Organisation

University of Auckland

Thesis

Ko te Karāma o te Reo Māori o te Pae Tonga o Te Kuki Airani: A Grammar of Southern Cook Islands Māori


Cook Islands Māori is an endangered East Polynesian language closely related to but distinct from Tahitian and New Zealand Māori. This project focusses specifically on the varieties of Cook Islands Māori originating from, and spoken in, the Southern Group of the Cook Islands, that is, the islands of Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu, Maꞌuke , Mitiꞌaro and...
Thesis

Was earth created good?: reappraising earth in Gen. 1:1-2:4a from a Samoan gafataulima perspective


This thesis offers a reappraisal of Earth as presented in Gen. 1:1-2:4a from a Samoan gafataulima (accomplish/fulfil/capable) hermeneutical perspective. The inspiration for the study arose out of a personal dilemma concerning my religious beliefs and the reality that I am experiencing in the world today, specifically, the tensions between Earth's perfect portrait in Gen. 1:1-2:4a...
Thesis

Hawai‘i : GMO Ground Zero - Seeds of Occupation, Seeds of Possibility


As the primary site for development of all herbicide-tolerant corn seed and with more experimental field trials of genetically engineered crops than anywhere else in the world, Hawai‘i is placed at the epicenter of the agrochemical-seed-biotechnology industry’s global chains of production. It is also a node of powerful resistance along that chain. This thesis contributes...
Thesis

The Cook Islands Christian Churches of Rarotonga: Living conservation in cultural landscapes


The study examines how place meanings have been recontested, recontextualised and renewed through the Cook Islands’ coral churches continued use. The study supports earlier scholarship and local perspectives suggesting that churches were conceptualised and constructed as the island’s “new marae,” their presence physically restating tribal rights to land.
Thesis

Remittances in the face of disaster: a case study of Samoa


Over the last few decades, the number of disasters in Small Island Developing States (SIDS) has been constantly increasing. While usually portrayed as weak and passive victims in the face of disasters, the inhabitants of these countries have always demonstrated abilities to deal with such events. Remittances, the money and goods sent by migrants back...