DOMAINS
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www.janesoceania.com
 
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Pacific Islands Report
Pacific Islands Development Program, East-West Center With Support From Center For Pacific Islands Studies, University of Hawaii

 

The Pacific Islands

The islands of the Pacific, with their beauty and romance, have always gripped man's imagination. Raised above the sea, in wondrous and spectacular splendour, they shimmer like an oasis. For those of us in need of solitude and adventure, these beautiful tropical islands also offer an escape - a place of refuge, serenity and excitement. In their greenness and freshness, the islands conjure up visions of unending youth and a heavenly paradise - crystal sea, sparkling white sand and surf, golden yellow rays of sunshine - a dawn to night sky of an array of superb colours - from sapphire-blue to topaz and turquoise, garnet and ruby to amethyst, citrine, peridot and emerald to the unique mystique of a theatrical curtain of exquisite Tahitian black pearls and onyx, gloriously enhanced by a galaxy of brilliant starlight diamonds - illuminated and moonlit by a majestic mother-of-pearl - encapsulated by the jubilant embrace of delightfully cool prevailing trade winds. Of these wonderful dream-worlds, it is Oceania that offers the most beautiful, enchanting and magnificent chains of pure and natural multicoloured gem-clustered islands.

  

OCEANIA

The term Oceania is normally used to designate all the islands of the Central and the South Pacific including Australia (continent), New Zealand, and sometimes the Malay Archipelago. On this Web site, the focus is primarily directed towards the Pacific Islands of Melanesia (including Papua - formerly Irian Jaya), Micronesia and Polynesia (including the Polynesian nation of Hawai'i), as well as both Australia and New Zealand.

     
 
 
For further information about Oceania/Pacific Islands,
you are all invited to pay a visit to the following:
 

Jane Resture's Oceania Page was developed to present and highlight an extended range of material, along with extensive postcards and picture galleries presented in conjunction with Jane's Oceania Home Page. In doing this, it will allow the visitor to readily access information about Oceania/Pacific Islands.

 

As the sun rises over the vast expanse of Oceania, the daily lives of many of the people of Melanesia (including Papua, formerly Irian Jaya, and the Torres Strait), Micronesia and Polynesia (including the Polynesian nations of Hawai'i and New Zealand), as well as Australia - mainly the Australian Aboriginal people - go on as they have for thousands of years. The fishermen are already at sea; the toddy cutters are already at work and the men and women are working in their gardens.

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The singing of traditional and contemporary songs can be heard all around from the early morning, until the evenings come alive right through until late at night.  It is this love of traditional singing passed from generation to generation that binds many islanders together and forms the basis of much of island cultural heritage and in particular dancing. Both the songs and the dance are unique and their performance tells the stories of life and love in a manner that consumes both the dancers and the audience.

The traditional life of the people of Oceania is basically uncomplicated. They are normally happy, highly intelligent, kind, generous and loving people who have inherited a culture that is ancient, complex, diverse, very functional and beautiful. Let us hope that through these Web pages, visitors will be able to enjoy our relaxed and happy lifestyle as well as our rich and complex cultural heritage.

Soak in the enchanting sounds of the sun-drenched Oceania/Pacific Islands in FM Stereo!

 

WELCOME EVERYBODY 

Thank you so much for visiting the above four Domains. I am very pleased to be able to share with you that further limited advertising on these Domains is available. Potential advertisers are cordially invited to choose from several thousand Web sites available for placement of your important advertisements. It is very pleasing to also share that so many of our visitors are accessing  our Web sites utilizing their iPhones and hence giving us a much greater visitation and more effective advertising.  Many thanks with best wishes to all. For further information, please contact me at:

jane@janeresture.com and/or jane@pacificislandsradio.com

 

Music is an integral part of life on the islands of the Pacific. Indeed, the songs and dances are woven into the very fabric of everyday life. Life, love, work, play, the ocean, the gods, the earth itself; they all flow through the music of the Pacific Islands, as surely as the sand erodes into the sea. Pacific Island music is truly the music of the world and is proudly featured on our four Pacific Islands Radio stations!

OCEANIA ORIGINS

 
Present research indicates that human occupation of Oceania - those vast reaches of the Pacific encompassing Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia - began on New Guinea (Papua and Papua New Guinea). The first settlers brought with them a language that was fundamentally African. They then moved along the Melanesian Archipelago from Papua and Papua New Guinea to the Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia, and eventually to Fiji. During this time, the language evolved and became fragmented until it developed into the present day languages of Melanesia.
 
