Calendar Plants in Southern Vanuatu

Balick, Michael J.; Plunkett, Gregory M.; Harrison, K. David; Kelso, Neal; Wahe, Martial; Ramík, Dominik M.; Dovo, Presley; Nasauman, Wina; Neriam, Reuben; Keith, Tony; Ranker, Tom A.; Wahe, Jean-Pascal

doi:10.1007/s12231-023-09575-w

Cited by 2 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Wind lore is gradually being forgotten, but can still be described in detail by experts. We conclude by situating wind lore within a culture complex that includes knowledge of agriculture, shing, time-reckoning (Balick et al, 2023;Kelso et al, 2023), and weather magic (Balick et al, 2022).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wind Lore as Environmental Knowledge in Southern Vanuatu

Harrison,

Kelso,

Ramík

et al. 2024

JMIC

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Wind lore constitutes an important domain of environmental knowledge in eight cultures of southern Vanuatu (Aneityum, Futuna, Aniwa, Nafe, Naka, Netwar, Nanu, and Nahual). Our study reviews previous studies in Oceania which document wind systems as used primarily for long-distance navigation. The named winds of southern Vanuatu are not merely abstract directional markers, nor primarily for use in navigation, but are closely tied to the local geography, agriculture, health, and seasonal changes. Winds are part of everyday, embodied experience and cognitive-spiritual understanding of the environment. Wind lore is gradually being forgotten, but can still be described in detail by experts. We conclude by situating wind lore within a culture complex that includes knowledge of agriculture, fishing, time-reckoning, and weather magic. Our documentation of these systems is ongoing, and in collaboration with local experts.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Wind Lore as Environmental Knowledge in Southern Vanuatu

Harrison,

Kelso,

Ramík

et al. 2024

JMIC

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“The children of the Sun and Moon are the gardens”—How people, plants, and a living Sun shape life on Tanna, Vanuatu

Balick,

Ramík,

Ramík

et al. 2024

PLoS ONE

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Based on original ethnographic and ethnobotanical research, we share how in the cosmology of Tanna, an island in Vanuatu’s southernmost province of Tafea, the Sun is viewed as a living, interactive being. Our initial interviews explored knowledge and beliefs concerning individual plant species, then subsequent follow-up interviews further explored topics that emerged therefrom. The results of these interviews are a series of oral narratives of the mytho-historical past involving the Sun, and the description of contemporary practices which are influenced by the Sun. In traditional narratives, the Sun is both a creative and destructive force which is sometimes viewed as an active, personified character, and in other circumstances appears as an instrument created and utilized by greater powers. People from Tanna recount—and we adopt as a hypothesis—that the Sun’s physical manifestation and role in the world has changed since the earliest days of its mythological creation, and that it remains an active player in Tanna’s biocultural landscape within practices including time-reckoning, agriculture, and architecture. Through its relationships with humans and non-humans alike, the Sun ultimately shapes the cultural practices and even the landscape of Tanna. The nature of these relationships is changing as linguistic and cultural practices shift alongside people’s relationship with the land, but the Sun remains a critical factor in lives and livelihoods of Tanna today.

show abstract

Calendar Plants in Southern Vanuatu

Cited by 2 publications

References 14 publications

Wind Lore as Environmental Knowledge in Southern Vanuatu

Wind Lore as Environmental Knowledge in Southern Vanuatu

“The children of the Sun and Moon are the gardens”—How people, plants, and a living Sun shape life on Tanna, Vanuatu

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About