Christchurch Earthquake And The Aftermath 2011
Greetings to all!
At this time, our thoughts and prayers are still with the people of Christchurch, New Zealand, who suffered such terrible losses during the recent earthquake that came largely without warning. The world watched as this very sad catastrophe unfolded before our very eyes and we could not help but shed tears for our Pacific Island/Oceania neighbours. To our dear Oceania neighbours, may the good Lord help and guide you along as you rebuild shattered lives and your beautiful city.
I have taken the opportunity to share some of my thoughts on Christchurch and the longer term implications of this terrible tragedy below:
Central Christchurch on the River Avon was such a gentle place, built in the late 19th century around a cathedral and a college from the dreams of British pilgrims to emulate Christ Church, Oxford.
Now, as emergency workers struggle to retrieve bodies from the wreckage of a fine dream turned to dust, the Christchurch Cathedral itself reduced from national treasure to ruined tomb, the 375,000 inhabitants of this city are consumed by a near unthinkable dread.
Is it possible that New Zealand's second largest city, having found itself on the lip of one of the world's most active earthquake zones, has no future?
This deadly earthquake has all but destroyed Christchurch's central business district, a square kilometre with Cathedral Square at its centre and bounded by four avenues: Bealey, Fitzgerald, Moorhouse and Deans. Previously, 50,000 people, the core of the city's middle class, worked within those four avenues. Less than an hour later not one of them had a job to go to and hundreds were dead.
Where tourists flocked and the city came to work and dine, police and military now guard every corner, refusing entry to all but emergency workers, residents with identification and media with accreditation. Three large conventions worth more than $NZ10 million ($A7.4 million) were to have set the area humming that week. Instead, by night the district is empty during curfew; a vision from a nightmare.
No one knows when, or if, the big banks, law firms, retailers, hotels, insurance companies, convention centres, arts establishments and scores of smaller businesses and restaurants might rebuild or reopen.
Christchurch is the venue for some of the biggest games in the Rugby World Cup to be held in New Zealand in September 2011. Senior rugby figures have so far refused to consider moving the games, but with the city's eight biggest hotels out of business and the biggest of all, the 26-storey Grand Chancellor on the point of collapse, Christchurch authorities are privately conceding that it will not be possible to accommodate the huge crowds expected.
New Zealand sits on the so-called "Ring of Fire", the boundary of the Australian and Pacific tectonic plates, and experiences up to 15,000 tremors a year. It averages at least one a day that is magnitude 4.0 or stronger. This "Ring of Fire" extends through the Melanesian archipelago, Japan and The United States West coast, and in particular California.
Rebuilding after a disaster, as soon as possible, in the same place and in the same way is the usual and expected community response. These emotional responses are intended to reduce community fears that homes will not arise again and property values will sink, destroying many people’s savings. While these statements are well intended, they need to be tempered with some reality.
The question for Christchurch, after the recent devastating earthquake, should not be whether the city will be rebuilt but how it will be rebuilt safely. This means patience and courage will be needed so a better city emerges. Assurances have to be given soon that the city can emerge from this trauma stronger that it was before the deadly earthquake.
The best way to do this is to assure everyone that they will have a place to live of equal value in the new Christchurch, but maybe not the same place or built in the same way.
The Japanese port city of Kobe faced this problem after its 1995 earthquake. In typical Japanese fashion, its authorities determined to build a better city by re-designing the spatial pattern, altering building codes and transforming the notion of property rights from absolute location to a place in the community that best fit the person’s needs.
In this instance, Kobe citizens worked with planners in every district of the city to rebuild their neighbourhoods in a new, modern way that, in many cases, moved away from single-family detached structures to higher density, more strongly constructed, multifamily living units.
Everyone moved back into or near a neighbourhood of choice — not necessarily to the same one as before the earthquake, but to an equivalent-value space in the city. Some families moved into stronger single-family dwellings, but in most cases, higher-rise or attached dwellings were safer and better alternatives. In Kobe, every family exercised the choice that met their needs based on age and income.
New Zealanders — and Australians — will want to continue the familiar form of single-family housing on their own block of land. But this may have to be done more along the model of New Orleans. There, more tightly built, safer homes are being constructed in clusters, with better building materials and safety systems, along with community services, shops and other activities located centrally.
Soon it will be time for residents of the beautiful city of Christchurch to rebuild by putting the safety of the total community at the core of the project, and not just to consider building better individual dwellings. Christchurch can view this as the opportunity to create sustainable and survivable neighbourhoods that can stand on their own, with local supplies, water and power, as well as community shelters. These communities should have a variety of housing forms that can withstand severe shocks.
In this respect, there are plenty of precedents. After Cyclone Tracy hit in 1974, the Darwin Reconstruction Commission rebuilt the city. The Bring New Orleans Back Commission helped resurrect the city after hurricane Katrina. Of course, New Zealand has been here before. After an earthquake razed Napier in 1931 - http://www.janeresture.com/newzealand_napier/index.htm - two commissioners rebuilt the city centre, assisted by the voluntary Napier Reconstruction Committee. Streets were widened, old mistakes rectified and beautiful buildings erected in the midst of the Depression. It is now a thriving art deco haven.
Indeed, at this time, Christchurch has to engage its citizens in looking at the best international alternatives in earthquake safety in California and Japan. Community members should share with everyone the best information about the kind of city they want to live in, while retaining its distinctive charm, given the dangers they will continue to face.
Showing posts with label New Zealand. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Zealand. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Saturday, September 11, 2010
Music of Oceania
This Newsletter will focus on issues
relating to Pacific Island music. It will
also embrace some of the exciting changes
taking place in the Internet Radio Revolution,
as well as updated information on our Pacific
Island Artists, Programming and Playlists.
NEWS AND VIEWS
In this edition of our newsletter, it is my
great pleasure to be able to discuss briefly,
with all of you, our most valued members,
the wonderful music of Oceania, in terms of
its origins, its similarities and those many
things that make Pacific Island music most
unique and beautiful.
The people of Oceania, in common with
all of mankind, have a common origin in
Africa. The migrations to the Pacific
region, however, came about through
different routes and over a long period
of many tens of thousands of years. The
first to arrive were the Melanesians who
are by far the oldest ethnic group in the
Pacific region, and who are the proud
owners of a very rich and diverse
cultural heritage.
The Melanesians were followed much
later by the Polynesians whose migratory
path took them through Taiwan, and along
the back of the Melanesian archipelago
of Papua and New Guinea, the Solomon
Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji,
until they finally settled in Tahiti, Samoa,
Tonga, the Cook Islands, New Zealand,
Tuvalu, as well as the remote Easter Island.
The last to arrive were the Micronesians
whose journey took them much later through
the scattered islands of Micronesia, located
mainly to the north of the Melanesian Islands.
They settled on the main Micronesian islands
of Guam, Palau, Saipan, the Federated States
of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and
Yap), the Marshall Islands and Kiribati.
The traditional music of Melanesia, Polynesia
and Micronesia thus had very little in common
in terms of musical styles. What the music did
have in common was that, in the absence of
any written language, much of the music had
a religious significance and was originally
chanted to appease or call on the gods.
Some of the chants are also part of the oral
traditions of the people and these special
chants documented our history in a manner
that could be handed down from one
generation to the next.
In Melanesia, Christian missionaries disapproved
of Papuan traditional music throughout the colonial
period of the country's history. Even after
independence, the outside world knew little of the
diverse peoples' traditional music genres. The first
commercial release to see an international audience
didn't occur until 1991. After 1872, Christian hymns
were also introduced with the Gold Rush bringing an
influx of Australian miners who introduced the mouth
organ..
