Pacific and Pasifika Theses
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The theses listed in this collection were all completed at Massey University in a range of different departments and institutes. They have been included in this collection if the topic is strongly related to Pasifika/the Pacific.
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Item A sense of belonging : local Sansei women's experiences in Hawai'i : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2002) Olliver-Richardson, Yumiko AnnWhile Issei (first) and Nisei (second) generations of Americans of Japanese Ancestry (AJA) in Hawai'i have been well documented, limited literature exists in relation to non-Issei women, and the Sansei (third) generation. Based on six months of fieldwork in Hawai'i and, in-depth interviews and personal inventories of thirty Sansei women, this dissertation primarily provides an ethnographic investigation into the diversity and complexity of what it means to be a Sansei woman in Hawai'i, focusing on themes identified by Sansei women - of the past, values and social relationships. Drawing on these themes, this dissertation explores how they relate to a 'sense of belonging' in Hawai'i. It also considers the significance and politics of Local identity and the consequences of emphasising the existing historical stereotypes and narratives for Sansei women, AJA and Locals in Hawai'iItem The lived-in-experience of migration for Samoan women : a cross-cultural phenomenological study : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Massey University, Albany, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2003) Byers, BronwenIn New Zealand between 1950 and 1960 rapid industrial development brought about a corresponding demand for workers. Many Pacific Island male and female workers filled the available jobs. Considerable material has since emerged addressing issues relating to migrant workers, the focus however has primarily been on male workers whilst portraying women in supporting roles. The paucity of material acknowledging Samoan women's social and economic contributions within migration literature, acted as the catalyst for this study. Qualitative research paradigms promote theoretical and methodological liberalism, therefore three paradigmatic constructs, social-constructivism, feminism and phenomenology informed this study's interpretive practice strategies in triangulation. Quantitative data added rigour within the analysis process. The cross-cultural nature of the research and my outsider researcher status also influenced a methodological emphasis for researcher transparency. To ensure this occurred the piloting stages were undertaken with extensive collaboration with gatekeepers in order to achieve appropriate access to the respondents. From the piloting emerged major themes considered characteristic and integral to the migration process as defined by Samoan women. These themes provided the basis for the semi-structured questionnaire, used to elicit the articulated reflections of the individual and collective lived-in-experiences of Samoan women migrants. The extensive verbatim interview material was analysed using interpretive phenomenological data analysis procedures. What was revealed was the significance of the pivotal role and critical impact of the individual and collective social and economic contributions made by the Samoan women respondents. This unique journey thematic focus, allowed for the revelation of the lived-in-experience of Samoan women, commencing from the germination of the idea to migrate whilst still at school, to their reflections on this earlier decision of the migration journey (in some cases) fifty years later. These revelations provide a greater understanding of their experiences in relation to: Schooling -the influencing factors; Choice - the positive and negative affects; Expectations and Impressions - the emotional and physical cost; Language - the linkage between self-esteem and identity; Remittances – women redefining the parameters of traditional obligation; Church - the role in the women's lives; Employment - the lived-in-situation work situations and the complexity of Union membership; Dawn Raids - the hidden affects, and finally Remaining in New Zealand - reflections and the question of belonging. This study celebrates the lives of the first wave of Samoan women pioneer migrants to New Zealand by providing a unique, gendered, cross-cultural representation of their lived-in-experiences of the phenomenon/migration.Item Tongan metaphors of social work practice : Hangē ha pā kuo fa'u´ : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Work at Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2005) Mafileʻo, Tracie AilongThis study explores Tongan social work practice and examines how social and community work is constructed from a Tongan worldview. Tongan social workers in Aotearoa New Zealand participated in individual interviews and focus group meetings which explored the Tongan values, knowledge, skills and processes foundational to their practice. The