Oceania Books

An eclectic and fascinating collection of critical essays, memoirs, poetry and artwork addressing this forgotten war.

This book is nicely detailed and will be a welcome companion on my trip to Victoria.

After almost a century of modern-style research, the world is not exactly short of ethnographies. You can find works on everybody from Indiana town dwellers to Sri Lankan fishermen. Papua New Guinea, as an area where a wide variety of cultures, some with Stone Age technologies, endured well into the 20th century, attracted the attention of anthropologists right from the start. There are a very large number of books on the country, starting with Malinowskiýs seminal works on the Trobriand Islands during and after WW I. Most, but not all, of them concentrated on investigations of what are often referred to as ýtraditional culturesý, if not ýprimitiveý. Anthropologists, not unlike Western tourists, have often been lured by the ýexoticý parts of the world where cultures extremely different from their own could be found. Bateson, Burridge, Glasse, Heider, Hogbin, Mead, Pospisil, Rappaport, Reay, Schieffelin, and Wagner to name a few, gravitated to Papua New Guinea, drawn perhaps by the chance to study people whose cultures were ýuntouchedý by the West. ýUntouchedý is no doubt a relative word. A few others, especially Lawrence and Worsley, delved into the cargo cults, an aspect of Melanesian religion that sprang up in the wake of colonial pressures on traditional beliefs. Modern Papua New Guinea, with its Christianity, bureaucracy, development projects, education, corruption, urban crime, and population explosion, has not received so much attention. Until now. Michael French Smithýs VILLAGE ON THE EDGE is a delightful new ethnography based on work in the same village in the mid-1970s and then in the late ý90s. Based on the idea of observing change, because Kragur village, on Kairiru island, off the north coast of the country, has been changing rapidly for many decades, Smith succeeds brilliantly. To my taste, he strikes just the right note between popular writing and professional investigation. In a clear, jargon-less style, he covers many areas usually found in ethnographies, such as village structure, family structure, the economic and political system, and religious beliefs, but focusses on how all these things have changed. It is a down-to-earth, non-exotic picture of present dilemmas for the Kragur villagers who still, after over twenty years of independence, remain poised between a sharing, cooperative society based on personal ties and the money-based, more individualistic one introduced as a correct model by the West and emulated by educated, town-dwelling locals. Smith puts himself into the picture, admits to his predilections and difficulties. Refreshingly, he does not hide behind some false ýobjectivityý, but shows how he accepted certain privileges (and dealt with some problems) that came with being a ýwhitemaný. This honesty, coupled with a sense of humor and nice introduction of the flavor of Pidgin English or Tok Pisin, a national language in the country, made the book all the more appealing.

Melanesian societies often believed that knowledgeý-of magic or ritualý-held the key to success in any endeavor, would be the best guarantee of prosperity. Those who had the best knowledge grew the best crops, caught the most fish, or had the most successful trading relationships. But, if many people in the village had that knowledge, then the whole village would be prosperous and successful. Thus, Kragur villagers, like most Melanesians, saw Western education as the way to go if they wanted to raise their standard of living, to obtain money and an easier life. Get Western education, prosper like the Westerners. In a way, Smith points out in the heart of the book, they have been proven right, but the results challenge the whole belief system that underlay their society. For them, if individuals prosper, but the village does not, the new knowledge has failed to produce the desired result. But as time goes by, as more individuals prosper, will not the old ideals completely fade, will not the old cooperative society vanish ? The village is on the edge.

I urge everyone interested in knowing what Papua New Guinea is like today to read this book. It should be on every reading list dealing with the modern Pacific, modern Melanesia, or ýdilemmas of developmentý. If you are trying to attract students to the field of anthropology or to draw their attention to the process of writing ethnographies, you can hardly go wrong with VILLAGE ON THE EDGE.

This is another book everybody ought to have in their library. Why?

(1) The Polynesian double-canoe was the great voyaging craft of the human race. Not that other boats were not great too, but these people had so little -- little land, only a few precious trees, no metals, no compass -- and yet in a remarkably short period of time they populated a territory of Earth that would astound you. With a stellar navigation system stored in their brains (not on charts or in complicated sextants or chronometers) they found their way across a vast ocean. The double-canoe was the least boat (the least amount of materials, the least environmental impact for a given need for reliable sailcraft) that could be made to do the most work in the harshest of conditions -- just for those reasons the boats and their crews deserve recognition.

