Island Home Research Articles

Are Lough Neagh and the rights of nature the unfinished business of ‘the peace process’?

Abstract This article outlines the background to an emergent all-island movement advocating for recognition of the rights of nature – including calls for recognition of Lough Neagh’s right to participate in its community ownership – and proposes that these developments could prefigure a far-reaching transition in our regard for our island home and all its subjects, including the more-than-human. Noting the significance of the fact that prominent voices in the Irish rights of nature movement originated in the borderlands of Derry and Donegal, the paper proposes that the plight of the iconic Lough Neagh in particular presents an unprecedented opportunity for governments in Dublin, Belfast and London to address a blind spot at the heart of the Anglo–Irish ‘peace process’, that is our regard for the intrinsic rights of the land, the waters, and all the communities of species who constitute our island home to flourish. With Ireland’s celebrated eco-philosopher and mystic, John Moriarty, the emergent movement is behind the call to enfranchise the earth and everything in it.

Responding to COVID-19 on the outer islands of Tuvalu.

Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) reached Tuvalu's shores in November 2022, making Tuvalu one of the last countries in the world to experience community transmission of the disease. With minimal capacity to deliver critical care and a small health workforce that had been further depleted by COVID-19 infection, response priorities rapidly shifted to the outer islands. The outer islands are accessible only by boat, with travel taking from 6 to 24 hours. The return of high school students to their home islands for the Christmas holidays had the potential to place further pressure on the islands' medical facilities. A multiorganizational collaboration between the Australian and Fijian governments, the Pacific Community, the Tuvalu Ministry of Social Welfare and Gender Affairs (MoHSWGA) and the World Health Organization facilitated the deployment of two teams to the outer islands to provide support. The team worked with public health and clinical staff to provide technical support for clinical management, infection prevention and control, laboratory, risk communication, community engagement and logistics. The outer islands' response to the pandemic significantly benefited the island communities, the MoHSWGA and the team members who deployed. The key lessons identified relate to the need to strengthen the health workforce and supply chain.

Will Japan Sink? ———The Explanation of the Seismo-Geothermics

Using the local earthquake catalog of Japan, based on the author’s original Seismo-Geothermics and it’s working methods, and from the study of the stereoscopic image of seismic cone structure, the independence of seismic cone tectonic activity and the inheritance of volcanic activity, this paper draws a conclusion that the Japanese home islands will not sink as long as earthquake still exists, volcano is still active and their lava cones are still there. In this paper, based on the independence of seismic cone tectonic activities, the general relationship between strong earthquakes, volcanoes and seismic cone tectonics in Japan and its adjacent areas is preliminarily clarified. Relying on the mature seismic data in Japan, Interested parties may be able to find out the prediction methods of intracrustal strong earthquakes and seismic cone type volcanism as soon as possible through the principle and working method of Seismo-Geothermics.

Ethnoecology of home garden landscapes on Seliu Island, Belitung District, Indonesia

Abstract. Efendi D, Chikmawati T, Sulistijorini, Djuita NR. 2024. Ethnoecology of home garden landscapes on Seliu Island, Belitung District, Indonesia. Biodiversitas 25: 1304-1319. Seliu Island, Belitung District, Indonesia, once famous for its copra production, is now a popular tourist destination for its mangoes. People on this island use many plants from their home gardens, but more information about the diversity of plants in the landscape needs to be presented. This study explored the ethnoecology of the home garden landscape on Seliu Island to determine vegetation cover and its role. Research methods include interviews, cruising, and purposive sampling for vegetation inventory to calculate the Importance Value Index (IVI). The research results showed that 119 species belonging to 58 families were identified as growing in Seliu Island home gardens. Based on the habit type, herbaceous plants are the mostly found. Based on the aspect of utilization, medicinal plants are the most found plants. Ananas comosus (L.) Merr. had the highest IVI (14.65). People use seven parts of plants for medicinal purposes, and the leaves are the most widely used part. Home gardens on Seliu Island have social, economic, cultural, and ecological functions. Plant diversity in home gardens on Seliu Island must be preserved and improved, considering that Seliu Island is separated from the main island, Belitung Island, so plants' availability must be maintained.

