working life in Australia, most of it as an executive for the Lintas advertising company, and was one of the first women in Australia to rise to the top in that competitive industry. Her success allowed her to retire early, but she did not give up work. Instead she developed a consultancy teaching presentation skills and published a book in 1992 called Professional Presentations.

Shirley always liked to travel and had a great love of the sea, and this was how she first came to Tonga many years ago. Subsequently, through reading Tongan and maritime history she came across the story of Elizabeth Morey, the castaway in Tonga in 1802. After she left advertising she devoted considerable time and expense to trying to uncover the strange story of Morey's life, despite the discouragement of slender and scanty traces. But Shirley persisted, and although not discovering enough for a biography, found enough on which an historical novel might be based. Shirley was writing this book, to be called Ocean's Child at the time of her death.

In the course of her research, Shirley was able to document the history of the ship which brought Morey to Tonga, the Portland, which has the distinction of being the first foreign vessel to have been seized by islanders in the South Pacific. She wrote the history of this vessel in an article published by the journal American Neptune. Another by-product of her research was the genealogy of the Ata title of Tonga deriving from inconsistencies between various sources. This work also was left incomplete, but with enough accomplished to show that Shirley had an eye for detail and a knack for uncovering significant facts. At the time of her death she was polishing an article for publication setting out what she had discovered about Elizabeth Morey, and it is hoped that this article will be published in a scholarly journal.

Shirley was a warm and generous person, courageous and determined, and never lost her enthusiasm for learning new things and new skills. She very much appreciated the assistance and encouragement of those who helped her in her research, ranging from royalty in Tonga to genealogical researchers in the United States. She regarded it a great privilege to be able to attend the last conference of the THA in Canberra, and to be accepted by specialists and professional scholars as one of themselves. Those who came to know her well will miss her.

The Mystery of Mt. Tongatapu, Tasmania

The question of how a mountain in the Huon Valley of Tasmania, Australia, came to be named Mount Tongatapu has been asked by Mr Tony Trumble of Surges Bay in southern Tasmania. His local community hall, which is "virtually in the shadow of Mt. Tongatapu" has been under threat of demolition by the local council, and in his efforts to publicise the hall Mr Trumble has frequently written to the local paper linking the hall and the mountain. Apparently "local legend" in the area has it that the mountain was named by the King of Tonga on a visit; an elderly resident told Mr Trumble that the King came "to see what a European owned island was like". In his research into this Mr Trumble has found the King visited Tasmania around 1850, however a search of the Tasmania Archives for more information has proved fruitless. He has discovered, however, that the mountain was named Mt. Tongatapu at least as early as 1854. Elizabeth Wood Ellem suggests that the King purchased a pair of boots while in Tasmania and that the lasts are in the Tupou College Museum.

To deepen the mystery, Mr Trumble reports that until 1970 there was actually a second Mt. Tongatapu in Tasmania, located on the Tasman Peninsular, which at that time was renamed Mt. Tonga to avoid confusion. Can anyone shed any light on the King's Tasmanian visit? Please direct responses to Helen Morton; they will be forwarded to Mr Trumble.

Publications

Ahlburg, D. and R. Brown 1997 Are migrants' remittances sensitive to changes in their income? Discussion Paper no. 217, Department of Economics, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia.

Campbell, Ian 1998 'Gone native' in Polynesia. Captivity narratives and experiences from the South Pacific. [On beachcombers and castaways of the early decades of western contact in Polynesia] Westport, Conn.: The Greenwood Press.

[website of Press: http://www.greenwood.com] ISBN: 0-313-30787-3

Douaire-Marsaudon, Françoise 1998 Les premiers fruits: Parenté, identité sexuelle et pouvoirs en Polynésie occidentale (Tonga, Wallis et Futuna). [First Fruits: Kinship, Sexual Identity and Powers in Western Polynesia (Tonga, Wallis and Futuna)]. Paris: CNRS Editions/ Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme.

Douaire-Marsauson, Françoise 1998 'Le meurtre cannibale ou la production d`un homme-Dieu: Théories des substances et construction hiérarchique en Polynésie (Tonga)'. [The cannibal murder or the making of a human-god: Theories of substances and the construction of hierarchy in Tonga, Polynesia] In Maurice Godelier and Michel Panoff (eds.): Le corps humain: Supplicié, possédé, cannibalisé. Amsterdam: Editions des Archives Contemporaines.

Franco, Robert 1997 'The kingly-populist divergence in Tongan and Western Samoan chiefly systems', in Geoffrey White and Lamont Lindstrom (eds) Chiefs today: Traditional Pacific leadership and the postcolonial state, pp. 71-83. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Hau'ofa, Epeli 1998 'The Ocean in Us', The Contemporary Pacific 10 (2): 391-410.

James, Kerry 1997 'Reading the leaves: The role of Tongan women's traditional wealth and other "contraflows" in the process of modern migration and remittance', Pacific Studies 20 (1): 1-27.

James, Kerry 1997 'Rank and leadership in Tonga', in Geoffrey White and Lamont Lindstrom (eds) Chiefs today: Traditional Pacific leadership and the postcolonial state, pp. 49-70. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.

Kaeppler, Adrienne and J.W. Love (eds) 1998 Australia and the Pacific Islands. Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Vol 9. New York and London: Garland Publishing. [Book and compact disc]

Moyle, Richard 1995 Fananga: Fables from Tonga in Tongan and English. Nuku'alofa: Friendly Islands Bookshop.

