THE WINSTON CHURCHILL MEMORIAL TRUST OF AUSTRALIA
Report by Pauline Reynolds
2010 Churchill Fellow
To study material culture created by the Polynesian women who
settled on Pitcairn Island in 1789 - New Zealand, USA, UK, and
Norway
I understand that the Churchill Trust may publish this Report,
either in hard copy or on the Internet, or both, and consent to
such publication.
I indemnify the Churchill Trust against any loss, costs or
damages it may suffer arising out of any claim or proceedings
made against the Trust and which the Trust places on a website
for access over the internet.
I also warrant that my Final Report is original and does not
infringe the copyright of any person, or contain anything which
is, or the incorporation of which into the Final Report is,
actionable for defamation, a breach of any privacy law or
obligation, breach of confidence, contempt of court, passing-off
or contravention of any other private right or of any law.
Signed: PAULINE REYNOLDS
Dated: 23/11/10
INDEX
Introduction
page 3
Executive Summary
page 5
Program
page
6
Main Body
page 7
Wellington New Zealand
page 8
Hawai’i
page 9
London
page 10
Cambridge
page 11
British Museum (East and West London Stores)page 11
Kew
page 13
Oxford
page 14
Liverpool
page 14
The Lake District
page 15
Edinburgh
page 15
Aberdeen
page 16
Oslo, Norway
page 17
Conclusion
page 18
Recommendations
page 18
2
INTRODUCTION
This report details my 2010 Churchill Fellowship travel to museums,
collections, and other places of interest discovered along the way in
New Zealand, Hawai’i, England, Scotland and Norway.
Most of the museums and collections visited hold significant pieces
of material culture created by the Polynesian women who arrived on
Pitcairn Island in 1789 aboard HMS Bounty whose descendants would
later settle on Norfolk Island (today an external territory of
Australia).
My study included analysing the techniques and materials used to make
the barkcloths, and documenting any accompanying data. I shared
whatever information I had about the pieces to curators highlighting
the importance of these pieces in their collections. I was also able
to study many barkcloth beaters. Three of these are definitely from
Pitcairn, and a fourth is possibly of Pitcairn origin. I was pleased
to study many also from Tahiti, Hawai’i and Fiji.
A Churchill Fellowship is a life changing and validating experience.
I know the experiences I have had will serve my community, my
children, and myself well for years to come. This was a life
changing event professionally and personally for me.
My first note of gratitude is therefore to The Winston Churchill
Memorial Trust and the fantastic supportive staff there.
I give thanks to my two referees, Rhonda Griffiths (former Cultural
Affairs Advisor for the Pacific Community, currently Development
Manager for Norfolk Island Tourism) and Lisa Richards (Curator of
Norfolk Island Museums). Their enthusiastic support for my
application was, I am sure, much of the reason for the application’s
success.
I also wish to thank all those wonderful people with whom I had
contact during my scholarship and who helped make this intense sixweek period a smooth and inspiring journey.
The staff at The Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington New
Zealand
Sean Mallon and Grace Hutton, Te Papa Museum Wellington, New
Zealand
Betty-Lou Kam and Kamalu DuPreez at the Bishop Museum, Hawai’i
Wes Sen, master tapa maker, Hawai’i
Helen Wolfe, the British Museum
Rachel Hand, Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University
of Cambridge
Dr Mark Nesbitt, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
Jeremy Coote and Zena McGreevy, Pitt Rivers Museum, University of
Oxford
Lynne Heidi Stumpe, World Museum, Liverpool
3
Chris Gaskell and Bernadette Kilroy for taking me on a magical
tour of Fletcher Christian’s birthplace and childhood home,
church and village, and The Lake District
Julie Adams and Ross Irving, National Museums Scotland,
Edinburgh, Scotland
Neil Curtis and Shona Elliott of the Marischal Museum, Aberdeen,
Scotland
Reidar Solsvik, Kon Tiki Museum, Norway
It is with gratitude I acknowledge here Jean Clarkson’s discovery in
Kooijman’s Tapa in Polynesia of the existence of Pitcairn tapa, which
began my extensive research, and Sue Pearson and Meralda Warren’s
unending support over the years. The four of us formed a group years
ago called the ‘Ahu Sistas – a group dedicated to protecting the
material cultural heritage left by the women of the Bounty all those
years ago, and the implication it has on the descendants of those
women today.
Lastly, I wish to thank the Norfolk Island people who have been so
supportive of my journey, sending encouraging messages during my time
away, which at times was lonely. I had the impression that we were
all having this experience together, through my eyes. I also thank
Tihoti my husband and our children Oihanu and Mauatua who endured
this separation with such patience and love; last and not least, my
loving parents who were there always unfailing in their encouragement
and help wherever and whenever I have needed it.
