A Solomon Islands chronicle
Subtitle: as told by Samuel Alasa'a
By: Edited by Ben Burt and Michael Kwa'ioloa ; with contributions from the Kwara'ae chiefs.
Contributors: Burt, Ben.; Kwaʼioloa, Michael.
Publisher: British Museum Press
Published: 2001
Place of publication: London
Language: eng; map
Format: 30 cm
Number of pages: 126
Subjects: Alasaʼa, Samuel; Kwara'ae (Solomon Islands people) -- Biography; Kwara'ae (Solomon Islands people) -- Social life and customs; Malaita Province (Solomon Islands) -- History
Genres: Biography.
Description: In the 1980s a pacific Islands elder, Samuel Alasa'a, decided to pass on the knowledge gained over a long lifetime by recording some cassettes of history for his sons. He told the story of how the ancestors of their people, the Kwara'ae of Solomon islands, first arrived in their homeland on the island of malaita about twenty-five generations ago, he explained the genealogical histories of their own clan homelands, and he discribed the arrival of European church and government, as experienced in his own youth. Alasa'a's words form the core of this book, presenting one man's perspective on the history of his people. However, this introduces a broader view of the past based on other sources, interpreting Alasa'a's account for those unfamiliar with his cultural background and contributing different historical perspectives, both local and colonial. the editors have drawn on oral history, anthropological research and archival records  to present a many-sided account of a rich and complex Pacific Islands history.
Notes: Parallel Kwara'ae text with English translation and other information in English.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [127]).
Table of contents: title: 1. Na Fulilana Fanoa 'i Malaita =  The founding of the homeland of Malaita; title: 2. Na Fanoa'i Tolinga = The homeland of Tolinga; title: 3. Na Fanoa 'i Fairū = The homeland of Fairū; title: 4. Kaida'i 'i Buriana Faka kī ni'i Dao ma'i = The time after the ships arrived; title: 5. Niusamolaku ma Daolana Lō = My recruitement and the arrival of law; title: 6. Ta 'Ala'anga la'u sulia Kasatomo = A further talk about custom