SOUTH-WEST PACIFIC CULTURAL HERITAGE TRAINING PROGRAM
2001-2003
Dr Glenn R. Summerhayes and Stuart Bedford
Australian National University
PLANNING PAPER ON DISTANCE EDUCATION IN CULTURAL
HERITAGE TRAINING
Distance Education will play an important role in setting up and implementing
cultural heritage training programs. As noted in the proposal, the objectives of this
program are to train nationals of Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu in the following
areas of cultural heritage management:
1) Identification and recording of cultural and archaeological sites;
2) Archaeological assessment and excavation techniques;
3) Heightening public awareness of cultural and archaeological sites;
4) Production and distribution of reports throughout the community;
5) Development of cultural heritage management policy.
6) Development of cultural heritage data base
The success in preserving the cultural heritage for island nations lies in education and
information.
This project covers three areas listed in the SPINF guidelines:
1. Projects to enhance the quality of existing distance education programs
2. Projects aimed at newly developing education programs
3. Projects aimed at promoting understanding of widely defined distance education
activities
Firstly, this project will take the existing managers of cultural heritage from their
respective cultural institutions in Port Moresby and Port Vila, and update their skills
and knowledge base in heritage management, and build upon their interaction with
education providers such as secondary school systems and provincial centres of
continuing education. This will be done by a series of workshops and fieldwork
training, including the development of a heritage web page. This will be balanced
with research into the heritage of their respective nations through archaeological
excavations.
Secondly, this project will incorporate the existing structures outlined above to
develop a new education program on cultural heritage management incorporating
cultural officers from each province of Papua New Guinea, and cultural field workers
in Vanuatu. Also involved with be members of the local area government and
provincial government representatives. Participants will be brought together in their
respective countries for a series of workshops and fieldwork programs in cultural
heritage management. Within Papua New Guinea this will take place in New Ireland
Province, while in Vanuatu it will he held initially on Malekula. Apart from
introducing the participants to archaeological research, cultural heritage concepts and
values, a major aim here is getting the results of cultural heritage back to the
community. This involves training the trainees in presenting results to schools, the
local community, and using the mediums of radio and newspapers. Within New
Ireland Province, the following High Schools have agreed to participate in our
program: Utu, Mangaai, Medina, Mongup and Namatanai. Radio New Ireland and the
local newspaper representatives will also participate. Within Vanuatu, the Cultural
Centre will be arranging for the participation of local schools and media outlets. An
outcome of this training is not only an awareness of cultural heritage issues but also
an implementation of a management plan that incorporates community involvement
through these cultural officers. I am personally keen to see the trainees involved in
radio programs, such as a weekly radio program on Provincial and National cultural
heritage issues. This is a form of distance education in getting pertinent information to
local communities and teachers in the remote areas of Papua New Guinea and
Vanuatu. The trainees will also be trained in the internet in order to liaise not only
with their cultural institutions, but also with centres of excellence in heritage training,
such as the Australian National University. Internet training in New Guinea will be
provided in New Ireland through the Office of Tourism and Culture, Kavieng, and in
Vanuatu through the Culture Centre. The New Ireland National High School in
Namatanai has a computer lab, and this will also be utilised in our training. I have
been in consultation with the Centre for Continuing Education from Kavieng in
respect of broadening our focus by including their centre in heritage training. The
centres, which are spread across PNG, focus on providing distance education to
schoolteachers across their provinces. They mainly communicate through the postal
services as many of their clients teach in remote schools. Yet, we can provide updates
to these Centres, using the internet. From there they can send the information to the
hundred of schools using the radio or post.
Thirdly, this project aims to provide a linkage between not only the centres of
excellence in heritage management and the Cultural Institutions of Papua New Guinea
and Vanuatu, but also with the cultural officers within the far flung provinces of
Papua New Guinea, or island of Vanuatu, and the education sector of these island
nations. It is our intention to promote heritage matters to the secondary and continuing
education sector though participation in our workshops and fieldwork session, and
providing updates on the internet not only to the schools that have access to the net,
but also centres of continuing education that provide information to the more remote
areas of community teaching. To facilitate these linkages it is intended to construct a
Heritage web page in conjunction with the National Museum and Art Gallery of
Papua New Guinea. Within the Australian National University we have facilities for
setting up internet sites from remote areas such as a satellite computer link/telephone
and the experience from the 'fieldscreen' project in the development of digital
compression technology for sending photo's and other large files over the internet. A
web page already exists for the Vanuatu Culture Centre, and this has been maintained
by the Australian National University. It is intended to provide the required expertise
to transfer the maintenance and management of this to the culture centre. This allows
these cultural institutions to be independent in constructing and maintaining their
linkages with distance education providers in the region.