participants' narratives contribute to an understanding of Tongan conceptions of wellbeing, personal and social change and to an identification of key components of a Tongan theoretical framework for social and community work practice. This exploratory study contributes to the growing literature articulating indigenous and non-western frameworks for social and community work practice. Seeking to draw on a Tongan interpretive framework, the thesis employs metaphors, in particular two fishing practices (pola and uku), to draw the findings together. Pola, a community fishing practice, illustrates a Tongan social welfare system comprised of core values, namely: fetokoni'aki (mutual helpfulness), tauhi vā (looking after relationships), faka'apa'apa (respect) and 'ofa (love). Maintaining this Tongan system in the diaspora is central to the purpose of Tongan social and community work and the values themselves are a basis for practice. Other key concepts are shown to define a Tongan practice framework and these are identified as: fakafekau'aki (connecting), a'u tonu (going in person), lotu (spirituality/prayer/religion), fakatōkilalo (humility), fie'aonga (wanting to be useful), matakāinga (behaving like family) and 'osikiavelenga (doing utmost). The uku metaphor draws parallels to specialised practices of fishing or diving under the reef, around pupu'a puhi (blowholes). Similarly, Tongan social and community work involves specific processes which draw on a constellation of skills and values. Fakatoukatea (skills in opposite directions) is important for bridging Tongan and pālangi contexts, for working across various fields of practice and for adopting family-like roles as a social worker. Lea fakatonga (Tongan language), hua (humour)and feongo'i'aki (intuitive use of feelings) are important aspects of a Tongan social work approach. Tongan social and community work is located primarily within kāinga (extended family) and community. This location of social work reconstructs conventional conceptions of professionalism and relationships become a key force for change within a Tongan framework. A balance between a directive and empowerment approach needs to be achieved and an advocacy emphasis is required given the position of Tongans in the diaspora. This thesis demonstrates that a framework for social and community work derived from a Tongan worldview: provides new discourses and thinking within the critical postmodern tradition; is negotiated alongside other discourses thus creating spaces of possibility; is characterised by layers of ethnic specific, indigenous and humanity level differences and commonalities; emphasises the moral-artistic nature of social and community work; and challenges social work to be more diverse in terms of practice competencies, supervision, cross-cultural practice, education and community development. The thesis argues that if social and community work is to be transformative, it must itself be transformed and its very foundations reshaped by Tongan and other indigenous, non-western voices.Item Sustainable rural livelihoods, micro-enterprise and culture in the Pacific Islands : case studies from Samoa : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph. D.) in Development Studies, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2006) Cahn, MirandaThis thesis is about the relationships between sustainable livelihoods, micro-enterprise and culture in Samoa. The 'sustainable livelihoods approach' provides a basis for analysis. The research focuses on one livelihood strategy, micro-enterprise, in order to illustrate and explain issues that are important in supporting sustainable livelihoods in Samoa. Micro-enterprise is regarded as a livelihood strategy that, if successful and sustainable, can support livelihood outcomes for rural Samoan people, and reduce poverty. The sustainable livelihoods approach is reviewed and the thesis argues that culture is integral to sustainable livelihoods, but existing theory and frameworks do not incorporate cultural aspects in a way that provides a sound theoretical basis for this research, or any sustainable livelihoods analysis. The thesis argues that culture is interwoven into each of the components of the sustainable livelihoods framework, and in fact culture is a context in which livelihoods exist. Each of the components provides an entry point for analysis of the relationships between culture and livelihoods. This concept was used as a basis for an analysis of rural livelihoods in Samoa, where fa'aSamoa was found to be interwoven with almost every aspect of rural livelihoods in a complex and influential way. A revised definition of a sustainable livelihood, and a revised framework were then developed which were more appropriate for this research. A strength of sustainable livelihoods theory, and the related frameworks, is that the theory embraces flexibility, and could thus be adapted to incorporate cultural aspects in this way. The thesis reviewed business enterprise in Samoa, and described the relationships between fa'aSamoa and business enterprise. The research revealed both harmonies and tensions between fa'aSamoa and business which influenced the success and sustainability of business enterprise. Two 'types' of small and micro-enterprise were identified in Samoa (with a continuum between): private sector enterprises and traditional 'sphere ' enterprises. 