At the British Museum
4
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Pauline Elizabeth Seton Reynolds
PO Box 623, Norfolk Island NSW 2899
Researcher, writer, fabric artist
Norfolk Island Museums
+6723 51510
The 2010 Churchill Scholarship to study material culture created by
the Polynesian women who settled on Pitcairn Island in 1789 (and who
are the foremothers of many of the Bounty descendants today living on
Norfolk Island) - New Zealand, USA, UK, Norway
Highlights:
*
Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand
*
Te Papa Museum Wellington, New Zealand
*
Bishop Museum, Hawai’i
*
Cambridge Museum of Anthropology and Archaeology
*
British Museum (2 archive locations in East and West London)
*
Pitt Rivers Museum Oxford
*
Liverpool Museum
*
Visit birthplace, home, village and church of Fletcher Christian
and his family
*
Royal Museum of Scotland, Edinburgh
*
Marischal Museum, Aberdeen, Scotland
*
Kon Tiki Museum, Oslo, Norway
Dissemination of information:
*
Complete a non-fiction book with the working title: The
Forgotten Women of HMS Bounty
*
Speaking at symposiums (the first is at Wellington, New Zealand
in June 2011)
*
Articles and recordings for various museums visited and on going
sharing of information with all the museums visited
*
Working with Norfolk Island Museums toward an eventual loan of
materials from some of those museums for an exhibition in cooperation
with Norfolk Island Museums
*
Discuss information on Norfolk Island – in cooperation with the
Norfolk Island Museums, artists and interested parties through formal
and informal slide nights. During my absence I wrote articles for
the Norfolk Island papers and Norfolk Island Museum Blog and the
Pitcairn Island on-line newsletter.
*
Presentations for school children at Norfolk Island Central
School
*
Continue writing articles for the Norfolk Island on-line
Newspaper, the Norfolk Island Museum Blog, and my own blog
http://tattoo-and-tapa.blogspot.com
5
PROGRAMME
4th – 6th September 2010
Wellington, New Zealand:
* Turnbull Library
* Te Papa Museum
7th -10th September 2010
Honolulu, Hawai’i
* Bishop Museum
* Meeting with master Hawai’ian barkcloth maker Wes Sen
th
14 – 18th September 2010
London & Greenwich, England
* National Maritime Museum
* British Museum
21st – 22nd September 2010
Cambridge, England
* Sedgwick Museum of Earth Sciences
* Cambridge Archaeology & Anthropology Museum
23rd – 24th September
London, England
* East and West London Stores, British Museum
* Kew Gardens Economic Botany Collection Kew
26th – 29th September
Oxford, England
* Pitt Rivers Museum
* Various museums, literary tours, Bodleian Library
* Oxford University Museum of Natural History
1st October 2010
Liverpool, England
* Liverpool World Museum
nd
2 October 2010
The Lake District, England
* Moorland Close, Fletcher Christian’s birthplace and childhood
home
* St Bridget’s Brigham Church (F. Christian’s family church)
* Cockermouth, Cumbria, family village
4th-6th October 2010
Edinburgh, Scotland
* Royal Museum Scotland
* Storytelling Museum
* Edinburgh Writers’ Museum
8th October 2010
Aberdeen, Scotland
* Marischal Museum
* Aberdeen Art Gallery
* Aberdeen Maritime Museum
* Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Genealogy Centre
10th -12th October 2010
Oslo, Norway
* Kon-Tiki Museum
* Norwegian Museum of Cultural History
6
MAIN BODY
HMS Bounty arrived at Pitcairn in January 1790 – with twelve
Polynesian women, a baby girl, six mutineers and six Polynesian men.
An indigenous1 people to Pitcairn Island emerged when the children of
these Polynesian women and their mutineer partners were born. A new
culture was also born at this time. These people (and thus their
culture) were moved en masse to Norfolk Island in 1856 (none of the
original Pitcairn settlers were alive then). Whilst some families
returned to Pitcairn Island later on, the majority stayed on Norfolk
Island. Later, families would emigrate from both islands to
Australia, New Zealand, England, USA, Tahiti and other countries.
It is not my intention to deride the literature circles who have
captured the imagination of generations by their telling of the
Bounty story through books, movies, telemovies, documentaries and
various papers. However, I do believe that because of the genre that
developed around the events, the telling of our own story has taken a
back seat. The line between reality and fiction has become blurred.
The Bounty history is told and retold, acknowledged by thousands of
documents (just look it up on Google!) but not from a non-fictional
indigenous feminine perspective.
My objective is to find a way to tell a more rounded version of their
lives. The women formed 90% of the adult population in the early
1800s, and therefore had the greatest cultural impact on the island
and the growing first generation. Sadly, the captains who sailed to
the island from 1808 onward rarely interviewed them. It is an
ignoble truth that this fact is hardly acknowledged in historical and
contemporary literature, so that when there is a reference to them,
it is mostly in the mythic-movie-romance genre – in short, historical
fiction. Historical fiction usually tells a story drawn from history
containing fictional characters and/or events. Fiction is
entertaining – often leaving out real facts and creating situations
to keep the story moving along.
