Posted by on January 16, 2004 at 06:42:50:
In Reply to: Re: JENNIFER LOPEZ on issue: The ROCK (SAMOA) vs. Hawaii ( Native's Prejudice) POLYNESIAN vs. POLYNESIAN. 2003, 2004, 2005 posted by kama on November 02, 2003 at 16:32:13:
FYI: More Na‘au Poi from a reliable valid source:
'Within the entire Pacific lay 25,000 islands, more than those of the rest of the world combined. Diversity marks each region. In thier first attempts at mapping islands, European (explorers) often tried to determine indigenous place names. Unfamiliar with the local languages, they frequently erred, and even when they did get them right, their renditions of vernacular place names were sometimes difficult to recognize by those who followed. Not infrequently, they named islands after their fellow explorers or patrons at home- the Marshalls, the Gilberts, the Sandwich Islands, - or gave them European place names - New Caledonia, New Ireland, New Britain. The very mapping of the Pacific imposed a European template on the island world. In the same context, the major divisions within the Pacific were also the creations of outsiders, as they sought to make sense of the Pacific. In the final analysis, the three culture areas of Polynesia (meaning: many iskands), Micronesia (meaning: small islands), and Melanesia (meaning:dark islands) are no more than abstractions with boundaries that are arbitary at best. The names are found to be scientific labels, which have little meaning to the people's concerned. Most of the islander's still living within very local horizons speak of themselves by their district, tribal, or village names.' With regard to Prehistory and Linguistics: 'The origins of Pacific Islanders have fascinated and challenged the imaginations of Europeans (and others) since first contact. A vast body of literature has accumulated, much of it speculative in nature. Despite the absence of written languages amoung the ilsanders themselves, their oral histories were abundant with accounts of far distant homelands, heroic voyages of exploration, and the settlemant of new landfalls'
(Tides of History, Kiste. pp 6-9)