5 Tourism and Indigenous Curation of

Culture in Lifou, New Caledonia Tate LeFevre

Since 1996 cruise ships carrying thousands of Australian tourists have docked On the small island of Lifou, New Caledonia. Once every two weeks orso, boatloads of excited, photo-snapping tourists are ferried between the massive Pacic Princess cruise ship and a dock constructed especially for them by the islands indigenous Kanak people. Australians in Bermuda shorts and bikinis swarm onto the shore, taking a moment to glance at a group of Kanak singing traditional songs of welcome. They then head up to a large thatched pavilion, built exclusively to receive such a horde. Inside the pavilion, Kanak women in brightly hued 'Mother Hubbard ' dresses sell small sandalwood carvings and shell necklaces whiie Australian couples peruse racks of shirts reading, 'Do it the island way tomorrow.' Later in the day a Kanak dance group treats the tourists to a traditional performance while the Aussies, mouths agape and camcorders running, look on. Soon after, the tourists hurry back ro the boat with pictures and t-shirts, all to remind them of their exotic South Pacific experience.

Viewing the Kanak through the lens provided by most scholarly literature on tourism, it is easy to interpret them as one more indigenous culture altered and destroyed by the treatment of it as a tourist attraction . . . [a cultute] made meaningless to the people who once believed in it' (Greenwood 1989: 173). Yet the situation in Lifou is not that simple. If there is an institution being 'altered' by the presence of tourism on the island, it is tourism itself

Given the culturally destructive legacy of tourism throughout the Pacific and the world, it is often too easy to see local peoples as the helpless pawns of global forces, their own traditions and ways of life sadly incompatible with the needs of a modern world. Yet, as Teo and Lim (2003: 289) point out-

Forces emanating from specific localities will materially afFect the impacts of external processes that encroach on chem. In the face of globalization, localities ate capable of mobilizing and projecting the interests of their members beyond (heir political, economic and social arena... localities are not merely recipients of global forces but are actively involved in their own transformation.

Liu, New Caledonia 75

T h e people of Lifou, led by a local Kanak dance group known as the Troupe de Wetr, have handled tourism in a uniquely Kanak way, forcing development to occur within, traditional boundaries and using its proceeds to affirm tradition within the Lifou community. The Kanak's use of tourism as a tool for cultural revitalization and empowerment raises serious questions about the way many scholars approach the study of tourism.

The Troupe du Wetr The Troupe du Wetr was founded in 1993 at the request of Chief Paul Sihaze of Lifou, who wanted a group from the island to perform at the Festival of Pacific Arts in the Cook Islands. The Chief saw the cooperation required ro form a dance troupe as a way to bring a community together. At that time, much of Lifou remained divided by the violence of Us Evnements, a period of bloody clashes during the late 1980s when pro-independence Kanak people fought the French government. As it turned out, the newly formed Troupe du Wetr no t only served to create community cohesion, but quickly developed into a sort of 'cultural think tank' for the people of Lifou.

The Troupe contained members from all the clans in the Wetr district- As they sought dances to perform at the Festival, troupe members interviewed eiders about dance and traditional Kanak cultural practice. They then formed committees to share the elders' teachings with other islanders, invigorating an interest in recovering Kanak traditions that were quickly disappearing. After its first performance at the Festival of Pacific Arts, the Troupe du Wetr grew in renown, its high-energy dances attracting many interested audiences and drawing invitations to perform elsewhere in the Pacific The Troupe even travelled to Europe to perform at a dance festival. As the Troupe gained more recognition outside of New Caledonia, its cultural revitalization programmes within the Lifou community continued to thrive. In 1996, the Chief of Lifou, in an effort to boost the native economy, decided to allow tourism on the island. The now locally well-known Troupe d u Wetr seized the opportunity to present traditional culture to outsiders and became a 'welcoming committee' for the boadoads of Australian tourists arriving on the island.

The situation on Lifou is an exceptional example of how indigenous peoples do not have to be victims of tourism, bu t can manipulate and use it as a springboard to enter the global arena as autonomous, culturally significant, and defiantly traditional actors. As Mose Kuisine, choreographer of the Troupe du Wetr, told me: 'We knew on Lifou that the only way to protect ourselves from tourism was to do it ourselves.' T h e Troupe du Wetr turns the commonly accepted notion of tourism as a culturally destructive force on its head.