The true story of the women’s lives, their origins, and how they wove
a new culture in those first years is fascinating. How a society
develops around such diverse influences is intriguing.
I believe the non-fictional telling of these women’s stories is
important to the Australian External Territory of Norfolk Island
where many of the descendants of these women live today.
I lived in French Polynesia for 14 years - in Tahiti and the island
of Huahine. From there I conducted research to trace genealogy and
the origin of many Pitkern-Norf’k words. Realising the importance of
looking at the story from a native perspective - from within their
culture, their language and their upbringing (that must have
influenced every decision they made), became very apparent to me.
1
According to the Oxford Dictionary, the meaning of ‘indigenous’ is ‘originating or occurring naturally in a particular place;
native’
7
I will give a short history of the island here. In 1788 the British
ship Bounty arrived Matavai Bay, Tahiti. The captain (William Bligh)
was under royal commission to collect breadfruit for Britain’s slave
colonies and left five months later. During that time, each of the
crewmembers had a taio (friend) and most had experienced intimate
relationships. On the 28th of April, only three weeks into the
homeward voyage, mutiny struck and Bounty was overtaken. After
attempting settlement on Tubuai twice, and returning a second time to
Tahiti, Fletcher Christian and 8 mutineers cut anchor and sailed out
in the early hours of 22 September 1789 with 19 Polynesians board (12
women, one baby girl, and 6 men). They came from Tahiti, Tubuai,
Ra’iatea and Huahine. Some had gone willingly, and some had been
kidnapped. Bounty then began the search westward and eastward
through the vast Pacific Ocean for an uninhabited island safe from
the reach of the British Navy. After four months of searching,
Pitcairn Island was sighted, and after inspection, the mutineers
decided it was a perfect haven for them.
In 1808, Captain Folger of the US sealing ship Topaz arrived at
Pitcairn Island. This was the beginning of a new era for the
community. By then there were 10 women (of the original 12), John
Adams (the only man left living), and the first generation of
children. Captain Folger’s discovery of the mutineers’ hideaway
eventually reached the rest of the world, and from then on, Pitcairn
Island would begin welcoming many passing ships.
The captains and sailors were so enamoured by John Adams and his
story, that they rarely made note of the Polynesian women. This is
where historians and storytellers have written historical fiction to
fill in the gaps.
Yet there is information, but it requires thinking from an indigenous
perspective, digging through journals and original documents, paying
attention to detail. Discovering the material culture they left
behind has been a fundamental breakthrough.
The women kept much of their culture alive through their day-to-day
actions. One of these was to gift cloth to visitors who had touched
them somehow.
Throughout Tahiti and her islands (as is well documented by Wallis,
Cook, Banks and Bligh) the culture of the time dictated that a
visiting chief be presented with certain gifts. Firstly a gift of
nourishment must be offered: fresh fruit, vegetables and meat.
Secondly, a ceremonial gift was made of fine barkcloth. This custom
was adapted and applied to visiting European ships, beginning with
the famous gifting by ‘Queen’ Purea of cloth to Wallis and crew,
during the very first contact between Tahitians and Europeans.
At that time throughout Polynesia only women made barkcloth (except
in particular ceremonial situations) and this was continued on
Pitcairn. In all but one situation that I have been able to identify,
it was women who gifted the cloth on Pitcairn Island.
8
Thankfully, in many situations, the receiver of the tapa cloth (or a
later descendant) would donate it to a museum, where they were
preserved and referenced. This is how, for the most part, I have
been able to locate the Pitcairn barkcloths.
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND 4-6/9/10
New Zealand Archives (Te Whare Tahu Tuhituhinga O Aotearoa) 5/9/10
My Churchill Fellowship travel began with a visit to see a Pitcairn
barkcloth kept at the Turnbull Library. The staff were then working
out of the New Zealand Archives (Te Whare Tahu Tuhituhinga O
Aotearoa). I had already made arrangements to view three pieces of
barkcloth.
Pitcairn Item:
Plain barkcloth made from ‘uru (breadfruit). It is a finely made
piece, heavy like raw silk, 55cm x 21 cm by Polly Young, a first
generation Pitcairn Islander. Cut from a larger piece.
Pitcairn tapa at the New Zealand Archives
(Te Whare Tahu Tuhituhinga O Aotearoa)
In the same folder there was a Tahitian tapa originally made for
Queen Pomare, once white, now slightly discoloured. 55x58cm finely
made from aute (paper mulberry). A third piece was from the
Marquesas Islands made from breadfruit. Cut from a larger piece?
Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa 5/9/10
Even though there is no known Pitcairn barkcloths among the hundreds
of tapa cloths at Te Papa Museum, I wished to visit to see the public
galleries and the archival area. The public galleries are lively,
informative, with much focus on the Maori and Polynesian cultures.