'Traditional sphere' enterprises, in order to be sustainable, normally operate within the cultural context of fa'aSamoa, ensuring that relationships, trust and harmony within the family and community are maintained and social and cultural assets, which provide a sense of identity and security, are sustained. The field research described in the thesis focused on two separate groups of micro-entrepreneurs in Samoa, fine mat weavers and village-based coconut oil producers. The case studies described the outcomes the micro-entrepreneurs aspire to, the risk, adversity, and challenges they face, and the work of the non-government organisations (NGOs) that support them. The case studies illustrated and further developed concepts developed in previous chapters, and also demonstrated just how the relationships between fa'aSamoa and sustainable livelihoods were expressed in practice. In the fine mat weaving case study there was considerable harmony between fa'aSamoa and the livelihood strategy. However, in the village-based coconut oil case study there were some tensions between fa'aSamoa and the venture that were causing vulnerability. The thesis concluded that understanding the relationships between culture, and sustainable livelihoods is critical for ensuring that good judgements are made about development intervention and policy. The revised sustainable livelihoods framework, and the concept of using the components of the frameworks as multiple entry points for analysis, provided an appropriate and useful theoretical framework for understanding the relationships between fa'aSamoa, sustainable livelihoods and micro-enterprise in Samoa.Item Poverty in three villages in Papua : a thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirement for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University(Massey University, 2006) Rumbewas, SpenerThe principal objective of this thesis is to explore the issue of poverty in selected research sites in Papua. This objective is broken down to four questions: how is poverty understood, how is it measured, what are its causes and how is it alleviated? Two approaches were utilised to investigate the above questions. Macro level investigation was based on exploring data available in the official publications while the micro approach was based on fieldwork carried out in the selected sites. The results of the first approach are examined in chapters two, three and four, and the second approach are discussed in chapter five, six, seven and eight. In relation to the first question, the macro exploration found that poverty is understood mainly in terms of a lack of basic components of life such as income, consumption or basic needs. Understanding poverty from this approach normally uses the poverty line, which is set up based on these items, to separate the poor from the non-poor. According to this line, poverty refers to those people whose consumption falls below the line while the rest are non-poor. This view looks at poverty from one dimension that is an economic dimension. Hence, it does not provide a complete picture of human poverty, which covers not only the economic dimension but also others such as vulnerability, powerlessness, isolation, and a lack of choice. The micro investigation adopts a poverty understanding stemming from the experience of the poor. This investigation found that the poor understand poverty from what they feel to be lacking in their environment. In this approach, poverty is a lack of assets, in particular natural, physical, human, social and financial assets. Nonetheless, those affected by poverty argue that their poverty is not related to nature, but to physical, human, social and financial assets. This view seems to offer a broader picture of human poverty and hence, it is useful for formulation of or as a basis for a poverty reduction policy. With regard to the second question, the macro approach found that poverty measurement employs a quantitative measurement of both items and methods. The quantitative items can include income, consumption or basic needs (food and non-food), which are valued in monetary terms. The quantitative methods apply statistical techniques such as headcount index, poverty gap index, poverty severity index and others to measure poverty. This measurement only considers the quantitative aspect and, therefore, it does not pay attention to the qualitative aspect of human poverty. The micro approach on the other hand, attempts to amalgamate both aspects into a poverty measurement. One of the approaches that attempts an amalgamation of the two is the participatory approach, which is utilised in this study. Although it is a qualitative-based approach, it still opens the window to the use of quantitative approaches. The