The lifestyle of tropical island people captures my fascination. The moment Thomas, the boxing champ of Fiji, lobed the orange off the tree for our drink, I realized the need for regimentation did not exist there. With fruit on the vine, there was no need to plan ahead. I later became concerned about the abundance of Asian Indians running gas stations and grocery stores on the islands. I fretted that these emigrants might have dominance. I queried the owner of my hotel. He said the British colonists decided these islands would make great banana plantations. They soon had planted vast areas in bananas but could not get the Fijians to work. Why should they? In this paradise they had gotten along for centuries catching fish, picking fruit, and making love. What else was there? The Brits had to import labor from India. The Fijians were smart enough not to allow emigrants to own land and without land, you cannot vote.
Years later a Global Volunteer experience in the Cook Islands gave me a better insight into island people. I met Ron Crocombe professor emeritus of the University of the South Pacific. From our conversation, I was amazed at his awareness of the islanders in spite of his very British background. I invited the Professor to be my guest speaker for our group at dinner. For myself and others bent on ‘helping’ these islanders, I was aware we first needed to understand where we were.
He was a stunning teacher on the Pacific Islands. As a good academician, he was able to speak at all our levels of incompetence from its geography to colonialism. A basic insight was given by a small country’s alliance with a large country. The Cook Islands were first a colony and now protectorate of New Zealand which no longer supports the governing structure left behind. That points to success and then the failure of independent countries based on economic results. As we are witnessing the economy of scale for our 15,000 Cook Islander population spread out over this vast ocean in 15 little islands. The old educational system based on the New Zealand scheme is now impossible to support on their own. Additionally, the colonial component of a parliamentary judiciary can be a major asset to justice but this eliminates decisions based on family or tribal ties. In the old budgets of France, Great Britain, and the USA spent a small percent made a significant contribution to the imposed living conditions in the Pacific.
The Western ‘grain-eaters’ burdened the ‘root eaters’ with reprehension. As he explained the northern planters of grain survive their seasonal harvest with storage and distribution giving time to survive until the next harvest. Whereas the root crop is constantly available and management comes in the form of quasi corruption as I interpreted it. The root gatherer cannot store his yield so he invokes a debtor association in giving it away with the power of beholding his neighbor to reciprocate.
Subsistence for a Micronesian may require 12 to 14 hours of labor per week, while a highlander from New Guinea needs 40 to 50 hours to sew and harvest his crop. Thus performances in other environs will out produce the Islanders. The Pacific has seen a power shift from the northeastern European peoples to the Asian since the 1970s and 1980s. First, the hardware, then the software, as he called it, the cars and stereos then the control. Even the religious priests from the Philippines and Karola Indians are taking over for the lack of white priests. One foothold in Protestant religion is that the Rightwing Fundamentalist religions are surging. One observation given with the insurgence of Asians is the Japanese Mafia, mostly tied to hotels and construction. He says the US Mariana Islands are being controlled by the Japanese Mafia. All in all the Pacific is being vacated by the indigenous people and the foreigners are moving in. 55,000 Cook Island people are mostly in welfare rolls in New Zealand and Australia compared to the 15% remaining here.
Years later a Global Volunteer experience in the Cook Islands gave me a better insight into island people. I met Ron Crocombe professor emeritus of the University of the South Pacific. From our conversation, I was amazed at his awareness of the islanders in spite of his very British background. I invited the Professor to be my guest speaker for our group at dinner. For myself and others bent on ‘helping’ these islanders, I was aware we first needed to understand where we were.
He was a stunning teacher on the Pacific Islands. As a good academician, he was able to speak at all our levels of incompetence from its geography to colonialism. A basic insight was given by a small country’s alliance with a large country. The Cook Islands were first a colony and now protectorate of New Zealand which no longer supports the governing structure left behind. That points to success and then the failure of independent countries based on economic results. As we are witnessing the economy of scale for our 15,000 Cook Islander population spread out over this vast ocean in 15 little islands. The old educational system based on the New Zealand scheme is now impossible to support on their own. Additionally, the colonial component of a parliamentary judiciary can be a major asset to justice but this eliminates decisions based on family or tribal ties. In the old budgets of France, Great Britain, and the USA spent a small percent made a significant contribution to the imposed living conditions in the Pacific.
The Western ‘grain-eaters’ burdened the ‘root eaters’ with reprehension. As he explained the northern planters of grain survive their seasonal harvest with storage and distribution giving time to survive until the next harvest. Whereas the root crop is constantly available and management comes in the form of quasi corruption as I interpreted it. The root gatherer cannot store his yield so he invokes a debtor association in giving it away with the power of beholding his neighbor to reciprocate.
Subsistence for a Micronesian may require 12 to 14 hours of labor per week, while a highlander from New Guinea needs 40 to 50 hours to sew and harvest his crop. Thus performances in other environs will out produce the Islanders. The Pacific has seen a power shift from the northeastern European peoples to the Asian since the 1970s and 1980s. First, the hardware, then the software, as he called it, the cars and stereos then the control. Even the religious priests from the Philippines and Karola Indians are taking over for the lack of white priests. One foothold in Protestant religion is that the Rightwing Fundamentalist religions are surging. One observation given with the insurgence of Asians is the Japanese Mafia, mostly tied to hotels and construction. He says the US Mariana Islands are being controlled by the Japanese Mafia. All in all the Pacific is being vacated by the indigenous people and the foreigners are moving in. 55,000 Cook Island people are mostly in welfare rolls in New Zealand and Australia compared to the 15% remaining here.
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