Steven R. Fischer - A history of the Pacific Islands

Cover

History

Social and Cultural History; International History; Asian and African History; East Asia

---

title	:	A History of the Pacific IslandsPalgrave Essential Histories
author	:	Fischer, Steven R.
publisher	:
isbn10 | asin	:	0333949757
print isbn13	:	9780333949757
ebook isbn13	:	9781403913753
language	:
subject
publication date	:
lcc	:
ddc	:
subject	:

Page i

A HISTORY OF THE PACIFIC ISLANDS

Page ii

PALGRAVE ESSENTIAL HISTORIES

General Editor: Jeremy Black

This series of compact, readable and informative histories is designed to appeal to anyone wishing to gain a broad understanding of a country's history whether they are a student, a traveller, a professional or a general reader.

Published

A History of the British Isles Jeremy Black

A History of Ireland Mike Cronin

A History of the Pacific Islands Steven Roger Fischer

A History of the United States Philip Jenkins

A History of India Peter Robb

A History of China J.A.G. Roberts

Page iii

Steven Roger Fischer

Page iv

Steven Roger Fischer 2002

All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of
this publication may be made without written permission.

No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or
transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with
the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988,
or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying
issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court
Road, London W1T 4LP.

Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this
publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil
claims for damages.

The author has asserted his right to be identified
as the author of this work in accordance with the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

First published 2002 by
PALGRAVE
Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010
Companies and representatives throughout the world
PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of
St. Martin's Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and
Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd).

ISBN 0333949757 hardcover
ISBN 0333949765 paperback

This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and
made from fully managed and sustained forest sources.
A catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library.

Printed and bound in Hong Kong

Page v

To H. G. A. HUGHES

Page vi

Page vii

List of Maps x Preface xi Acknowledgements xiv Introduction xvi 1 The First Islanders From Sunda to Sahul 1Ancient Near Oceania 6The Austronesians and Lapita 10Into Remote Oceania 14Archaic Pacific Islands 19 Melanesians, Micronesians, Polynesians Melanesia 24Micronesia 27Polynesia 30Regional Characteristics 41Mystery Islands and Outliers 43Oceanic Systems 47Gender Roles 53Social Structures and Warfare 56Traditional Production and Economies 65Belief Systems and Art 70On the Eve of European Incursion 78 3 The European Trespass First Outsiders 81Britain and France 88Sealers, Traders and Whalers 95Missionaries 102

Page viii

The Outsiders Pacific Islands 108Pacific Islanders and Outsiders 112 4 The Second Colonization A Century of Displacement 120New Zealand Becomes British 123Tahiti and the French 130Hawaii 136Samoa 142Tonga 146Fiji 149Greater Melanesia 153Micronesia 162 5 New Pacific Identities Colonial Realities in the Early
Twentieth Century 169New Zealand Becomes a Nation 171The Integration of Melanesia 174The USA in the Pacific 181Tonga and Western Samoa 183France in the Pacific 188Japan's Micronesian Colonies 191The Colonial Legacy 194 6 Pacific Islanders in Transit War in the Pacific 201Islanders in Uniform 205The Challenge of Peace 210Towards a Freer Pacific 214Myth and Reality 220 7 Reinventing Pacific Islands The Nuclear Pacific 230Independence and Beyond 239Neocolonialism and Vestigial Colonialism 250

Page ix

The New Pacific The Diaspora 262Changing Economies 269Women in the Pacific 275Pacific Sport 278Modern Pacific Identities 280Towards a Union of Pacific Islands 283 Selected Further Reading 287 Index 298

Page x

1 Pacific Islands: Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia xxi

2 Melanesia xxii

3 Micronesia xxiii

4 The Lapita Expansion xxiv

5 Fiji and Tonga xxv

6 Mystery Islands xxvi

7 The Outliers xxvii

Page xi

As I begin these lines, a single Monterey pine planted in 1875 is being felled on One Tree Hill here in Auckland, New Zealand, where I live. For most New Zealanders, the solitary sentinel, with historic predecessors, had come to symbolize this country's proud unity. Others saw in it European domination. Dangerously weakened by repeated assaults, the pine falls this afternoon by City Council decree. No one knows what will replace it.

In many ways it is symbolic of today's Pacific Islands. (Hereinafter Pacific Islands will be used in the singular without the article the in order to call attention to its special identity.) The last half of the twentieth century witnessed the dissolution of time-honoured allegiances in the region, the transformation of colonial patronages into new trading partnerships, and the creation of interregional organizations. It was also a time of independence from colonial masters in many islands and, more recently, of violent demonstrations addressing greater autonomy, indigenous rights and ethnic segregation in Irian Jaya, Bougainville, Guadalcanal, New Caledonia, Fiji, New Zealand, Hawaii and Tahiti. A region experiencing accelerated change, Pacific Islands has been fraught of late with political tension and social friction, with mass migration and renewed foreign intrusion. A saddening malaise now vexes many of the island nations which stretch from Micronesia's tropical atolls to New Zealand's alpine fjords. Some are even calling Captain Cook's erstwhile paradise the coconut ghetto.

It is not only the human story that causes concern. Global warming imperils Pacific existences. This is heralding shortterm destruction of coral ecosystems and their fish stocks, razing regional economies. It further threatens long-term submersion of low-lying atolls, razing entire nations.

Page xii

Yet a New Pacific is emerging in this era of foment, home to an innovative hybrid people wishing to incorporate the best of both worlds, the Pacific and the West.

Next page