micro approach seems to offer some benefits such as giving more depth of information regarding human poverty, directly touching the lives of the poor, and facilitating a bottom-up policy to alleviate poverty in the local context. In the third question, the macro exploration demonstrates that structural forces such as agents, class and institutions bring about poverty through their policies, programmes and rules. The micro investigation on the other hand, shows that individual characteristics and a lack of assets contribute to poverty. This investigation sees that poverty at the micro level is a result of the mutual operation of structural forces, individual characteristics and a lack of assets. With regard to the last question, both approaches demonstrate a variety of polices to eliminate poverty as discussed in chapters three, six, seven, eight and ten. One framework for a poverty reduction strategy is the Asian Development Bank (ABD) three pillars strategy: social development, pro-poor growth and good governance. However the emphasis is for government commitment and the political will to alleviate poverty. Some experts underline this as a prerequisite to implement a poverty reduction policy because, as they argue, without this the policy will either not exist or will develop only very slowly. The selected sites experienced poor environments in terms of infrastructure, poor education and skills, poor health and nutrition. This is indeed a manifestation of poor government policies as identified by the poor. From the poor's point of view, it was found that all participants in the fieldwork identified poor policy as a contributing factor of poverty they experienced. This was also justified by looking at the ranking of institutions they gave. In these rankings, government institutions were generally given a rank of less importance by the poor. Participants stated that these institutions were not trusted and were not effective in providing support to the poor.Item Land and lineage : the articulation of social and physical space in an atoll village : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Sociology at Massey University(Massey University, 1996) King, Peter StantonThis thesis examines relationships between the social and physical environments of a village on Butaritari atoll in Kiribati. The system of ambilineal descent and land inheritance obtaining there results in complex networks of genealogical relationships which affect most aspects of social life, including land rights. While previous studies conducted in Kiribati have recognised the intimate connection between genealogy and land rights, none has investigated its ramifications for the distribution of land rights within a community. In contrast, this study engages that question as a central concern using a framework which integrates Bourdieu's concepts of social space, field and habitus with post-neo-Darwinian ideas about the relationship between organism and environment. The social space was found to be primarily structured by relationships based upon genealogy and secondarily by age and gender, each of which constituted a field within the wider social space. The genealogical field was defined by a network of positions, each representing a particular descent group. In accordance with the prevailing system of ambilineal descent, residents could belong to more than one descent group and it was upon the resulting networks of relationships between descent groups that the disposition of those groups within the genealogical field was defined. Because land-use rights were associated with genealogical connections the reconstruction of the genealogical field encompassing all of the village residents was a necessary precursor to discovering the distribution of those rights and the genealogical field was a central point of articulation between the social and physical spaces. The fields of age and gender relations provided further points of articulation between the social and physical spaces, the natures of which are examined through discussion of the material culture of the village and village and island politics. Despite a contemporary ideology of egalitarianism there were vestiges of a former hierarchy of social status groups. While the inter-group obligations, rights and responsibilities associated with this hierarchy were no longer practised, the association of contemporary residents with those social status groups bore a relationship to their position within the genealogical field and the amounts of land to which they shared rights.Item A burning question? : fire, livelihoods and sustainability in the Navosa region of the Fiji Islands : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Development Studies at Massey University(Massey University, 2004) King, Trevor GeorgeThe relevance of the sustainable development approach for land conservation in tropical hill regions is often assumed, but is seldom evaluated against local realities. This study analyses the causes of land degradation and unsustainability in the seasonally fire-prone region of