Polynesian Studies Commons^™

Automatic Glossing In Under-Resourced Languages: Case Studies In Bribri And Cook Islands Māori, Carter D. Anderson

Linguistics Undergraduate Senior Theses

Interlinear glossing is a major task in Indigenous language documentation. In this paper, I explore how effectively two Large Language Models, ByT5 and Gemini 2.5 Flash, can produce interlinear glossed text. I also examine how prompting an LLM with different types of information (dictionary entries, other training samples, and translations) can augment model performance. I apply these models to two under-resourced Indigenous languages: Bribri, which is morphologically complex from Costa Rica, and Cook Islands Māori, which has a simpler morphology and is from the Cook Islands in the Pacific Ocean. ByT5 exhibits much better performance when glossing Cook Islands Māori …

A Fijian Barkcloth In The May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection, Delaney M. Bahns

Department of Anthropology

This report examines an object in the May Weber Ethnographic Study Collection, a barkcloth attributed to the Fiji Islands. The report discusses the attribution, as well as the distinction of the object as Fijian masi kesa. The report discusses the techniques used to make bark cloth, as well as past studies of bark cloth in the Pacific Islands. It also examines the gendered context of masi, as well as the issue of cultural intellectual property in recent uses of masi motifs for commercial purposes.

Chinese Communist Party Infiltration Of U.S. Pacific Islands: Protecting American National Security Through Defending Strategic Pacific Assets, Contessa Amedore

Liberty University Journal of Statesmanship & Public Policy

Many Americans picture the U.S.’s Western most border to be the coast of California. However, when threats have historically formed in the Pacific, U.S. Pacific Island territories have served as the nation’s first line of defense. Today, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) have slowly but ambitiously deployed new age or ‘unrestricted’ warfare tactics against the United States and allies in their long awaited plan to assume global hegemony. Their illegal infiltration and psychological operations have gone past Taipei and reached American soil in Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, and American Samoa. This paper examines how the (CCP) uses unrestricted warfare …

Shaping Pacific Islander Identities In The Diaspora: Using E-Talanoa To Strengthen Transnational Ties, Lorna M. Probasco

Master's Projects and Capstones

Pacific Islanders have engaged in transnationalism since the time of their early voyages. Ancient wayfinders first learned to read the stars and swells to cross the ocean for a myriad of reasons: trade, opportunity, education, adventure, and more. Today, our borders have stretched beyond those of the Pacific Ocean, from the far reaches of Australia to the corners of Alaska, and yet we still maintain these transnational bonds with our ethnic homelands. One such way we foster these ties and build cultural competency is through talanoa.

Talanoa, a pan-Pacific speech genre, is more than just a form of communication. It …

“For A Better Future”: The Impact Of Labor Migration On Families In Samoa, Rebekah Underwood

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

This research sought to investigate the motivations, benefits, and consequences of international labor migration on Samoan families. Seasonal worker schemes in New Zealand and Australia were generally found to be beneficial to families given the tangible and material benefits it provided to them. The benefits of remittances were found to have been multiplied through investment in the village of Poutasi to increase industry and job opportunities. A lack of economic opportunity in Samoa was implicated in the motivation and beneficiality of participation in labor schemes and may have increased due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. Family was at the forefront of …

Caviar Of The Pacific: Palolo Fishing Today And Its Association With Coral Reef Health, Emma Letti Lee

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Palolo is a traditional delicacy of Samoa. It is the reproductive part of a marine worm that is released twice a year, October and November in Samoa, making palolo season a culturally significant time. Coral reefs, the palolo worm’s habitat, is under a plethora of environmental threats, which is an extremely prevalent concern for Pacific Islanders. Hundreds of palolo harvesters walking on corals twice a year adds extra pressure on coral reefs. Despite these vulnerabilities, prices of palolo are soaring year by year, while there is little to no research about the palolo worm and documentation of current harvesting practices …

01 Traditional Songs Introduction, William Donner

Sikaiana Traditional Songs

This is an introduction to Sikaiana songs. It includes a discussion of the social cultural context of song composition and singing. There is a discussion of the different features of song production and a list of different song genres. Most of the discussion is concerned with traditional song expression that are part of derived form changes associated with colonialism and modernization.

