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Researchspace@Auckland http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz ResearchSpace@Auckland Copyright Statement The digital copy of this thesis is protected by the Copyright Act 1994 (New Zealand). This thesis may be consulted by you, provided you comply with the provisions of the Act and the following conditions of use: • Any use you make of these documents or images must be for research or private study purposes only, and you may not make them available to any other person. • Authors control the copyright of their thesis. You will recognise the author's right to be identified as the author of this thesis, and due acknowledgement will be made to the author where appropriate. • You will obtain the author's permission before publishing any material from their thesis. To request permissions please use the Feedback form on our webpage. http://researchspace.auckland.ac.nz/feedback General copyright and disclaimer In addition to the above conditions, authors give their consent for the digital copy of their work to be used subject to the conditions specified on the Library Thesis Consent Form and Deposit Licence. CONNECTING IDENTITIES AND RELATIONSHIPS THROUGH INDIGENOUS EPISTEMOLOGY: THE SOLOMONI OF FIJI ESETA MATEIVITI-TULAVU A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY The University of Auckland Auckland, New Zealand 2013 TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract .................................................................................................................................. vi Dedication ............................................................................................................................. vii Declaration of Originality .................................................................................................... viii Acknowledgement .................................................................................................................. ix CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION .............................................................................................. 1 1.1 OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES ............................................................................................................ 2 1.3 RESEARCH QUESTIONS ............................................................................................................ 2 1.4 RATIONALE ............................................................................................................................. 3 1.5 SIGNIFICANCE OF RESEARCH ................................................................................................... 3 1.6 THE RESEARCHER: A LIFE JOURNEY ....................................................................................... 4 1.7 CONTEXT OF STUDY ................................................................................................................ 6 Fiji ......................................................................................................................................... 6 Solomon Islands.................................................................................................................... 7 1.8 CONCEPTUALIZING RESEARCH: KUNEKUNETAKI ...................................................................... 8 1.9 USE OF KEY TERMS ................................................................................................................. 9 1.10 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................................................. 13 Fieldwork Preparations: Na Vakavakarau .......................................................................... 13 Preliminary Research in the Solomon Islands .................................................................... 15 Fieldwork approach ............................................................................................................ 16 1.11 THEORETICAL APPROACH .................................................................................................... 17 1.12 SOME CHALLENGES FACED IN THE RESEARCH .................................................................... 17 1.13 RESEARCH ASSUMPTIONS ................................................................................................... 18 1.14 CLAIM TO ORIGINALITY ...................................................................................................... 19 1.15 OUTLINE OF THESIS ............................................................................................................. 19 CHAPTER 2: THEORISING IDENTITY, INDIGENOUS EPISTEMOLOGY AND MANA .................................................................................................................................................... 21 2.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 21 2.2 THEORISING IDENTITY........................................................................................................... 21 2.3 ETHNIC AND CULTURAL IDENTITY ........................................................................................ 22 2.4 ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE PRIMORDIALIST VIEW .................................................................. 26 Assumptions of primordialism in the Fiji Solomoni context.............................................. 27 2.5 ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST VIEW ................................................. 28 Assumptions of social constructionism in the Fiji Solomoni context ................................ 29 2.6 ASSUMPTIONS ABOUT THE SITUATIONALIST VIEW ................................................................. 30 Assumptions of situationalism in the Fiji Solomoni context .............................................. 32 2.7 INDIGENOUS EPISTEMOLOGY ................................................................................................. 33 2.8 SOLOMON ISLANDS - KWARA’AE EPISTEMOLOGY ................................................................. 34 2.9 IMPLICATIONS FOR RELATIONSHIPS AND IDENTITY ................................................................ 36 2.10 EPISTEMOLOGICAL SPACE AND IDENTITY ............................................................................ 37 2.11 THE NOTION OF MANA .......................................................................................................... 38 ii CHAPTER 3: INDIGENOUS APPROCHES, INDIGENOUS EPISTEMOLOGY AND THE STUDY OF TAUKEI AND SOLOMONI TAUVU RELATIONSHIPS: NA GAUNISALA NI VAKADIDIKE ............................................................................................................................ 48 3.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 48 3.2 QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY .............................................................................................. 48 3.3 VANUA PROTOCOLS ............................................................................................................... 50 3.4 TUKUNI ................................................................................................................................. 52 Veitarotarogi (interviewing) ............................................................................................... 54 Veitalanoa and veitalanoataka ............................................................................................ 54 3.5 TALANOA: AN OVERVIEW ..................................................................................................... 55 3.6 TALANOA – AN INDIGENOUS AND QUALITATIVE METHODOLOGY OF RESEARCH .................... 58 3.7 VEITALANOA/TUKUNI – A PART OF ETHNOGRAPHY/AUTOETHNOGRAPHY ............................... 60 Veitalanoa and Troubled Identities ..................................................................................... 65 Veitalanoa: Insider/Outsider Dilemma ............................................................................... 67 3.8 TALANOA/TUKUNI AND THE SACRED SPACE .......................................................................... 71 Veitalanoa and the Community .......................................................................................... 72 Implications of talanoa in this research .............................................................................. 75 3.9 CASE STUDIES ....................................................................................................................... 75 Case Study 1: Ra ................................................................................................................. 78 Case Study 2: Tukuta, near Lovoni, on Ovalau .................................................................. 79 3.10 QUESTIONNAIRES – SURVEY RESEARCH ............................................................................. 83 3.11 CONCLUSION ....................................................................................................................... 86 CHAPTER 4: EARLY MIGRATION AND FIJIAN SOCIETY ......................................... 87 4.1 INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 87 4.2 MOVEMENT AND VOYAGING ................................................................................................. 87 4.3 THE EARLY FIJIANS ..............................................................................................................
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