Forty forte

Forty years ago on her 40th birthday, Dame Mary Perkins was opening Specsavers inaugural store on the firm's home island of Guernsey. Four decades later she returned on her 80th to unveil the group's new look. Chris Bennett took the opportunity to catch up with the Specsavers founders

When signature pedagogies clash: Making way for the oral majority with connected learning

In McCloskey’s classic Make Way for Ducklings, two mallards attempt to raise their brood in busy Boston. The ducklings struggle with city life, and the family needs help navigating that environment to travel to a safer island home. Throughout the story, kind advocates stop traffic and make way for these vulnerable residents. Likewise, a large group of vulnerable adults finds the literate world less than inviting. Adults with limited formal education (ALFE, al-phee) or oral learners often need others to make way for them as well. Whether due to war, catastrophe, cultural beliefs, learning disabilities, or family circumstances, oral learners may lack educational opportunities and prefer non-textual ways of learning. Ranging from refugees to the average day laborer, billions participate in this shared identity and vastly outnumber highly literate adults. The ways ALFE learn differ significantly from that of cross-cultural workers who seek to share God’s Word with them. Global servants tend to learn by lecture and discussion, critical analysis, or tackling exegesis and preaching, signature pedagogies of western theological education. However, these familiar pedagogies are foreign to oral learners. What happens when two sets of signature pedagogies meet and clash? Do literates make way for oral learners, or are these adults forced into a reading mode? This article explores the foundational learning culture of ALFE and the signature pedagogies they prefer. Research-backed advice equips advocates to make way for ALFE and serves to inform the training of global workers to utilize connected learning pedagogies.

Fossil-calibrated phylogenies of Southern cave wētā show dispersal and extinction confound biogeographic signal.

The biota of continents and islands are commonly considered to have a source-sink relationship, but small islands can harbour distinctive taxa. The distribution of four monotypic genera of Orthoptera on young subantarctic islands indicates a role for long-distance dispersal and extinction. Phylogenetic relationships were inferred from whole mtDNA genomes and nuclear sequences (45S cassette; four histones). We used a fossil and one palaeogeographic event to calibrate molecular clock analysis. We confirm that neither the Australian nor Aotearoa-New Zealand Rhaphidophoridae faunas are monophyletic. The radiation of Macropathinae may have begun in the late Jurassic, but trans-oceanic dispersal is required to explain the current distribution of some lineages within this subfamily. Dating the most recent common ancestor of seven island endemic species with their nearest mainland relative suggests that each existed long before their island home was available. Time estimates from our fossil-calibrated molecular clock analysis suggest several lineages have not been detected on mainland New Zealand, Australia, or elsewhere most probably due to their extinction, providing evidence that patterns of extinction, which are not consistently linked to range size or lineage age, confound biogeographic signal.

Application of the Functions and Role of the Three Furnace Stones in Solving Social Problems of Society in the Perspective of Social and Public Administration

In most countries today, ethnic conflict provides the context in which public administration must operate. This study aims to find out how Tiga Batu Furnace functions and plays a role in solving various social problems in the Seram community in Kamrian country in Maluku province. Qualitative descriptive methods are used, with documentation and interviews through informants. Information was selected by purposive random sampling from 18 individuals. This study found that Tiga Batu Furnace is the local wisdom of the community, or local wisdom, which serves to connect and unite all villagers of the Kamarian nation on the home island of Seram, Maluku province. Values, norms, customs, religion, and socio-culture are incorporated in the Three Stone Furnaces as local wisdom to reduce conflicts. These values and standards serve as signs and rules that control a person's behavior and actions in social interactions. In this regard, the Three Stone Furnaces continue to try to find peaceful solutions through discussions and conversations to solve various social problems that exist in society and their environment.

Custodians of a resort island: standing by between oblivion and restoration

ABSTRACT This paper explores the experiences of three Bangladeshi migrant workers who are the sole inhabitants and custodians of a former Maldivian island resort. We show how they currently remain in a state of indeterminate standby as the future of the resort remains uncertain, put in this state of limbo by the capacity of the resort’s owners to exploit their disposability and manipulability. We investigate the rich material and sensory qualities of the island, and investigate the everyday practices that characterize how the men live and work there. First, we illustrate how the island remains haunted by the workers and tourists who formerly inhabited this space, since much of the resort infrastructure remains. Second, we explore how the buildings and things on the island are unevenly intact, in a state of partial ruination. Third, we discuss how the inexpert daily maintenance practices undertaken by the three men focus on certain areas but neglect others. Finally, we emphasize that despite their uncertain future, the men endeavour to create a stable, convivial and pleasurable island home.

