People carrying the Lapita culture, which first appeared in the Bismarck archipelago c. 3300 BP, were the first colonists of Remote Oceania. While over 200 Lapita sites have been identified throughout the Pacific, very few contain any skeletal remains. The scarcity of burials has limited insight into Lapita mortuary practices, actions that bring forth the...

This dissertation is a comparative analysis of the experience of several western Polynesian states during the 1918-1920 influenza pandemic, and in particular an inquiry into how the response to the second wave of this pandemic determined the mortality for each island group. Historically, Pacific island states have faced challenges in controlling infectious disease. Distance, isolation...

In bioenergy developments in the South Pacific cultural factors are known to influence the long-term sustainability of these projects. However, little is known about how cultural parameters influence the amount of biomass resource made available for power generation. The aim of this research is to determine the feasibility of sawmill residues for power generation as...

This study investigates how students renegotiate their membership of the school community following being stood-down from school. In New Zealand stand-down is the least serious of the school exclusion provisions available to schools under the Education Act (1989). By sending the student home at stand-down for unacceptable behaviour the school principal restricts the student's participation...

This qualitative study explores the nexus of labour and immigration policies and employment practices in New Zealand. This thesis focuses on multiple experiences of the foreign workers employed under the main labour immigration policies. The ethnography, using both observation and semi-structured interviews of these different groups of seasonal workers provided sufficient data to review and...