History of the Pacific Islands
Surveys human history in the Pacific islands, from the beginnings of recorded time until the present day. This book considers how indigenous societies came to be established and the tales that native people told of their history. It goes on to describe their response to Western influence.
9780732902100, 9780732902094, 073290210X, 0732902096
1119848886
Part 1 Islands and an ocean - the Pacific backgound: "I have arrived, come to life, come to life" - in search of the mind of the first settlers; trenches, carbon dates and linguistics - the scientific record of early human beings; the island-finding art - probabilities in Pacific navigation; "Is the land to have a new chief?" - social structure and the sea-attuned society; dating and mechanism in the emergence of states; "Kings of the black purple sea" - reflections of realities in oral literature; Edal Siabo and the sea spirit - oral literature of the Western Ocean. Part 2 Spanish interlude - the islands see Mendana, Quiros and Prado; contact in the Mariana and Caroline islands; Tahiti - shaking the tree. Part 3 Transformations, retentions and the islands trade, 1800-1900; land, capital, labour and the planter's dream; questions of Sovereignty, 1840-1922; colonial experiences and styles, 1874-1943. Part 4 World War 2 and the South Pacific aftermath, 1939-1950; global pawns - micronesians and the United States, 1944-1986; searching for Sovereignty in the South Pacific, 1962-1980; renewals and departures in the 1980s.