The best known traditional celebrations, which
include song, dance, feasting and gift-giving, is the
singsing. Vibrant and colourful costumes adorn the
dancers, while a leader and a chorus sing a staggered
approach to the same song. Since 1953, singsings
have become extremely competitive in nature, with
contests occurring in Port Moresby, Mt Hagan and
Goroko.
Television was introduced to the country in 1993,
and American popular music continued to affect
Papuan music following on from the diffusion of
radio since World War II. By the end of the 1970s,
a local recording industry had appeared, and artists
like George Telek, began to successfully integrate
native and Western styles like rock and jazz.
Indeed, the music of George Telek is proudly
featured on Pacific Music Radio, Pacific Islands
Radio and Radio Melanesia.
The traditional Melanesian music of the Solomon
Islands includes both solo and group vocals, as
well as slit drums and panpipe ensembles. Panpipe
orchestras, which are well-known in Malaita and
Guadalcanal use up to ten performers with
different instruments, each with unique tunings.
In the 1920s, Bamboo music gained a following in
several Melanesian countries. Bamboo music was
made by hitting open-ended bamboo tubes of
varying sizes, originally with coconut husks.
After American soldiers brought their sandals to
the Solomon Islands, these replaced coconut husks
by the early 1960s, just as the music began
spreading to Papua New Guinea.
Modern Solomon Islander popular music includes
various kinds of rock and reggae, as well as a
distinctive original form of music known as island
music which features a guitar and ukulele ensemble
format influenced by Polynesian and Christian music.
The traditional music of Vanuatu featured instruments
such as the tamtam drum, which is intricately carved
from a log, as well as panpipes, conch shells and
gongs.The music industry of Vanuatu has grown
rapidly since the 1990s.The early part of that
decade saw bands forging a distinctly Vanuatuan
modern musical identity, with artists such as the
young talented and gifted artist, Vanessa Quai,
following in their footsteps.
In New Caledonia, music is a fundamental
element of every traditional ceremony, and
the range of instruments includes conch shells,
rhythm instruments and bamboo flutes. The
Caldoches, or white New Caledonians, are
mostly descended from French convicts and
have forged their own culture, more akin to
that of rural Australians or rural Americans
than the metropolitan French. Among the
Kanaks, dance has developed into a high
art form. The traditional pilou dance tells
the stories of births, marriages, cyclones
or preparations for battle, although colonial
authorities banned pilous in 1951 for the
high-energy and trance-like state they
induced in the dancers.
Throughout Polynesia, song and dance are
integral parts of the same cultural elements.
The dance is used to illustrate the lyrics by
moving the hands or arms with some dances
being performed while the dancers are seated.
Traditionally, dance moves do not illustrate the
song's narrative, but rather draw attention to
specific words and themes; in modern times,
however, dances are more often explicitly
narrative in their focus. There are also
traditional dances performed without lyrics,
to the accompaniment of percussive music.
Within songs, the lyrics are by far more
important than the melodic accompaniment,
with elements such as rhythm, melody and
harmony being traditionally viewed as
accompaniment to the primary focus, the
lyrics, serving to embellish, illustrate
and decorate the words.
The most important instrument is the voice,
though multiple varieties of slit drums and conch
shells are also popular; the human body is used
as an instrument, with clapping and knee-slapping
used to accompany songs and dances. Other
instruments include the pandanus, a sitting mat that
is also used as a percussion instrument, nose flutes
and derivatives of Portuguese guitars like the
ukulele and slack-key guitar.
Throughout Oceania, the missionaries did all
they could to wipe out traditional Polynesian
culture by levelling temples, destroying carvings,
and banning tattoos, and that heady, erotic
dancing that Bougainville told Europe about.
The missionaries sought to make the Polynesians
follow the teachings of the Good Book and their
own autocratic commandments, but fortunately
some of the traditional ways, including our
traditional music, survived. Recently there's been
a strong push to revive old ways and rediscover
traditional arts.
Traditional musical instruments include pahu and
toere drums and the nose flute called a vivo.
Guitars and ukuleles made their way into Polynesia
and the locals developed a unique song style that
owes much to country and western music in form
but has a distinctive South Pacific island flavour.
Traditional dance, based on the traditional music,
has also slowly made its way back into Polynesian
life.
In common with the music of Melanesia and
Polynesia, Micronesian music is influential to those
living in the Micronesian Islands. The traditional
music is highly spiritual and is based around the
ancient Micronesian mythology. The music can
call upon one of the gods or spirits for a blessing
or help in a task to be undertaken. The music of
Micronesia covers a range of styles from
traditional songs, handed down through generations,
to contemporary music, much of which comprises
contemporary interpretations of the traditional
spiritual music.
Micronesian traditional music, like much Polynesian
music, is primarily vocal-based. In many cases, this
results from the lack of suitable material on the many
low-lying coral atolls of Micronesia to construct the
kind of drums and other percussion instruments
available to the Melanesians and many of the
Polynesians.
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!
Thank you so much everybody for your continual
support, and I do hope that you enjoy our News
and Views in this special edition of our Newsletter.
* * * * * * * * * *
For further information, please check out the
following four Domains:
www.janeresture.com
www.janesoceania.com
www.ourpacificocean.com
www.pacificislandsradio.com
Thank you and enjoy your day.
relating to Pacific Island music. It will
also embrace some of the exciting changes
taking place in the Internet Radio Revolution,
as well as updated information on our Pacific
Island Artists, Programming and Playlists.
NEWS AND VIEWS
In this edition of our newsletter, it is my
great pleasure to be able to discuss briefly,
with all of you, our most valued members,
the wonderful music of Oceania, in terms of
its origins, its similarities and those many
things that make Pacific Island music most
unique and beautiful.
The people of Oceania, in common with
all of mankind, have a common origin in
Africa. The migrations to the Pacific
region, however, came about through
different routes and over a long period
of many tens of thousands of years. The
first to arrive were the Melanesians who
are by far the oldest ethnic group in the
Pacific region, and who are the proud
owners of a very rich and diverse
cultural heritage.
The Melanesians were followed much
later by the Polynesians whose migratory
path took them through Taiwan, and along
the back of the Melanesian archipelago
of Papua and New Guinea, the Solomon
Islands, Vanuatu, New Caledonia and Fiji,
until they finally settled in Tahiti, Samoa,
Tonga, the Cook Islands, New Zealand,
Tuvalu, as well as the remote Easter Island.
The last to arrive were the Micronesians
whose journey took them much later through
the scattered islands of Micronesia, located
mainly to the north of the Melanesian Islands.
They settled on the main Micronesian islands
of Guam, Palau, Saipan, the Federated States
of Micronesia (Chuuk, Kosrae, Pohnpei and
Yap), the Marshall Islands and Kiribati.
The traditional music of Melanesia, Polynesia
and Micronesia thus had very little in common
in terms of musical styles. What the music did
have in common was that, in the absence of
any written language, much of the music had
a religious significance and was originally
chanted to appease or call on the gods.
Some of the chants are also part of the oral
traditions of the people and these special
chants documented our history in a manner
that could be handed down from one
generation to the next.
In Melanesia, Christian missionaries disapproved
of Papuan traditional music throughout the colonial
period of the country's history. Even after
independence, the outside world knew little of the
diverse peoples' traditional music genres. The first
commercial release to see an international audience
didn't occur until 1991. After 1872, Christian hymns
were also introduced with the Gold Rush bringing an
influx of Australian miners who introduced the mouth
organ..
The best known traditional celebrations, which
include song, dance, feasting and gift-giving, is the
singsing. Vibrant and colourful costumes adorn the
dancers, while a leader and a chorus sing a staggered
approach to the same song. Since 1953, singsings
have become extremely competitive in nature, with
contests occurring in Port Moresby, Mt Hagan and
Goroko.