Chapter 10, Life In Town In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

A description of emigration to towns, mainly Honiara, among the Sikaiana people of the Solomon Islands from 1980 to 1993. The migrants maintained and developed many ways to express their solidarity and community.

A related website can be found here,

Preface, In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

This preface describes the process of writing and developing this ethnography about Sikaiana. It explains why I am publishing in this format. It also contextualized this ethnography in terms of how anthropology has changed over the past 40 years and also a brief discussion of how the Sikaiana people have changed since my research from 1980-1993.

A related website can be found at www.sikaianaarchives.com

Entire Ethnography, Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

This is the entire ethnography of Sikaiana. Separate chapters are also listed at this location.

A related website is www.sikaianaarchives.com

003 Abbreviations For Sikaiana Dictionary, William Donner

Sikaiana Dictionary

These are the abbreviations for the semantic and grammatical notes for a dictionary of the Sikaiana language in the Solomon Islands.

2 Introduction To The Sikaiana Dictionary, Updated 2020, William Donner

Sikaiana Dictionary

An overview and update to the Sikaiana Dictionary.

7 Appendices To Sikaiana Dictionary, William Donner

Sikaiana Dictionary

Appendices to the Sikaiana Dictionary including personal names, place names, English/Pijin borrowings and illustrations.

4 Introduction And Grammar To Sikaiana Language, William Donner

Sikaiana Dictionary

An introductions and brief grammar of the language of the Sikaiana people, Solomon Islands.

6 English Word Finder, William Donner

Sikaiana Dictionary

A finder list of English words to find Sikaiana equivalents.

1 Dictionary Of The Sikaiana Language, William Donner

Sikaiana Dictionary

Full Dictionary of the Sikaiana language including short grammar, list of words with grammatical functions, examples, English glosses, finder list, personal names, place names, English/Pijin borrowings, illustrations.

“I Don’T Want To Hear Your Language!” White Social Imagination And The Demography Of Roman Corinth, Ekaputra Tupamahu

Faculty Publications - Portland Seminary

This article aims to deconstruct the hidden pervasive whiteness in biblical scholarship and to propose another way to reimagine the linguistic dynamic of Roman Corinth from an Asian American perspective. It highlights the legal and historical interconnectedness of whiteness and the dominance of English. English is a critical marker of whiteness in the United States. In this context, immigrants are expected to conform to and assimilate themselves with whiteness by performing English. This particular racialized context has influenced and resulted in a scholarly historical reconstruction of immigrants in Roman Corinth as “Greek speaking im/migrants.” Immigrants can come from many different …

Dignity In Decision-Making: Modernity And Social Navigation Among Rural French Polynesian Youth, Laura Jarvis

Anthropology Theses and Dissertations

This research examines critical questions about the experiences of youth through the lenses of modernity, subjectivity, and the lifecourse. Growing up in a (post)colonial context of shifting definitions of adulthood, youth from the rural island of Rurutu, French Polynesia must navigate various decisions and transformations with little information to base their future aspirations on. This dissertation identifies dignity as the main motivating factor in youth decision-making, one that is constantly redefined as youth navigate shifting social fields. Dignity, as used here, is a target youth strive for in order to contest feelings of social precarity stemming from unaccommodating education systems …

Restoration Of Mauri (Life-Force) To Ōkahu Bay: Investigation Of A Community Driven Restoration Process, Emily Freilich

Pomona Senior Theses

This thesis investigated the restoration of mauri (life-force) to Ōkahu Bay, Auckland New Zealand. Ōkahu Bay is part of the land and waters of Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei, a Māori hapū (sub-tribe). Ngāti Whātua Ōrākei has been driving the restoration, restoring Ōkahu Bay based on their worldview, visions, and concerns. This vision and control of the restoration process allows them to bring in the hapū in sustainable engagement and have the long-term vision and commitment necessary for self-determination. However, while there has been progress with projects and improved decision-making authority, hapū members are still not seeing their whānau (family) swimming in …

Writing Indigenous Identity In Herman Melville And Joseph Conrad's Polynesian And Malay Archipelago Novels, Catherine L. Black

Dissertations and Theses

The thesis of this paper is that cross-cultural writing can be done with the right methods of communication, such as engaging narrator and education—or simply sensitive, imaginative writing. Herman Melville and Joseph Conrad’s five books set in the Polynesian and Malay Archipelagos—Typee and Omoo and the Malay Trilogy (Almayer’s Folly, An Outcast of the Islands, and The Rescue)— are used as master models of how to write indigenous characters with rich characterization in pivotal roles, even circa 1846 and 1896. The unique perspective and technique by which they did this is explored, a technique and perspective not …