Schebeczek, Wolfgang 1998 'Fuofua kau moua...' [on Tongan juggling, hiko], Kaskade 51: 12-13 [English], 14-15 [German]. Also in this journal the first part of a bibliography on Pacific juggling. Two further articles will appear in Kaskade (52 and 53): one on juggling in other Polynesian islands and the other on Melanesia and Micronesia and juggling in myths and legends throughout the Pacific. Contact address: Kaskade, Schoenbergstr. 92, D-65199 Wiesbaden, Germany. Fax: 49-611-9465143. Email: kaskade@compuserve.com

Schuster, Don, Peter Lamour and Karin von Strokirch (eds) 1998 Leadership in the Pacific Islands: Tradition and future. Policy Paper no. 30, National Centre for Development Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

Scully, Michael 199? The South Pacific: Finance, development and the private sector. No.48. Canberra: AusAID.

van der Grijp, Paul 1997 'Brown gold: Official expectations and local assessment of the Tongan vanilla production', Journal de la Société des Océanistes 104: 93-103.

van der Grijp, Paul 1997 'Leaders in squash export: Entrepreneurship and the introduction of a new cash crop in Tonga', Pacific Studies 20 (1): 29-62.

van der Grijp, Paul 1997 'Pioneer of untaught anthropology: Recontextualizing Lewis H. Morgan and his Kinship Perspective', Dialectical Anthropology 22: 103-136.

van der Grijp, Paul 1998 'The Polynesian triangle', Standpoints 54: 28-31.

Call for Papers

The refereed journal Pacific Health Dialog is planning an issue on the health of Tongans (in Tonga and overseas), to be published in March 1999. The editor, Dr Sitaleki Finau, invites THA members to contribute articles, brief reports, etc, and has extended the deadline for submission to the end of December, 1998. He can be contacted by email: s.finau@auckland.ac.nz. The PHD website address is: http://www.resourcebooks.co.nz/phd/phd.htm

THA Conference 1997 Volume

Echoes of Pacific War, edited by Deryck Scarr, Niel Gunson and Jennifer Terrell, is currently in press. Jennifer Terrell reports that she hopes the book to be published in November '98. It is being published by Target Oceania, an informal group of scholars with like interests in the Pacific Islands based at the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, at the ANU.

As well as a foreword by His Royal Highness Prince Lavaka-Ata-'Ulukalala and an introduction by Niel Gunson the volume contains:

* Behind the battle lines: Tonga in World War II - Elizabeth Wood-Ellem;

* Changing values and changed psychology of Tongans during and since World War II - 'I.F. Helu;

* Airplanes and saxaphones: post-war images in the visual and performing arts - Adrienne L. Kaeppler;

* Tonga and Australia since World War II - Gareth Grainger;

* New behaviours and migration since World War II - Siosiua F. Pouvalu Lafitani;

* The churches in Tonga since World War II - John Garrett;

* Introduction and development of family planning in Tonga 1958-1990 - Henry Ivarature;

* Analysing the emergent middle class - the 1990s - Kerry James;

* Changing interpretations of the kava ritual - Meredith Filihia;

* How Tongan is a Tongan? Cultural authenticity revisited - Helen Morton.

To place your orders, contact Jenny Terrell, c/o Division of Pacific and Asian History, RSPAS, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT 0200, Australia. Email: jterrell@coombs.anu.edu.au

Internet

Pan Pacifica: this site offers Pacific publications for sale and has a section on Tonga which includes government reports, law reports, reports from banks, and environmental programs.

Http://www.panpacific.com/

Pacific GenWeb is a genealogy site in development. At present there is information on the Cook Islands, with links to a range of information including a surnames list and sources of genealogical information in the Cooks. Carol Whyte, the owner of the site, is keen to have Tongan content - why not check out the site and contact her if you are interested in contributing? (email: wlorac@geocities.com)

http://www.rootsweb.com/~pacifgw

Pacific Islands Ring seeks to link all Pacific sites together. Http://www.webring.org/

Centre for Pacific Studies at the University of Nijmegen, the Netherlands, has a bibliographic database online which can be entered from the CPS main site:

http://www.kun.nl/cps/ Included are all publications listed in the CPS Newsletter for the past nine years, bibliographic overviews from 1985-1989, book reviews and other resources.

Macmillan Brown Centre for Pacific Studies, University of Canterbury:

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

South Pacific Development Directory of all development-related organisations in the South Pacific is being compiled by the Development Resource Centre of New Zealand.

Http://www.converge.org.nz/drc/

Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL): http://prel.hawaii.edu

Pacific Islands Association of Libraries and Archives (PIALA): http://www.uog2.edu/rfk/piala.html

Bess Press 1998 Catalogue - Hawai'i, Asia and the Pacific. Http://www.besspress.com

Pan Pacifica Catalogue: http://www.mcn.org/B/panpacifica/

University of the South Pacific now has a home page, including a library page with monthly lists of new additions. Http://www.usp.ac.fj/

TONGAN BIBLIOGRAPHY

The URL for the Tongan Bibliography online has changed slightly:

http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/AnthroGlobe/Biblios/biblio_tonga.html

Keep those contributions rolling in - there are still many gaps to fill, and lists of items can be sent to Helen Morton (see below). As well as the main list of published and unpublished material, the bibliography now has separate lists of theses, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau items on Tonga, and relevant Internet sites. I would like to further develop the site to make it a more useful resource so any suggestions are welcome.

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 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). 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 May 1999. 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 CONSTITUTION: Any members who would like a copy of the THA Constitution please contact Helen Morton.

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

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