This speaks to not only cultures of the South Pacific, but any culture encroached upon by an overwhelming foreign influence. Think of pre-Christian Europe v. Romans, Incas and Aztecs v. The Spanish, Africa v. the empires of Europe.
It's an oft-told tale, I'm afraid. So often the original cultures are twisted out of context until unrecognizable...or forgotten completely. In Twisted Histories, in which Melanesian villagers are depicted, it's happening in the information age...with photo-journalists and ethnographers to record it. Hopefully that will be of some help to the native islanders in generations to come.
What we non-islanders can learn from it is how our ancestors (in Europe, in Africa, in the Americas) felt about being enveloped by the world culture which now allows us, their descendants, to discuss this on the internet.
It's an oft-told tale, I'm afraid. So often the original cultures are twisted out of context until unrecognizable...or forgotten completely. In Twisted Histories, in which Melanesian villagers are depicted, it's happening in the information age...with photo-journalists and ethnographers to record it. Hopefully that will be of some help to the native islanders in generations to come.
What we non-islanders can learn from it is how our ancestors (in Europe, in Africa, in the Americas) felt about being enveloped by the world culture which now allows us, their descendants, to discuss this on the internet.
Twisted Histories is one of the many books I read while preparing To One Who Lives on the Mainland. Universally applicable: Everyone should give it a read, if they can find it.
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