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The Vaka Taumako Project of
the Pacific Traditions Society

NEWSLETTER: JUNE 2002  Volume 5 Issue 1
		Inside this issue: Mimi presents data at     ASAO conference Solomon Island News German Television Docudrama News Update

 

The Vaka Taumako Project       Newsletter: June 2002           Aloha to all our friends and supporters: The first four months of 2002 have been eventful for us. Mimi and Meph were in New Zealand and Taumako during late February, March, and early April. During this time, the Project accomplished a great deal, achieving several major goals. Highlights included: 1) Mimi presented data on Polynesian voyaging and the Project to the Pacific Outliers session at the ASAO meeting tan annual conference of social anthropologists) in Auckland. Scholars who attended made it clear that what the Vaka Taumako Project has learned is vital to academic study of Oceania. Thanks to Rick Feinberg and all those who worked hard to make the conference a success. 2) A new hale vaka (canoe house) built entirely of traditional plant materials, opened at Kahula, Taumako. A gala day of feasting, dancing, and ritual marked this significant event. 3) Lorenz Knauer and his Cinecentrum crew shot a docudrama on Taumako for German public television (ZDF). This should air sometime in 2003.

4) One te alo lili voyaging canoe was built on Taumako, and construction of a second one begun. 5) A significant meeting between Paramount Chief Kaveia and six chiefs from Vaeakau, the Polynesian Reef Islands. Five of the chiefs accompanied Mimi, Meph, and the Cinecentrum crew to Taumako aboard the M.V. Temotu. (The sixth, who had been unable to board the ship, arrived providentially when his sailing canoe drifted to Duffs. He set out fishing, fell asleep, and was carried eastward against the wind by currents. As it happened, he came ashore shortly before the meeting convened, and happily joined in!) At this gathering, Chief Kaveia formally promised that the second new te alo lili would be given to the Vaeakau people for a training vessel.

6) Project members set goals of opening the Lata Custom School on Taumako in 2003, of establishing a program of voyages by te alo lili through the southeastern Solomons, and eventually establishing a custom school in the Outer Reef Islands. 7) Meph shot over 13 hours of archival video on digital tape. Highlights include: sailing the Vaka Taumako, sewing the sail for the new te alo lili, pulling the log for a te alo lili from the mountain to the sea, and Kaveia's wife, Cecilia, singing two songs that Kaveia composed.

8) We removed over one thousand used batteries from the island. Because people do not understand that chemicals from these batteries can poison their drinking water and the reef ecosystem from which they collect food, they simply strew the batteries everywhere. We hope that our clean-up will encourage nga Taumako to think more carefully about protecting their precious environment. Alfred, the village nurse, supported our efforts, and promised to try to organize a procedure for proper disposal. Some of you may have been surprised by item eight. Yes, Taumako has changed in the six years since the Project began. With more frequent and reliable transport has come more of the world's goods. At least five stores have opened, where none existed before. Some residents now have outboard engines for their canoes. For better or worse, chewing gum has become a part of kiddie-culture. For very much worse, public consumption of alcohol, illegal on the island, has also become a part of Taumako life. We were shocked to see the social deterioration this has caused in the 15 months since Mimi last visited. One consequence of the ethnic strife bedeviling the Solomon islands in the past several years has been a general breakdown of civil law and order. For Taumako, this means that trade stores have been flagrantly disobeying the laws against importation and sale of liquor. During our stay on the island, we not only witnessed public drunkenness and fights, we also had our work disrupted. People who had been engaged to help the Cinecentrum crew or on the building of te alo lili were sometimes too drunk to show up on time or at all. This seriously delayed vaka and video production. We were especially distressed to see our own students and workers among the besotted, and to know that funds given to us for canoe building and community improvement had been wasted on liquor. After serious discussion among ourselves and with Chief Kaveia, we have therefore decided that we must suspend the project in Taumako until such time as the liquor laws are once again being enforced. The Chief supports our decision. The matter now rests with the people of Taumako and the authorities of the Temotu Province government. We sincerely apologize to all our donors whose gifts were misused. We hope that you who have supported us so faithfully will continue to do so, and we pray for a speedy resolution to the problems on Taumako. We also hope that you will still support us financially. We desperately need funds for ongoing costs. The Project's major asset, the Yacht Gryphon, is for sale. We hope that this fine sturdy warrior of a boat will soon find an appreciative new owner. If she sells soon, the proceeds will enable us to pay our debts and keep the Project operational for the rest of the year. We thank you for your aloha and prayers. Mimi and Meph

– News Update: Mimi has recently received news that Chief Kaveia is in Lata to organize a crew that can sail the new te alo lili (the second canoe built this year) to the Reef Islands. This means that the canoe, which the Taumako began building in March, is either finished or very close to it. It is this te alo which Chief Kaveia has promised to the Vaeakau community for a training vessel. The Chief is asking VTP to help out with food, housing, and shipfare back to Taumako for his crew. There is also the cost of telephone calls to Lata to verify news and to confirm the crew, for which VTP needs funds. The Solomon dollar having recently been devalued 25%, the entire cost should run no more than USS$500. Is anyone willing to donate this amount?    – More News: Temotu Province, of which Lata is the capital, is an interesting place to be these days. When Mimi and Meph were there in April, the province was abuzz with talk of an impending vote on independence. This should take place early in June. Without attempting to untangle the web of local history and politics that has led to this vote, we wish the people of Temotu Godspeed in whatever course they take for their future. We also send our condolences to the families and friends of Raymond Firth, Thor Heyerdahl, Gabriel I, and Glenna Wilde on the passing of these wonderful human beings. May their stars continue to illumine the heavens!