Other recent studies, which included DNA analysis of almost 700 samples from Aboriginal Australians and Melanesians, has confirmed the view that Aboriginal Australians are descended from the same small group of people who left Africa about 70,000 years ago. After arriving in Australia and New Guinea about 50,000 years ago, the settlers evolved in relative isolation, developing unique genetic characteristics and technology.

The migration, thousands of years later, of the ancestors of the present day Polynesian out of Asia, brought with it languages and dialects that were essentially Asian in origin and which developed into the present day languages of Polynesia. Until recently, archaeologists had believed that Polynesian people came from Taiwan.  Interestingly, recent studies of DNA in Taiwan has provided some interesting conclusions about the origins of the Polynesian and Melanesian people.

Certainly, linguistic studies have pointed to the fact that the Polynesians, undoubtedly the greatest seafarers in history, have their origins in Taiwan. Of the 23 million people in Taiwan, only 400,000 are descendants from the original inhabitants. These people originally spoke a language belonging to the Austronesian group which is unrelated to Chinese but includes the Polynesian tongues.

DNA studies of the original group found three mutations shared by Taiwanese, Polynesians and Melanesians, who also speak Austronesian. These mutations are not found in other Asians and hence suggest that the Polynesians and Melanesians have their origins in the original inhabitants of Taiwan. Indeed, genetic studies have now suggested that the ancestors of the sailors of the great canoes started out further along the trail in eastern Indonesia.

These seafarers moved eastward in small groups around the top of the Melanesian archipelago until they reached Fiji. Using Fiji as a staging area, some eventually sailed on to uninhabited Tonga and Samoa. To have developed the physical types, language and culture that the Polynesians share in common, these Polynesian forebears must have been isolated for a time in a home group of islands. A chain of archaeological discoveries leads us to believe that this isolation started in the islands of Tonga and Samoa roughly 3,000 years ago.

Beginning in 1909 in New Britain, archaeologists have found a type of pre-historic decorated pottery at various Melanesian sites. In 1947, samples were also excavated in Fiji, Melanesia's easternmost extension. Five years later the same pottery was uncovered at Lapita in New Caledonia. Now called Lapita-style pottery, these artifacts clearly trace the visits and attempted settlements of a maritime people moving along a Melanesian route towards Polynesia.

Lapita pottery was excavated in Tonga in 1963, and has recently been found in Samoa as well - both in western Polynesia. Tonga is the longest inhabited island group in Polynesia, with radiocarbon dates as early as 1140 B.C. Thus we conclude that Tonga's first settlers, the people who made Lapita ware, were the first true Polynesians. Language ties indicate that this migration continued via Samoa eastward to the Marquesas where the oldest sites in Eastern Polynesia have been found.

Far to the southeast of the Marquesas lies evidence of a truly remarkable feat - a voyage to Easter Island (Rapa Nui), some 2,400 miles away, in the face of prevailing winds and currents. Polynesia's easternmost outpost, Easter Island is not only the most isolated inhabited island in the Pacific, but it is also only 15 miles long. Assessing its chances of being discovered by early Polynesians, we can conclude only that their sailing canoes were already capable of traversing the breadth of the Pacific, and that on one such voyage, Easter Island was fortuitously sighted.  Radiocarbon dating in 1955-56 indicates its discovery and settlement as early as A.D. 400.

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The sites on Easter Island show clear evidence, when considered in conjunction with the archaeology and languages of the Society and Marquesas Islands, indicate strongly that the pre-historic culture of Easter Island could have evolved from a single landing of Polynesians from a Marquesan Island. These Polynesians would have been fully equipped to colonize an uninhabited volcanic island. Their success in making this windswept sixty-four square miles, without an edible native plant, not only habitable but also the seat of remarkable cultural achievements, is testimony to the genius of these Polynesian settlers.

A study of excavated adzes, fishhooks, ornaments and other artifacts indicates that Tahiti and the other Society Islands must have been settled soon after the Marquesas. Present information indicates that Hawaii and New Zealand were settled after A.D. 500. Radiocarbon techniques permit us to assign tentative dates to this entire Pacific migration: entry into West Polynesia about 1000 B.C., reaching East Polynesia about the time of Christ, completing the occupation by A.D. 1000.

