ABSTRACT
The principal Oceanic resources that preserve information about the performing arts are people-respected individuals having knowledge and skill, often elders who serve as trustees of traditions (figure 1). The immediacy of personal authority is augmented by observers' accounts, written and aurally and visually recorded, and deposited in public and private archives and museums. Useful institutions are i n Oceania itself and elsewhere around the world, mainly in the United States and Europe; however, information on some of these is difficult to access.