Television was introduced to the country in 1993,
and American popular music continued to affect
Papuan music following on from the diffusion of
radio since World War II. By the end of the 1970s,
a local recording industry had appeared, and artists
like George Telek, began to successfully integrate
native and Western styles like rock and jazz.
Indeed, the music of George Telek is proudly
featured on Pacific Music Radio, Pacific Islands
Radio and Radio Melanesia.
The traditional Melanesian music of the Solomon
Islands includes both solo and group vocals, as
well as slit drums and panpipe ensembles. Panpipe
orchestras, which are well-known in Malaita and
Guadalcanal use up to ten performers with
different instruments, each with unique tunings.
In the 1920s, Bamboo music gained a following in
several Melanesian countries. Bamboo music was
made by hitting open-ended bamboo tubes of
varying sizes, originally with coconut husks.
After American soldiers brought their sandals to
the Solomon Islands, these replaced coconut husks
by the early 1960s, just as the music began
spreading to Papua New Guinea.
Modern Solomon Islander popular music includes
various kinds of rock and reggae, as well as a
distinctive original form of music known as island
music which features a guitar and ukulele ensemble
format influenced by Polynesian and Christian music.
The traditional music of Vanuatu featured instruments
such as the tamtam drum, which is intricately carved
from a log, as well as panpipes, conch shells and
gongs.The music industry of Vanuatu has grown
rapidly since the 1990s.The early part of that
decade saw bands forging a distinctly Vanuatuan
modern musical identity, with artists such as the
young talented and gifted artist, Vanessa Quai,
following in their footsteps.
In New Caledonia, music is a fundamental
element of every traditional ceremony, and
the range of instruments includes conch shells,
rhythm instruments and bamboo flutes. The
Caldoches, or white New Caledonians, are
mostly descended from French convicts and
have forged their own culture, more akin to
that of rural Australians or rural Americans
than the metropolitan French. Among the
Kanaks, dance has developed into a high
art form. The traditional pilou dance tells
the stories of births, marriages, cyclones
or preparations for battle, although colonial
authorities banned pilous in 1951 for the
high-energy and trance-like state they
induced in the dancers.
Throughout Polynesia, song and dance are
integral parts of the same cultural elements.
The dance is used to illustrate the lyrics by
moving the hands or arms with some dances
being performed while the dancers are seated.
Traditionally, dance moves do not illustrate the
song's narrative, but rather draw attention to
specific words and themes; in modern times,
however, dances are more often explicitly
narrative in their focus. There are also
traditional dances performed without lyrics,
to the accompaniment of percussive music.
Within songs, the lyrics are by far more
important than the melodic accompaniment,
with elements such as rhythm, melody and
harmony being traditionally viewed as
accompaniment to the primary focus, the
lyrics, serving to embellish, illustrate
and decorate the words.
The most important instrument is the voice,
though multiple varieties of slit drums and conch
shells are also popular; the human body is used
as an instrument, with clapping and knee-slapping
used to accompany songs and dances. Other
instruments include the pandanus, a sitting mat that
is also used as a percussion instrument, nose flutes
and derivatives of Portuguese guitars like the
ukulele and slack-key guitar.
Throughout Oceania, the missionaries did all
they could to wipe out traditional Polynesian
culture by levelling temples, destroying carvings,
and banning tattoos, and that heady, erotic
dancing that Bougainville told Europe about.
The missionaries sought to make the Polynesians
follow the teachings of the Good Book and their
own autocratic commandments, but fortunately
some of the traditional ways, including our
traditional music, survived. Recently there's been
a strong push to revive old ways and rediscover
traditional arts.
Traditional musical instruments include pahu and
toere drums and the nose flute called a vivo.
Guitars and ukuleles made their way into Polynesia
and the locals developed a unique song style that
owes much to country and western music in form
but has a distinctive South Pacific island flavour.
Traditional dance, based on the traditional music,
has also slowly made its way back into Polynesian
life.
In common with the music of Melanesia and
Polynesia, Micronesian music is influential to those
living in the Micronesian Islands. The traditional
music is highly spiritual and is based around the
ancient Micronesian mythology. The music can
call upon one of the gods or spirits for a blessing
or help in a task to be undertaken. The music of
Micronesia covers a range of styles from
traditional songs, handed down through generations,
to contemporary music, much of which comprises
contemporary interpretations of the traditional
spiritual music.
Micronesian traditional music, like much Polynesian
music, is primarily vocal-based. In many cases, this
results from the lack of suitable material on the many
low-lying coral atolls of Micronesia to construct the
kind of drums and other percussion instruments
available to the Melanesians and many of the
Polynesians.
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!
Thank you so much everybody for your continual
support, and I do hope that you enjoy our News
and Views in this special edition of our Newsletter.
* * * * * * * * * *
For further information, please check out the
following four Domains:
www.janeresture.com
www.janesoceania.com
www.ourpacificocean.com
www.pacificislandsradio.com
Thank you and enjoy your day.
Friday, September 10, 2010
Traditional Music Of Polynesia
Welcome Everybody!
It will be my great pleasure to be able to discuss,
at least in a much broader outline, a little more
about the beautiful traditional music of Polynesia.
This will be in the context of the origins and the
early migration of the Polynesian people. The word
"Polynesia" means "many islands" - it comes from
the Greek words 'poly' which means many and
'nesos' which means "island".
Polynesia is a group of island chains spread
across much of the Pacific Ocean, and includes
many countries and territories. Internationally,
Polynesian music is mostly associated with
twinkling guitars and grass skirts, Hawaiian hula
and other tourist-friendly forms of music. While
these elements are justifiably a part of Polynesian
history and culture, there is actually a wide variety
of music made in the far-flung reaches of Polynesia.
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.
Certainly, human occupation of Oceania -
those vast reaches of the Pacific encompassing
Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia - began
on Papua and Papua New Guinea. It is on here
that archaeologists have dug primitive stone
tools and charcoal more than 25,000 years old
from camp sites used during the last Ice Age,
when sea levels were lower and the distances
between Australia, Papua New Guinea and the
other Indonesian islands were much less.
When melting ice raised the level of the
ocean and increased distances between land
falls, Papua New Guinea and its dark-skinned
inhabitants - Melanesians - became more
isolated until the coming of the brown-skinned
people - out of island Asia - Indonesia, the
Philippines and Taiwan.
In their outrigger and double canoes with sails
of plaited leaves, the latter reached New Guinea
and nearby islands about 4,500 years ago, but
did not dislodge the Melanesians they found
already living there. Among these seafarers were
the ancestors of the Polynesians. Using Fiji as
a staging area, some eventually sailed on to
uninhabited Tonga and Samoa.
Indeed, 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. Radiocarbon of Lapita pottery has
suggested that 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, 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 only 15 miles long.
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, fully
equipped to colonise 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, fish hooks,
ornaments and other artefacts 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.
In central and eastern Pacific is a large triangular
area referred to as the Polynesian Triangle.
The triangle is formed by a line drawn from Hawaii
to new Zealand, bending westward to include the
Ellice Islands (Tuvalu) and passing between Fiji
and Tonga. This north to south forms the base.
Easter Island is the apex, located 4,000 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.
It was in the Polynesian Triangle that the unique
and beautiful Polynesian culture evolved over
hundreds and, indeed, thousands of years. The
striking unity of the languages spoken in these
different islands, as well as sufficient similarities
in their arts, culture, custom and tradition allow
the world scientists and anthropologists to agree
that the Polynesians are a racial unit. It is
also here that the beautiful traditional music of
Polynesia has its origins.
The early music of Polynesia was composed
of rhythm instruments and vocals; they
comprise mainly chants without any harmonic
structure and without any oriental or occidental
influence. This early music was very fundamental
although some islands did use flutes and drums
to accompany their singing.