Navosa, Viti Levu, Fiji Islands. A complex and multi-layered set of connections exists between livelihood strategies and the environment in this region where fire is used as a tool. Traditional institutions governing land management have been undermined, however, and the sustainability of the vanua (or land-people nexus) is threatened. Despite their reliance on fire, local participants reported uncontrolled burning (caused by a minority of villagers) and deforestation leading to land degradation, lower productivity and damage to fisheries. Degradation was increasing parallel with escalating human and animal populations, despite relatively equitable, resilient and livelihood-enhancing cultural institutions. Non-indigenous models of resource use, imposed by colonial and neocolonial authorities, have exacerbated land degradation and compromised indigenous resource management. Traditional tenure and leadership are impeded, leading to inequities in access to land as populations increase, and leaving local leaders unable to enact conservation. An intrusive market-based economic system encourages increased resource exploitation with little regard for environmental sustainability. A traditional model of agroarboriculture and indigenous development in the form of still-observable (but largely disused) irrigated terraces suggests the relevance of a sustainable alternative based on indigenous knowledge. To achieve sustainable development in Navosa, the emphasis should be on socio-environmental amelioration rather than on economic development (which exacerbates degradation), and to this end, local participants expressed a desire for particular conservation strategies.Item Business va'avanua: cultural hybridisation and indigenous entrepreneurship in the Bouma National Heritage Park, Fiji : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2009) Farrelly, Trisia AngelaThis thesis explores the ways community-based ecotourism development in the Bouma National Heritage Park was negotiated at the nexus of Western entrepreneurship and the vanua, an indigenous epistemology. In 1990, the Bouma tribe of Taveuni, Fiji established the Bouma National Heritage Park. A growing dependence on the market economy and a desire to find an economic alternative to commercial logging on their communally-tenured land, led to their decision to approach the New Zealand government for assistance to establish the Park. The four villages involved have since developed their own community-based ecotourism enterprises. Despite receiving first place in a British Airways Tourism for Tomorrow Award category in 2002, there was a growing sense of social dysfunction in Bouma during the research period. According to my participants, this was partly due to the community-based ecotourism development process which had paid little attention to the vanua. Largely through talanoa as discussion, the people of Bouma have become increasingly conscious of references to the vanua values in their own evaluation and management of the projects. This thesis draws on Tim Ingold’s (2000) ‘taskscapes’ as, like the vanua, they relationally link humans with other elements of the environment within their landscape. This contrasts with a common Western epistemological approach of treating humans as independent of other cosmological and physical elements and as positioned against the landscape. Largely due to its communal nature, it may be argued that the vanua is incompatible with values associated with Bouma’s Western, capitalist-based ecotourism models. However, in this thesis I argue that despite numerous obstacles, the Bouma National Heritage Park is one example of a tribe’s endeavours to culturally hybridise the vanua with entrepreneurship to create a locally meaningful form of indigenous entrepreneurship for the wellbeing of its people. The Bouma people call this hybrid ‘business va’avanua’. Informal talanoa is presented in this thesis as a potential tool for political agency in negotiating issues surrounding community-based ecotourism and business va’avanua.Item An examination of culture as a protective mechanism against gender based violence: a case study in Mt Bosavi, Papua New Guinea : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy (Development Studies), Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand(Massey University, 2009) Dogimab, Mirriam AdangDevelopment literature has not accorded sufficient attention to culture as a positive aspect of development until recently. Hence, in terms of using culture as a protective mechanism against gender-based violence, not much has been investigated or reported, since most studies on gender-based violence have focused more on cultural influences as the cause or effect of violence against women. However, in the case of Papua New Guinea (PNG) culture has always been the focus in regards to genderbased violence, portrayed as the cause of violence against women. Occasionally sources state there are traditional customs or beliefs that protect women from violence, but further explanation is not provided. Hence, this research