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Journeys in a Small Canoe
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Am currently reading this book and am really enjoying it. It's the autobiography of a government official who oversaw what life was like in the Solomon Islands before and after independence. He always wanted to pen down his life story because he knew nobody else would be chronicling the changes witnessed in this small nation. I find such stories the perfect way to learn about a country I know nothing about.
About the Book (from Google Books)
Although the life story of prominent Solomon Islander Sir Lloyd Maepeza Gina has a unique value for Solomon Islanders, it has universal aspects that people outside the Solomons will find of interest. From the little many people know of the history of Solomons, this story distils a lot of it: the importance of family and genealogy; the web of connections mediated by marriage, adoption, and even abduction; the identification of people with land; the exciting days of inter-island raiding and head hunting along with the horrors for victims; the labor trade; the coming of Christianity and missionaries leaving a lasting impression on the faith of the people; the suffering that the Japanese invasion induced and the material prosperity and mental stimulation that the Americans injected into the colonial outpost; the resistance and accommodation by Solomon Islanders to the colonial power and its officials; the attraction and repulsion of the colonial order; the sometimes-ambivalent connections with other Pacific Islanders; the challenges of Independence, its hopes, and disappointments; and the opportunities of the wider world.
About the Author
Lloyd Maepeza Gina was born in 1935 in the Solomon Islands. He was one of 13 children born to a Methodist minister and his wife. He held various positions in the Solomon Islands government and was knighted in 1990. He died in 2007.