As there was no written language to record the
history of the Pacific Islands, it was our beautiful
island music that provided one essential record
of our heritage and this was passed from generation
to generation. Besides the tales of migration and
wars, the daily life of our Pacific Island people
was chronicled in our music. Throughout most of
Polynesia, contemporary music has been influenced
by outside influences. The only major stronghold to
retain traditional culture without much evolution
has been Tonga, which has pursued a relatively
isolationist history.
Throughout Tonga, traditional music has been
preserved in the set pieces performed at royal
and noble weddings and funerals, as well as in
the song sung during the traditional ceremony
of apology, the 'lou-ifi'.
Radio Tonga begins each day's broadcast with
a recording by a nobleman and celebrated virtuoso
of the nose flute which is otherwise rarely heard.
Some ancient dances such as the ula are still
performed. The 'lali' or slit-gong, is still in use --
as a substitute for a church bell by congregations
that cannot afford a bell.
Generally throughout Polynesia, the lyrics of
traditional songs are by far more important
than the melodic accompaniment, as it is the
lyrics that contain the elements of our cultural
heritage that are being preserved such as the
stories of the people, genealogies, histories
and migrations. Elements like rhythm melody,
harmony and dance are traditionally viewed
as accompaniment to the primary focus, the
lyrics, serving to embellish, illustrate and
decorate the words.
It is important to remember, however, that song
and dance are integral parts of the same cultural
elements throughout Polynesia. In action songs,
dance is used to illustrate the lyrics by moving
the hands or arms; some dances are performed seated.
Traditionally, dance moves do not illustrate the
song's narrative, but rather draw attention to
specific words and themes; in modern times,
however, dances are more often explicitly narrative
in their focus. There are also traditional dances
performed without lyrics, to the accompaniment
of percussive music.
The most important instrument is the voice, though
multiple varieties of slit drums and conch shells are
also popular; the human body is used as an instrument,
with clapping and knee-slapping used accompany songs
and dances. Other instruments include the pandanus,
a sitting mat that is also used as a percussion
instrument, nose flutes and, later, derivatives of
Portuguese guitars such as the ukulele and slack-key
guitar.
In the 1790s, Christian missionaries arrived in
Polynesia for the first time. Hymns and other forms
of Christian music were instituted, and native musical
genres were largely driven underground and prohibited.
Soon, traditional polyphonic singing was merged with
Christian styles and church singing became an important
part of Polynesian culture across the Pacific.
The music of Polynesian is the most well known music
from Oceania. It includes everything from the Hawaiian
hula and steel-guitar traditions to joyful, polyphonic
choral music of Tahiti. Though traditional instruments
such as slit-gongs and nose-flutes can be found throughout
the region, the voice has long been the most important
instrument among Polynesian peoples. Whether singing
Christian hymns imported by missionaries or traditional
songs such as the 'lakalaka' of Tonga that date back
generations, their choral music is unsurpassed. Also
important in Polynesian musical culture is dance, both
to accompany "action songs" such as the hula and the
'aparima' of Tahiti, or in the signature seated-dance
styles such as Western Samoa's 'ma'ulu'ulu'. Polynesia
also offers the unique music of New Zealand's Maori
people, whose legendary 'hakka' dance can still send
shivers down an onlooker's spine.
I do hope that you have enjoyed this brief outline
of the origins of our traditional and beautiful
Polynesian music. In the next edition, it will be
my great pleasure to share with you a little more
information on the origins of the traditional music
of our beautiful Micronesia!
FEATURE ARTISTS
PACIFIC CHANTS: TRADITIONAL MUSIC
OF EASTERN POLYNESIA
David Fanshawe presents important highlights
from his monumental Pacific Collections, recorded
over fourteen years (1978-1992). The selections
focus on the rich variety of authentic himene (hymns)
indigenous to Tahiti, the Cook Islands, the Society
Islands, the Austral Islands, Manihiki, Pukapuka,
Maupiti, Tahaa, Bora Bora, and Raivavae. The 20
tracks include a valuable collection of traditional
music including, The Signing Reef 1 - 5, Legend
of Maupiti and Marae Arahurahu.
RUIA AND RANEA
The talented Maori twins, Ruia and Ranea Aperahama,
deliver a celebration of contemporary Maori music that
is performed completely in the Maori language. The
musical styles include reggae, soul, Latin rhythm elements,
and a strong spiritual theme that ties the album together,
giving it a natural Maori essence.
SOUL PAUA
Soul Paua are Jerry Banse and Turi Reedy. Jerry is
Samoan, Turei, a Maori. Their music is in te reo,
sometimes in English and a mix of rock, jazz, blues
folk and traditional Maori music. Their debut album
is based on the story of an urban young Maori prophet
and is currently being developed as a stage production.
The songs on the album follow the story of one man
from his birth, the troubles he is confronted with,
the prophetic abilities he discovers and how he
reflects on his journey.
The themes talk about the ability of anyone to
do anything at any time. The story is based on
the tales of Maui and the prophets - both of
which came from unlikely beginnings. Maui
was abandoned at birth and the prophets were
often considered rebels or on the outside of
decent society.
That's all for now. I wish you all a wonderful
and prosperous day. Thank you.
For further information, please check my four
Domains:
www.janeresture.com
www.janesoceania.com
www.ourpacificocean.com
www.pacificislandsradio.com
It will be my great pleasure to be able to discuss,
at least in a much broader outline, a little more
about the beautiful traditional music of Polynesia.
This will be in the context of the origins and the
early migration of the Polynesian people. The word
"Polynesia" means "many islands" - it comes from
the Greek words 'poly' which means many and
'nesos' which means "island".
Polynesia is a group of island chains spread
across much of the Pacific Ocean, and includes
many countries and territories. Internationally,
Polynesian music is mostly associated with
twinkling guitars and grass skirts, Hawaiian hula
and other tourist-friendly forms of music. While
these elements are justifiably a part of Polynesian
history and culture, there is actually a wide variety
of music made in the far-flung reaches of Polynesia.
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.
Certainly, human occupation of Oceania -
those vast reaches of the Pacific encompassing
Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia - began
on Papua and Papua New Guinea. It is on here
that archaeologists have dug primitive stone
tools and charcoal more than 25,000 years old
from camp sites used during the last Ice Age,
when sea levels were lower and the distances
between Australia, Papua New Guinea and the
other Indonesian islands were much less.
When melting ice raised the level of the
ocean and increased distances between land
falls, Papua New Guinea and its dark-skinned
inhabitants - Melanesians - became more
isolated until the coming of the brown-skinned
people - out of island Asia - Indonesia, the
Philippines and Taiwan.
In their outrigger and double canoes with sails
of plaited leaves, the latter reached New Guinea
and nearby islands about 4,500 years ago, but
did not dislodge the Melanesians they found
already living there. Among these seafarers were
the ancestors of the Polynesians. Using Fiji as
a staging area, some eventually sailed on to
uninhabited Tonga and Samoa.
Indeed, 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. Radiocarbon of Lapita pottery has
suggested that 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, 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 only 15 miles long.
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, fully
equipped to colonise 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, fish hooks,
ornaments and other artefacts 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.
In central and eastern Pacific is a large triangular
area referred to as the Polynesian Triangle.
The triangle is formed by a line drawn from Hawaii
to new Zealand, bending westward to include the
Ellice Islands (Tuvalu) and passing between Fiji
and Tonga. This north to south forms the base.
Easter Island is the apex, located 4,000 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.
