'Hawaiki:The Whence of the Maori' , despite bearing a single author's name, is a nexus of voices. From native informants like the Paumotuan woman, whose name is not given though she provides invaluable information on Raratongan lineages to the network of fellow ethnologists-who provided word lists, grammars and legends; Smith's voyage as author is in part a synthesis of disparate knowledge under his name. It is by the fact of his being in the situation that facillitates the 'clearing up' of questions.
Despite a declared lack of interest in 'the whites' Smith had contact with agents of the state, capitalists, dangerous men and fellow ethnographic travellers. A partial list in sequence of encounters runs; General Hoge, John Brander, Dr Wyatt Gill, William De Witt Alexander, Mr G.N. Wilcox, Revd J.E. Newell and the Revd J.J.K Autchin.
Despite a declared lack of interest in 'the whites' Smith had contact with agents of the state, capitalists, dangerous men and fellow ethnographic travellers. A partial list in sequence of encounters runs; General Hoge, John Brander, Dr Wyatt Gill, William De Witt Alexander, Mr G.N. Wilcox, Revd J.E. Newell and the Revd J.J.K Autchin.
Quite how reluctant newspaper man William Churchill came to be Consul-General to Samoa most likely requires more than one explanation. It helped that he was a democrat. He was also a descendant of Mayflower passengers. Aside from Princes of Fiji , Samoa 'uma:Where Life is Different and countless articles, Churchill authored serious work on Polynesian languages. His work Samoa ole Vavau a samoan dictionary was sent by Churchill to S Percy Smith but was never published.
In Samoa, he set about updating the maps that had decomposed under the prior Consul-General, and compiled a card file of Samoan words. He also arranged for the purchase of a consular launch to make an impression as he visited the villages.
This is most likely the same craft S Percy Smith took around the island though he makes no mention of an awning. instead recalls his amusement at seeing Churchill's use of a book of names before entering a village, though such a strategy appears successful given the relationships he was able to establish with Samoans of high lineage.
The distal process of correspondence across the networks structuring Smith's voyages produces a physical intersection. Smith explicitly mentions Churchill's enthusiasm for 'all things Polynesian' and indicates the vast amount of collated information Churchill has made at the disposal of the Journal. At a more prescient level, Churchill's effect of the book is traceable from the architecture of his information systems to the way in which his consular launch extended Smith's voyage into localities which would have otherwise been closed to him.
Anybody interested in Churchill should read Joseph Theroux's 'William Churchill, A Fractured Life' provided below.
This image taken from
In Samoa, he set about updating the maps that had decomposed under the prior Consul-General, and compiled a card file of Samoan words. He also arranged for the purchase of a consular launch to make an impression as he visited the villages.
This is most likely the same craft S Percy Smith took around the island though he makes no mention of an awning. instead recalls his amusement at seeing Churchill's use of a book of names before entering a village, though such a strategy appears successful given the relationships he was able to establish with Samoans of high lineage.
The distal process of correspondence across the networks structuring Smith's voyages produces a physical intersection. Smith explicitly mentions Churchill's enthusiasm for 'all things Polynesian' and indicates the vast amount of collated information Churchill has made at the disposal of the Journal. At a more prescient level, Churchill's effect of the book is traceable from the architecture of his information systems to the way in which his consular launch extended Smith's voyage into localities which would have otherwise been closed to him.
Anybody interested in Churchill should read Joseph Theroux's 'William Churchill, A Fractured Life' provided below.
This image taken from