Description of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre Fieldworkers Workshop
The Vanuatu Cultural Centre Men Fieldworkers Workshop is an ongoing annual project initiated in 1981 to train ni-Vanuatu in the recording and preservation of oral traditions and histories, the creation of indigenous language dictionaries, the recording of sites of cultural and historic importance, the regulation of traditional copyright and access rules and the promotion and revival of traditional skills and values. The workshop is held in Port Vila at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre and runs for two weeks. It is conducted by long-time facilitator Dr Darrell Tryon of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, and the proceedings of the workshop are recorded in their entirety for posterity and for transcription and publication in book form. The fieldworker network of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre is recognised throughout the region and the world as a model of grassroots cultural resource management, and it is continually being enhanced through the skills and experience gained by fieldworkers at these annual workshops. Products from this project to date include a number of vernacular language dictionaries, general publications on aspects of traditional culture, extensive data on historic sites useful for future preservation purposes, and thousands of hours of recorded oral traditions and video-recorded rituals.
Benefit of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre Fieldworkers Workshop
The continued enhancement of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre’s invaluable and essential work of recording and otherwise documenting the history and aspects of the different traditional cultures of Vanuatu for the benefit of future generations. The fieldworkers are the principal persons undertaking this task, and these workshops provide for their further training in the basic documentation skills already acquired, liaison with others involved in the same work, and the opportunity to learn of the latest developments in techniques of cultural heritage preservation, management and revitalisation. The fieldworkers also perform an important role in liaising with outside groups for their respective communities, and as such have come to play a part in the outreach and awareness work of other Government departments and non-government organisations. Examples of programs they have assisted in facilitating at the grassroots level to date include eco-tourism projects, development impact assessment studies, family planning and HIV awareness programs and programs attempting to integrate traditional knowledge into natural resource management. Another important product of the work the fieldworkers do in the islands is the promotion of the notion of a national cultural identity at the grassroots level.
What goes on during the Vanuatu Cultural Centre Fieldworkers Workshop
Every year the workshop is structured around three components:
1) Presentation of reports by each fieldworker on work they have undertaken the previous year in the field. This is an opportunity for the fieldworkers to: (a) discuss different initiatives and strategies they are taking to preserve, revive and develop cultural heritage and resources in their respective areas; and (b) learn about how these issues are being approached by other fieldworkers and in other areas of the country. This component involves extended and ongoing discussion about what kastom is, how it can be revived and/or sustained in the present and its relevance to the contemporary ‘development’ of the country.
2) Presentation by each fieldworker of detailed ethnological information on a specific topic from the area/culture they represent. The topic is set the year before and the fieldworkers prepare their reports on it during the year. The process of researching and presenting reports on the topic and of answering questions about their presentation is itself a crucial aspect of training. These presentations are recorded in their entirety on audio cassette and subsequently transcribed, edited and published as books in Bislama. The publication of the fieldworker workshop reports is partly funded out of a special fund set up especially for this purpose in memory of the late Roger Strickland, an Australian diplomat who was killed in an air crash in Vanuatu in 1991. These books are then distributed to the fieldworkers (and through them their individual communities) and also made available in the National Library, rural libraries (for examples in Santo, Malakula and Tanna) and in the libraries of the main national high schools. Topics covered in workshops and published to date include:
a) Grade-taking and chiefly power (1994 Men’s Workshop);
b) Death and associated ritual (1995 Men’s Workshop);
c) Traditional land tenure (1996 Men’s Workshop); and
d) Women’s ranking systems (1997 Women’s Workshop).
e) Traditional medicine and the traditional use of kava (1998 Men’s Workshop)
f) Traditional respect (1998 Women’s Workshop).
g) Traditional music, dance and instruments (1999 Men’s Workshop)
h) Traditional food preparation and preservation (1999 Women’s Workshop).
3) Basic training in techniques and methodologies of cultural heritage preservation, documentation and management, including the recording and preservation of oral traditions and histories, the creation of indigenous language dictionaries, the recording of sites of cultural and historic importance, the regulation of traditional copyright and access rules and the promotion and revival of traditional skills and values. This third component is mainly aimed at new fieldworkers, of which there are up to 20 each year. Other fieldworkers who have already received such training in earlier workshops can also participate in this component to ‘refresh’ their skills. In addition, information is provided to raise participants’ awareness of issues relating to development, environmental conservation, gender and cultural tourism, as fieldworkers are often involved in rural development initiatives in their own communities.
Facilitators for the Workshop
The workshop is held in Port Vila at the Vanuatu Cultural Centre and runs for four weeks. The Men’s Workshop is conducted by long-time facilitator Dr Darrell Tryon of the Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies at the Australian National University, and the Women’s Workshop is conducted by Dr Lissant Bolton of the British Museum in London (formerly of the Centre for Cross-Cultural Research, also at the Australian National University).
Importance of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre Fieldworkers Workshop
This ongoing project is the only one of its kind directly concerned with preserving the invaluable cultural heritage of the nation. The three aspects to the Fieldworkers Workshop – the training, the presentation of reports on their year’s work and the research topic – are inter-related. In addition to its training component, a principal objective of the workshop is to facilitate the recording and preservation of aspects of the traditional knowledge of the many cultures of Vanuatu. The fieldworker network of the Vanuatu Cultural Centre is recognised nationally and throughout the region and the world as a model of grassroots cultural resource management, and it is continually being enhanced through the skills and experience gained by fieldworkers at these annual workshops.