It was in the Polynesian Triangle that the unique
and beautiful Polynesian culture evolved over
hundreds and, indeed, thousands of years. The
striking unity of the languages spoken in these
different islands, as well as sufficient similarities
in their arts, culture, custom and tradition allow
the world scientists and anthropologists to agree
that the Polynesians are a racial unit. It is
also here that the beautiful traditional music of
Polynesia has its origins.
The early music of Polynesia was composed
of rhythm instruments and vocals; they
comprise mainly chants without any harmonic
structure and without any oriental or occidental
influence. This early music was very fundamental
although some islands did use flutes and drums
to accompany their singing.
As there was no written language to record the
history of the Pacific Islands, it was our beautiful
island music that provided one essential record
of our heritage and this was passed from generation
to generation. Besides the tales of migration and
wars, the daily life of our Pacific Island people
was chronicled in our music. Throughout most of
Polynesia, contemporary music has been influenced
by outside influences. The only major stronghold to
retain traditional culture without much evolution
has been Tonga, which has pursued a relatively
isolationist history.
Throughout Tonga, traditional music has been
preserved in the set pieces performed at royal
and noble weddings and funerals, as well as in
the song sung during the traditional ceremony
of apology, the 'lou-ifi'.
Radio Tonga begins each day's broadcast with
a recording by a nobleman and celebrated virtuoso
of the nose flute which is otherwise rarely heard.
Some ancient dances such as the ula are still
performed. The 'lali' or slit-gong, is still in use --
as a substitute for a church bell by congregations
that cannot afford a bell.
Generally throughout Polynesia, the lyrics of
traditional songs are by far more important
than the melodic accompaniment, as it is the
lyrics that contain the elements of our cultural
heritage that are being preserved such as the
stories of the people, genealogies, histories
and migrations. Elements like rhythm melody,
harmony and dance are traditionally viewed
as accompaniment to the primary focus, the
lyrics, serving to embellish, illustrate and
decorate the words.
It is important to remember, however, that song
and dance are integral parts of the same cultural
elements throughout Polynesia. In action songs,
dance is used to illustrate the lyrics by moving
the hands or arms; some dances are performed seated.
Traditionally, dance moves do not illustrate the
song's narrative, but rather draw attention to
specific words and themes; in modern times,
however, dances are more often explicitly narrative
in their focus. There are also traditional dances
performed without lyrics, to the accompaniment
of percussive music.
The most important instrument is the voice, though
multiple varieties of slit drums and conch shells are
also popular; the human body is used as an instrument,
with clapping and knee-slapping used accompany songs
and dances. Other instruments include the pandanus,
a sitting mat that is also used as a percussion
instrument, nose flutes and, later, derivatives of
Portuguese guitars such as the ukulele and slack-key
guitar.
In the 1790s, Christian missionaries arrived in
Polynesia for the first time. Hymns and other forms
of Christian music were instituted, and native musical
genres were largely driven underground and prohibited.
Soon, traditional polyphonic singing was merged with
Christian styles and church singing became an important
part of Polynesian culture across the Pacific.
The music of Polynesian is the most well known music
from Oceania. It includes everything from the Hawaiian
hula and steel-guitar traditions to joyful, polyphonic
choral music of Tahiti. Though traditional instruments
such as slit-gongs and nose-flutes can be found throughout
the region, the voice has long been the most important
instrument among Polynesian peoples. Whether singing
Christian hymns imported by missionaries or traditional
songs such as the 'lakalaka' of Tonga that date back
generations, their choral music is unsurpassed. Also
important in Polynesian musical culture is dance, both
to accompany "action songs" such as the hula and the
'aparima' of Tahiti, or in the signature seated-dance
styles such as Western Samoa's 'ma'ulu'ulu'. Polynesia
also offers the unique music of New Zealand's Maori
people, whose legendary 'hakka' dance can still send
shivers down an onlooker's spine.
I do hope that you have enjoyed this brief outline
of the origins of our traditional and beautiful
Polynesian music. In the next edition, it will be
my great pleasure to share with you a little more
information on the origins of the traditional music
of our beautiful Micronesia!
FEATURE ARTISTS
PACIFIC CHANTS: TRADITIONAL MUSIC
OF EASTERN POLYNESIA
David Fanshawe presents important highlights
from his monumental Pacific Collections, recorded
over fourteen years (1978-1992). The selections
focus on the rich variety of authentic himene (hymns)
indigenous to Tahiti, the Cook Islands, the Society
Islands, the Austral Islands, Manihiki, Pukapuka,
Maupiti, Tahaa, Bora Bora, and Raivavae. The 20
tracks include a valuable collection of traditional
music including, The Signing Reef 1 - 5, Legend
of Maupiti and Marae Arahurahu.
RUIA AND RANEA
The talented Maori twins, Ruia and Ranea Aperahama,
deliver a celebration of contemporary Maori music that
is performed completely in the Maori language. The
musical styles include reggae, soul, Latin rhythm elements,
and a strong spiritual theme that ties the album together,
giving it a natural Maori essence.
SOUL PAUA
Soul Paua are Jerry Banse and Turi Reedy. Jerry is
Samoan, Turei, a Maori. Their music is in te reo,
sometimes in English and a mix of rock, jazz, blues
folk and traditional Maori music. Their debut album
is based on the story of an urban young Maori prophet
and is currently being developed as a stage production.
The songs on the album follow the story of one man
from his birth, the troubles he is confronted with,
the prophetic abilities he discovers and how he
reflects on his journey.
The themes talk about the ability of anyone to
do anything at any time. The story is based on
the tales of Maui and the prophets - both of
which came from unlikely beginnings. Maui
was abandoned at birth and the prophets were
often considered rebels or on the outside of
decent society.
That's all for now. I wish you all a wonderful
and prosperous day. Thank you.
For further information, please check my four
Domains:
www.janeresture.com
www.janesoceania.com
www.ourpacificocean.com
www.pacificislandsradio.com
Thursday, September 9, 2010
The Music Of The New Zealand Maori
Welcome Everybody!
I would like to talk a little about the
music and, in particular, the traditional
music of the New Zealand Maori.
Certainly, the music of the New Zealand
Maori, ranging from diva Dame Kiri Te
Kanawa to traditional choirs and popular
music stars, have gained an appreciative
worldwide audience.
The New Zealand Maori are, of course,
Polynesian, and have lived in New
Zealand ever since approximately the
eleventh century A.D. They refer to their
homeland as Aotearoa, The Land of the
Long White Cloud. In terms of the origins
of the Maori, modern evidence, including
DNA analysis, confirms the opinion that
modern man, in the form of Homo sapiens,
first came out of Africa as early as 160,000
years ago. Of the pioneers who moved
across Asia, one group moved south-east
down through the Indo-Malaysian archipelago,
crossing over into Australia during a brief
window of opportunity 65,000 years ago
when water levels dropped. They also
reached Papua, also possibly as early as
65,000 years ago, eventually moving from
there across the Pacific.
Archaeologists believe that Polynesian people
came from a small central group that spoke the
Austronesian language on the island of Taiwan.
Genetic studies have also now indicated that
the ancestors of this group were the sailors
of the great canoes who started out on their
journey further back along the trail in eastern
Indonesia.
Researchers in New Zealand have also recently
concluded that the male and female ancestors
of Maori people came from different places.
The team, from Victoria University in Wellington,
New Zealand, have found that Maori women
have genetic markers that suggest their ancestors
came from mainland South-east Asia, probably
about 6,000 years ago. As they travelled south
from island to island, it appears that Melanesian
men joined the men and women on the boat,
with a small group of people eventually arriving
in New Zealand via the Polynesian triangle,
about 1,000 years ago.