14 How can remote rural island place influence the ageing of mid-life women?

Abstract Background This contribution to social gerontology and nissology addresses a knowledge gap in contemporary gendered ageing within remote, rural island place. Reflecting participant narrative, this study explores personal and place identity, place attachment, and perspectives on gendered island ageing at mid-life and in older age. Methods: Drwing on empirical data gathered through in-depth interviews with 12 mid-life (48–69 years old) women living in remote islands of Scotland, the relationship between ageing and remote rural island living is examined. This qualitative work adopts a life-course framework in order to acknowledge lived experience and cultural context from childhood to adulthood. Data were analysed and informed by constructivist grounded theory, a methodology well placed for exploratory research about which little is known. Results Data found no island mono-culturalism. Remote rural island ageing appears distinct from mainland rural ageing. Findings indicate diverse relationships between ageing and place among mid-life women living in the islands of this study. The connection between ageing and island place is influenced by a range of socio-economic factors, the primary one of which is the natural environment. Other influencing factors include social relationships, employment, health, and demographic status. Perspectives on ageing vary between those native and non-native to the islands; those who live with partners or alone; those who have children and those child-free; and between those who enjoy socio-economic stability and those who do not. Conclusion Despite remote location, and limitations of employment, education, health and transport, participant data reveals an overall positive relationship between remote rural island living and ageing among this study’s indigenous and in-migrant women. The physical, mental and spiritual benefits derived from the natural landscape of island home place proved primarily to be the greatest positive influence reported towards perceived better ageing.

The Development Path and Enlightenment of Island Homestay in the Vision of Common Prosperity—Take the Island Home Stay in Shengsi County, Zhejiang Province as An Example

The Development Path and Enlightenment of Island Homestay in the Vision of Common Prosperity—Take the Island Home Stay in Shengsi County, Zhejiang Province as An Example

Online photovoice to engage indigenous Cook Islands youth in the exploration of social and ecological wellbeing amidst a global disruption

Photovoice is a participatory action research method that aims to include the voices of groups by enabling people to record and reflect on their knowledge of issues they consider important. Drawing from critical pedagogy, feminist theory, and community-based approaches to document research, photovoice involves participants as collaborators by using photographs that participants take themselves. Engaging the participants in conversations regarding their photographs facilitates agency in the research process and provides valuable insights into the views, experiences, and knowledge of participants. Originating in the public sector as a method for assessing health needs, the use of photovoice has since gained popularity as a tool for examining perceptions regarding changes in the social and natural environment, and for exploring human-environment interactions. This paper reviews the use of photovoice as a research method to engage indigenous youth in the small island community of Rarotonga, Cook Islands for the exploration of ecological and social wellbeing during disaster times. Amidst the global disruption ensued by the COVID-19 pandemic, indigenous youth participants explored the responses and adaptations of their community to changes in the social and ecological environment of their island home. Given the associated lockdown measures and travel restrictions, photovoice interviews were conducted via Zoom, an online videoconferencing platform. By integrating the photovoice method with advanced online communication systems, the research team based in Auckland, New Zealand was able to collect data remotely while facilitating meaningful engagement with indigenous youth participants across geographic and cultural borders. The use of online photovoice via Zoom was shown to be an empowering and inclusive method for the engagement of indigenous youth and the promotion of collaborative, cross-cultural research partnerships for the exploration of social and ecological wellbeing during a global disruption.

Building Relationships With Our Island Home: Three Stories From Kindergarten in Hawaiʻi

As early childhood educators, we seek to create authentic and meaningful experiences for the children we learn alongside. We must remember that at its core, “education, in its highest form, liberates human potential through transformational teaching and learning experiences” (Meyer, Maeshiro, & Sumida, 2018, p. 17). As a Native Hawaiian early childhood educator in Hawaiʻi, I feel compelled to nurture the children’s emerging sense of place and self to empower them with a strong sense of connection and identity. Although not all the children in my care are Native Hawaiian by blood, they are being raised within a place and a culture that requires each of us to be cognizant of that place and culture. As Meyer (2016) stated, “what will be vital in this century is Culture––a way of being unique to place and people” (p. x). Meyer further clarified that “as a point of history, let it be known that we [Hawaiians] never did privilege” [ideas of race, ethnicity, and blood] as “points of separation” (p. x). There have been efforts to colonize and erase our Hawaiian language and culture for generations (Goodyear-Kaʻōpua, 2013; Kanaʻiaupuni, 2006). My hope as an educator is that each of us––children, educators, and families––will grow to embrace our kuleana, our responsibility and privilege, as people living in this unique and storied place.

Strategies to Operationalize Health Equity in Island Area Health Departments.

Strategies to Operationalize Health Equity in Island Area Health Departments.