(2) The book chronicles the several voyages of a reconstructed canoe in order to hypothesize about the ways in which the ancient crews used information about seasonal variations in winds and currents to make destinations that, during some parts of the year, would not have been accessible given the heading angles these boats could sail (about as good as a well-designed European square-rigger, though other Polynsesian outrigger canoes -- proas -- gradually developed after the great voyaging period and would eventually sail closer to the wind and astound the early European explorers with their sailing qualities). These voyages were adventures of thinking, training, and sailing a boat of unknown qualities and using a native type of non-instrument navigation -- those adventures are now a testament to the accomplishments of the native people of Oceania. (In a goofy kind of way, you can also remember such accomplishments when you are feeling a bit down on the human race).

I hope those are good enough reasons to buy this book. There are others, but I'm tired, and I want you to write a review about the ones I have not covered.

Flaws? Who has none? The author rightly desires to document the accomplishments of the Polynesian Voyaging Society, but some cultural/racial tensions arose during this long experiment, which is understandable given the state of things in territories whose historical development was altered by colonization and colonial administration. It was no doubt a difficult thing that some of the first impetus and funding for the adventure came from the 'White'-American "establishment" so to speak. But it would be fair to learn more about the total story of this cultural revival project, both the accomplishments and the tensions. [Note 1/8/08: Finney's later book, "Sailing in the Wake of the Ancestors," which I just received, addresses this issue] --wt

This book has been so valuable to me when planning outings in the greater Wellington region. I take it along with me on walks too.
It is very well organised with clear information about what to expect on each walk, as well as interesting history and nature insights. Great maps too, which I find clearer than the "official" ones sometimes available.
Good variety of tracks from all around the region, including the central city.
This is good for visitors to the city as well as locals.

Wandihnu and the Old Dugong is a softcover children's picturebook about a young Australian girl who has lived her whole life in the city of Sydney, and now spends her first summer visiting her Aka (grandmother) on Badu Island, a place with a different customs and a traditional language called Kala Lagaw Ya. When Aka falls sick, she needs oil from the dugong (a local marine animal) as medicine, but the dugong doesn't understand English - only carefully repeated phrases in Kala Lagaw Ya will draw its attention. The girl learns to repeat the phrases that her grandmother teaches her and befriends the dugong, who gives its medicinal oil as a gift. Light, soft, watercolor-style illustrations enhance this simple yet heartwarming tale about learning to cherish one's linguistic and cultural roots through ties with family and new friends.

A beautiful book that is not likely to get the readership that it deserves. it is nominally on the subject of those retired military officers who work for the television networks and provide the 'in depth' coverage of what the military is doing - in three minute segments. As a 'talking head' that only gets called to the studio when there's a war on, one of them coined the term for themselves of 'warhead.'

Secondly though, or perhaps even more important this book is about the situation between the military and the populace in the United States and indeed in most of the countries in Western Europe.

Mr. Allard sees the problem of us as citizens becoming further and further away from the soldiers that come from typically the less well off, the less well educated, and often a membership in a minority.

This is complemented by a congress that has less and less military experience or understanding, which is a direct result of the above. With the abolishment of the draft, America's elite doesn't join the military, doesn't understand the military, but does run from Congress.

The result of this change in our culture will be interesting to watch as the overall Jihad against us is continued by the militant Muslim community.

This book is amazing. It explains everything you have to know about the most beaches and waves of Australia. About the perfect wind, tide, swell direction and so on... quite useful!

If you are going to this atoll for what ever reason, this book are even more important then any travel guide you are taking with you. It was my most important book during my 10 weeks South Pacific travel in 2004.

I was in Tokelau from 22 Nov. to 16 Dec. 2004 and read this book while I was in Nukunonu as a tourist.

The book describes very well how the life is in Tokelau. Although it's mainly focused on the language related to the society - this gives any traveller a very good insight how the life in atoll really is. It's sometimes heavy to read, but it gave me very usefull insight in understanding of the Tokelau'en society.

Not very many books have been written about Guam's political past nor it quest for self-determination. This book covers an important period in Guam's history; From the end of WWII to the signing of the Organic Act in 1950 by President Truman. It clarified many issues and really showed how the U.S. Navy controlled (and still does) U.S. foreign policy on Guam. I never realized until now the significant role that John Collier played in Guam's political history. A very readable and enlightning book.