Indeed, the word Polynesia, which means many
islands, comes from the Greek words 'poly'
which means 'many' and 'nesos' which means
'island'. Polynesia stretches in a huge triangle
from New Zealand in the southwest to Easter
Island, 8,000 kilometres away in the southeast
and up to Hawaii at its northern point. The
Polynesian people are lighter skinned and are
generally taller than the Melanesian and
Micronesian people.
The Maori view of creation in which all nature
was seen as a great kinship tracing its origins
back to a single pair, the Sky Father and the
Earth Mother, was a conception which they
brought with them when they came from
Central Polynesia about 1,000 A.D.
Furthermore, this belief in a primal pair, as
well as the metaphysical idea of an original
Void or Darkness, seems to be part of the
stock of ideas which the ancestors of the
Polynesians brought with them from the
west, from the Asian mainland, and which
they carried with them as they dispersed
into marginal Polynesia. The resultant shift
in names and attributes, and the elaboration
of themes which occurred throughout the
area certainly cannot obscure this underlying
unity of ideas.
The name 'Maori' is derived from Ma-Uri,
which means 'Children of Heaven'. Their
nickname is 'Vikings of the Sunrise', because
they are fierce warriors. Originally, they were
hunters, but soon became peasants, living off
agriculture. Today, approximately 300.000
Maori are mainly living in the cities, but they
remain closely connected to their tribes. Their
tribal groupings are derived from the people
of each canoe, settling New Zealand in the
early times.
Traditional Maori villages are fortified with
an open space in the centre, called the 'marae',
on which the meeting house or 'whare hui' is
located. This building represents the symbolic
body of the ancestor. Around the fort sites,
a palisade with watch tower is built. In these
watch towers are suspended alarm gongs
comprising huge wooden plates referred to
as 'pahu'.
The Maori religion is closely related to nature
and to the ancestors. Nature itself is considered
a living being and thus the interaction between
man and nature is bound by prescripts and
rituals. The notion 'tapu' (sacred), from which
the word 'tabu' is deduced, is still a central
notion in contemporary Maori society.
Tiki are anthropomorphic ornaments representing
spiritual beings. Many times they have some kind
of deformation, like only 3 fingers and they can
be both positive and negative towards mankind.
Much of the Maori religion remains intact and many
rituals associated with traditional visual arts and
traditional music are still carried out with strong
ties between songs and magic still remaining.
Traditional Maori music, in the main, only used
aerophones and idiophones to support the vocals.
Aerophones were mainly of the following types.
Koauau, which can be made out of different
materials: wood or even a human bone. It is a
straight blown flute, blown under an angle, 12 to
15 cm long and with a bore of 1 to 2 cm. When
the instrument isn't played, it's worn around the
neck. It has 3 finger holes.
Porutu is a flute similar to the koauau but
longer: it measures between 30 and 40 cm.
There is doubt about wether it is an original
Maori instrument or an imitation of the western
flute. Nguru is a small instrument (8 to 10 cm).
It is curved at one end, because originally this
flute was made out of a whale tooth. It can also
be made out of wood, stone, clay. It has one
open end like the koauau and one small
opening at the curved end. It has 2 to 4 finger
holes.
Whio is a bone flute made out of an albatross
bone. The instrument is 15 cm long, has a
diameter of 1.5 cm and 4 finger holes. The
instrument was played by men in order to
attract the attention of women they longed for.
Puukaaea is a wooden war trumpet, made out
of two pieces of wood cut lengthwise and
hollowed out. Both pieces are again assembled
and kept in place by fibres or ropes. The length
varies between 1m and 2,5 meter. At one side
there is a sculptured wooden mouthpiece and
the other side of the instrument is broader
and resembles an open mouth. Inside tohu are
sculptures, representing the human tonsils and
uvula. The puukaaea could be used during the
war as a megaphone or as an alarm instrument.
Puutoorino, which is often referred to as a
bugle-flute instead of trumpet, because the
instrument could also be used as a flute, but
originally it was a trumpet. It is about 30 to
60 cm long and is made as the puukaaea out
of two pieces of wood, but here widest in the
middle and more narrow at both end sides.
In the middle are sound holes, mostly in the
shape of an eight, are made as the open
mouth of a sculptured face. Near the
mouthpiece, another face is carved, or a
tiki (men/spirit) or a manaia (men/bird). The
player placed his hand over the sound hole
in order to change the tones of the instrument.
Originally, this instrument was mainly used to
announce the coming and arrival of a tribal
chief.
Teetere are flax trumpets simply made by
winding a leaf to a horn shape. It was
probably a children's toy, but could also be
used to announce one's arrival in the village.
Non-blown aerophones include the
Puurorohuu which is a bullroarer made out
of a piece of wood. By swinging the bullroarer
around, a roaring sound is produced which it
was thought would bring rain. The idiophone
used comprised the following. Pahuu are
wooden gongs: flat slabs of resonant wood,
which were horizontally suspended above a
platform in the watch tower of the palisade
around the fortified village. It was hit in
case of danger, but also used to call the men
to go to war.Some tribes, living in the woods,
carved their war pahuu out of a hollow tree.
The wooden slab was sometimes cut away
and separated from the tree or sometimes it
remained a fixed part of the tree.
Paakuru is an instrument, which is held
between the teeth of the player, can be
compared to a jew's-harp. It comprised a
simple piece of wood of 40 to 50 cm long,
2 to 5 cm broad and 1 cm thick, struck by
a little wooden stick. The sound is changed
by the position of the mouth and the
movements of the lips. Nowadays, the
paakuru knows a revival as a whalebone
paakuru. Rooria are similar to paakuru, but
smaller: only 7 to 10 cm long. Maori lovers
use it for intimate conversations. Finally,
Tokere are whalebones used as clappers.
The traditional vocal music can be divided
in two categories: the recitatives and the
songs. The recitatives have no fixed pitch
organisation and the tempo is much higher
than the song's tempo. Among the recitatives
is a welcome ceremony known as Powhiri.
This welcome ceremony is a mixed form.
Men shout fiercely, whilst women sing in a
melodic way. The Powhiri often starts with
the men standing in front of the women. The
men make clear they are ready for a battle
by shouting, menacing with their weapons
and grimacing. After a while, the women
gently come to the front, singing and carrying
green leaves. The men kneeled down on one
knee and put their weapons on the floor.
Most of the time a Powhiri ends with a haka
(men song) without weapons.
Haka are shouted speeches by men, combined
with a fierce dance. Haka Taparahi are
performed without weapons and they can give
expression to different emotions depending
on the situation for which they are performed.
Haka Peruperu are performed with weapons
and associated with war dances.
Another form of recitative is known as Ngeri
and is used to annihilate any form of tapu.
Other forms of recitatives are Karakia which
are quick incantations and spells.They are used
during daily life by both adults and children, but
also during rituals. The ritual karakia is difficult
and dangerous to execute, because a mistake
during the performance will attract bad luck,
illness and even the death of the reciter. For
very important karakia, two priest reciters
are needed in order to alternate the breathing
pause, because even the slightest moment of
silence could result into disaster. Paatere are
mainly performed in group and composed by
women in answer to gossip. The texts of
paatere consist merely out of summing up
of the kinship connections of the author.
Kaioraora are like paatere answers to
gossip but with a rude, offensive text
The second form of traditional music are
Songs and the Sung Poetry, also called Nga
Moteatea, which often consist mainly of
laments, but sometimes also consist of love
songs and lullabies. Traditionally, sung
poetry of this form was accompanied by a
koauau flute.
Traditional songs comprise the following
forms: Poi, which are songs accompanied
by a form of dance in which women hit their
body rhythmically with one or two mainly
cotton balls attached to the end of a string.