Tate LeFevre

Fighting for a. Denied Identitf

Since the arrival of Europeans in New Caledonia in the late eighteenth century, the Kanak have faced brutal colonial oppression and wholesale destruction of their culture. Kanak lands were stolen for the establishment of penal colonies, setder colonialism and nickel mining. The Kanak were uprooted from the land and forced to perform labour on French plantations, ranches and public works (Winslow 1989:258). Kanak were denied the tights of French citizens and were subject to the whims of colonial administration. Today Kanak are a 'fourth world people', an economically and culturally disenfranchised minority in their own homeland.

The Kanak were eventually granted suffrage and political rights after the Second World War, bu t cont inued to be left out of economic and political decision making. In the 1970s, as other colonial possessions in the Pacific began to gain independence (such as Fiji, 1970, Papua New Guinea, 1975, the Solomon Islands, 1978, and Vanuatu, 1980), several Kanak political parries formed to demand .the end of French colonial rule. In 1984 the FLNKS party-.(Front de Liberation Kanak et Socialiste) advocated toral Kanak independence. T h e y declared that 'the French government follows a policy of immigration which is aimed at preventing the Kanak people from . . . managing their own economy realizing their right to employment and maintaining their social, cultural and political integrity' (Winslow 1989: 278). In 1984, FLNKS organized a boycott of territorial elections in New Caledonia, smashing ballot boxes and setting up roadblocks to prevent voting. They declared the Provisional Government of Kanaky. This was the beginning of a period of bloody clashes between the Kanak and the New Caledonian government in which many Kanak, including Jean-Marie Tjibaou, were killed.

Finally, in 19SS, the French government and FLNKS. signed a peace accord d e f o r m a l i z e d the end of armedstruggle between pro- and anti-independence groups (Chanter 2002: 19). Ten. years later, in 1998, the Noumea Accords were signed by members of FLNKS and the French government. T h e Accords conferred a limited form of New Caledonian nationhood prior to a vote on independence from France in fifteen to twenty years' time. In their preamble the Accords state:

Colonization harmed the dignity of the Kanak people and deprived them of their identity. In this confrontation, some men and women lost their lives or their reasons for. living. Much suffering resulted from it. These difficult times need to be remembered, the mistakes recognized and the Kanak people's confiscated identity restored, which equates in their mind with a recognition of their sovereignty, prior to the forging of a new identity, a shared common destiny.

Although this document was meant to signal a sort of victory for Kanak independence, it points to the persistence of a colonial rhetoric denying Kanak cultural identity.

Liftm, Nsw Cabdrmiji 31

The Accords call for a restoration of Kanak identity, but only through the forging of 'new identity, a shared common destiny.' Anthropologist Alame Saussol (1988:39} writes that French colonialism in New Caledonia has had one characteristic dream a dream 'of assimilation and integration of minorities.' Saussol states that:

tLs. France Australe became pluri-ethnic while remaining mono-cultural and unquestioning of die superiority inherent in the colonial order ... [They] sought to abolish differences rather than die inequalities that were part of decades of expansion and prosperity.

Alban Bensa argues that France's ultimate colonial dream was not just the erasure of cultural difference, but the disappearance of the Kanak altogethet. He states that Europeans in New Caledonia developed a racism of annihilation that only ever envisaged Kanaks as non-beings'. (1988: 19091)

By aspiring towards new identity', the Noumea Accords do not advocate the recovery of Kanak culture, bu t rather the absorption of Kanak culture into a larger New Caledonian whole. The Noumea Accords can be understood as fitting into a long history of colonial rhetoric denying Kanak cultural identity.

'Contemporary Culture, -versus cKanak Culture' The same colonial rhetoric of the Noumea Accords remains apparent in the lack of local government support for Kanak cultural activity. Many policies of New Caledonia's territorial government suggest a deep-seated belief in 'the inadequacy of Melanesian culture to respond to the exigencies of contemporary modern life', and a desire to expose Kanak to 'more useful' Western culture (Chanter 1998:27) .

Lifous government-run Direction de Patrimoine Foncier et Culturel or D P C (Office of Culturel Ecological and Cultural Heritage) controls the funding for cultural development' on the island. Most of the Troupe du Wetr members I spoke with told me that the D P F C had never helped them with cultural projects either monetarily or otherwise and instead only hampered their work. Umun , one of the Troupe du Werr's co-founders, whom I stayed with during my time in Lifou, explained to me that the D P F C has specific ideas about is worth funding, and that these are often projects that 'do the Lifou community no good at all'. H e told me that instead of supporting local culture, the D P F C pays for screenings of Western films from the U.S A . or France in We, Lifous capital.

