Series 01: Visit to Tanna Island, Vanuatu, by descendants from Tweed Heads, photographs by Jamie James

series

April 2000, July 2009

Graphic Materials, Photographs

9680116

32 photographs - digital, TIFF, colour, black and white

Item 01: Arriving on Tanna Island for the first time, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 02: Marcia and Margaret Fay and Noeline Lever arrive at Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 03: Ceremony, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 04: Island umbrellas, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 05: Margaret Fay, Noelene Lever, Lotty Peters, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 06: Margaret Fay meets Charlie Sussyer family, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 07: Margaret Fay meets family, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 08: Margaret Fay teaches Lotty and Rosanne how to make damper, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 09: Mount Yasur volcano visit with family, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 10: Peter, Lotty, Margaret, Rosanne, Joanne, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 11: Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 12: Going home, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 13: Going home, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, April 2000 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 14: Kaha Miriam and Margaret Fay, Port Vila, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 15: Port Vila to Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 16: Looking at photos from the 2000 visit, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 17: Margaret Fay and cousin Nelson Niras, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 18: Margaret Fay washing, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 19: Marcia Fay and Peter Niras, Tafea Kanaky Festival, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 20: Margaret Fay with family, Tafea Kanaky Festival, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 21: Margaret Fay with family, Tafea Kanaky Festival, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 22: Tafea Kanaky Festival, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 23: Tafea Kanaky Festival, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 24: Tafea Kanaky Festival, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 25: Tafea Kanaky Festival, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 26: Rosanne Niras with a photograph taken in 2000, 9 years earlier, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 27: Shop, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 28: Port, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 29: Family portrait of Pete, Lotty, Harry and Rosanne, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 30: Portrait of a man from Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 31: Family graves, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James
Item 32: Family graves, Tanna Island, Vanuatu, July 2009 / photograph by Jamie James

In copyright:
Copyright holder:: Jamie James
Please acknowledge:: Mitchell Library, State Library of New South Wales and Courtesy Jamie James

Jamie James was invited by members of families from Tweed Heads, New South Wales, who are descendants of the Tanna family in Vanuatu, to accompany them on a visit to Tanna island for a family re-connection.

Jamie James records that the first trip to Vanuatu was in 2000 to meet the Tanna family. Margaret Fay, her youngest daughter Marcia, and family friend Aunty Noelene Lever, who all lived in Tweed Heads at some time, have stories of 'Blackbirding' from the South Sea Islands in their family histories. The trip was a great success and they returned again in 2009 to continue building the relationships and attend a family wedding.

They returned in 2013 to acknowledge 150 years of Australian South Sea Islander 'Blackbirding' history, to witness reenactments of these haunting memories and to hear the voices from the Island people's perspective (photographs from this trip are not included in this collection)