Oriori, which are songs composed to teach
children of high rank about their special
descent and history.Pao are songs originating
out of a kind of instant-composing: the
composer sings the first couplet and is then
repeated by the chorus, and so on. These
are songs of local interest. They can be
funny or serious.Waiata is the most common
category of Maori songs and comprise
laments about different topics. Traditionally,
waiata are sung in groups and in unisono.
Waiata tangi are laments for the dead. The
word 'tangi' means 'weeping'. This form is
mainly composed by women. During burial
ceremonies, women were expected to show
signs of deep grief, for example, by
wounding their faces with sharp stones.
Sometimes, these waiata were very personal,
telling about the composer's emotions and
feelings towards the dead. When composed
by men, the waiata tangi can also instruct us
about the warrior qualities of the dead person.
They can also, for example, allude to most of
the calamities that can befall mankind.
Finally, waiata ahore are love songs, and
waiata whaiaaipo are songs for the beloved
one. They are often still laments and tell
us about all the misery that a love affair
can provoke.
There is little doubt that Maori music, like
that of other Pacific Islanders, has changed
under the influence of western culture. In
this respect, it is most pleasing to see, next
to the commercialisation, a strong revival of
the traditional Maori music, along with a
growing pride in the beautiful traditional
Maori culture.
FEATURE ARTIST
PAPUA NEW GUINEA STRINGBANDS
Papua New Guinea Stringbands CD Songs
Of The Volcano is a fascinating, raw and
unique sound from five villages in East New
Britain with five different Tolai stringbands..
Papua New Guinea is home to a huge
indigenous population speaking more than
800 languages, it laid largely undiscovered
until the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, and hence is one of the last
places on the planet to have guitars arrive
from afar. Rabaul, in Papua New Guinea's
far flung province of East New Britain, is a
town which has had its share of hard times.
In the same century, it has been destroyed
twice by massive volcanic cataclysms and
once by a devastating war imposed on it
by outsiders. The Tolai people of Rabaul
have suffered greatly from these natural
and manmade disasters and yet, somehow,
have always managed to bounce back and
keep their spirits high. One of the main
contributing factors to their capacity for
optimism is their music, an energetic and
unique blend of voices and instruments
performed by the community's local
stringbands.
The music carries a fragile innocence
and beauty reminiscent of what guitar
music may have sounded like, in Hawaii
in 1860, or Mexico in 1830. Most music
travelled throughout the Pacific Ocean
on boats, with sailors leaving behind
instruments and ideas to then percolate
in isolation. Hence, the music on this
album will seem at once exotic, yet
somehow familiar.Even today, there is
still very little mass media penetration
in Papua New Guinea, though that is
changing, and thus makes the
preservation of the traditional music
even more necessary. Material from
this CD is being proudly featured on
our Pacific Islands Radio, and it is
highly recommended for those who
enjoy vibrant and compelling guitar
music performed from the heart.
That's all for now my friends. I wish
you a wonderful day with a prosperous
and happy weekend. See you all later.
For further information, please check out my four Domains:
www.janeresture.com
www.janesoceania.com
www.ourpacificocean.com
www.pacificislandsradio.com
I would like to talk a little about the
music and, in particular, the traditional
music of the New Zealand Maori.
Certainly, the music of the New Zealand
Maori, ranging from diva Dame Kiri Te
Kanawa to traditional choirs and popular
music stars, have gained an appreciative
worldwide audience.
The New Zealand Maori are, of course,
Polynesian, and have lived in New
Zealand ever since approximately the
eleventh century A.D. They refer to their
homeland as Aotearoa, The Land of the
Long White Cloud. In terms of the origins
of the Maori, modern evidence, including
DNA analysis, confirms the opinion that
modern man, in the form of Homo sapiens,
first came out of Africa as early as 160,000
years ago. Of the pioneers who moved
across Asia, one group moved south-east
down through the Indo-Malaysian archipelago,
crossing over into Australia during a brief
window of opportunity 65,000 years ago
when water levels dropped. They also
reached Papua, also possibly as early as
65,000 years ago, eventually moving from
there across the Pacific.
Archaeologists believe that Polynesian people
came from a small central group that spoke the
Austronesian language on the island of Taiwan.
Genetic studies have also now indicated that
the ancestors of this group were the sailors
of the great canoes who started out on their
journey further back along the trail in eastern
Indonesia.
Researchers in New Zealand have also recently
concluded that the male and female ancestors
of Maori people came from different places.
The team, from Victoria University in Wellington,
New Zealand, have found that Maori women
have genetic markers that suggest their ancestors
came from mainland South-east Asia, probably
about 6,000 years ago. As they travelled south
from island to island, it appears that Melanesian
men joined the men and women on the boat,
with a small group of people eventually arriving
in New Zealand via the Polynesian triangle,
about 1,000 years ago.
Indeed, the word Polynesia, which means many
islands, comes from the Greek words 'poly'
which means 'many' and 'nesos' which means
'island'. Polynesia stretches in a huge triangle
from New Zealand in the southwest to Easter
Island, 8,000 kilometres away in the southeast
and up to Hawaii at its northern point. The
Polynesian people are lighter skinned and are
generally taller than the Melanesian and
Micronesian people.
The Maori view of creation in which all nature
was seen as a great kinship tracing its origins
back to a single pair, the Sky Father and the
Earth Mother, was a conception which they
brought with them when they came from
Central Polynesia about 1,000 A.D.
Furthermore, this belief in a primal pair, as
well as the metaphysical idea of an original
Void or Darkness, seems to be part of the
stock of ideas which the ancestors of the
Polynesians brought with them from the
west, from the Asian mainland, and which
they carried with them as they dispersed
into marginal Polynesia. The resultant shift
in names and attributes, and the elaboration
of themes which occurred throughout the
area certainly cannot obscure this underlying
unity of ideas.
The name 'Maori' is derived from Ma-Uri,
which means 'Children of Heaven'. Their
nickname is 'Vikings of the Sunrise', because
they are fierce warriors. Originally, they were
hunters, but soon became peasants, living off
agriculture. Today, approximately 300.000
Maori are mainly living in the cities, but they
remain closely connected to their tribes. Their
tribal groupings are derived from the people
of each canoe, settling New Zealand in the
early times.
Traditional Maori villages are fortified with
an open space in the centre, called the 'marae',
on which the meeting house or 'whare hui' is
located. This building represents the symbolic
body of the ancestor. Around the fort sites,
a palisade with watch tower is built. In these
watch towers are suspended alarm gongs
comprising huge wooden plates referred to
as 'pahu'.
The Maori religion is closely related to nature
and to the ancestors. Nature itself is considered
a living being and thus the interaction between
man and nature is bound by prescripts and
rituals. The notion 'tapu' (sacred), from which
the word 'tabu' is deduced, is still a central
notion in contemporary Maori society.
Tiki are anthropomorphic ornaments representing
spiritual beings. Many times they have some kind
of deformation, like only 3 fingers and they can
be both positive and negative towards mankind.
Much of the Maori religion remains intact and many
rituals associated with traditional visual arts and
traditional music are still carried out with strong
ties between songs and magic still remaining.
Traditional Maori music, in the main, only used
aerophones and idiophones to support the vocals.
Aerophones were mainly of the following types.
Koauau, which can be made out of different
materials: wood or even a human bone. It is a
straight blown flute, blown under an angle, 12 to
15 cm long and with a bore of 1 to 2 cm. When
the instrument isn't played, it's worn around the
neck. It has 3 finger holes.
Porutu is a flute similar to the koauau but
longer: it measures between 30 and 40 cm.
There is doubt about wether it is an original
Maori instrument or an imitation of the western
flute. Nguru is a small instrument (8 to 10 cm).
It is curved at one end, because originally this
flute was made out of a whale tooth. It can also
be made out of wood, stone, clay. It has one
open end like the koauau and one small
opening at the curved end. It has 2 to 4 finger
holes.