The director of the D P F C has stated that the goals of his organization are 'the development of contemporary and Oceanic culture' on Lifou. It is interesting to note the distinction the D P F C makes between Oceaniam contemporary culture, as if one could not be simultaneously Oceanic and contemporary. This revealing viewpoint explains the DPFC's unusual use of funds. Instead of providing financial and structural support for Kanak cultural revitalization projects, the

82 Tate LeFevre

D P F C instead seeks to 'modernize' the Kanak, exposing them to as much Western culture as possible. Wi th that aim in mind, funding American film screenings is certainly 'developing culture'.

Creat ion o f t h e I r o n p e d u Wetr: R e l y i n g o n Tradit ion t o b e M o d e r n

The French government's lack of support for traditional culture led indirectly to the creation of the Troupe du Wetr. After the violence of les Evnements, much of the Kanak community was traumatized and bitterly divided along political lines. Feelings of resentment amongst community members were exacerbated by the fact that the Kanak in Lifou continued to be an economically disenfranchised group with few modes of participation in the life of New Caledonia as a whole. Nearly all the money in Lifou comes directly from the French government by way of, the local island-level administration. This administration has failed to recognize the traditional structure of the Lifou community, distributing funds to individuals rather than clan groups. This operates against the most basic structures of Kanak society and further destroys community cohesion in Lifou. One of the founders of the Troupe du Wetr told me that France puts 'money between the traditional leadership of Lifou and the island administration. The French administration's failure to consider traditional social structure in its allocation of funds was eroding community life in Lifou.

In 1990, however, a group of high-ranking community members resolved to increase the involvement of traditional leadership in Lifus economic life. These leaders decided to form a comit du dveloppement (development committee), a group, to organize and make decisions on the economic development of the Lifou while working with the French-run government administration. The chiefs of the island's tribus (tribes or clans) appointed members to serve on the comit. With prodding from this newly created group, the government administration of Lifou began to allocate funds based on traditionally held concepts of social structure. Instead of falling into the hands of individuals, government funds were now shared by the community and clan, which quelled much of the built-up resentment of the past decade. The i?zff'protecred Lifou from unwanted development, as potential projects had to be approved by the entire community. This protection stopped individuals from seeking a quick profit from deals with tour companies..

By relying on traditional social structure to make economic decisions, rather than on contemporary' French administration, the comiiilsA to a reaffirmation of community cohesion in Lifou and the end to most unwanted and potentially harmful development projects on the island. O n e of the original founders of the comit du dveloppement explained to m e that the founding of the comit marked one of the first occasions that those in Lifou had made an attempt to merge the economic and la coutume'. La Coutume is likely the most often-invoked tenet of Kanak culture. T h e word functions as both a verb and a noun and is constantly

Lifou, Neu Caledonia S3

mentioned in daily conversation on Lifou. O n one level it means something close to 'custom', what is traditional or right. For example, reciprocal gift exchange is one of the most important aspects of Kanak culture (and many other Melanesian cultures). Before entering another persons house, it is expected that one will^fre la coutume (make/do the custom), and exchange a gift with the head of that household. All the traditional, gift exchanges that accompany weddings are also known as h. coutume. La coutumeAso has a far more esoteric meaning, something closer to 'the Word'. It is the word of the ancestors, the word of the spirit world, and the word of the chief. With the creation of rhe comit du dveloppement, la coutume also became an important part of economic decisions on Lifou.

Using ht coutume as a guiding force, the comit du dveloppement made several forays into local economic development. Various women's cooperatives were founded and created a substantial profit by selling crafts and clothing to visiting Australians. The comit also helped young Kanak travel to Australia to srudy English and return to Lifou in order to Work as well-paid guides for Anglophone tourists. Slowly, the profits reaped from tourism were spread more evenly throughout the Lifou community.

The most successful project associated with the comit du dveloppements the Troupe du Wetr itself- After performing successfully at the 1993 Festival for Pacific Arts in the Cook Islands, the group went on to perform in several more festivals in N e w Caledonia and Australia. In its first few years of existence, the Troupe du Wetr's impassioned performances made it a household name throughout much of New Caledonia. T h e group began to become known as an unofficial ambassador no t only of Lifou, but of all of New Caledonia. As the groups outward exposure continued to grow, so did its cultural revival and retrieval efforts within the indigenous community.

