Jane's Oceania Home Page

The Wayback Machine - https://web.archive.org/all/20030810131222/http://www.janeresture.com:80/index.htm

Jane's Oceania Home Page exists to provide visitors with a window through which they can view life in various parts of the Pacific Islands. People of the Pacific Islands have long co-existed with the environment - the sea, the sky and the land.

The term Oceania is normally used to designate all the islands of the Central and the South Pacific including Australia (continent), New Zealand and sometimes the Malay Archipelago. On this Web site, the focus is primarily directed towards the Pacific Islands of Melanesia, Micronesia and Polynesia (including the Polynesian nation of Hawai'i). Please note that Oceania is not a continent.

The leaders of the early expeditions kept logs in which they recorded their impressions of those things they had seen in Oceania. These accounts are interesting in terms of the descriptions of what they actually saw, but their interpretations of native culture were not always accurate. Many of the whalers and traders who came afterwards did not fully appreciate and understand the oral literature of our people. Also, many of the missionaries who followed in their wake were too busy substituting their own mythology to take an immediate interest in the exact details of the mythology they sought to destroy. Island people were given new standards of value in which their myths and traditions were given no commercial or spiritual recognition. The continuity of their teaching was broken.

So much of the old world created by our island ancestors has passed away. The stone temples are now in ruins and the temple drums and shell trumpets have long been silent. Tane, Rongo, Tagaloa, Nareau and other members of the divine family of the Sky-father and the Earth-mother are still with us even though so much of the regalia and symbols of our spiritualism have been scattered among museums around the world.

What the future holds may be unclear particularly when the ocean may claim many of our islands and many of our people are still under the control of others. Perhaps by reclaiming our cultural values we can understand who we are and what the future may hold for our people of Oceania.

The following poem encapsulates the above, from the time of the early voyages through

our island mythology, to the present problems of global warming.

Sitting by the Sea

I sit by the sea

And let the waves talk to me

With stories of days gone by

About seafarers of old and sailors so bold

And frigate birds high in the sky.

The lapping of the waves

Recalls better days

When our people were free to roam

The great oceans wide

With the wind and stars as our guide

Looking for some place called home.

Those mythical men

We will never see again

And gods that we still call our own

How the world came to be

For people like me

Where our spirits forever did roam.

Now the waves on the shore

Don't seem the same any more

Their stories full of grief

Are filled with a warning

About global warming and its consequences

For our people on the reef.

Yet I still sit by the sea

While the waves talk to me

With stories of days gone by

About seafarers of old and sailors right bold

And frigate birds high in the sky.

Poem by Jane Resture

Finally, for those visitors who would like to say "hello" to their host, I have included a little personal information, in addition to a Guestbook, on my Jane's Web Page. There is also a Chat Room below for the convenience of visitors who would like to find out more about the countries of Oceania or to simply chat between themselves. When accessing the Chat Room, it would be appreciated if you organise beforehand a mutual time should you like to meet with your host. Thank you.

Jane's Pacific Islands Radio Stations broadcast selected playlists of island music continuously 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. The playlists include many carefully selected tracks from almost all of the Pacific islands of Oceania. I sincerely hope that you enjoy listening to our beautiful, cultural, unique and traditional Pacific Island music.

	Pacific Islands Radio 33K
	Pacific Islands Radio 28K
	Micronesia Music Radio 33K

Jane Resture's Oceania Page was developed to present and: highlight an extended range of material in conjunction with; Jane's Oceania Home Page. In doing this, it will allow the
visitor to readily access information using the menu or the
clickable map provided for the Pacific Islands.

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