| Description |
[translates as Songs from the Plantation]
Subtitle on the album cover: South Sea Spirituals from the Blackbirding Years
SOUTH SEA ISLAND ‘SLAVE’ SONGS
Acapella hymns of the Queensland “Blackbirding” Years and Beyond,
from Maskelyne Is. and Epi, Vanuatu
At the core of this collection of field recordings made in Vanuatu in the Maskelyne Islands and Epi between 2009 and 2012, is a set of songs (track 1 and 20-43) that represent a remarkable, unique dance genre known as Salvesen Ami (Salvation Army) or simply, Salvesen. The full story of the Salvesen Ami dance has never before been told.
Salvesen dates back to the Queensland labour trade years of 1863-1904, when Melanesian men, women and children were ‘blackbirded’ under slave-like conditions from Vanuatu, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia and Papua New Guinea. They were transported by ship to work on the sugar plantations and agricultural farms in northeastern Australia and became known as the South Sea Islanders.
The core repertoire of Salvesen was originally learnt at the Presbyterian Kanaka Mission schools near Mackay in Queensland in the 1890s. These are the songs or spirituals associated with the Fisk Jubilee Singers as well as the popular American gospel revival songs associated with Ira D. Sankey. Two other components are integral to the genre: the customary circle dance found in many parts of Vanuatu and the military like parading and drum beating of the Salvation Army.
Half of the tracks on this album are of Salvesen performances (1; 20-43), many of which are African-American jubilee songs or spirituals. These are the songs famously associated with the Fisk Jubilee Singers (FJS), an esteemed choral ensemble founded in 1871 at Fisk University, Tennessee, which conducted an extended tour of Australia and New Zealand between 1886 and 1889, and became popular among Aboriginal and Maori audiences.
Legislation passed by the Australian federal parliament in 1901 led to South Sea Islanders being deported back to Melanesia between 1906 and 1908.
The FJS left a deep impression upon Australian and New Zealand audiences, and their song book, Jubilee Songs, went through many editions during the tour and sold widely, including to those involved in Christian outreach. Equally popular was the American evangelist Ira D. Sankey’s Sacred Songs and Solos and similar anthologies.
Based on the excitement FJS performances generated among Australian Aboriginal and Maori audiences, the FJS director Frederick Loudin planned a benevolent tour to Fiji and New Guinea however this did not eventuate. Nevertheless, jubilee songs were brought back to Vanuatu around the time of mass deportation of the plantation labourers between 1906 and 1908; they eventually entered oral tradition and have been treasured for over 100 years.
Besides the actual songs, the other distinctive features that came to define Salvesen are: ‘costume’ of European style white shirts, trousers and shoes (men), and white ‘Mother Hubbard’ or ‘Island’ dress (women); marching; drill; descriptive actions; the waving by women of white kerchiefs; light percussive drumming by men (rolled up school exercise books tapped against the opposing palm); the responsorial ‘three cheers’ song ending; and not least, the customary traditional circling dance.
An important influence on the development of Salvesen was a group of labourers returning from Queensland who had become members of the Salvation Army while there. They settled on Emae (between Efate and Epi) in late 1906, “equipped as a Salvation Army detachment, with uniforms, instruments, and a big drum. Their idea is to extend Army work throughout the islands.” (The Mercury, Thursday 27 December 1906, 3).
the complement represent either a genre known as Bonani – songs performed to celebrate the New Year – or are the songs of various Presbyterian church groups including Sunday School, Youth, and Women’s and Men’s Fellowship groups.
Salvesen is a remarkable hymn-and-dance tradition that today is almost exclusively performed in the tiny islands of Ahamb and the Maskelynes south of Malakula. Salvesen is part of a previously untold musical story that connects the Presbyterian Mission to the New Hebrides (now Vanuatu) and Christian evangelisation initiatives among South Sea Islander labour recruits in Queensland.