Having reached the Pacific's farthest outpost, the early Polynesians possessed the skills to return. It is doubtful that one-way voyages could account for the early presence in the Hawaiian Islands, for example, of twenty odd cultivated plants of Tahiti and the Marquesas. Thus we conclude that the early Hawaiians repeatedly negotiated the longest sea route in Polynesia returning to Tahiti and then again to Hawaii, known as "Child of Tahiti".

The Polynesians in the Pacific generally occupy an area referred to as the Polynesian Triangle. The Polynesian Triangle has Hawaii in the north, New Zealand in the south, and Easter Island in the east. The lines drawn from Hawaii to New Zealand bends westward to include the Ellice Islands (Tuvalu) and passing between Fiji and Tonga. The north to south line forms the base with its apex on the path of the rising sun, located 4000 miles to the east. The Marquesas lie almost to the center of the eastern line, from Easter in the south to Hawaii in the north, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti and Cook Islands are surrounded by the triangle. New Zealand, the farthest south group of Polynesian islands is home to the Maori people.

Almost lost in the vastness of the Pacific Ocean are the tiny islands, the remarkable people and the ancient architecture of Micronesia. Across a distance of nearly 2000 miles, the archipelago of Micronesia encompasses a land area of only 271 square miles. It is believed that the original inhabitants of Micronesia came from the Philippines and Indonesia about 1500 years before Christ. The islands of Micronesia (and Polynesia) collectively comprise the last major region of the globe to be settled by humans. Both of these groups of islands were colonized within the last 5,000 years by Austronesian-speaking agriculturists. In the past, linguistic studies have been a major factor in suggesting the origins of both the Micronesian and Polynesian people who, in the main, are of medium stature with straight hair and brown skin.

Micronesia means 'small islands' and is derived from the Greek words mikros which means small and nesos which means island. This is a perfect way to describe these over two thousand tropical islands scattered across the heart of the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and the Philippines. They are spread over a great distance, yet each has its own culture, history, customs, rituals, myths and legends, lifestyle and topographical personality. The islands of Micronesia include the Federated States of Micronesia (Pohnpei, Kosrae, Chuuk and Yap), Guam, Palau, Saipan, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Kiribati.

In a DNA study undertaken in 1994, head hair in Micronesia was used to obtain DNA samples. The study was undertaken in order to compare the genetic relationships of various Micronesian groups to other Pacific Islanders and Asians and their languages. The study examined DNA that is found within mitochondria (mtDNA), small cellular bodies that function as the energy factories and storehouses of our cells. Mitochondria are inherited from the body of the mother's fertilized egg, and are transmitted maternally to the next generation. Consequently, this analysis ignores inheritance from a father.

In general, this study found that the majority of mtDNA sequences from Micronesian and Polynesian populations are derived from Asia, whereas others are inferred to have originated in New Guinea. The data supported the concept of an Island Southeast Asian origin and a colonization route along the north coast of New Guinea. The Marianas and the main island of Yap appear to have been independently settled directly from Island Southeast Asia, and both have received migrants from Central-Eastern Micronesia since then. Palau clearly demonstrates a complex prehistory including a significant influx of lineages from New Guinea. In addition, Chamorro mtDNA is very distinctive when compared to other Micronesians and Polynesians. This suggests that the Marianas have a different settlement history than the rest of Micronesia. Thus genetic similarities among Micronesian and Polynesian populations result, in some cases, from a common origin and, in others, from extensive gene flow. As well as showing that Micronesians and Polynesians have a southeast Asian homeland, studies based on DNA contributed by both females and males to their offspring generally indicate a greater degree of Melanesian heritage for Polynesians and Micronesians.

The first European to see the Pacific was Balboa who was later executed by his political enemies. In 1517, a Portuguese nobleman named Magellan (Magalhaes) proposed a route to the Pacific by way of America instead of the recognized course from South Africa on the path of the trade winds.  On 28th November 1520, Magellan passed through the southern tip of America which is now called the Strait of Magellan and sailed into the Pacific Ocean. Magellan gave the order for the ships to turn north-east. After incredible hardship, the first land they saw was right across the Pacific at Guam in Micronesia. They went on and Magellan was killed in a battle in the Philippines. (Click here for further information about Ferdinand Magellan's Voyage Round the World) It was not until the 17th century that Dutch merchants discovered parts of Polynesia. Tasman reached New Zealand and Roggeveen landed on Easter Island. 

