Pacific Studies: Books & eBooks

This volume explores predication in Niuean, an endangered Polynesian language spoken on the island of Niue and in New Zealand. It extends our understanding of cross-linguistic sentence structure and grammatical case, and will be of interest to scholars in the fields of Austronesian linguistics, typology, and theoretical linguistics.

This book records proverbs in the original Tongan language with a translation in the same language, accompanied by a translation and explanation in English.

Gagana Samoa is a modern Samoan language resource. Designed for both classroom and personal use, it features a methodical approach suitable for all ages; with an emphasis on patterns of speech and communication through practice and examples.

Kama'atu are verses of wisdom that can bridge boundaries of culture and erudition. They form part of the everyday language of Maori Cook Islanders in chants, speeches and descriptive oral communication. This unique collection of contemporary and traditional verses link Maori nations and imagery to a more universal English-speaking audience while presenting an invaluable resource for dialogue, sermons or presentations in any language.

Two Pacific navigation systems using different techniques are revealed, one is the oldest in the Pacific, the Vaeakau-Taumako system, the other is the Tahitian system, which uniquely allows latitude and longitude navigation using Rua and Ana stars and the Pou pillar of navigation.

Polynesian navigation and the discovery of New Zealand offers a straightforward account of how and why Polynesian seafarers made their journey south to New Zealand shores.

Ten navigators ... share the challenges and triumphs of traditional wayfinding based on the deep knowledge of legendary navigator Mau Piailug.

Vaka Moana brings together the latest scholarship on the peopling of the Pacific, traditional voyaging and navigation, and the modern renaissance of voyaging that has brought a resurgence in interest in Pacific cultures.

The NZ History Collection provides complete online access to a major, authoritative resource – over thirty years of award-winning history and biography publishing from Bridget Williams Books. Includes recent and out-of-print titles, from scholars Judith Binney and Vincent O'Malley.

The BWB Texts Collection are short books on big subjects: succinct narratives spanning history, memoir, contemporary issues, science and more from great New Zealand writers. Packed full of fresh thinking, ideas and critical analysis of subjects relevant to New Zealand.

The Critical Issues Collection provides online access to over 40 key books addressing the big issues facing New Zealand today including housing, inequality, climate change, child poverty, the environment, migration, financial crisis, and more.

The collection of papers in the book were either presented at the Inaugural Pacific Islands Postgraduate Symposium, which was held at the University of Auckland on September 12-14, 2002.

Relational Hermeneutics is a unique cross-disciplinary collection that aims to decolonise the mindsets of the Pacific people who have been shaped by the global neo-liberal frameworks of development that benefit only a few at the expense of many, fracturing the harmony and interconnectedness of life, and destroying and violating sacred spaces including the environment.

Fostering Resilience and Improving the Quality of Life. In these contributions, local and international experts present a variety of initiatives showing how Pacific countries are coping with the many problems associated with climate change,

This book focuses on how Indigenous knowledge and methodologies can contribute towards the decolonisation of peace and conflict studies (PACS). It shows how Indigenous knowledge is essential to ensure that PACS research is relevant, respectful, accurate, and non-exploitative of Indigenous Peoples.

This comprehensive account spans six decades of multidisciplinary Pacific creative genius, remembering the diverse, fresh, and energetic contributions of Pacific artists to New Zealand, Oceania, and the world.

A pregnant Sam Shephard investigates the murder of an expectant mother in Dunedin, as it becomes clear that the killer is ready to strike again ...

The task of living in modern New Zealand – and especially in modern Auckland - is not just to understand how to live with different peoples, but how to adapt to the future that has already happened. New Zealand is a nation that exists on Pacific Islands, but does not, will not, perhaps cannot, see itself as a Pacific Island nation.

New writing from Vanuatu by three generations of women - and the first of its kind. With poetry, fiction, essay, memoir and song, its narrative arc stretches from the days of blackbirding to Independence in 1980 to Vanuatu's coming of age in 2020 ...

The book begins by detailing the traditions of sailors, a group whose way of life sets them apart. Like all others who live and work at sea, Pacific mariners face the challenges of an often harsh environment, endure separation from their families for months at a time, revere their vessels, and share a singular attitude to risk and death.

This concise and readable narrative has now been revised to bring the story of the island world - from its first settlement by raft and canoe voyagers, through the period of western contact and acculturation - up to 2010.

Southern Anthropology, the history of Fison and Howitt's Kamilaroi and Kurnai is the biography of Kamilaroi and Kurnai (1880) written from both a historical and anthropological perspective.

This history presents an authoritative and comprehensive introduction to the experiences of Pacific islanders from their first settlement of the islands to the present day.