a Tahitian

Letters

PNG student has a word to a Tahitian

I am a young Papua New Guinean student and I was very annoyed to learn that a clown in Tahiti thought fit to publicise to the world that my young country is still full of i cannibals (PIM Dec 1979 p4O).

Whoever the lunatic is who wrote this may I advise him to see a doctor at once for psychi atric treatment.

In response I wish to briefly educate him on a few facts about PNG and what I think of his country, Tahiti.

PNG can be geographically divided into three main re gions, the Islands, the Coastal and the Highlands. In fact in

the Highlands region today

there is still minor tribal war fares and for God’s sake don’t ever say again that anyone who is killed in a tribal fight is quickly eaten up by the victors.

On the other hand, inhabitants of the coastal and island re gions are peaceful as ever.

Mr Tahitian, after you have thoroughly studied the cultural practices of the 700+ tribal ethnic groups of my country then I can qualify you to say anything you like about PNG, particularly on the topic of eat ing human flesh which is called in English cannibalism.

Perhaps, Mr Tahitian, you could be in a better position to know and inform us as to why the PNG Deputy Prime Minis ter, Mr Ebia Olewale, who attended the recent South Pa cific Conference there, was for tunate enough to be able to demonstrate his government’s

sympathy for a minority,

politically-minded group who are now trying to warn France of its paternalistic type of ad ministration of its so-called ter ritories.

My historical understanding

about your country, Tahiti, is that since it is poor in economic resources the French Govern

merit has been ‘spoonfeeding’ you with everything which a nation essentially requires to survive. This practice, I believe, has been going on ever since they found you. A white man’s culture has been imposed on the original inhabitants of Tahiti, therefore up until now it is probably pretty difficult for the Tahitians themselves to revive their own identity as Polynesian, Pacific Islanders. 1 am of the opinion that after reading your comments or advice, it sounds like someone who lacks understanding of rural life situations. You sound like someone who has been

lured into the city by bright

lights and have remained there for good.

Finally, I would like to again remind the Tahitian correspon dent that cannibalism is no longer a practice in PNG. It could have been a practice in the remote areas of the country in the past, however we are now a civilised independent country.

Lawrence F Kavavar

Port Moresby, PNG

A reviewer

reviewed

I refer to book reviews (PIM Dec 1979 p 45) and the bewil dering review of Sail Before Sunset by Olaf Ruhen.

Curiously, he put himself into the position of a kettle calling a pot black. For as he carefully selected paragraphs of my book on which to lay criticism, he simultaneously produced comments of such a superficial nature that it is hard to believe he is the same person who is an accepted author on Pacific sub

jects.

Take, for instance, the lo cation of the Cook monument on the island of Hawaii. He says that it is clearly visible from across the water at the

City of Refuge. The City of

Refuge is located on Honaunau Bay and the U.S.

Hydrographic Office Chart No 19320 shows the Cook monu ment on Kealakekua Bay to be four nautical miles away with two intervening headlands.

Clearly visible would you say?

Since Mr Ruhen also ques tions the existence of an ‘underwater’ monument to Cook, I would like to point out that there is both an obelisk on the shore and a bronze plaque

in the water. Mr Ruhen is re ferred to the book James Cook and New Zealand by A. C. and N. C. Begg (1970, Government Printer, Wellington, New Zealand). There in Plate 178 in living colour he will see what he apparently hadn’t observed himself. The plate caption reads: ‘Beneath the clear waters of Kealakekua Bay this bronze plaque marks the place where James Cook fell’. And my observations are super ficial?

I would also have to say that in using only the Australian Encyclopaedia to research the kindel-kindel nut, he was very shallow. The name was first told to me by our Australian crewman and later verified at the Bishop Museum. I’m sorry that I don’t have a South Pa cific publication at hand to refer you to, but my local pub lic library (6511 nautical miles from Sydney!) has the answer on its shelves. Quoting from page 324 of Handbook of North American Nut Trees by Richard Jaynes (1969, The Northern Nut Growers Association, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA): The Australian aborigine, of course, has known the macadamia, which he calls kindal-kindal (sic), since time immemorial, prizing it for its edible nuts.’ Now tell me again, Mr Ruhen, about quayside conversations.

The publisher of PIM ought to take Mr Ruhen to task for indirectly accusing you of a ‘cavalier’ attitude towards the

spelling of Polynesian words.

My authority for them, includ ing the name of the beautiful island of Raivavae, was the Eleventh Edition of the Pacific Islands Year Book which ac

companied us through the

entire voyage. If Pacific Publi cations is, indeed, cavalier, then so am I.

The only apology necessary

by the author of Sail Before Sunset is to Robert Louis Stevenson whose middle name

was misspelled.

I would appreciate space for this letter in a forthcoming issue of PIM to answer Olaf Ruhen who has unjustly im pugned my book as well as my character. I also thought your headline to be out of order.

Earl R. Hinz

Huntington Beach, CA 92647 USA (This letter edited due to its length. Ed,

Pim.)

Off the edge of your

seats now Thank you so much for publishing part of my poem about Guam (PIM Dec 1979, p 5). I must say it was quite a thrill to see it in print... is it possible for you to consider printing the rest of the poem in another issue? Perhaps some readers are on the edge of their seats, wondering how it ends!

Also, if anyone has any ques tions about the poem, feel free to send them my address.

Thank you so much.

Marilyn Kaminski

4825 Thunderbird Cir No 2 Boulder Colorado USA

Ouch! (Irregular

PIM department)

Letter received: ‘Nice review of Fiji’s Times ... a History of Fiji (PIM Jan p 49). I under stand it’s customary in book re views, though, to mention the author ... Sincerely, and not very happily, Kim Gravelle.’

Our apologies to author Gravelle, whose work on Fiji’s history, reprinted in the series of three small books reviewed, is much to be admired. The omission of his name was an oversight. The books are pub lished by the Fiji Times, Suva, and readers can judge their lit erary quality for themselves by sending for them at $F1.50 each.

And, since disasters never come singly, we also wish to apologise to Richard Geddes, marketing manager of Merid

ian Shipping and Transport

Agencies, Sydney, for having

wrongly attributed his excellent cover picture on our February issue to another pho tographer an error for which we are in the unfortunate pos ition of having nobody to blame but ourselves. Meridian Shipping are agents for the

Daiwa Navigation Company

of Osaka, which last year started a service from Sydney to Vila and Santo. Richard was in Vila on company business when he photographed our February cover group of Small Nambas at the New Hebrides National Arts Festival a pic ture which, incidentally, has caused much comment.