The leaders of the early expeditions kept logs in which they recorded their impressions of those things they had seen in Oceania. These accounts are interesting in terms of the descriptions of what they actually saw, but their interpretations of native culture were not always accurate. Many of the whalers and traders who came afterwards did not fully appreciate and understand the oral literature of our people. Also, many of the missionaries who followed in their wake were hypocrites and ignorant zealots who needlessly destroyed the rich cultural heritage of Pacific Island people that they did not understand. Indeed, they were too busy substituting their own mythology to take an immediate interest in the exact details of the mythology they sought to destroy. Island people were given new standards of value in which their myths and traditions were given no commercial or spiritual recognition. The continuity of their teaching was broken.

So much of the old world created by our island ancestors has passed away. The stone temples are now in ruins and the temple drums and shell trumpets have long been silent. Tane, Rongo, Tagaloa, Nareau and other members of the divine family of the Sky-father and the Earth-mother are still with us even though so much of the regalia and symbols of our spiritualism have been scattered among museums around the world.

It is probably premature at this time to endeavour to draw lasting conclusions on the merits of the missionaries' intervention into Oceania. Clearly there have been gains and similarly there had been losses. Perhaps the gains in the form of education and language translation can one day be balanced against the loss in so many important aspects of our cultural heritage ... let us hope so!

JANE RESTURE'S COMMENTS ON THE MISSIONARIES' INTERVENTION INTO OCEANIA

The advent of the missionary into the island states of Oceania has had certain effects that even now have not been fully understood. One can no doubt sympathise with missionaries who came to these islands with little more to offer than their own beliefs. Forced to learn the language of the people and to survive in an alien environment would certainly put their faith very much to the test. Indeed, their early needs were in non-religious matters such as learning the language and teaching the rudiments of western knowledge to the local people. It was only after these things have been done that they were able to preach the gospel. Indeed, the missionaries also had to assume the role of doctors, nurses, teachers and public works administrators.

Certainly, the strong religious following in our island society today are testament to the perseverance of these early missionaries. Indeed, the church still continued to have an important role not only in the religious education but in the general education of so many of our people. In many cases, this has been given generously but in others in the past it has appeared to place an unnecessary impost on the local island communities. Captain Davis, in 1892, was quite critical of many of the activities of some of the missionaries on the islands he visited.

While providing useful documentation, the missionary writings on the Morning Star could by no stretch of the imagination be considered to provide an objective view of island life during this period. Certainly, there is a marked lack of balance in comments made about our island people. For example, the ruins of Nan Madol, Pohnpei (Ponape), Federated States of Micronesia, are considered to be some form of pagan, heathen temples rather than the significant place that it holds in the evolution of Micronesian people. Indeed, so much island culture had been destroyed as it was not pleasing to the missionaries and as such so many of our children will be deprived of certain aspects of our culture that were enjoyed by their forefathers. Perhaps the new nationalism among island people will go part or all of the way to restoring these cultural losses.

It is probably premature at this time to endeavour to draw lasting conclusions on the merits of the missionaries' intervention into Oceania. Clearly there have been gains and similarly there had been losses. Perhaps the gains in the form of education and language translation can one day be balanced against the loss in so many important aspects of our cultural heritage ... let us hope so!

Certainly, in my case, I would have to admit that it was my education in a missionary college - Immaculate Heart College - at Taborio, Tarawa, Republic of Kiribati, that provided the basis for my further studies abroad to enable me to undertake the things that I am presently doing. In this respect, I would like to acknowledge and thank the missionaries for this. 

What the future holds may be unclear particularly when the ocean may claim many of our islands and many of our people are still under the control of others. Perhaps by reclaiming our cultural values we can understand who we are and what the future may hold for our people of Oceania.

CLICKABLE MAP OF OCEANIA-PACIFIC ISLANDS
 
Click on the following interactive map for the country/island of your choice.