Soon the Troupe du. Wetr was more than a dance group; it was the core organization around which many other traditional groups revolved- One of the Troupe's founders explained, to me thar rhe Troupe now encompasses an cole de la danse (a school for young dancers), and Ziethei, a 'modern dance troupe' that performs newly created dances, rather than dances based on traditional choreography passed down from elders. The Troupe du Wetr has created a new generation of'traditional Kanak'. After witnessing the media attention received by rhe Troupe du Wetr, young Kanak in Lifou now aspire to join the group and the many cultural committees it oversees.

T o u r i s m D o c k s : P e r f o r m i n g for C r u i s e S h i p Passengers o n L i f o u

During the first year of tourism, the Troupe du Wetr performed dances every two or three weeks when a cruise ship docked, while other members of the Lifou community set u p tables to sell crafts and offer tours of the island. Compelled by la coutume, th Troupe later decided that it was necessary to share the profits of the dance performances more equitably within the communi ty by teaching

Tare LeFevTC

dancers from- each tribu (tribe or clan) how to perforht>for the tourisrs. With' the Troupes instruction, each tribu developed its own traditional dance group for tourist performances. Responsibilities for welcoming and performing for tourists became rotated among the tribus on the island, each group performing two or three times a year. In this way; both traditional dance knowledge and tourism profits have been spread evenly throughout the Lifou community.

Unlike many tourism operations elsewhere, the money from cruise ship passengers in Lifou goes directly to the community without being touched by non-Kanak- P+O Cruises, the large multinational corporation that runs cruises to Lifou, deals directly with the Chief of Lifou and the comit du dveloppement, not the French government or a foreign tourism operator. Those on Lifou find this arrangement highly preferableto the era before the comit du dveloppement, when profits from tourism in Lifou went almost entirely to.hotels run by French ex-patriates. Short of paying a meagre salary to Kanak who worked in the hotels, the French did nothing to give back to the Lifou community. T h e Kanak have become wary of letting others make decisions about tourism on the island.

In 2002, a German development group offered the traditional leadership of Lifou a large amount of money for the rights to build a new hotel on the island, but refused to agree to all the requesrs made by the comit du dveloppement. The Chief and comit were not swayed by the offer and refused the deal, deciding instead that if a hotel was going to be built, they.would do it themselves and on their o wn terms. T h e success.of cruise ship tourism in Lifou has given the Kanak confidence to refuse tourism development that they do not consider beneficial to traditional life in Lifou.

understanding Tourism: A 'Tradition of MelanchoKa' Despite the success that the Troupe du Wetr and the people of Lifou have had using tourism profits to support traditional Kanak culture, there are many scholars who believe that tourism is inherently damaging ro indigenous cultures. In feet, the entire s tudy of tourism has been referred to as a tradition of melancholia' (Stanley 1998).

According to Dean MacCannell (1976), Davydd Greenwood (1989), and John Urry (1990), the results of tourism performances are disastrous for the cultural identities of local peoples. These scholars view tourism as a force that 'bastardizes and commodities previously authentic ethnic cultures for the purpose of touristic display' (Picard 1997: 2). MacCannell refers to.culturat performances for tourists as 'staged authenticity, and argues that tourist performances can rarely if ever be nonexploitive, In his view, the effect of tourism on indigenous peoples is akin to the colonizat ion of 'formally primitive peoples by global and white monoculture' (Stanley 1998: 150). Nearly all scholarly work written about the effects of tourism on native peoples has taken the stance that the eventual 'coinmodification of culture' is an inevitable result of all forms of cultural tourism.

Liv, New Celedonia 85

T h e term commodification of culture' is ubiquitous in anthropological literature on tourism. It refers to the idea that in order to present tourists with the ostensibly authentic cultural experiences that they seek, local peoples are forced to pervert their traditions to the point at which they no longer serve their original Cultural purpose. As White (1994: 14) suggests, it is ironic that 'tourism and its economic imperatives may damage the very cultures and landscapes that now attracr international tourists'. As cultural products lose their meaning for locals, and as 'the need to present rhe tourist with ever more spectacular, exotic and titillating attractions grows, contrived culrural products are increasingly "staged" for tourists and decorated so as to look authentic (Cohen 1988: 372).