Their educational facilities are inspirational. I took time to take
in two wonderful tapa exhibitions – one called Paperskin – The Art of
Tapa Cloth and Tapa: Pacific style. This exhibition,
celebrates the breathtaking and visual sophistication and richness of
tapa – from dramatic and ornate four-metre-high ceremonial masks used
in Papua New Guinea, to an impressive 22.7-metre ngatu (tapa) from
Tonga. … Since its introduction into the Pacific from islands of
South-East Asia over 3000 years ago, tapa – beaten from bark and
patterned with striking designs – has provided a unique approach to
artistic and cultural expression in the Pacific region. Tapa has
also been likened to tattoos – another kind of skin that envelops the
wearer in cultural significance and beauty. (Te Papa Exhibition)
I was stunned by a huge piece called ‘Revival – A Community Event’
made by the people of Mangaia (in the Cook Islands) from banyan.
This is something I am considering pursuing (on a smaller scale) with
the children of Norfolk Island Central School.
9
At the archives of
the museum I had
arranged previously
to view Tahitian
barkcloths and
whilst I was there
was able to handle
some very finely
made Hawaiian pieces
as well. It was
interesting to speak
to the two curators
and view various
ancient tools
discovered on
Pitcairn belonging
to the pre-Bounty
settlements.
Pitcairn Island pre-Bounty artefacts at Te Papa archives
I mentioned the Pitcairn Island whalebone beaters (more about these
later), and I was shown a whalebone beater stored with Fijian
artefacts. I will carry out further research on this beater, however
there is a possibility that it is actually of Pitcairn Island origin.
(See photo: Pauline at Te Papa with e’e).
Possible Pitcairn item:
Whalebone beater 36cm in length, width 5cm x 4.5cm x 3.8m x 3.5cm.
Interestingly, this beater was only finished on two sides, the other
two sides exposing the nature of the bone in its raw form.
City Gallery Wellington 5/9/10
Visit to an exhibition of works by the well-known Niuean artist John
Pule who paints on huge canvases using ancient hiapo (Niuean
barkcloth) as his inspiration. His work is a timely reminder for me
to keep in mind the dynamism of this artform.
HAWAI’I 7-10/9/10
Bishop Museum 9/9/10
The Bishop Museum is another beautiful museum honouring the
Polynesians of yesteryear in multimedia presentations. I very much
enjoyed the spacious and contemplative nature of the Hawaiian Hall
with its glass cabinets of artefacts and grand video screen playing
underwater ocean images and sounds. Other sections of the museum
include the Polynesian Hall, the Castle Memorial Building where we
learn about the past of the Hawaiian monarchy. There is also a
Planetarium.
10
In the archives, my thanks go to Betty Lou Kam for her kind patience
and sharing her time with me.
Pitcairn Items:
1. One piece has been included in the Museum’s copy of William T
Brigham’s Kapa Sample Book. The Pitcairn piece marked on this
particular sample book as being number #282. This piece was
originally collected by Dr Babbit in 1822 and is finely made
from aute. The fine beater marks and quality of the beater
marks shows this was made by a master tapa maker: 15x22.5cm,
cut from a larger piece.
2. Strip or fragment of tapa with columns of yellow lines 7.35cm x
30cm (originally donated from Scottish Royal Museum).
3. Strip or fragment of tapa with columns of yellow lines 27cm x
4.1cm (originally donated from Scottish Royal Museum).
Meeting with Wes Sen master tapa maker 11/9/10
Discussions on the methods of tapa-making, the materials and tools
used. Wes will confirm the plant origin of the coloured tapa at the
Bishop Museum. We envisage a Tahiti-Hawai’i-Pitcairn-Norfolk
workshop within the next two years.
ENGLAND
LONDON 14 – 18/9/10
British Museum 15 & 16/9/10
In the Enlightenment Gallery, which was built in 1828 to house King
George III’s library, there is an exhibition about the Age of
Enlightenment in England. This was a time when people in England
tried understanding the world around them through reason and
observation. The exhibition is themed under seven categories: The
Natural World, The Birth of Archaeology, Art and Civilisation,
Classifying the World, Ancient Scripts, Religion and Ritual, and
finally Trade and Discovery. This final category is where a tiny
piece of barkcloth made by Mauatua is on display.
Pitcairn item:
This piece is very finely made from aute, yellowed by the passing of
time, a small piece of 29x10cm and has been cut from a larger piece.
The Enlightenment Gallery where Mauatua’s tapa cloth is on display in the glass
cabinets in the right forefront
11
Given the minimal amount of Pacific or Polynesian material on show at
the Museum, I felt it a great honour to see a piece of barkcloth made
on Pitcairn on display in this exhibition. I found myself wondering,
if at that moment, any of the other hundred or so people in that
great hall were descended from a maker of a piece in that room.
There is a chance, I hope, to highlight the importance of barkcloth
and Pacific items in general. In the bookshop, there were only 8
books forming a ‘Pacific’ section. Of these 8 books, over 4 of them
were about Australia.
