Bislama and Namakura (Vanuatu)

Brief description

Collection made between 1994 and 1998 by David Luders and George Pakoasongi in Efate-Shepherd Island region of Vanuatu. It records over thirty hours of speech and song. The speech is in Namakura language and Bislama and the song is in local languages. To these recordings is added one of a broadcast by Radio Vila on 1967. That recording concerns the chief Roimata whose burial was excavated by José Garanger in 1967 and the recorded broadcast is referred to in his published report of the excavation (Garanger, José 1972. Archéologie des Nouvelles-Hebrides: Contribution à la Connaissance des îles du Centre. Publications de la Societé des Oceanistes. No. 30. Paris. ORSTOM) Much of this material is confidential and requires a password for access. Those recordings that do not include the first, LPC 1 (the Radio Vila broadcast), and some of those in the Bongabonga series, as indicated. Apart from LPC 1, the recordings are in four series, as follows. SIMBOLO (1 to 11) Password required This series is mostly song. They are named for the performer, Pastor Simbolo, an aore (‘songmaster’) originally of Mangarisu village, Tongoa island (Shepherd Is.). Pastor Simbolo, who claims to have been born in 1911, had the chiefly title of Taripoakoto. He did not begin a Western-style education (and thence go on to train as a Presbyterian pastor) until he had an extensive training in customs and songs on Tongoa. MATANAURETONG (1 TO 7) Password required This series is the history of the chief Ti Tongoa Liseiriki, told by Amos Ti Tongoa Liseiriki in Namakura language and Bislama. BONGABONGA (1 to 35) Password required for most This series contains the histories of the chiefs Taripoamata, Ti Matasso na Mata and Ti Matasso Tonoriki in Namakura language and Bislama of Bongabonga village, Tongoa and a number of other recordings in Namakura language. These include a ‘Life of a Chief’ series, two recordings concerning a critical dispute over succession to a chiefly title at Bongabonga, three on the relationships between chiefs at Bongabonga and between them and others elsewhere, two on custom law, one detailing the protocol of ceremonial pig-killing. Other material includes the responsibilities of a particular lesser chief of Bongabonga, an ‘Aspects of Life’ series covering various details of traditional life, a number of stories of notable events (shipwrecks, murders and chiefly assassinations) and relations between certain chiefs of Tongoa and Emae.