The Maoris today occupy a unique position in the wider New Zealand society. On the one hand, following over a century of intensive contact and political integration with the people of European origin, they now form an inseparable part of the national society. But on the other hand, they also constitute a distinctive minority in the country accounting for 6.9 per cent of the total population of 2.4 million (in 1961). Their distinctiveness may be described in various ways, some qualitative and others statistical. However, in the overall socio-economic scene of the country, the position of the Maoris is far from static. Social and cultural changes are continuing processes and one can notice important trends in contemporary Maori life.

In this dissertation I examine the relationship between the churches and politics in Vanuatu, focusing in particular on the role of the Christian churches in the independence movement of the 1970s. I also look at the political involvement of the churches in the two years immediately following national independence. The dissertation is based on fieldwork in Vanuatu from April 1981 to June 1982. In Chapter I, I introduce and defend my national, institutional perspective on the churches. In Chapter II, I discuss the history of Vanuatu, focusing specifically on the history of the missions up to the end of the 1960s. Chapter III looks at the independence movement and recent political history. In Chapter IV I examine the relationship between the churches and politics in two contrasting rural areas: at the Catholic mission station of Walarano, Malakula, and at the Presbyterian area of White Sands, Tanna. Chapter V is concerned with the ecumenical movement in the Pacific and looks at the support of the Pacific churches for the independence movement in Vanuatu. Chapters VI to X are parallel histories of the same period. They all look at the involvement of the churches in Vanuatu politics from about the beginning of the 1970s - when the independence movement began - up to national independence on 30 July 1980. However, each chapter is written from a different perspective. Chapter VI documents the political involvement of the Presbyterian Church; Chapter VII is concerned with Bishop Raweliffe and the politics of Anglicanism; Chapter VIII looks at the political role of the Roman Catholic Church in Vanuatu; Chapter IX focuses mostly on the relationship between the Churches of Christ and Nagriamel; and Chapter X takes a look at the ecumenical movement in Vanuatu and the origins and development of the New Hebrides Christian Council. In Chapter XI I examine the post-independence developments in all the major churches. Chapter XII concludes with a discussion of three issues: localisation, independence and unity, both in the churches and in the nation.

This thesis explored the socio-political experiences and views of seven Maori women from the tribe of Whakatahea. The project adopted a Maori-centred theoretical and research approach that included the researcher as a member of the researched group. It aimed to draw out the common themes, from the women's recollections of their experiences and views of the socio-political decision-making affairs within whanau, hapu, and iwi. The women identified barriers to participation and strategies to overcome these barriers. Qualifications reflected traditional Maori values and practices. Rights according to whakapapa, and the principle "he kanohi kitea", being seen, were the obvious criterion. Poor information channels, minimal consultation, gender bias, age and time constraints were some of the issues identified as barriers to participation. It was found that whanau governance committees more closely reflected traditional values and customs that saw women and men as sharing power, more so than hapu and iwi organisations. The gender imbalance was viewed, by the women participants, as problematic. They concluded that better gender balance at all levels of the socio-political affairs of Whakatohea would ensure greater informed decision-making for the social, educational, economic, and spiritual well-being of the tribe today and for future generations.

Bearing in Mind: Birth, Fathers, Ritual, and 'Reproductive Consciousness' in Transpersonal Anthropological Perspective is an exploration of 'unusual' psychospiritual experiences among a small group of procreative fathering males in New Zealand and the viewing of these experiences through a transpersonal anthropological lens. I have used the transpersonal literature and the anthropological record, coupled with fieldwork among contemporary males to explore some of their more 'non-ordinary' responses to childbirth, paying close attention to the symbolic and therapeutic dimension implicated in their participation The term 'non-ordinary' pertains to NOSC or non ordinary states of consciousness (see glossary). Frequently their narratives suggest psychological encounters with death and transpersonal states of consciousness. This research examines these states of consciousness, the broad cultural context from which they arise and their relationship to birthing. Two basic themes are explored: 1) the social shaping of birth as a transpersonal event and ritual at the time fathers joined their partners in birthing during the late 1960s, and 2) an investigation of the transpersonal experience itself. Such phenomena have wide anthropological ramifications which opens a third theme for exploration: the possible parallels with more traditional, shamanistic, and/or indigenous midwifery and obstetrical manoeuvres (and therefore religion) – these parallels will be outlined and explored. This thesis relies heavily on a reinterpretation of the transpersonal and anthropological literature; however it is the fieldwork (gathering birth stories from men and women) that is crucial because it is the transpersonal content of their stories that drives the theoretical component.