National Maritime Museum, Royal Observatory, The Royal Naval College
17/9/10
Walking through this fascinating part of Greenwich, I found myself
wondering had Bligh or any of his Bounty crew come to this grand
place? The Old Royal Naval College was designed to take care of old
and unwell seamen, built on the former site of a Tudor Palace and
birthplace of Elizabeth I. Today it is under the management of the
Greenwich Foundation; the University, the beautiful chapel, the music
tumbling out into the courtyard of the Trinity College of Music was
enchanting.
Pitcairn Items:
The National Maritime Museum offers a wonderful view of Britain’s
seafaring history. In the Archives and Library there are a couple of
Bounty effects: one of interest is the William Buchan Domestic
Medicine … (London, 1779, 6th edition which was taken by the mutineers
to Pitcairn Island, the title page has the signature of Thos. Huggan
the ship’s surgeon. There is also a copy of the Pitcairn Island
Register. Another treasure is The Bounty Watch, the K2 which was
made by Larcum Kendall, 1771.
CAMBRIDGE 20-22/9/10
Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology 22/9/10
I visited the public galleries of the Museum of Archaeology and
Anthropology the day before my appointment with the assistant
curator. There are around 800,000 objects within the collections of
the Museum, and the Anthropology section holds over 30,000 Pacific
artefacts, many coming from the Cook explorations. I was really
pleased to see such a fine display of Pacific historical items there
in Cambridge. They also have an exhibition “Tatau: Samoan Tattooing
Global Culture” and currently have a Samoan Artist in Residence.
The next day I went to view the 2 Pitcairn tapa kept in the Museum’s
archives actually within the same building as the museum. Many
thanks to the assistant curator for her enthusiastic reception.
Pitcairn Items:
1. Made from aute, thick and fairly stiff piece with message
written in brown ink: “Tappa coth made from the bark of a tree
by the Pitcairn Islanders”.
12
2.
Made from aute 166x56cm extremely fine and accompanying notes
say ‘Made by Tahitian women of the Bounty colony’. George Hunn
Nobbs gave this to Reverend John Still in 1877 on Norfolk
Island.
British Museum East & West London stores 23/9/10
The British Museum has the world’s largest collection of Pitcairn
barkcloths stored off-site away from public galleries. The Pitcairn
tapa have recently been through a thorough process of conservation
and the smaller pieces are now beautifully mounted and presented in
carefully made state-of-the-art folders.
The curators are extremely busy handling vast collections, and I am
very grateful for the time spent with me, letting me touch, view and
photograph as long as I wished – a privilege I was most humbled by,
and not sure I would have had without having received this
Fellowship.
Pitcairn Items:
1. Plain white 38x43cm. Registration says, ‘… made by the
descendants of the [mutineers] of the Bounty’
2. Plain white 30x28cm fine (like muslin), which I believe would
be a specialised technique using aute
3. Plain white 25in aute, extremely soft and slightly transparent
4. Plain white 38x17.5cm aute finely made. Label reads, ‘Made by
the widow of Fletcher Christian, from Pitcairn Island, 1837
5. Plain white 44x49cm aute. Label reads, ‘Tappa cloth made on
Pitcairn Is. Fro the bark of Paper Mulberry. From Mrs F.C.
Nobbs, Longridge, Norfolk Island, wife of Pitcairn Island
clergyman. She was 90 when she gave it to me (Mrs Montgomery)
in 1892.’
6. Plain white 88x50cm. Label reads, ‘Bark of the Breadfruit tree
from Pitcairn Island made by Miss H. Beatrice Young’
7.
Plain white 101x69cm, finely beaten aute
8.
Plain white 28x31cm aute finely made
9.
Plain white 37x11cm aute finely made
10. Decorated (stamped) piece of two layers – underlayer of plain
finely beaten aute, overlayer decorated, stamped and dyed.
Possibly ‘uru or banyan
11. Dyed aute 190x60cm reddish brown
12. Decorated, dyed and collaged layered piece (overlayer likely
‘uru, underlayer aute) 57x95cm
13. Decorated, dyed and collaged layered piece as above 127x62cm
14. Plain white barkcloth, which has been cut with a smaller piece
stored separately
15. Decorated, dyed, collaged and ‘patchworked’ (overlayer likely
‘uru, underlayer aute) 137x61cm
16. Plain sample piece cut from a larger piece: label states, ‘This
piece of Tapa or Native Cloth was made at Pitcairn Island in
1837 by Mrs Christian and Mrs Young the only survivors of the
original settlers of the Bounty in 1837 on Pitcairn Island’,
collected by Mr Thompson HMS Imogene
13
17. Plain sample piece cut from larger cloth 25x18cm signed by Mary
Christian in brown ink
18. Plain sample piece cut from larger cloth 9.75in signed by
Arthur Quintal in brown ink
After viewing the tapa cloths, I caught a taxi to another British
Museum archive (The East London Store).
Pitcairn Item:
Pitcairn Island is perhaps the only known island to use both wooden
and whalebone beaters (although there is a possibility of one known
beater having come from Fiji – I will take further study to review
this).
