http://hdl.handle.net/10063/281 2012-02-09T19:46:42Z http://hdl.handle.net/10063/1504 Rapanui and Chile, a Debate on Self-Determination: A Notional and Legal Basis for the Political Decolonisation of Easter Island Gómez S., Rodrigo A. This project is an ambitious attempt to review the tie between Chile and Rapanui according to law. According to Gonschor the people of Easter Island are entitled to obtain political decolonisation according to the United Nations' parameters and international treaties of which Chile is signatory. This means that the thesis supports the proposition that Easter Island is "the" Chilean colony in Oceania, a belief shared by an important, though so far unquantifiable number of the island's citizens who have internationally raised the question no fewer than three times, in the recent past... 2011-01-25T11:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/10063/1452 Le Tofi ne'i Vale Tuulima: Perceptions of Samoan Students, Teachers and Parents on the Place of the Samoan Language in New Zealand Today Wilson, Salainaoloa Lisa-Maree While globally languages are evolving and changing, language shift has been most prevalent in migrant communities, particularly those with larger numbers living outside of the homelands, such as the Samoan community in New Zealand. This research explored the perceptions of a group of Wellington-based Samoan students, their Samoan teachers, and their parents about the place of the Samoan language in New Zealand today. This study of Samoan language maintenance was spurred by the census data which showed language loss was occurring, and that this seemed to be more prevalent amongst the New Zealand-born Samoan population. The aims of this study were to capture the views of these three groups so as to add meaning to the quantitative data, and provide information for future policy making and actions to address this situation - both for Government agencies, and the Samoan community itself. This case study gave priority to the youth voice as the future leaders and carriers of the gagana Samoa (Samoan language) and aganuu (culture). Using the talanoa methodology and through individual interviews, valuable insights were gained about the valuing of the Samoan language in New Zealand today, factors influencing the learning and teaching of Samoan, and who should be responsible for this. The findings were that all groups valued the Samoan language very highly as inextricably linked to the Samoan culture, identity and sense of belonging, and for communicating and showing respect - to elders especially, but also to all Samoan people. Of particular note, was the distinction between the intrinsic valuing of the language which was high, and its usefulness, for example in employment, which was not so highly rated. These differences may be a 'tipping' point for language maintenance. Other findings were that responsibility for the Samoan language was changing as the functional domains for language use and maintenance shifted from the home and the church, to the school. Parents' long work hours were a factor here. Finally, there was strong agreement that maintaining the Samoan language in New Zealand would require commitment and collaboration between government agencies, Samoan parents and community, teachers, and that youth must be included in these discussions. All three groups saw our talanoa as setting the basis for more serious community wide discussions. 2010-11-19T02:30:10Z http://hdl.handle.net/10063/306 Writing the Colony: Walter Edward Gudgeon in the Cook Islands, 1898-1909 Whimp, Graeme Recent decades have witnessed a number of challenges from a variety of perspectives to long-standing depictions of the processes and relationships of colonisation. In particular, questions have been raised about its supposedly binary nature, the internal coherence of the elements of coloniser and colonised, and the stability of both its institutions and its ideology. Framed as an exercise in an interdisciplinary Pacific Studies, this thesis draws on those perspectives to provide insights into one particular colonial experience and to examine the extent to which they are borne out by the representations appearing in the writings of a New Zealand colonial administrator, Walter Edward Gudgeon, in the Cook Islands. To that end I have assembled a text comprising his major personal and official documents; provided some background on Gudgeon himself, the intellectual currents of the time, and the Cook Islands; represented as accurately as I could the representations appearing in his writing; read that writing as far as possible in terms of the text itself; and arrived at a number of conclusions from that reading. I have also considered the contribution such a text-based approach may offer to a Pacific Studies which aspires to be interdisciplinary. I conclude that my reading of the text supports the more recent perspectives on the colonial project by revealing in Gudgeon a number of contradictions, ambiguities, anxieties, uncertainties, and fears that do not appear in existing accounts of the Cook Islands colonial experience and justify a re-examination of that whole experience. Finally, I suggest that the validity of my approach is supported by those results and that such approaches provide one vehicle for the pursuit of an interdisciplinary Pacific Studies. 2008-07-02T20:41:50Z http://hdl.handle.net/10063/282 Inventory of Pacific Research at Victoria University of Wellington 1999-2005 Fairbairn-Dunlop, Peggy; Asmar, Christine; Teaiwa, Teresia; Davidson-Toumu'a, Ruth This inventory seeks to document the range of research interests and activities taking place on Pacific topics at Victoria University of Wellington (VUW). It has emerged out of a collaboration between the Office of Research and Postgraduate Studies, and the Programme in Pacific Studies. The inventory aims to provide an informed basis for the strategic development of Pacific research and teaching at VUW, through the newly established unit, Va'aomana Pasifika. By "Pacific" we mean the most inhabited portions of the Pacific basin. At times, reference may be made to "Pacific people": by this we mean people who trace descent to andtor are citizens of any of the territories commonly understood to be part of the Pacific (i.e., Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia). Alternative terms that may appear in the inventory include: "Pasifika", "Pasefika", "Pasifiki". These are respectively generic Polynesian, and specifically Samoan and Tongan variations on the word "Pacific". The terms "Asia-Pacific" or "Asia Pacific" arise occasionally: we understand that the terms do not always coincide with our emphasis on the Pacific basin and Pacific peoples, and for the most part privilege nations and peoples on the "Pacific Rim". However, we are also aware that some permutations of "Asia-Pacific" at W are more conscientiously engaged with the Pacific basin. We have allowed for the benefit of the doubt in most cases. In this inventory, distinction is made between academic staff who are "Pacific by ethnicity" and academic staff who are "Pacific by interest". Academic staff who are actively engaged in research on Pacific topics may not trace their ancestry to Pacific nations, while academic staff who are "Pacific by ethnicity" may not necessarily be conducting research on Pacific topics. This inventory does not include exclusively Maori research. Inventories of Maori research activity and services at W have already been undertaken through the office of Toiahurei, the Pro Vice Chancellor Maori at VUW. Finally, this research inventory is limited to the period 1999-2005 because of the restrictions of our staffing and research resources. While it would have been useful to have a more extensive inventory, perhaps reaching back 10 or even 30 years, this was beyond our means at the time and could be a future project. We know that we may not have captured all the Pacific research carried out during this period. We apologise for any omissions and welcome such information to add to and assist grow this inventory data base. 2008-05-23T04:01:25Z