Fern Ridge (Safla Rama) Digest

  Entrance to Honolulu Academy of Arts    After lunch at the Honolulu Academy of Arts (HAA), with Piet Lincoln, his wife and son, I was shown the gift shop in the HAA. Later I took a peak at the display of cultural and materials items in the Pacific Islands Collection on the second floor of the building. Piet is a linguist with a long term connection with the Banoni language speakers of Bougainville. History (source www.wikipidea.org ) Anna Rice Cooke (1853–1934), daughter of N ew England missionaries and founder of the Honolulu Academy of Arts, in her dedication statement at the opening of the museum on April 8, 1927 said: "That our children of many nationalities and races, born far from the centers of art, may receive an intimation of their own cultural legacy and wake to the ideals embodied in the arts of their neighbors ... that Hawaiians, Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Filipinos, Northern Europeans and all other people living here, contacting thr

Australian Geographic had this information on new evidence on peopling of the Pacific. By:AAP with AG Staff February-9-2011 Share The final major wave of Pacific migration brought the Maoris to New Zealand 700 years ago (Photo: Getty Images).NEW DNA EVIDENCE has emerged which overturns theories on how humans spread across the Pacific. The islands of Polynesia were first inhabited around 3,000 years ago, but where these people came from has long been a hot topic of debate amongst scientists. The most commonly accepted view, based on archaeological and linguistic evidence as well as genetic studies, is that Pacific islanders were the latter part of a migration south and eastwards from Taiwan which began around 4,000 years ago. Now, scientists believe the DNA of current Polynesians can be traced back to migrants from the Asian mainland who had already settled in islands close to New Guinea 6,000 to 8,000 years ago. The evidence was uncovered by researchers at the University of Le

On Wednesday this week I had the honor of reading poems and talking about chewing buai, writing, poetry and performance, and about Papua New Guinea and my observation of the world. It was the best poetry night I had in many years. I thank the East West Center Wednesday Evening Seminar organisers, the graduate students of East West Center, the Center for Pacific Islands Studies, the English Department, and the Pacific Collection  Hamilton Library, University of Hawaii at Manoa. Tenkiu tru na laikim yupela nating tru.