  Palau Hawaii Papua Nauru Tokelau Cook Islands Niue New Zealand Norfolk Island Pitcairn Island Easter Island Guam Wallis and Futuna Tonga Papua New Guinea Federated States of Micronesia Republic of the Marshall Islands Solomon Islands Vanuatu New Caledonia Fiji Kiribati Tuvalu French Polynesia Australia American Samoa Samoa

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Click on the above interactive map for the Oceania country/island of your choice.
 

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Travel And Accommodation Guide - Jane's Oceania Travel Page
Tuvalu Islands Online Christmas (Kiritimati) Island Visit Pictures
Hawaii - The Pearl Harbour Story Captain Cook - The First Voyage
Papua Historical - Early Images of Irian Jaya Captain Cook - The Second Voyage
Tahiti Images Captain Cook - The Last Voyage
Tuvalu - About Tuvalu History Historical Guam Postcards
Tuvalu Visit - A Visitor's Introduction to Tuvalu Historical Tahiti Postcards
Tuvalu - World War 2 Images of Nanumea Part 2 Tahiti Holiday - Holiday Postcards from Tahiti
Hawaii - The Faces of Hawaii Micronesia Music
Palau Storyboard Historical Guam Postcards I
Historical Fiji Historical Fiji I
Hawaii - The Story of Kamehameha (King Kamehameha I) Micronesia - Aspects of Yap
Hawaii - The Story of Kings Kamehameha II and III Micronesia - Aspects of Pohnpei
Micronesia - Aspects of Saipan Micronesia - Aspects of Palau
Micronesia - Aspects of Kosrae Samoa Historical Postcards
Micronesia - Aspects of Chuuk Tonga - Recollections of an Early Visitor
Kiribati - Aspects of Kiribati Kiribati - Aspects of Makin and Butaritari
Oceania - The Navigators of Oceania Oceania - Voyaging Canoes
Norfolk Island - A Short History Norfolk Island Postcards
Alfred Restieaux - Stories about "Bully" Hayes Micronesian Stick Charts
Pingalap - The Wonders of Pingalap Trobriand Islands Postcards
Oceania - A Short History of Fiji Oceania - The Second Recruiting Voyage of the Carl
Kiribati and Bully Hayes Hawaii  - Recollections of an Early Visitor

Samoa - Recollections of an Early Visitor Pitcairn - Postcards from Pitcairn Island
Tahiti - The Black Pearls of Tahiti Guam - Impressions 1900
New Zealand - The Kaikoura Canyon Hawaii  - The Vanishing Species
Solomon Islands - About Tikopia Solomon Islands - The Miracle of Tikopia
Oceania -The World War 2 Memoirs of John Vollinger Kiribati - WW2 Images of Abemama People
Oceania -The Return Voyage of the Nottingham Oceania - The Voyages of d'Entrecasteaux
Oceania Nuclear Testing Oceania - A Nuclear Veteran Remembers
Guam Historical Postcards 2 Tahiti Historical Postcards 2
Samoa Historical Postcards 1 Tahiti Historical Postcards 3
Oceania-The Final Voyages of  Robert Louis Stevenson Oceania Portraits - The Robert Louis Stevenson Collection
Papua New Guinea Tribal Art Kiribati - Fanning Island World War 2 Images
Samoa - Traditional Village Solomon Islands: Clickable Map of Provinces
Hawaii - Hawaiian Hula Hawaii - Hawaiian Hula, Part 2
Tahiti -The Fortress of Ra'ivavae Kiribati - The King of Christmas (Kiritimati) Island
Tahiti Postcards Samoa Postcards
Irian Jaya - Asmat Tribal Art Papua New Guinea - Sepik Tribal Art
Papua (Irian Jaya) Home Page Solomon Islands - A Doctor In Paradise
Battle of the Coral Sea Kiribati - Historical Tarawa
Hawaii - Recollections of 1851 Kiribati-Images of Hull Island (Orona), Phoenix Group, 1967
Hawaii - Kaua'i Mythical Menehune Tuvalu - Early Impressions
Kiribati - Doctor's Recollections Of Kiribati Kiribati Schools
Samoa Historical Postcaards 1 Fiji - Historical Postcards
Melanesia Origins Tonga - A Doctor In Paradise
Jane's Oceania Postcards Hawaii - The Recollections of John Nicol
Guam Historical Postcards 3 Marshall Islands Stamps
Oceania - David Lewis Oceania - Timor, Early Ethnology and Mythology
PNG - Trobriand Is. - The Amorous Life of Adolescence Papua New Guinea - Trobriand Islands Magic
PNG - Trobriand Is. - Sex in Folklore - Myths and Legends Red Beach, Guadalcanal, Solomon Islands
PNG - Trobriand Islands - Psychology of Love Fiji - A Fiji Visit
Trobriand Islands  Online Samoa - Some Legends of Samoa
Cook Islands Home Page Cook Islands Legends
Oceania Voyage, 1931 Memoirs of George Albert DeLong