In conclusion, the success of this project lies in training and education incorporating
cultural institutions, local level governments, the education sector, and media outlets.
Distance education is crucial in this projects success.
Find a timetable for fieldwork in Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu at Appendix A and
B respectively. The timetables are slightly different due to the different needs of the
two countries.
ADDITIONAL FUNDS REQUIRED FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION:
Additional funds of AUS$10,000 per annum are requested for the hire of PC’s for
both the National Museum and Art Gallery of Papua New Guinea and the Vanuatu
Cultural Centre. All training will be provided by Dr Glenn Summerhayes and Stuart
Bedford.
Dr Glenn R. Summerhayes
Department of Archaeology and Anthropology
The Faculties
Australian National University
Canberra ACT
AUSTRALIA
APPENDIX A
Training Schedule, New Ireland, Papua New Guinea
WEEK 1
Arrive Kavieng
Kavieng
Introduction to Kavieng, the cultural centre, research committee and
the administration, the local University Centre for continuing
education, Heritage and the internet
Leave Kavieng and arrive
Tabar
Tabar
Introduction to Tabar, discussions with local government about local
cultural heritage, workshop sessions on PNG heritage legislation,
what is heritage, managing heritage and custom.
The role of the local level government and heritage legislation.
WEEK 2
Tabar
Excavating archaeological sites – teaching archaeological technique.
Tabar
Finish excavating and start the cultural heritage surveying exercise
WEEK 3
WEEK 4
Tabar
Leave Tabar
Kavieng
Kavieng
Continuing
Moresby
and
arrive
Return to Kavieng, workshop on the internet.
Heritage and the provincial government; Heritage and the National
Government
Heritage and the media; Heritage and the school curriculum
Developing the heritage web page at the National Museum
NEW IRELAND
A. Kavieng
One and a half weeks is allocated to cover the following topics:
i.
Heritage and the media
ii.
Heritage and the school curriculum
iii.
Heritage and the National and Provincial Governments responsibilities
iv.
Community liaison and negotiation
v.
Heritage and the internet
Another two days were allocated for Kavieng: one each for arriving and leaving the
province, the rest for training.
BEFORE EXCAVATIONS AND SURVEY
Day One: Introduction to Kavieng, the cultural centre the research committee, and the
government. As applications for research must be examined and meet the approval of
the research committee and the Provincial Secretary, arrangements will be made for
the trainees to meet the Governor, the Provincial Secretary, and the Research
Committee. Informal talks on the processes involved for research and the provincial
perspective on cultural heritage matters will be undertaken at the Provincial Culture
Centre.
Day Two: A guided tour of the Kavieng district and its cultural heritage. The Cultural
Centre/ Dept of Fisheries have offered use of their vehicle and boat. Places to
examine include:
a) archaeological sites of the Kavieng area, including Lapita deposits at the nearby
Bagail cemetery, and recent eroded burials on nearby Nusa Island,
b) local cultural heritage and tourism areas,
c) Historic heritage from Kavieng: Bulominski’s grave (a famous German
administrator at the turn of the century), the cultural remains kept at Kavieng of
the Marquis de Ray’s failed attempt at colonisation, the fortifications of Kavieng
built during the last war, and the local cemetery.
d) An introduction to the internet will be given, with a demonstration of web pages
from Australia and Vanuatu. Hands on demonstration will be encouraged.
Topics such as Heritage and the National and Provincial Governments responsibilities
plus Community liaison and negotiation will be presented and outlined in these talks
and discussions.
AFTER EXCAVATIONS AND SURVEY
Heritage and the media. The morning will be spent at the Provincial radio station.
After a guided tour, a seminar on the role of the radio media will be undertaken,
followed by the recording of a “real” radio cultural program outlining the role of
archaeology, the objectives of the training program, and the results of the excavations
and survey. The afternoon will be spent with the local “print” media representative. It
is intended to spend the afternoon writing a press release for the national newspapers.
Heritage and the school curriculum. The trainees will participate in the presentation of
the field school results to the students and teachers. Experience over five years in
New Ireland has demonstrated that half a day at each school is sufficient. These
schools are starved of up to date information on the archaeology of the country.
Visiting these schools is a continuation of a program that I set up in 1995.
Morning: Utu High school,
Afternoon: Mangaai High School
Morning: Mongup High School
Afternoon: Medina High school
Heritage and the internet. Although an introduction to the internet was given at the
beginning of the training, this will be followed up with the University Centre and a
full day given to training. The National Museum Staff will play an important role
here, outlining their information needs for a web page.
b. Tabar Fieldwork
Three weeks is allotted to achieve three objectives:
i.
Identifying and recording cultural sites of significance
ii.
Archaeological survey techniques
iii.