Pitcairn tapa beater at the British Museum
KEW 24/9/10
Royal Botanic Gardens
At the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, there is the Economic Botany
Collection, which has over 75,000 items. It is remarkable indeed
that three pieces of Pitcairn tapa are held here – given that the
expedition of the HMS Bounty had its origins at Kew Gardens with Sir
Joseph Banks’ push to have her collect breadfruit (Artocarpus
altilis) in Tahiti and then sail to the West Indies. The breadfruit
was meant to feed the slave population. See the Kew Blog for a
report on my visit: http://www.kew.org/news/kew-blogs/Tapa-cloth-andthe-forgotten-women-of-the-Bounty-mutiny.htm
At Kew there are three pieces of tapa linked to the HMS Bounty, each
identified as paper mulberry Broussonetia papyrifera (Tahitian and
Pitkern aute).
1. 28cm x 21cm gifted by Mauatua (ie Fletcher Christian’s wife) to
Mrs Heywood (Peter Heywood’s wife) via the Captain Jenkin Jones
of the Curacao in 1841 a reference to which (found at Kew’s
rare books room) the Rev. Thos. Murray’s Pitcairn: The Island,
the People, an the Pastor (1860).
“The women also manufacture tappa or native cloth, from the bark of the "Anti" or paper-mulberry, which is
rolled up, and soaked in water, and then beaten out with wooden mallets, and spread forth to dry. The author has
in his possession a piece of beautifully wrought white tappa, given him by Mrs. Heywood… it was made by the
wife of Fletcher Christian [Mauatua], from the bark of the paper-mulberry-tree. The piece from which this portion
was taken, was entrusted by her, when at a very advanced age, to Captain Jenkin Jones, when he visited the
island, in her Majesty's ship Curacoa, in 1841; he having been desired to give it to Peter’s wife.”
14
This quote also reveals that the piece at Kew was actually part of a
much larger piece, which presumably Mrs Heywood cut into pieces and
distributed.
2. 19x11.5cm made by Mauatua (Mrs Christian) and Teraura (Mrs
Young)
3. 24.5x25cm made by ‘Peggy’ (‘Peggy’ was the Tahitian wife of
mutineer George Stewart who later died aboard the Pandora.
They had a daughter in Tahiti named ‘Charlotte’ but sometimes
referred to as ‘Little Peggy’)
Frances Heywood gifted all three of
these beautifully made pieces to
Kew in 1858. It appears she may
have been the one to have cut all
three of these pieces (which
originally would have been much
larger) and distribute them amongst
friends and museums. Mrs Heywood
died three years after this gift
was made to Kew.
OXFORD 26-29/09/10
Pitt Rivers Museum 28/09/10
The Pitt Rivers Museum hosts a
collection of more than half a
million artefacts. The objects on
display are arranged according to how
they were used or made, unlike other
museums I have visited. This is the
second museum that I had seen with a
Pitcairn Tapa on display.
Pitcairn Items:
1. A tiputa or poncho of 1.42mx52cm similar to those at the
British Museum
2.
White piece 170x163cm by Dorcas ‘Dolly’ Young
3.
White piece 3.8x2m
4. Aute dyed brown/reddish 65x70cm cut from a larger piece
extremely fine make probably used as pareu (sarong) the dye
making it more hardy for wearing
5. Aute white 46x37cm fine with paper texture rather than fine
fabric texture fine beater marks. Label reads, “Made by Miss
H. Beatrice Young c/- HBM Consul Tahiti, granddaughter of Ed
Young and John Mills”
6.
Aute white 4.3mx1.85m collected by Beechey or one of his crew.
Very fine quality
7.
Pair of slippers of woven palm leaf, edged in barkcloth and
decorated with purple dyed plant fibre and ring of shells
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Pitcairn tiputa (poncho) on display at
the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford
My visit to Oxford in general was fascinating, extremely inspiring.
I booked myself on a couple of literary and general walking tours of
this historic town. So many great minds have studied in this place.
LIVERPOOL 1/10/10
Liverpool World Museum
The World Museum Liverpool has 8 pieces of cloth (one which was
confirmed to be cotton rather than barkcloth), which are referenced
as being from Pitcairn Island. Two to three of these pieces are
likely not to be from Pitcairn, perhaps having been mixed with
confirmed pieces at some stage. I was not able to see all the pieces
of barkcloth, as sometime before I arrived, the photographic room had
been flooded and some pieces moved and put out of the way in the offsite archives. It was a situation beyond the curator’s control.
Likely
1.
2.
3.
4.
Pitcairn Items:
White aute 74cm x ? very fine beater ridges
White aute 22cm x 17.5cm
White aute 21cm x 14.5cm very finely made
Brown/reddish aute? 21.5 x 16cm finely made
Definitely made on Pitcairn (inscription on the fabric):
5. White aute beautifully made 48cm
Possible Pitcairn Items:
6. 28cm x 22.5cm diamond pattern
7. 92cm x 89 cm diamond pattern
The Liverpool museum has a very interesting and beautifully presented
Oceania section in the World Cultures gallery on the third floor.