The fate of the nagol (land divers) ceremony on Pentecost Island has often been used by scholars to illustrate the power tourism has for reshaping traditional ritual. T h e custom once had only local meaning, associated with the growing season of the yam. Yet, because of its spectacular nature, the nagol has become known among tourists as a sort of indigenous bungee jumping. The ceremony, now performed mostly for the eyes of paying tourists, has become an economic commodity for Pentecost islanders Qolly 1994; Whi te 1994).

A Les s ' M e l a n c h o l i c ' P e r s p e c t i v e

Not all scholars believe tourism marks the beginning of the end for local peoples. In Being Ourselves for You, Stanley (1998) brings an important, less 'melancholic perspective to tourism studies. His book is one of the first studies of tourism to focus no t on the experience of tourists bu t on the 'providers of the tourist experience', and the strategies that performers adopt to make themselves the content of tourist experience' (Stanley 1998:12). Stanley argues that local peoples are agents in their own destiny and can often harness tourism and use it for their own purposes, even strengthening traditional identity in the process.

Stanley provides a much-needed counter-perspective ro MacCannell and other 'melancholic' scholars. MacCannell (1992: 19) tells us that the combination of 'modern and primitive' elements that tourism performances entail marks the death of traditional culture:

The image of the savage that emerges from these ex-primirrve performances completes the post-modern fantasy of an authentic alterify which is ideologically necessary inthe promotion and development of a global monoculture. The primirivistic performance is our. funerary marking of the passage' of savagery.

Stanley counters MacCannell, noting that use of the terms primitive and savage signal MacCannell's belief that indigenous peoples have essentially no agency in creating their own destiny in the face of globalization- 'If we replace the word "primitive" with one that does not suggest the sam historical closure, then the iron law that relegates traditional culture to the primitive is broken (Stanley

S Taie IcFvre

1998: 151). To MacCannell, 'reconstructed ethnicity' and the creation and adaptation of cultural forms emerges in response to 'white culture and tourism'. He ignores the possibility that there may be conditions under which 'primitive' peoples can use tourism performances to sustain and even strengthen their sense of identity in a global world, especially when tourist performances are coupled with cultural renewal programmes as they are in Lifou. T h e existence of these programmes, says Stanley, is based on the idea 'that a genuine bargain can be struck between tradition and not only modern bur postmodern forms of social organization' (Stanley 1998: 151).

Such a bargain is admittedly hard to come by, but the Troupe du Wetr and the Kanak of Lifou seem to have succeeded in maintaining a delicate balance between sharing culture with outsiders and 'keeping it safe' for their own people. Stanley and other scholars who question the 'melancholic tradition in tourism scholarship offer a much more useful framework for understanding the dynamics of cultural self-representation in tourism, especially as they exist in Lifou. Performing for outsiders can lead to increased reflexivity and cultural creativity amongst participants. Even Greenwood, who has provided numerous scathing attacks on cultural tourism in his work, admits that performances for tourists can 'engender creative responses in local cultures and positively affect the trajectory of cultural development '(1977: 185).

R e d i s c o v e r i n g I d e n t i t y , B r o a d c a s t i n g C u l t u r e

Tjibaou once wrote that French colonialism had taken away Kanak identity and made Kanak people anonymous' in the eyes of the world. Tjibaou offered a way for the Kanak to conquer their anonymity.

The discourse of Oceanic peoples today must be projected on a normal basis in the media so that we can continue to rediscover our identities, beat ease with ourselves and finally valorize our identity through its creation. (Bensa 1998:40)

For Tjibaou, the best way for the Kanak to gain control over theii identity was to broadcast it to others. The Troupe du Wert has become inexorably involved in this task, and its success has proven the validity ofTjibaou's words.

As Jocelyn Linnekin notes, Pacific peoples, especially those still under colonial rule, must formulate and use their identity in the context of a struggle for power (Linnekin and Poyer 1990:158). Having their identity misrepresented makes, the Kanak, in Tjibaou's words, culturally 'impotent'- This feeling is behind the Kanak expression rcupration, which those on Lifou explained to me as happening when non-Kanak appropriate information about Kanak culture and use it for their own purposes, misrepresenting the culture and never giving back to the community. Many Kanak bristle at the thought of having their cultural identity misrepresented, and consider ir a type of 'colonization' at the hands of white researchers.