Samoa - Religion Samoa - Short Chronological History
Polynesian Triangle Samoa Marriages
Palmyra Letter - 24th June, 1942 Papua New Guinea Sorcery
Papua New Guinea - The Gimi People Marshall Islands - Rongelap Revisited
Cook islands and the Blackbirders Samoa - Origin, People, Navigators Islands
New Zealand - Some Maori Legends Tahiti Vahine
Samoa - Fine Mats Samoa - Games and Sports
Tahiti - Images 1 Guam Pictures
Samoa Postcards 2 Tonga Postcards
Tahiti Postcards 27 Tahiti Postcards 28
Yap - Recollections of Andrew Cheyne Guam Historical 4
Oceania Languages Canton Is., Aerial Crossroads of the Sth. Pacific
Suvarov: Extract from An Island to Oneself by Tom Neale Andrew Cheyne
Cook Islands Traditions Postcards from Samoa
Vanuatu Air Traffic Controllers Solomon Islands Postcards 3
Hawaii Vintage Postcard Huge Collection Hawaii Postcards and Picture Galleries
The Trials of the Bamabams Tuvalu - Memories of Funafuti
Hawaii Melody Tonga Coronation of the King of Tonga
Historical Guam 5 Guam Postcards and Picture Galleries
Oceania Postcards Polynesian Girls Gallery
Fiji Bure Cook Islands - Economics of Culture

Fiji Historical Postcards 1 Fiji Postcards and Picture Galleries
Kiribati Guardians (Guardians of the Gilberts) New Caledonia Historical Images
Tuvalu Visit (by June Knox-Mawer) Postcards from Saipan
Oceania and Global Warming Tahiti Postcards
Oceania-Timor, Aspects of Early Ethnology & Mythology Oceania - HIV Epidemic
Tonga - The Recollections of Elinor Mordaunt Papua New Guinea  - Nukumanu Island
Papua New Guinea - Rabaul and WWII Easter Island Postcards and Picture Gallery
Prehistoric Micronesia The Narrative of John Williams
Micronesia Music Anthology Samoa Historical
Captain James Cook - Aspects Kiribati & Tuvalu Assoc. (KTA)-Annual Reunion 2004 (UK)
Captain William Bligh of the Bounty Polynesia - Lapita
Fiji Music and Dance Kiribati - Faces of Fanning Island
Kiribati - Christmas Island Images (Grapple-1957) KTA Images - The Great Dunmow Carnival 2004
Oceania - The Final Voyages of Robert Louis Stevenson Oceania-The Northwest, The Eastern Atolls & The Sthn. Angle
Oceania Genealogy The Polynesian Triangle
Captain William Bligh The Artist Galapagos - Iguanas
The Battle of Midway Midway Islands History
Tuvalu - World War 2 Images of Nanumea (Part 1) Tuvalu - World War 2 Images of Nanumea (Part 2)