THE LAKE DISTRICT, 2/10/10
Castlerigg Stone Circle, Cockermouth, Moorland Close, St Bridget’s
Church
The next day, I travelled through The Lake District to Castlerigg
Stone Circle, Moorland Close, Fletcher Christian’s birthplace and
childhood home, then St Bridget’s Brigham Church (F. Christian’s
family church) and Cockermouth.
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This was a fascinating journey, and extremely balancing for me.
Visiting this area, the birthplace and home of Fletcher Christian was
surprisingly moving for me and I would have liked to have a little
more time to explore these areas and conduct my own research there.
From the breathtakingly mysterious Castlerigg Stone Circle, we drove
to Cockermouth, the village associated with William Wordsworth and
Fletcher Christian and from there we went onto Moorland Close Farm
(on the outskirts of Cockermouth). This was Fletcher Christian’s
childhood home. Its preserved buildings, walled garden, stone fences
and homestead are evocative and have been for travelling Norfolk and
Pitcairn Islanders for years. Norfolk Islander (Bernie ChristianBailey) had a plaque installed on the wall of the home over forty
years ago.
Afterwards I was taken to nearby St Bridget’s Church Brigham, where
Christian was baptised on the day of his birth because he was
considered in poor health. His parents and siblings are buried by
the entrance to the church. St Bridget’s dates from the 11th century
and various additions and alterations have been made since then.
SCOTLAND
EDINBURGH, 4 – 6/10/10
National Museum Scotland, Storytelling Museum, Edinburgh Writers’
Museum
The day before my meeting with the curator, I spent a day at the
Museum digesting the fascinating culture of this area and their
perspectives on other world cultures. The Museum is in the middle of
the historic ‘Old Town’ of Edinburgh; a few minutes walk from the
Royal Mile and Edinburgh Castle. What most impressed me about this
museum was the declaration of Scottish pride in their culture. Much
of the walk through this impressive Museum takes one through the
Scottish story.
I met the senior curator (Oceania, Americas and Africa) and the
assistant curator at the museum where we caught a shuttle to the offsite archives.
Pitcairn tapa items:
I was able to see the two ‘tiputa’ coloured and ‘patchworked’ in a
way almost identical to those at the British Museum. They were both
collected on the Beechey Expedition of the HMS Blossom. The great
advantage of this fellowship was to be able to see so many of these
‘tiputa’ within a short time frame so that the feel of each was still
fresh in my mind.
At some stage, the fragments now at Hawaii had been sent from this
museum, possibly part of these two ‘tiputa’ at Edinburgh.
1.Tiputa (poncho) patchworked, dyed, stamped, collaged 138xc.58cm
2. Tiputa (poncho) as above, 85x53.5cm
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Pitcairn basalt items:
I also had the pleasure to see two preBounty basalt implements. One was
described as ‘Probably the handle of a
Tapa beater or pounder …” however, on
inspection it was evident to me that it
was actually part of a sculpture of some
sort. Further investigation will follow
on this implement. Another was a broken
adze of Polynesian type.
Pitcairn Item Edward Young belt:
The last wonderful discovery was a belt,
which I had not been aware of until this
visit, marked as having belonged to
Edward Young from HMS Bounty. Certainly
more investigation will follow on this as
well and photos will be forwarded as soon
as they are available.
I was asked if I could make a voice recording of an ocean story for
the new Pacific Gallery opening next year. I will be sending a
recording of the ancient Tahitian legend of the peoples who inhabited
Pitcairn Island long before HMS Bounty’s arrival.
The Royal Mile deserves more time that I had to be explored.
However, I did manage to visit the imposing Edinburgh Castle. I also
visited Scottish Storytelling Centre, The National Library of
Scotland and the Writers’ Museum (dedicated to Robert Burns, Sir
Walter Scott and Robert Louis Stevenson).
ABERDEEN 7 - 8 October 2010
Marischal Museum, Aberdeen Art Gallery, Aberdeen Maritime Museum,
Aberdeen & North-East Scotland Genealogy Centre
The first afternoon I arrived, I walked to the Aberdeen Art Gallery
to get my bearings. There was a special exhibition called The Lewis
Chessmen Unmasked. In most of the museums I had visited, I had seen
these enigmatic chessmen, and it was truly the icing on the cake to
finish off my UK tour by seeing this very special exhibition that
featured many of the chessmen, audiovisual footage of people from the
Isle of Lewis in interviews, various explanations. These survivors
of the Norwegian medieval craft tradition are one of Scotland’s most
treasured archaeological discoveries. I write about it here because
of the effectiveness the exhibition due to the aural and visual
techniques involved.