Archaeological excavation methods
A fourth objective, Community liaison and negotiation would be achieved as a flow
on through community meetings held on the first day on the island, and as part of the
surveying exercise.
Tatau Island (part of the Tabar Island group) was selected for this exercise.
Permission has been obtained from all the community leaders, and three Lapita
archaeological sites have already been identified. Only one of these will be excavated
– a 2 m X 2 m excavation. Two weeks – 12 working days have been allocated to
achieve this task. Ten days excavating, two days drawing photographing and writing
the final notes, and one day each arriving and leaving the island. Experience and local
knowledge of the geomorphology of the site indicates that the deposit will probably
reach no more than 120 cm. As this is a training exercise on an important
archaeological site, based on twenty-five years of excavating experience, ten days is
adequate for excavation and individual training. Two teams will operate the site – one
team will excavate – the other will clean and sort the finds.
One week was allocated to survey technique, and the identification and recording of
cultural sites of significance.
APPENDIX B
Training Schedule, Malakula, Vanuatu 2001
Week 1
Arrive Lakatoro (North East
Malakula)
Lakatoro
Lakatoro
Week 2
Tenmaru and coastal region
south, North West Malakula.
Week 3
South Malakula
Lamap and South West Bay
Weeks 4 and 5
Port Vila, Efate
Meetings with North East Malakula community leaders, Malakula
Cultural Centre fieldworkers, and Malakula Museum staff.
Survey of sites related to cultural heritage in North East area,
Lakatoro to Wala Island. Presentation at Norsup High School.
Identify potential archaeological sites and demonstrate testing
techniques. Limited excavation.
Survey of coastal sites south of Tenmaru. Further demonstration and
explanation of archaeological sites and excavation techniques.
Workshops relating to cultural heritage issues to be held with
community leaders.
Meetings with community leaders to discuss work in the south for the
following years program. Presentation to Rensari High School.
Survey in South West Bay Area
Summary of program and goals to be presented on Radio Vanuatu. A
series of articles to be arranged with Vanuatu newspapers. Planning
for the production of booklet discussing cultural heritage issues.
Presentation to Port Vila High Schools. Finalise plans with Cultural
Centre Director regarding information and format of information to
be broadcast on Vanuatu Cultural Centre Web site
Malakula - Fieldwork
As set out in the document sent to you previously, four to five weeks have been
allotted to achieve a number of objectives:
i.
Identifying and recording cultural sites of significance
ii.
Cultural and archaeological survey techniques
iii.
Archaeological excavation methods
iv.
Raise community awareness through liaison, education, negotiation and
dissemination of information
The proposed location of Lakatoro for the commencement the project has been chosen
for several reasons. The Malakula Cultural Centre is located here and Numa Fred the
Director is already familiar with some aspects of the program. The Lakatoro area is
also under increasing pressure from development. A number of sites have already
been identified as being ideal in demonstrating archaeological survey and excavation
techniques. Accommodation and transport to and from Lakatoro can be easily
organised. The survey area is a broad one, ie. from Lakatoro to Wala but it is these
areas that are the most heavily populated and are coming under increasing pressure.
The Regional High School is located nearby at Norsup. VCHSS staff with be running
training workshops relating to the recording of cultural sites of significance. The
same staff along with VCC fieldworkers will be further trained in the identification
and recording of archaeological sites.
Similar survey and workshops are to be held on the North West coast of Malakula
following on from the work on the North East. This area has been targeted as a region
with different site types and terrain and therefore requires different strategies for their
long-term preservation. The VCC fieldworker for this area, Jimmy Sanambath, also
has some experience with aspects of this program which will be vital when liaising
with the local community.
A visit to the south (Lamap and South West Bay) of Malakula is seen as essential
during this first season of the program to outline its objectives to the local
communities. It is envisaged that in 2002 more detailed surveys and workshops will
carried out in the South. The fieldwork in 2001 is seen as largely preliminary in all
areas, but particularly in the south, and is designed to further identify community
needs which can be further addressed as the program progresses.
The key to the success of this whole program is the dissemination of information.
The later part of the 2001 program is devoted to media liaison principally in Port Vila.
This will include Radio interviews and a series of articles in the local newspapers.
The booklet which is to be produced at the end of the program will begin to be
planned. This requires close liaison and guidance form the Vanuatu Cultural Centre.
Their web page will also be regularly updated with the progress reports related to the
South-West Pacific Cultural Heritage Training Program. It is also intended for
trainees to meet and discuss their experiences with local schools in both Malakula and
Port Vila.
Naturally the above proposed timetable for 2001 may vary due to unforeseen
circumstances but it will be followed as closely as possible. Bedford will be in
Vanuatu in December (at his own expense) to further finalise details with staff from
the Vanuatu Cultural Centre