Oceania: Extract-Bill Corley's Souh Sea Adventure Book Suvarov: Extract from An Island to Oneself by Tom Neale
Christmas Island Bomb Tests Christmas Island Nuclear Tests April 28 1958
Our Samoan Adventure - Robert Louis & Fanny Stevenson Kiribati-Extract- Astride the Equator by Fr Sabatier
Kiribati - Extract from a book by Sir Albert Ellis Jane's Kiribati Home Page
Solomon Islands  - Extract from The Malaita Massacre Jane's Solomon Islands Home Page
Aspects of Easter Island Aspects of Micronesia 
Kiribati: Living at Canton Island, Phoenix Group Canton Island: Aerial Crossroads of the Sth. Pacific
Kiribati: Bue The Ancestor Kiribati: Origins, Culture, Language, Fishing, etc.
Oceania - Painting the Islands Vermilion Kiribati: Politics in Kiribati
Oceania Mythology - Australia Melanesia Postcards
Oceania Origins Melanesia Origins
Oceania Travel Jane's Oceania Travel Page
Indonesia - History and Early Culture Oceania Travel - Australia
Papua New Guinea-Rabaul Volcano Eruption 1937 New Zealand-Some Maori Legends
Kiribati - Aspects of Banaba History Tahiti History
Micronesia - Mariana Islands Hawaii - Aspects of History
Kiribati - Bully Hayes - Line Islands Ocean Island (Banaba)-Phosphate Picture Gallery
Nauru - Phosphate Picture Gallery Oceania Photographs - WWII - Parts 1, 2 & 3
Australia - A Short History Parts 1,2,3 Indonesia - History & Early Culture Part 2
Australia Home Page Polynesia - Planters And Their Products
Pohnpei - Nan Madol Bully Hayes - Final Years
Timor Home Page Hawaii Vintage Postcards
Kiribati Cultural Traditions Papua New Guinea - A Short History
Cook Islands Music Cook Islands Home Page
Ra'ivavae - Tahiti - A Short History Oceania - The Voyage of the Carl
Tahiti Visit - In The Strange South Seas Cook Islands Visit - Penrhyn
Tonga Visit - In The Strange South Seas Samoa - In The Strange South Seas
Indonesia - Traditional Java Wedding Niue Visit - In The Strange South Seas
Polynesia Chiefs - Rulers and Ruled Rarotonga Visit - In The Strange South Seas
Vanuatu (New Hebrides) - Tanna Visit Solomon Islands - Savo Visit
Australia - A Convict's Journey Melanesia Mission

New Zealand Visit Rotorua Visit - New Zealand
Kiribati - Christmas Island Bombers Kiribati - Christmas Island Photographs
Mangaia - Cook Islands Kiribati - Kiribati Protestant Church (K.P.C.)
Australia - Goldfields Australia - Postcards
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Fiji - History Fiji - Discovery
Vanuatu New Postcards Tahiti Modern Postcards
Australia-Bush Characters & Customs Fiji Islands - Recollections
Australia - Aboriginal Music Australia - Aboriginal Indigenous Stories
Trobriand Islands - Erotic Life Cook Islands - Personality and Culture
Australia - European Settlement Bully Hayes-South Sea Pirate-Wreck of the Leonora
Morning Star  - Voyage of Commitment Morning Star  - Voyage of Commitment Part II
Robert Louis Stevenson - South Sea Tales - Part I Robert Louis Stevenson - South Sea Tales - Part II
Australia - Aboriginal Anthropology Polynesian Music
Australia - Colonization And Exploration Japan And The Great Pacific Conflict
Australia - Historical True Stories Melanesia Music
Australia - Bushrangers Australia - The Burke & Wills Expedition
PNG - Recollections Of A Patrol Officer Fiji - Tuvaluans In Fiji
Tonga - Tonga Visit - Vava'u Samoa - Samoa Visit - Western Samoa
Samoa - Samoa Visit - American Samoa Tahiti - Tahiti Visit - The Island of Love
Jane's Gold Coast  - Special Features & Events Tahiti - A Voyage To The Marquesas
Easter Island History Easter Island Visit
Cook Islands - Aitutaki Papua New Guinea - Gold-Dust and Ashes
Hawaii Visit Hawaii - The Big Island
Hawaii - Kauai & The Na Pali Coast Hawaii - Niihau and Lanai
About The Cook Islands About Malden island Visit
Aspects Of Oceania Australia - Government and Governors
Papua And The Pacific Australia - The Convict System
Papua New Guinea And Gold Cook Islands-Mauke, Manuwai, & Takutea