For people who live with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity syndrome illness is a hidden construct. The body does not display the chronicity of the internal experience. This thesis removes the barrier between what is experienced and what is visible by creating visual means of communicating the body’s hidden experience. The place of the viewer is part of this discussion. Through visual methods digital photographic techniques and the current interest in sensory anthropology the embodied sensory chronic illness experience is explored. The hidden experiences were made visual creating “MeBoxes” and masks which showed both the external and embodied internal experiences of chronic illness. As the process of working with and walking beside the participants developed, I found that the discourse on imaging within the literature was inadequate to show the real lived experiences of those with chronic illness. My interactions with the people of this thesis and the process of honouring their experiences required a model that would encourage the viewer to new and perhaps unrealised depths of participation to understand the participant’s multi-faceted and multi-layered experiences. Part of the discussion is the ability of images to communicate sensory experience as is the case with Munch’s The Scream and Picasso’s Guernica. Through the use of a hypertextual self-scape I show how participants created access to their experiences through their visual representations and through a collaborative approach became composite hypertextual self-scape metaphors.

For people who live with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity syndrome illness is a hidden construct. The body does not display the chronicity of the internal experience. This thesis removes the barrier between what is experienced and what is visible by creating visual means of communicating the body’s hidden experience. The place of the viewer is part of this discussion. Through visual methods digital photographic techniques and the current interest in sensory anthropology the embodied sensory chronic illness experience is explored. The hidden experiences were made visual creating “MeBoxes” and masks which showed both the external and embodied internal experiences of chronic illness. As the process of working with and walking beside the participants developed, I found that the discourse on imaging within the literature was inadequate to show the real lived experiences of those with chronic illness. My interactions with the people of this thesis and the process of honouring their experiences required a model that would encourage the viewer to new and perhaps unrealised depths of participation to understand the participant’s multi-faceted and multi-layered experiences. Part of the discussion is the ability of images to communicate sensory experience as is the case with Munch’s The Scream and Picasso’s Guernica. Through the use of a hypertextual self-scape I show how participants created access to their experiences through their visual representations and through a collaborative approach became composite hypertextual self-scape metaphors.

For people who live with Myalgic Encephalomyelitis / Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and Multiple Chemical Sensitivity syndrome illness is a hidden construct. The body does not display the chronicity of the internal experience. This thesis removes the barrier between what is experienced and what is visible by creating visual means of communicating the body’s hidden experience. The place of the viewer is part of this discussion. Through visual methods digital photographic techniques and the current interest in sensory anthropology the embodied sensory chronic illness experience is explored. The hidden experiences were made visual creating “MeBoxes” and masks which showed both the external and embodied internal experiences of chronic illness. As the process of working with and walking beside the participants developed, I found that the discourse on imaging within the literature was inadequate to show the real lived experiences of those with chronic illness. My interactions with the people of this thesis and the process of honouring their experiences required a model that would encourage the viewer to new and perhaps unrealised depths of participation to understand the participant’s multi-faceted and multi-layered experiences. Part of the discussion is the ability of images to communicate sensory experience as is the case with Munch’s The Scream and Picasso’s Guernica. Through the use of a hypertextual self-scape I show how participants created access to their experiences through their visual representations and through a collaborative approach became composite hypertextual self-scape metaphors.