Rapping Back: Counter-Narratives From Auckland, New Zealand, Mariel Lopez Rogers

Master's Theses

Across the Pacific in Auckland, New Zealand two rap groups, Homebrew and @Peace, are contributing to a theoretically rich and socially conscious Hip Hop scene. Their music critically questions commercialism and conformity in a culture shaped by a history of colonialism. This makes their message starkly opposed to the normative values of New Zealand. The musicians of Homebrew and @Peace, a mix of Polynesian and Pakeha (people of European descent), employ methods of decolonization theory through the use of storytelling and focus on indigenous values. In a country that has adopted the neoliberal beliefs that competition drives human relations, and …

H.E.A.P.S. In Advances Towards A Healthier Samoa The Health Education And Promotions Section’S Role In Combating Non-Communicable Diseases, Kara Le

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

With an increase in the number of health issues within Samoa, specifically in relation to non-communicable diseases (NCDs), it is important to examine the efforts being made by government health officials to improve Samoa’s overall health status. This study explores the role of the Health Education and Promotion Section (H.E.A.P.S.) of the Ministry of Health in establishing and promoting healthier standards within the Samoan community. The current efforts of H.E.A.P.S. in combating NCDs through recently introduced projects and programs were explored in-depth. Further analysis of the design and effectiveness of these programs in changing the unhealthy habits of Samoan people …

Learning How To Fly The Intersectionality Of Religion, Culture And Gender Of The Samoan Baha’I Community, Detmer Yens Kremer

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Samoan Baha’i community balances their multiple identities in a society where they are a minority. Their cultural, religious and gender identities are all essential to their expressions as human beings, and this research aims to explore how Samoan Baha’i reconcile their multiplicity of identities. Information was gathered through a wide range of primary and secondary resources consisting of interviews, other forms of personal communications and participatory observation. An expansion of the notion of intersectionality in a Pacific context contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of cultural change, globalization and social justice. As the Baha’i religion does not believe in …

Lighting Young Lights: The Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program In Samoa, Nicholas Muccio

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

The Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program (JYSEP) is a program inspired by the Baha’i Faith offered all around the world to those between the ages of 12 and 15. Due to its widespread implementation, it is likely that the practice of the program is in accordance with the cultural norms of the society in which it is practiced. The present study examines influences that the JYSEP has had on Samoan culture, and the influences that Samoan culture has had on the JYSEP. It has been found that the major values of the program are not in agreement with the traditional …

Appendices, William Donner Phd

Sikaiana Ethnography

Appendices that include demographic and glossary for the ethnography of Sikaiana

Chapter 4, My Life, In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

A description of my life living with and learning from the Sikaiana people of the Solomon Islands, 1980-1993. The discussion includes how I established relationships and adjusted to life, and how I conducted ethnographic research.

A related website in www.sikaianaarchives.com

Chapter 12: Drinking, In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

The role or alcohol consumption among the Sikaiana, Solomon Islands. This is an account from 1980 to 1993 and the Sikaiana do not drink as heavily at present (2020). The chapter discusses the manner in which alcohol was integrated into Sikaiana life from 1980-1993.

A related site can be found at www.sikaianaarchives.com

Chapter 11, Songs In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

A chapter on song composition and performance in the Sikaiana ethnography. Songs were an important part of Sikaiana life in 1980-1993. There were two major song types: songs composed in a traditional Polynesian style, and songs composed for the more recently introduced guitar.

A related website is www.sikaianaarchives.com

Chapter 1, Another Perspective, In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

This chapter serves as an introduction to cultural anthropology as an enterprise and this ethnography of the Sikaiana people. It discusses why learning about other cultures is important to for understanding human diversity across the globe and also provided another perspective for examining and understanding my own culture.

Chapter 2, Getting There In Intimacy And Community In A Changing World: Sikaiana Life 1980-1993, William Donner

Sikaiana Ethnography

This chapter describes how I got to do ethnographic research on Sikaiana, how I decided to go there and the logistics of setting up my research including funding, traveling and my initial meetings of Sikaiana people.

A related website is at www.sikaianaarchives.com