The next day I had my visit to the Marischal Museum, University of
Aberdeen, founded in 1786 with materials donated by friends and
graduates of the University. The museum is presently closed (since
July 2008) due to ongoing renovation and building. I was still able
to visit a very lovely Pitcairn ‘tiputa’ held there. I was fortunate
also at Edinburgh as visits were not generally approved for
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researchers there either (also because of renovations), and I give
thanks to the curator for making my visit happen.
Pitcairn Item:
The ‘tiputa’ at Aberdeen was in good shape, perhaps because it has
been hung on display all this time rather than folded. Certainly,
this is perhaps the only ‘tiputa’ that I was able to see that
appeared to have been worn quite often. The others that I have seen
didn’t appear to have been worn. The construction of this particular
piece was slightly different to the ones I’d seen at the British and
National Scottish Museums, and this is perhaps because it had been
worn and reworn. Certainly, it has been well looked after since
arriving at the Marischal Museum in 1823, collected by Captain Raine
in 1821 from Pitcairn. This was a gift from Dinah Adams.
At the Maritime Museum is a remarkable building within which one
learns the city’s relationship to the sea. John Mills, one of the
mutineers, was from Aberdeen. Another totally unexpected boon to my
visit was the discovery of the Aberdeen and North-East Scotland
Genealogy Centre through whom intend to research the origins of
mutineer Mills.
OSLO, NORWAY 10-12/10/10
Kon-Tiki Museum 12/10/10
The Kon-Tiki Museum is dedicated to Thor Heyerdahl’s expeditions and
includes exhibitions: Ra, Tigris, Fatu-Hiva, Kon-Tiki, Easter
Island, a 30m cave tour, an underwater exhibition and a cinema
documenting his expeditions.
Pitcairn Items:
The Kon-Tiki holds 2 Pitcairn tapa beaters and one piece of barkcloth
collected during the Norwegian Archaeological Expedition in 1955-56.
1.
2.
3.
One of the beaters is made from whalebone and is extremely worn
from use, erosion from age and wear is apparent on all sides of
the beater. Total length of the beater is 42.6cm.
The second beater is wood (probably aito), measuring 42.9cm.
The beaters are almost identical in shape and both have a
slight curve; I believe it to be an intentional curve.
These beaters were collected at the same time as a piece of
tapa. It is difficult to tell what material this tapa was
originally made from. It has evidently changed in its
consistency overtime due to storage conditions possibly on its
journey from Pitcairn to Norway.
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NOTES:
1.
Throughout this document, the words barkcloth and tapa are used
interchangeably.
2. Aute refers to the paper mulberry, and ‘uru refers to breadfruit.
CONCLUSION
The 2010 Churchill Fellowship has provided me with an incredible
opportunity to complete an important research project. By working in
cooperation with museum curatorial staff I have gained experience and
insights into international curatorial practices and gained much from
viewing the tapa and beaters that have been left as a legacy of the
Polynesian women who helped found a new culture on an isolated
eastern Pacific island. This visit, I hope, highlighted the
importance of the Pitcairn Island barkcloths and the Pacific
collections in general.
As I stated earlier in this paper, my dissemination of the insights
and information I have been able to attain due to this Fellowship has
already begun through the various columns I wrote for the Norfolk
Island papers (both in print and e-newspapers) and the Pitcairn
Island e-newsletter. I have also updated my blog with these articles
and will work on maintaining the sharing of information as it comes
to hand. My most important project is to finish a non-fiction
history of these women’s lives.
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RECOMMENDATIONS
I applaud the museums and collections I visited holding the material
culture I visited. Their dedicated curatorial staff have done well
to document and maintain the items I visited.
I would recommend active and continuous exchange and communication of
information between those museums visited and our own museums on
Norfolk Island. The maintaining of a sustainable partnership to
enable the loaning of material culture from those museums to the
Norfolk Island Museums so as to reach the descendants of the makers
of the said material culture, specifically, the tapa cloths and
beaters I visited in my travels. This is essential for
reinvigorating the process by which we educate our young about our
history. I realised that sharing of information is a two-way street,
that the curators of the museums visited need information from
historians, genealogists, anthropologists, linguists and others, and
that the ready dissemination of information by all parties can only
strengthen a community’s cultural identity.
This can and should be applied also to individuals who hold cultural
knowledge. The only way to keep a culture rich and alive is by
passing on knowledge to the next generation, through (amongst other
things) education and the availability of material culture to support
the education process. In that context, it is not just enough to
have the material culture loaned to the Norfolk Island Museum, but
for the local and federal governments to give solid support to pass
on this information through schools and provide the resources to do
so.
My final message is that by supporting and promoting a community’s
individuality, (in this case, the cultural and ethnic origins of the
Norfolk Islander people of Pitcairn descent - from the Pitcairn
Island settlement, and further back to the founders’ cultures of
Polynesia and Europe), the Australian community is greatly enriched
and enlivened. Knowledge is power, and education is the gateway to
that knowledge. I myself intend to write at length about the
implications of the information I have found, and I hope that this
too will serve the community well.
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