Oceania - The New Pacific Tuvalu - Nanumea Family
New Zealand - Traditional Maori Music Fiji - Cakobau's Fall and Restoration
Australia - Aboriginal Origins And Dreamtime Oceania - Polynesians
Oceania - Magic and Taboo (and Mana) Hawaii - Princess Kaiulani of Hawaii
Tonga - Australia:  Recolloections Australia - Terra Australis Incognita
Oceania - The Marine Environment Australia - Aboriginal Dreamtime
Australia - Aboriginal Anthropology Australia - Mythology - A-Z
Australia - Aboriginal Anthropology 1 Norfolk Is. First Penal Settlement (1774-1814)
About Timor Papua (Irian Jaya) History
About Kiribati About the Marshall Islands
About New Caledonia Australia - About Torres Strait
About Samoa About Hawaii
New Zealand - About New Zealand The History of The Morning Star
Fiji - About Indo-Fijians, History & Culture Papua New Guinea - About Papua New Guinea
Christmas (Kiritimati) Island - Bomb Testing Oceania Nuclear Bomb Tests
About William Henry 'Bully' Hayes Bully Hayes-South Sea Pirate-Wreck of the Leonora
Tahiti-Original Tahitian:Ancestral Traits Tahiti-First Encounter-Explorers
Hawaii-Monarchy In Hawaii Christmas (Kiritimati) & Maralinga Bomb Tests
Torres Strait Islanders & Pearling Industry Australia - Aboriginal History - North Qld
Australia - Aboriginal Traditional Society Australia - Convict Settlers
Australia - Aborigines and White Settlers Bougainville - History

Bougainville - German Era Bougainville - Mandated Territory
Bougainville - World War II Bougainville - Post-War Era
Bougainville - The Mine Hawaii-The Last Visit of Captain Cook to Hawaii
Gold Coast, Australia-Japan & Friends Day Easter Island (Rapa Nui)
Oceania-Amelia Earhart-Last Flight About the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands -The Malaita Massacre Tahiti - Possessing
Pitcairn Descendants of the Bounty Mutineers Australia - The Batavia
Australia - Gold Coast History Pitcairn Descendants of the Bounty Mutineers 2
Australia - Aborigines Stolen Generation Tahiti - Bounty
Tahiti - Pandora Tahiti-Origin-The Coming of Man to the Pacific
Australia - Historical Events Oceania Arts
Tonga Recollections Fiji - Aspects
Cook Islands - Aspects Samoa - Aspects
Tonga - Aspects Tuvalu - Origins and Culture
Tahiti - Aspects The South Pacific
Ocean Island and Nauru Kiribati - Myths, Legends and Stories
Australia-Dorrigo National Park Australia-Mount Warning National Park
Australia-Bushranging Tahiti-More About Paul Gauguin
Australia-Aboriginal Stolen Generation Ferdinand Magellan's Voyage Round The World
Oceania-Capt. James Cook-Great Barrier Reef Oceania-Capt. James Cook-Great Barrier Reef -2
New Zealand - Aspects Australia - Governor Arthur Phillip 
New Zealand - Aspects1-8 Australia - Botany Bay 1788-1790
New Zealand - New Zealanders & Britons Australia - Botany Bay - Early Perceptions
Capt. Cook-The Great Barrier Reef  Torres Strait Visit
Papua New Guinea Visit New Hebrides (Vanuatu) Visit
Kiribati Central top
OUR PEOPLE ON THE REEF 
A Poem by Jane Resture © 1999-2010

The swaying palms, the gentle surf lapping upon the sand
A gentle breeze so keen to please slowly gusts across our land
Our island home is all we have known as centuries rolled by
Our island people stood alone on reefs so barren and dry.

But as years go by we wonder why the shoreline is not the same
The things we knew as always true somehow do not remain
The breakers break on higher ground - the outer palms are falling down
The taro pits begin to die and the village elders wonder why.

For what is happening to the beautiful isles we know?
Tuvalu, Kiribati and Tokelau - the Marshall isles, that place of smiles
The rising sea will reclaim our ground - nothing but water will abound
 Our people forced to leave for higher ground.
 
While far away they pour their fumes into the clear blue sky
Not knowing and never caring why the world is beginning to die
So land of our forebears despite how much we cared for you
The time will soon be when we must bid you adieu.
 

*     *     *
Jane's Oceania Chat Room
 
Jane Resture
 
My Wish
Jane Resture © 1999-2013
The frigate bird
The flying fish
It is time for us
To make a wish
 
And I wish for the sunrise
To be beautiful each time
With days that are perfect
And nights so sublime
 
And I wish for the sunset
To be like a long red sail
Each and every day
And you and I will always stay
Whatever we wish
Will surely come true
And I wish for happiness
For me and you
 
And I wish for the world
To live in peace
To live and love as one
To a simple beat
 
And I wish for us all
To have our lives full of love
Full of joy and happiness
And eternal love
 
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