Book Description:
This important book presents a stunning array of over 350 authentic objects of nearly pristine condition that were created by indigenous cultures of the Pacific nations. Made before contact with the outside 'civilized'world, they were in the cargo brought back by Captain James Cook on his second and third voyages and had been given as gifts or traded. These rare 18th century articles of craftsmanship and the expert commentary accompanying them greatly enhance our knowledge of these peoples. Represented are these Pacific nations and peoples: Aotearoa (New Zealand), Tonga, Tahiti and the Society Islands, the Marquesas, Vanuatu (New Hebrides), New Caledonia, Hawai'i and the Northwest coast of America. Volume I (383 pages) contains the bulk of the illustrations, and opens with six stunning oil paintings by William Hodges, and three seminal botanical illustrations by Sydney Parkinson, both of whom accompanied Cook. Volume II (144 pages) considers the perspective of the West, and Volume III (128 pages) takes the point of view of indigenous peoples. The Gottingen became the first ethnological museum in the world (1770) and has been the repository for these objects, having received many of them from the family of two the German natural scientists, Johann Reinhold Forster and his son, George, who also traveled with Cook. Stephen Little, director of Honolulu Academy of Arts, where these works were exhibited, said they 'reveal the brilliant cultural and spiritual lives of these indigenous peoples... and have a unique mana (spiritual power).' They also demonstrate 'the close connections that existed between ancient Pacific cultures.' Among the color plates in Volume 1, many shown one to a page, are: ki'i hulu manu, a feathered image made with dog's teeth, mother of pearl and wicker, of Kuka'ilimoku, the deity of war and healing, and so well preserved it could have been created yesterday; a club 'akua ta, kava bowls, weapons, musical instruments from the Tongan Islands; a putona (shell trumpet) from the Marquesas; a heva (Tahitian mourning dress); kapa and rare feather work of Hawai'i. In addition, there are fish hooks, tattoo combs, baskets, and clothing. Volume 2 includes facsimiles of the Humphrey and Forster inventories. Voices of the indigenous Maori, Tongan, Tahitian, and Hawaiian comprise Volume 3, and there is also a facsimile of the 'kumulipo,' their creation myth, from the early 1800's. Adrienne L. Kaeppler, Curator of Pacific Ethnology, Smithsonian Institution, and Brigitta Hauser Sch ublin and Gundolf Kr ger, both of G ttingen University, wrote the essays in Volume II, and La'akea Suganuma, Paul H.I. Coleman, Karen Stevenson, Daniel Longstaff, Kamaui Aiona, Diane Ragone, Emil Wolfgramm, Kawika Winter and Peter Ruthenberg, Volume III.
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