From The Archives

November, 1930

Exodus from Hospital The first plane to visit Torres Straits was one used by Captain Hurley during his expedition to Papua, in 1923, and the majority of spectators on that occasion were probably seeing for the first time in their lives. At the Thursday Island Hospital the patients, principally Aborigines, Papuans and other coloured odds and ends went mad with excitement on its appear ance. Easy chairs and beds were vacated while their owners rushed outside to see the new “bird”.

After circling around several times the plane gave a last waggle of its tail and shot off out of sight to take the water near the jetty. The crowd of the pyjama clad invalids and the crippled gaped at it open mouthed; then with the single-mindedness of a mob of goats chased by a small dog,

followed it down the road, yelling and cheer ing. One solitary patient was left in the wards ...

The AWL crowd returned, minus sundry bandages and poultices and resumed their aches

... prepared for the reprimand, which was withheld owing to the rarity of occurrence.

Not long ago another plane, this time bound for the Edie Creek goldfield, in New Guinea flew over, but the darkies did not turn a hair. Not so a white visitor to the

island, hailing from the Cairns hinterland. He was a thoroughly interested spec tator - but he confessed later, that it was the first plane he had ever seen.

Seaplanes for the islands

Outlying planters and traders will fly to such centres as Suva, or Tulagi, or Rabaul covering in an hour a journey that may now occupy a week. Seaplanes are now running a regular mail services between

Suva and the smaller Fijian ports; ... t“Air travel for the Islands” - what a slogan for an advertisement! If only the copra market would buck up, there should be a great chance for an aeroplane salesman in the Pacific. But under present conditions he would have difficulty selling a planter the air that goes under a separate airplane’s

wings.

Mission vessel sinks The mission vessel “Bromilow” owned by the Methodist Mission Society was wrecked at Amphettes near Samarai,

Papua, recently and seven natives were drowned. The Rev. G P Lassam and one native were rescued from a reef, after five days’ expo sure, without food or water and two natives reached

Salamo from the vessel. The “Bromilow” was a wooden auxiliary ketch of 14 tons gos's, and had been in service in Papuan waters since 1917. She was named after a famous missionary, Dr Bromilow, whose death recently occurred. ■

generation have enabled the islanders to survive in their varied physical environ ments, which range from low-lying coral atolls to mountainous continental-type islands.

Walker asks “...why in every village we visit, many do not know that turtles do not breed until at least they are 20 and that two out of every 100 eggs survive?” So what if the villagers do not have this knowledge.

Such knowledge does not concern the day to-day life of a villager.

There are more important considera tions in a villager’s life, such as caring for and sustaining his family, than to bother about counting the number of eggs the tur tle has or knowing the age of the turtle before it can reproduce. In traditional soci eties - such as those in most Pacific Islands - families help each other through the extended-family system and reciprocity.

Therefore, detailed knowledge such as the biology of a turtle is not considered a pri ority.

I agree that passing on and sharing this knowledge is needed and is not culturally imperialistic. But I will question any initia tive planned or organised by outsiders, which involves the Islands’ traditions and

cultures. The initiative or idea for such an undertaking should come, in the first place, from the villagers.

I believe that besides environmental and other challenges facing Pacific societies today, one that is often overlooked, is the misguided attempt by some outsiders to try to conform Islanders to their view of the world. Walker should, therefore, leave the future of Pacific Islands’ peoples and their environment etc., to us Islanders. Nobody should tell us how we should go about using our lands and marine’s resources because it will be us who will face the con sequences of our actions.

Timeon loane

Honolulu