Whio is a bone flute made out of an albatross
bone. The instrument is 15 cm long, has a
diameter of 1.5 cm and 4 finger holes. The
instrument was played by men in order to
attract the attention of women they longed for.
Puukaaea is a wooden war trumpet, made out
of two pieces of wood cut lengthwise and
hollowed out. Both pieces are again assembled
and kept in place by fibres or ropes. The length
varies between 1m and 2,5 meter. At one side
there is a sculptured wooden mouthpiece and
the other side of the instrument is broader
and resembles an open mouth. Inside tohu are
sculptures, representing the human tonsils and
uvula. The puukaaea could be used during the
war as a megaphone or as an alarm instrument.
Puutoorino, which is often referred to as a
bugle-flute instead of trumpet, because the
instrument could also be used as a flute, but
originally it was a trumpet. It is about 30 to
60 cm long and is made as the puukaaea out
of two pieces of wood, but here widest in the
middle and more narrow at both end sides.
In the middle are sound holes, mostly in the
shape of an eight, are made as the open
mouth of a sculptured face. Near the
mouthpiece, another face is carved, or a
tiki (men/spirit) or a manaia (men/bird). The
player placed his hand over the sound hole
in order to change the tones of the instrument.
Originally, this instrument was mainly used to
announce the coming and arrival of a tribal
chief.
Teetere are flax trumpets simply made by
winding a leaf to a horn shape. It was
probably a children's toy, but could also be
used to announce one's arrival in the village.
Non-blown aerophones include the
Puurorohuu which is a bullroarer made out
of a piece of wood. By swinging the bullroarer
around, a roaring sound is produced which it
was thought would bring rain. The idiophone
used comprised the following. Pahuu are
wooden gongs: flat slabs of resonant wood,
which were horizontally suspended above a
platform in the watch tower of the palisade
around the fortified village. It was hit in
case of danger, but also used to call the men
to go to war.Some tribes, living in the woods,
carved their war pahuu out of a hollow tree.
The wooden slab was sometimes cut away
and separated from the tree or sometimes it
remained a fixed part of the tree.
Paakuru is an instrument, which is held
between the teeth of the player, can be
compared to a jew's-harp. It comprised a
simple piece of wood of 40 to 50 cm long,
2 to 5 cm broad and 1 cm thick, struck by
a little wooden stick. The sound is changed
by the position of the mouth and the
movements of the lips. Nowadays, the
paakuru knows a revival as a whalebone
paakuru. Rooria are similar to paakuru, but
smaller: only 7 to 10 cm long. Maori lovers
use it for intimate conversations. Finally,
Tokere are whalebones used as clappers.
The traditional vocal music can be divided
in two categories: the recitatives and the
songs. The recitatives have no fixed pitch
organisation and the tempo is much higher
than the song's tempo. Among the recitatives
is a welcome ceremony known as Powhiri.
This welcome ceremony is a mixed form.
Men shout fiercely, whilst women sing in a
melodic way. The Powhiri often starts with
the men standing in front of the women. The
men make clear they are ready for a battle
by shouting, menacing with their weapons
and grimacing. After a while, the women
gently come to the front, singing and carrying
green leaves. The men kneeled down on one
knee and put their weapons on the floor.
Most of the time a Powhiri ends with a haka
(men song) without weapons.
Haka are shouted speeches by men, combined
with a fierce dance. Haka Taparahi are
performed without weapons and they can give
expression to different emotions depending
on the situation for which they are performed.
Haka Peruperu are performed with weapons
and associated with war dances.
Another form of recitative is known as Ngeri
and is used to annihilate any form of tapu.
Other forms of recitatives are Karakia which
are quick incantations and spells.They are used
during daily life by both adults and children, but
also during rituals. The ritual karakia is difficult
and dangerous to execute, because a mistake
during the performance will attract bad luck,
illness and even the death of the reciter. For
very important karakia, two priest reciters
are needed in order to alternate the breathing
pause, because even the slightest moment of
silence could result into disaster. Paatere are
mainly performed in group and composed by
women in answer to gossip. The texts of
paatere consist merely out of summing up
of the kinship connections of the author.
Kaioraora are like paatere answers to
gossip but with a rude, offensive text
The second form of traditional music are
Songs and the Sung Poetry, also called Nga
Moteatea, which often consist mainly of
laments, but sometimes also consist of love
songs and lullabies. Traditionally, sung
poetry of this form was accompanied by a
koauau flute.
Traditional songs comprise the following
forms: Poi, which are songs accompanied
by a form of dance in which women hit their
body rhythmically with one or two mainly
cotton balls attached to the end of a string.
Oriori, which are songs composed to teach
children of high rank about their special
descent and history.Pao are songs originating
out of a kind of instant-composing: the
composer sings the first couplet and is then
repeated by the chorus, and so on. These
are songs of local interest. They can be
funny or serious.Waiata is the most common
category of Maori songs and comprise
laments about different topics. Traditionally,
waiata are sung in groups and in unisono.
Waiata tangi are laments for the dead. The
word 'tangi' means 'weeping'. This form is
mainly composed by women. During burial
ceremonies, women were expected to show
signs of deep grief, for example, by
wounding their faces with sharp stones.
Sometimes, these waiata were very personal,
telling about the composer's emotions and
feelings towards the dead. When composed
by men, the waiata tangi can also instruct us
about the warrior qualities of the dead person.
They can also, for example, allude to most of
the calamities that can befall mankind.
Finally, waiata ahore are love songs, and
waiata whaiaaipo are songs for the beloved
one. They are often still laments and tell
us about all the misery that a love affair
can provoke.
There is little doubt that Maori music, like
that of other Pacific Islanders, has changed
under the influence of western culture. In
this respect, it is most pleasing to see, next
to the commercialisation, a strong revival of
the traditional Maori music, along with a
growing pride in the beautiful traditional
Maori culture.
FEATURE ARTIST
PAPUA NEW GUINEA STRINGBANDS
Papua New Guinea Stringbands CD Songs
Of The Volcano is a fascinating, raw and
unique sound from five villages in East New
Britain with five different Tolai stringbands..
Papua New Guinea is home to a huge
indigenous population speaking more than
800 languages, it laid largely undiscovered
until the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries, and hence is one of the last
places on the planet to have guitars arrive
from afar. Rabaul, in Papua New Guinea's
far flung province of East New Britain, is a
town which has had its share of hard times.
In the same century, it has been destroyed
twice by massive volcanic cataclysms and
once by a devastating war imposed on it
by outsiders. The Tolai people of Rabaul
have suffered greatly from these natural
and manmade disasters and yet, somehow,
have always managed to bounce back and
keep their spirits high. One of the main
contributing factors to their capacity for
optimism is their music, an energetic and
unique blend of voices and instruments
performed by the community's local
stringbands.
The music carries a fragile innocence
and beauty reminiscent of what guitar
music may have sounded like, in Hawaii
in 1860, or Mexico in 1830. Most music
travelled throughout the Pacific Ocean
on boats, with sailors leaving behind
instruments and ideas to then percolate
in isolation. Hence, the music on this
album will seem at once exotic, yet
somehow familiar.Even today, there is
still very little mass media penetration
in Papua New Guinea, though that is
changing, and thus makes the
preservation of the traditional music
even more necessary. Material from
this CD is being proudly featured on
our Pacific Islands Radio, and it is
highly recommended for those who
enjoy vibrant and compelling guitar
music performed from the heart.
That's all for now my friends. I wish
you a wonderful day with a prosperous
and happy weekend. See you all later.
For further information, please check out my four Domains:
www.janeresture.com
www.janesoceania.com
www.ourpacificocean.com
www.pacificislandsradio.com
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