A Solomon Islands Chronicle

An unusual work of oral history and autobiography from Solomon Islands, providing new insights into both the indigenous and colonial history of the Pacific.

It is based on a series of recordings made by Samuel Alasa'a, an elder of the Kwara'ae people of Malaita Island, to pass on to his sons the inherited knowledge and personal experiences of a century-long lifetime.

He told how the ancestors of the Kwara'ae first arrived on Malaita, explained the genealogical histories of their own clan homelands, and described the arrival of European church and government as he experienced it in his youth. The text has been edited into a continuous narrative, with the help of Samuel Alasa's son Michael.

The Kwara'ae original text is printed in parallel with its English translation and each page of narrative faces a page of textual notes, interpretative comment, corroborative data and illustrations including photographs, genealogical charts and local maps.