investigated the question, “How can culture address gender-based violence in contemporary, rural Papua New Guinea?” This study offers an opportunity to view PNG culture as a solution to a problem, instead of as merely a problem to be solved. To investigate how culture can be used positively as a strategy to address genderbased violence, a case study was conducted among the Sulamesi people of Mt Bosavi in the Southern highlands province of PNG. This research was conducted in a rural area because in general Papua New Guineans perceive people living in the villages as the ones living a traditional lifestyle, where established cultural norms and behaviours prevail. Using a qualitative research approach, the research investigated whether there were any traditional protective mechanisms in PNG used to address gender-based violence. This thesis concludes that through the identification of culture-driven protective mechanisms, it can be demonstrated that culture can be used as a strategy to address gender based violence. However, caution must be applied, since not all the protective mechanisms identified are desirable or constructive.Item The Tu'i Kanokupolu Matai establishment and why would Tu'i Tonga Fuanunuiava have vied to become one? : a genealogical analysis of post 1550 AD new political hegemony in Tonga(Massey University, 2007) 'Ilaiu, Siaosi L.This work examines some issues relating to specific social, political and ideological developments that have shaped the pre-contact history of Tonga especially the puzzling ideas that revolve around the co-existence of the three kingly lines that survived into the era of written record. There are competing versions of how each dynasty came about and what kinds of contribution they accomplished. I endeavour to go further than what current research has brought to light so far. In fact, current research on Tongan history is stagnant due to some great lack in research methodology whereby easy problems cannot be logically deciphered. I believe this is because present disciplinary guidelines limit the scope for attaining a deep understanding of things not to mention the failure of comparative method (comparing chronologies in neighbouring islands) to underpin the historical realities on offer. One of my main concerns in this study rests on how well the contact period reflects the reality of what we may refer to as Tongan tradition or what is really traditional about Tongan ways of life prior to the seventeenth century. This thesis is designed to use Tongan genealogy as a guide in attempting to make sense of what the European records can offer to our understanding of post-contact Tonga. Historical documentation in this context refers simply to post-contact recording of events, whereas traditional history, ordered by genealogy, gives us access to a more distant past. This work argues further that genealogy unravels an ever-presence of conflicting tendencies that existed even in times where Tongan society was perceived to enjoy long-term peace. This thesis is aimed at a complete rethinking of political transformations in ancient Tongan polity and how such transformations introduced new patterns of social, political and ideological realities that current scholars have not yet recognised. I also show how genealogy is useful in determining the course of Tongan political history, especially the major changes that took place a few centuries before contact with Europe came about in the early 17th century AD. In Chapter one, I introduce an alternative theory about the political history of Tonga since the inception of the TK dynasty1. I also delineate how genealogy reflects major changes in all aspects of life in both pre- contact and post-contact Tonga. In the light of this better understanding of Tongan political history I employ Antonio Gramci’s dialectic to harness and clarify matters relating to social processes in the past that have remained unexplained up to now. I discuss here the hegemony of the Tu’i Tonga dynasty i.e. how it was achieved and maintained for over a thousand years from 450 AD until around 1500 AD when there was an unsuccessful counter-hegemony by the Tu’i Ha’atakalaua line. In 1550 shortly after the Tu’i Ha’atakalaua failure every commentator of Tongan society has overlooked another counter hegemony by the third dynasty. The Tu’i Kanokupolu hegemony will be critically discussed with reference to a further counterhegemony by the Tu’i Tonga by which strategy the old dynasty managed to survive a bit longer. Chapter 2 then, offers a critique of old notions about Tongan society in works written mostly by the socalled Polynesianist revisionists who have constantly revisited Tongan history for the past two decades. I also show why Tongan traditionalists and scholars alike could not understand what had been happening in Tonga’s past. This work focuses on the creation of the third dynasty in Tonga around 1550 AD. There are a number of issues relating to this event that have not been discussed by any commentator of Tongan society so far. These include the indirect but