Longitudinal medical research studies undertaken on an international scale by the World Health Organisation continue to confirm a better prognosis for mental illness in traditional societies than in more technologically developed societies. While various associations have been drawn or hypothesised between specific cultural factors and a more favourable outcome, attention has also frequently been drawn to the methodological, analytic and diagnostic inadequacies of these studies. The work for this thesis was undertaken with these criticisms in mind and also in part as a counter to the perceived inadequacies of a solely bio-medical approach to psychopathology. The specific purpose of the research was to assess the role that culture plays in the construction and experience of both psychological well-being and psychopathology in a "traditional" society in Sarawak, Malaysia. There was an equal concern to ascertain and examine the ways in which explanations and understandings about identity, illness and wellness differ from current western models and approaches and how they are realised and lived out in the experience of individuals. The ethnographic data was collected during intensive participant-observation conducted over two years in the Mukah District of Sarawak, Malaysia, a region which has a long association with the Melanau ethnic group. Drawing on the ethnographic evidence, this thesis argues that psychopathological experiences (as psychological phenomena) embody characteristics that make it possible to identify them as culturally constructed artifacts. A theory is advanced which locates the source of psychopathology within the context of human being-in-the-world and which suggests that features of the mental illness experience such as chronicity and stigma are historically and culturally constructed within the illness concept itself. The argument draws on the theory and insights of existentialism, phenomenology. Turner's ritual theory, and Jung's concept of the shadow, extended to include a concept of the cultural shadow. It concludes that a failure to take account of the cultural dimensions of mental illness may also result in a failure to perceive not only the source of our psychopathologies but also a solution.

During New Zealand’s comparatively short history as a nation, its cuisine has undergone great development. The culinary traditions brought by the early settlers, from both Eastern Polynesia and then Britain, offered a relatively limited variety, however, since the late 20th century New Zealand’s foodways have undergone a revolution; today a smorgasbord of international cuisines awaits our selection. This gastronomic range is the result of a number of factors which include the influx of diverse immigrants, increased air travel by New Zealanders, the return of military personnel from overseas and globalisation. To conduct this investigation of the relationships between people, identity, food and place I approach the topic from three perspectives. Firstly, I examine how exotic foods are used to link immigrants to New Zealand with loved ones in their homelands, and also how the same foods act as a bridge between those immigrants and other New Zealanders. Secondly, I look at how exotic foods serve to connect New Zealanders with, generally, far-away places, as through its evocative powers food has the ability to transport ordinary people to places where they may rather be. Lastly, I explore how some New Zealanders are making exotic foods ‘ours’ by combining them with the abundance of fresh local produce. Appropriating the exotic and combining it with the indigenous to make it ours is the story of New Zealand; our society has developed through the arrival of many people and cultures, and food is a lens through which to observe this process today. This work differs from many ethnographic accounts in that it does not focus on a coherent group of people, but rather is based around the theme of food and eating in the New Zealand context. The thesis is the culmination of approximately twelve months of data gathering for which a multi-method approach was used. This process included: a review of both academic and popular literature; visits to food-related places such as cultural festivals, wine and food festivals, Agricultural and Pastoral Shows, Home Shows, community markets, farmers’ markets, various Auckland supermarkets, ethnic food stores, specialty food shops; mainstream and ethnic cafés and restaurants, shopping centre food courts and various other miscellaneous places; attending different ethnic cooking courses and a series of semi-structured interviews. The interview process used different interviewee configurations: individuals, married couples and pairs, in an attempt to generate various perspectives and so enhance the data. The thesis concludes that, firstly, exotic foods represent a means by which immigrants are able to connect with both loved ones remaining in the old home, and also to form new relationships with other New Zealanders in their new home. Secondly, exotic foods, through either their consumption or through people’s memories of consumption, provide a bridge between New Zealanders and other places. Lastly, New Zealanders are increasingly taking exotic foods, combining them with the nation’s abundant local and unique indigenous foodstuffs and making it ours