|
THE FUTURE OF CHRISTIANITY: THE CASE OF PONAPE
Shem Jimmy
Ponape, a large island in the Carolines, was in the pre-christian era first ruled under a political system based on graded classes or levels of chieftainship. The system was strengthened
by traditional religious beliefs and practices. There was civil war and fighting between the various tribes.
Western culture and christianity were introduced just over a century ago. The new religion was quickly accepted by the Ponapeans, especially the chiefs, who saw it as a means of getting
access to the material goods, power and knowledge of the white man. Hence, the cause of Christianity was supported by the chiefs. Mission schools were established for the Ponapeans to worship the God of the white
man.
REGIONALISM AND INTER-ISLAND RELATIONS WITHIN THE SOUTH PACIFIC
Paula Kunabuli
This paper is in four sections: the first deals with the factors which hindered regionalism before World War 2 including the setting up of the South Pacific
Commission and the move towards inter-island co-operation. The third section looks at the various organizations which have been etablished since 1950 with the aim of
increasing political and economic linkages between South Pacific Island states, both for dealing within the islands and with the outside world. This was a period of
accelarated demands for self determination, which has now been achieved in much of the Pacific. The last section tries to predict the trends in the form of regionalism and inter-island co-operation in the future.
FIJI: THE ARRIVAL OF COMMUNAL FRACHISE
Ahmed Ali
Shortly before Fiji was ceded to Britain, Lord Carnavon, the secretary of State for the colonies, stated in the House of Lords: ‘Looking at the past history and the future of
these islands, I should say that a crown colony of a rather severe type in form should be adopted. After 1874 this dictum proved particucularly true on the issue of
constitutional reform. It was the policy of the first substantive Governor, Sir Arthur Hamilton Gordon (1875-80) that achieved this result, Gordon interpreted his duty as
a mission to safeguard and gurantee the rights and status of the Fijian people in their native Land.
THE VOICE IN FIJI’S COLONIAL HISTORY
A.J. Chappele
University of the South Pacific
It is very easy to assume, from a reading of most history books or official documents, that the major developments in the history of any particular society originate from the
administrative or government centre and spread out from there to affect the people generally. Often little effort is expended in attempts to find out what resistance,
reaction or alternative thinking was being generated among people at any particular moment. Sometimes, popular movements did achieve the dignity of official recognition
, but usually only after they had been officially designated ´dangerous’. Almost inenvitably, at least in the history of British colonialism, such a designation was followed by suppression.
Fiji’s history over the past 100 years, provides a fertile hunting ground for searching
for examples of an ‘unofficial’ Fijian voice. Yet the seeker is continually frustrated by the difficulties in obtaining complete and unbiased information.
“MAKITA”
A NEW CROP FOR FIJI
A short report on the potential utilisation of the oil from
Parinarium laurinu
Rodney C. Hayward and Ajit Singh
Parinarium laurinum A. Gray (P .glaberrima Hassk) of the Rosaceae family, is a tree of modetare size pandemic to the Indo-Malaysian and South Pacific areas. It is found
growing in such places as Papua New Guinea (“ kusta” ), Java, Borneo, Truk Is. (Ais) and prolifically on the sea front and in the river valleys of Fiji (makita). Although this
tree once provided the timber for the spars of canoes, the present work was concerned specifically with the constituents of the avoid fruit which this tree bears.
These have been used for medicinal (Truk Is.), or as a glue and vanish in food bowl manufacture (Solomon Is).
CONSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN THE SOLOMON ISLANDS*
Waren Paia
“The good or bad furture of a nation depends on three factors: its Constitution, the way the Constitution is made to work , and the respect it inspires”.
Georges Bidault
Geoffrey Beti has made a general but accurate observation of the path along which constitutional developments in the Solomon Islands has travelled. In that observation
he saw three distinct stgages:
1. The stagnation period: This is between the years 1893-1960. No indedigenous participation ever took place in the central government. The only significant institutions
ever created were the Advisory Council and the Local Government Councils. In national politics the Advisory Council, as its name implied, was in a strict sense a monopoly of the official party.
*Unless otherwise indicated, observations and insights in this paper are derived from talking to a lot of Solomon Islands political leaders and from the writers own meagre
experience as a assistant clerk, for a year, to the 1967-70 LegCo.
RAROTONGA AIRPORT: A preliminary view of the possible balance sheet
Tony LeFevre
Cook Island opinion on the new airport at Rarotonga is divided. To some, the arrival of the first Air New Zealand jet on December 4th 1973 signalled the advent of
progress. Others saw it as knocking one further nail into the already half-submerged coffin of traditional Polynesia.
Wether the result will finally be viewed as favourable is unknown, but it is certain that the airport will have a substantial influence on the small island economy of just 21,000
inhabitants spread over 751,000 square miles of Pacific ocean. The obvious use for the modern airport and the jet aircraft which will fly to it, is a tourist industry. This
prospect is by no means attractive to all Cook islanders, but the opening of the airport is a tacit admission by the government that a visitor industry, if only in a modest form,
is in some way considered expedient. Although tourism will be the major social and economic influence of the new airport, improved air communication could stimulate and facilitate expansion of other activities.
FIJIAN COGNATES IN OCENIA
(A working Paper)
Ross Renner
This paper contains a brief description of progress date on a language survey centred on modern Fijian.
It is proposed to circulate shortly a preliminary list of Fijian words which will include cognate sets drawn from neighbouring Austronesian languages. This list, it is hoped ,
may serve as a a starting point for a greatly expanded study. Accordingly, assistance in the form of source material and comment on the proposed format of the wordlist will be welcomed.
|