Lifbu, New Caledonia 87

C o n f u s i o n a t t h e P a c i f i c A r t s C o n f e r e n c e : R c u p r a t i o n i n A c t i o n

One example of rcupration related to me by members of the Troupe du Wetr occurred during the :2001 Pacific Arts Conference. Tha t year's conference took place in New Caledonia, the first week in Noumea and the second in Lifou. Dozens of anthropologists and other scholars descended upon the tiny island and were led around by members of the local administration for a portion of their visit. They were treated to a performance by the Troupe du Wetr that took place in lagrottet a remarkable cave siruated in rhe middle of the forest. At this time, la grotte was a newly developed space where members of the Troupe rehearsed and 'received inspiration. T h e choreographer of the Troupe du V/etr explained to me that members of the Troupe would often spend several nights there, sleeping in the cave and contemplating their links to traditions from the past and their inspirations for dance.

After viewing the performance the visiting scholars apparently came away with several misunderstandings: first, that la grotte was a newly constructed cultural centre built to accommodate tourists, instead of a private place for the Troupe to practise; and second, that the Troupe du Wetr and their tiny cultural centre' were struggling in the shadow of the Tjibaou centre, a large, newly built Culmral Centre in Noumea, These misunderstandings were likely influenced by the works of those 'melancholic' anthropologists like-McCannelL

Though the Troupe du Wetr had already performed in Europe and Singapore by the time the Pacific Arts delegates saw them, the delegates thought that they were a very local, inexperienced dance group, whose main purpose was to welcome tourists. Thus, they assumed that a space meant for traditional cultural enrichment of Kanak was instead a cultural centre in preparation for what would hopefully be groups of tourists in the future'. When those in. Lifou found that their work had been misunderstood and misrepresented, most were irate. The frustrated choreographer of the Troupe du Wetr explained, 'These people who come rosse us, they think they know more than we do about what we are doing here!'

Diane Lsche has written that she fears the cultural centre' on Lifou will be 'consumed' by the much larger Tjibaou Centre (Lsche 2003: 1-13). Lsche (this volume) characterizes the monumental modernity of the Tjibaou Centre as perhaps 'banal and disconnected from irs locale and questions whether the money used to construct the centre would have been better spent on more modest centres spread throughout the provinces of New Caledonia'. In feet the A D C K (the Agency for the Development of Kanak Culture), which is headquarted in the Tjibaou Centre> has acted as an important supporter of the Troupe du Wetr, funding some of the group's projects, hosting its performances, and organizing trips by Troupe members to see performances by other visiting indigenous dance groups for inspiration. Though the monumental nature of the Tjibaou Centre might indeed threaten to disconnect it from its locale, its programmes to support groups like the Troupe du Wetr have rooted it firmly as a Kanak cultural centre.

88 Tare LeFevre

Looking Further: Understanding Tourism i n Lifou C,

After two hundred years of having their cultural identities either threatened or ignored by a colonial government, it is not surprising that control over the representation of their cultural identity is immensely important to the Kanak. In order to combat the denial of their culture, Kanak actively broadcast their cultural identity. Nicolas Thomas (1995: 208) points out that 'Art is increasingly a domain through which people present their culture and heritage; once it is visible, they effectively become actors in the theatre of politics and in the multicultural marketplace'. T h e Troupe du Wetr has employed tourism performances in precisely this way.

Stanley writes that most peoples involved in cultural tourism are 'offering themselves up for cultural invention [and] do so willingly and usually with pride'. Tourism is not inevitably destructive - the interest that tourists have in a local culture can increase the pride that members of that culture have in their own traditions. But to understand tourism in Lifou, we have to complicate the problem a bit further. The Kanak of Lifou are not passively 'offering themselves up' to the modern world, they

90 Tate LeFevre

Teo, P and L.H. Llm. 2003. 'Global and Local Interactions in Tourism', Annals ofTourism Resmrck 30(2), 287-306.

Thomas, N. 1989. Entangled Objects: Exchange, Material Culture, and Colonialism in the Pacic. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

1995- Oceanic Art. London: Thames and Hudson. Urry, J. 1990. The Tourist Gaze: Leisure and avel in Contemporary Societies. London: Sage

Publications. White, G. 1997. 'Natives and Nations: Identity Formation in Postcoloniai Melanesia', in Places

and Polities Irtan Age of Globalization, iL PrazniakandA. Dirlk,, (eds.). Newbrk: Rowan Sclittlefield.

Winslow, D. 1989. 'Independence and Ethnicity in New Caledonia3, in Ethnicity andNation-buildmg in the Pacic, M. Howard, (ed.). Tokyo: United Nations University. 259-85.

Part II Northern Australia