Track list
Introduction
1. Len nəboŋ ta m̃o profet lukele
Bon Ani
2. Tai juo tolu
3. Rajouial yuka vou [What a happy new year]*
4. Bane be bog na viorean na toru
5. My heart will come to far away
6. Kieta supe
7. Sulu sulu luwe
8. Komarakakua
9. Paro mrapa
10. Roi kito
11. Tokyo pimi
12. Lae lae
13. Mae yomemaema sinapane
Men’s group
14. I'm gonna keep on singing [Till he comes by Nancy Harmon]
Sunday school and youth
15. Milenyum i kam wetem strong challenges
16. Letem spirit i flo
17. We’re marching to Zion [SOV 485] / Jesus the light of the world [Charles Wesley/arr. G. D. Elderkin]
18. O aṽagw ṽavinegw
19. Taem mi stap long problem
Salvesen Ami
20. We are marching on
21. I am a Christian soldier [SAS 593]
22. Angel’s hovering ‘round* [also in SAS 72]
23. Come along brothers come along (We are almost home)*
24. I have been redeemed*
25. Roll Jordan roll*
26. Mary an Martha larmiṽan*
27. Room enough*
28. My Lord what a morning [or mourning]*
29. Nobody knows the trouble I’ve seen*
30. I’m so glad / Nəboŋ dattoriring gamtovan [No dying there (Mrs E.S. Mansfield/D.R. Mansfield)] [SOV 66]
31. Run Mary run*
32. Saddle up a crocodile
33. Vile p̃isi həhaṽur
34. In the little invitation [Hear the blessed invitation by James McGranaham]
35. Christmas bells are ringing
36. I want to be a soldier
37. Are you ready for the bridegroom when he comes? [Behold the bridegroom by R.E. Hudson]
38. I heard the voice of Jesus say [verse from Horatius Bonar with different chorus]
39. Soldiers fighting ‘round the cross [SSA 541]
40. The king’s highway [SoV 318]
41. We are pilgrims moving on
42. I am glad I belong to Jesus
43. When I get home (I shall wear a golden crown) [from RS by C. Austin Miles]
Sunday Service
44. A God igol navile aban
45. God yu yu strong
46. I gat wan ples i stap
47. Len nəboŋ ta m̃o profet lukele
* = Jubilee song
SAS = Salvation Army Songs, William Booth (compiler), 1911. London: The Salvation Army Book Department.
SOV = Songs of Victory: A collection of hymns for evangelistic meetings, Christian worship, conferences, and the home circle, along with a selection of choruses Andrew Bell, 1890, Glasgow: Scottish Bible and Book Society
This recording is dedicated to the memory of Edward Nombong and Bilak Steven, Elder Paul and Johnnymark
Acknowledgements
To the chiefs, elders, and families of Pelongk and Lutes village, Maskelyne Islands,
and Burumba, Nikaura and Nuvi village, Epi Island, for their hospitality and support; to the Vanuatu Kaljoral Senta for sponsoring the research; to Piwi Harry and Henry Christy; Harry Dick and family; David and Sue Healey; Ross and Lyndal Webb; and Hideki Isoda.
In gratitude for their interest and enthusiasm, this recording is dedicated to: Elder Paul (Lutes village, Maskelynes); the members of the 2011 Salvesen song workshop held in Pelongk village (Maskelynes), especially Edward Nombong (d. 2016) and Bilak Steven; Peter Melio, Nikaura village (Epi), and to the memory of Kapiapo Melio (d. 2014), Nikaura village (Epi), and Kora Roy (d. 2016), Burumba village (Epi).
Recorded, compiled and annotated by Michael Webb. Fieldwork that enabled these recordings was funded by The University of Sydney, Sydney Conservatorium of Music.
Sound editing by Isaac Harvey.
Field Assistant: Piwi Harry (with Wallory Makpi in interviews with Johnnymark)
Texts transcriptions & translations: Piwi Harry, David Healey, Kora Roy, William Halling, Peter Melio, Loui Maki, Ross Webb, Michael Webb.
Uluveu (Maskelynes) language consultant: David Healey.
Lewo (Epi) language consultants: Peter Melio and Loui Maki.
Baki (Epi) language consultants: Kora Roy and William Halling.
Source: Wantok Musik
(David Bridie & Steven Gagau, May 2025) |
