A warrior chief waited on a sacred mountain in the highlands of Papua New Guinea, seeking dreams and revelations from the spirit world. In the night he heard a voice, unlike any voice he had heard before. The voice called just one word, "Tiki!" It was the name of the chief's young son. Three times the call came, then there was silence. This book is the true story of Tiki. It is a story of chiefs, of gangs, of colonization, and of politics. It is also a story of how faith can shape the live...

In Optimism, Bob Brown shares with us his stories and insights from throughout his public and private life, that reveal the events that have made an impression, the ideas that have caught his imagination, and the people that have stayed in his thoughts. This book reflects on the simple things, the moments that are meaningful, and the big questions that have concerned Bob Brown and inspired him to achieve. It is a powerful book as well as a meditation on the great and the small. Inspiration...

Hawaii is a group of islands known throughout the world for it's physical beauty, and is one of the most popular of tourist destinations. However, few visitors ever learn much about the Hawaiian people themselves and their history, dating back at least 2000 years.This book covers the origins of the Hawaiians, their traditions, royalty, and history up to the end of the 19th century, when Hawaii was annexed by the United States.How many people know that there were two distinc...

Did golden-haired celts settle the South Pacific over a 1000 years before Māori?"Forbidden History contends that there were people here before Māori. A great many of us have no trouble with that concept knowing that great seafaring civilisations go back very many thousands of years. In fact, it would be strange if other people had not been here prior to Moriori and Maori. Therefore why would we not pursue that possibility and acknowledge those who are from different tribes be they ...

Stretching from Fiji in the east to New Guinea in the west, Melanesia is astonishingly diverse. Its islands are home to some 1,200 language groups, many of them still isolated from the outside world. This complex region tends to make the news only in times of crisis: military coups in Fiji, Kanak unrest in New Caledonia, rioting in the Solomon Islands. Melanesia offers readers a deeper insight into the people and places behind these headlines, combining travelogue, history and ast...

Included are real-life oral tradition accounts drawn from the author's personal involvement in tribal life, and his personal interactions with tribal elders (all mentioned by name) who contributed some of these examples included in this book.The author is a reliable source for the information provided, as he himself is a 4th generation maternal descendant heir to the hereditary Chieftaincy of the Eagle Clan Lokono-Arawaks of Guyana, and the reader is treated to a brief history less...

More than a century of interaction with colonial and global agencies and forces have brought many changes to the lives of the Maisin people who live on the northeastern coast of Papua New Guinea. Yet ancestral traditions continue to strongly inform their way of life. Their beautifully designed tapa cloth, made from the pounded inner bark of the paper mulberry tree, most vividly connects the past with the present. Using the various stages of tapa cloth production to frame a bro...

'I am trying to light the fire in our young men and women ... The flame will burn and intensify – an immense smoke, cloud-like and black, will arise, which will send off a signal and remind people that we, the Gumatj people, are the people of the fire. There are people of the fire around Alice Springs – and I reach out to them, too. We can then burn united, together.'Tradition, Truth & Tomorrow is 'no mere essay. It is an existential prayer,' writ...

A romantic and adventurous journey to the hidden islands and lagoons beyond Papua New Guinea and north of Australia.East of Java, west of Tahiti and north of the Cape York peninsula of Australia lie the unknown paradise islands of the Coral, Solomon and Bismarck Seas. They were perhaps the last inhabited place on earth to be explored by Europeans, and even today many remain largely unspoilt, despite the former presence of German, British and even Australian colonial rulers....

In little more than a century, Fiji islanders have made the transition from cannibalism to Christianity, from colony to flourishing self-government, without losing their own culture. As Ronald Wright observes, societies that do not eat people are fascinated by those that did, and often used this fact as an excuse to conquer, kill and enslave. Touring cities bustling with Indian merchants, quiet Fijian villages and taking part in communal ceremonies, he attributes the remarkable independenc...

A journey through Torres Strait Islander culture and identity, past and present"My people are expert navigators, adventurers, innovators, ambassadors, teachers, storytellers, performers, strategists, chefs and advocates for change. The blood runs deep when I reflect on the past and the present and imagine what our future might look like." --Leilani Bin-JudaWhat makes Zenadth Kes/Torres Strait unique? And what is it like to be a Torres Strait Island...

In 1945, a young accounting student from Auckland, New Zealand, committed himself to become a missionary. Seven years later, he waded ashore on the northern coast of New Guinea - his baggage unceremoniously dumped on the beach and supplies of fuel tossed overboard to float in on the tide. This was the start of an incredible journey for Kay Liddle - a journey into a formidable stone-age world and the start of a lifelong relationship with this remarkable country.Into the Heart of Pap...