Mobility, materiality, and memory: Silas Sandgreen and the construction of Kalaallit cartography in the 1920s

Summary In 1925, Silas Sandgreen sent a map to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Instead of ink on paper, Sandgreen’s map featured strands of sinew binding painted driftwood islands to an animal hide, articulating the islands Kitsissut and Imerissoq of Disko Bay off the western shore of Kalaallit Nunaat. In the near century since its completion, the map’s materials have become indexical of their maker’s Indigeneity, functioning as erroneous evidence of “authentic” Inuit cartographic practices. A repeated fetishizing of alterity has divorced the object from its original conditions of creation, obscuring its origins and cultural meanings. This paper seeks to restore the historicity of Silas Sandgreen’s map by taking a new approach to its materiality. Taking cue from recent scholarship that frames the map as an artwork, we locate the object at the intersection of various social, political, and environmental ideologies sweeping Kalaallit Nunaat, and Sandgreen’s particular home islands, in the 1920s. In order to do so, we restore the maker’s biography composed from new findings in Indigenous-language archives, and juxtapose that biography alongside a visual and material analysis of the most prominent media of the map: sealskin and driftwood. By charting these material histories alongside social and ecological ones, we aim to provide a template that advances multiple interdisciplinary methodologies in the nascent field of Arctic art history.

Obituary for James Pelkey

James Lee Pelkey was a unique combination of entrepreneur, investor, and historian at a pivotal time in the evolution of early networking technologies. A business executive who led both hardware and software startups and later managed funds investing in early networking startups, Pelkey turned a passion for discovering emerging markets for new technologies into a lifelong pursuit of documenting the early history of computer communications. He died on February 16 on his home island of Maui, Hawaii at the age of 77.

Frontier in the Far East: George H. Kerr’s historical narrative of the Ryukyu Islands

George H. Kerr (1911–1992) is an American historian who authored Ryukyu: Kingdom and Province before 1945 (Kerr 1953a), the sole general history of theislands in English; he was also a Taiwan specialist in the military and government whose book won him the reputation as the ‘father of Taiwanese independence’ (Lu 2006). He rearranged fragmented memory and recorded it in such a way as to justify a separate people, the Ryukyuans or the Taiwanese, from the nation-state to which they may belong—Japan or China—so that the United States could strategically exploit their home islands. While mainly focusing on Kerr in the Ryukyus and unveiling the process of his writing, this paper offers a bridge to Kerr in Taiwan and addresses the question of a common interpretive framework underneath his historical narratives.
 
 Keywords: Cold War, historiography, politics of collective memory, Ryukyu (Okinawa), Taiwan (Formosa)

Haunted Houses and Ghostly Homes: Kacen Callender's Hurricane Child as a Rewriting of Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John

This essay responds to the dearth of analysis of young adult literature in postcolonial scholarship by placing Kacen Callender's LGBTQ+ middle-grade novel Hurricane Child (2018) adjacent to Jamaica Kincaid's Annie John (1987), a foundational text of contemporary Caribbean literature. I employ Homi Bhabha's reformulation of Sigmund Freud's unheimlich, or "unhomely," to interrogate how both novels complicate ideas of literal home and island home as places of fun, comfort, and safety. Just as the nostalgic image of the adoring mother discombobulates Kincaid's Annie, the figure of the physically absent mother plagues Callender's Caroline. Both characters live in symbolically haunted houses. Additionally, shame lurks in the corners of Caroline's psyche as she comes to recognize her budding same-sex desires, which put her at risk of being ghosted, or erased, as a valued member of her community. Extending the psychic trauma from the narrators to the histories of their islands, and relying on critical work on the Gothic by Avery F. Gordon, Maisha Wester, and others, this essay excavates politically charged depictions of landscapes for signs of literal spirits and evidence of haunting by slavery, colonialism, and the neocolonial systems of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

Correction to: 'Coral reef fish smell leaves to find island homes' (2022) by Dixson et al.

Correction to: 'Coral reef fish smell leaves to find island homes' (2022) by Dixson et al.

Okinawan memories in Argentina: between a transnational circulation of memories and migrants’ agency, 1945–1965

ABSTRACT The destruction of Okinawa after the Pacific War led Okinawans to look for new interpretations of their past to overcome the hardships of the present and imagine a new future. Although scholars have recently examined Okinawans’ memory politics, they have paid little attention to the history of Okinawans in South America and their memory construction during the American occupation of the Ryukyu Islands between 1945 and 1972. To fill this gap, this article analyzes Okinawans’ diasporic memory narratives in Argentina in conjunction with transnational memories circulating between 1945 and 1965. Community leaders in Argentina during this period intended to construct a compelling remembrance narrative that could support their identity claims in the face of an uncertain future for their home islands. While this process was shaped by existing transnational discourses, Okinawan immigrants in Argentina negotiated and accepted only those ideas that fit their local agenda and served as sources of diasporic identity and pride. Even if Okinawan immigrants claimed to be Japanese, these memories need to be analyzed as strategies to rebalance asymmetrical power relationships within Japanese immigrant society.