significant importation of a quasi-Samoan matai system that eventually formed the basis of Tongan polity encountered by European explorers starting from Souten and Le Maire in 1616 during the reign of the third Tu’i Kanokupolu (Mataeletu’apiko), when the matai system was locally practised in the narrow confines of Hihifo2. It had gained momentum at the time of Captain Cook’s last visit in 1777. The system grew stronger and spread to all corners of the Tongan archipelago within the duration of only two centuries. It is the growth of this system that this study determines to underpin, as it will provide a more lucid explanation for a number of important puzzles that still confuse contemporary historians. First, the reason why and how the Tu’i Kanokupolu came into existence, the odd nature of Tu’i Kanokupolu political practices, and the secrets behind the mass production of titles as family and extended family gifts plus how these gifts determined the outcome of social, political, and religious activities that all three dynasties engaged in, in their tensely unavoidable coexistence especially in the eighteenth century. Chapter 3 - offers a general discussion of Ama’s possible schemes and plots. I argue in this part that Ama was determined to recapture and rule Safata. In Samoa I identify a connection between a political struggle (civil war) that took place in Upolu around 1500 – 1520 AD with the creation of the Tu’i Kanokupolu in Tonga about 1550 AD. This war is discussed here for two reasons. First, it was an attempt by Samoan high chiefs to create a centralised in Upolu state to be headed by a Samoan monarch for the first time in their history. Second, the end result of this war affected Tonga more than Samoa since the vanquished Ama fled from his district Safata to Tonga. This chapter concentrates on discussing the major players in the said war. Chapter 4 – This part discusses Samoan politics at the time of Ama’s exile. I also unfold here the structure of Samoan polity by discussing the matai system and how it generates political, social and religious responsibilities among Samoan lives in general. This chapter discusses significant principles of Samoan social and political organisation such as matai (title system), tafa’i (royal protector), faleupolu (political advisors), ‘aiga (extended family), sa (family – royal lines), ali’i-pa’ia (sacred chief/district monarch), ali’i (high chief), tulafale-ali’i (minor chief), and tulafale (chief’s attendant). These organisations will be compared with the Tu’i Kanokupolu political system so that the resemblance is not confused with the Tu’i Tonga and Tu’i Ha’atakalaua systems. Chapter 5 - discusses with critical analyses the real characters of the Tu’i Kanokupolu political establishment. Such discussion includes TK status, the conception of ‘ulutolu (chief’s protector), hingoa – fakanofo (title system), falekanokupolu (political advisors), kainga (extended family), ha’a (titled chiefs related to an original royal line), ‘eiki lahi (paramount chief), eiki (high chief), ‘eiki si’i (minor chief), matapule (chief’s attendant). I argue in this part, that the TK political organisation is essentially structured in Samoan fashion both in theory and in practice and I will show the basic difference between this system and the quintessential Tu’i Tonga organisational principles described in the next chapter. Chapter 6 – This chapter depicts the basic structure of the Tu’i Tonga political organisation and how it countered the powerful hegemony of the TK expansion in the 17th and 18th centuries when there was an internal struggle for political supremacy among the three ruling dynasties. I discuss here counter hegemony by the Tu’i Tonga, which resulted in the creation of several new statuses such as the Tu’i Tonga fefine (female Tu’i Tonga), tamaha (sacred being – female), falefisi (sacred house of Fiji). This chapter also highlights the collision between the old political system and the new and also shows how the new system paved its way to an undisputed status in the mid 19th century after the last conflict of 1852. I discuss the new Tu’i Kanokupolu ha’a system and the kind of impact it propagated in the dominions of Tu’i Tonga and Tu’i Ha’atakalaua. Chapter 7 – My main concern in this chapter rests on a case where a highborn female Tupou moheofo successfully usurped the Tu’i Kanokupolu title and became the first female titleholder in this dynasty. She was very ambitious and pried into politics on a number of occasions when she made attempts to revolutionise the norm of Tongan tradition such as her well known move to dethrone her husband Tu’i Tonga Pau in favour of their son Fuanunuiava and also her desperate instigation to abolish the office of the TK in the 1770s. Chapter 8 – Discusses how TT Fuanunuiava aspired to obtain political authority and his strange ambition to be named Tu’i Kanokupolu after the death of TK Mumui in 1798. Why should a Tu’i Tonga vie to be named TK will be discussed here in great detail. Chapter 9 - Conclusion – general summing up of debates and arguments.
