Untold Pacific History

RNZ Originals
  • 5.0 (4)
  • HISTORY
  • WEEKLY SERIES

A dynamic and often provocative account of New Zealand's relationship with the Pacific.

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  1. EPISODE 1

    The Forgotten Soldiers of Niue

    This is the little known story of The Forgotten Soldiers of Niue: 150 men plucked from their island paradise and sent 17,000 kms away to the cold frontlines of France during World War I. The Niuean soldiers never made it to the frontline, however. They instead died en route with the introduction of diseases they had never been exposed to. Watch the video version of the episode here. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    32 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    I’Iga Pisa, Samoa’s Unsung Hero

    The life story of I'iga Pisa, an independence activist who sailed hundreds of kilometers in a small canoe to escape exile from Samoa. *This story was updated on 9/5/2024 to clarify details regarding I'iga Pisa's life. Watch the video version of the episode here. In 1909, Samoan independence activist I'iga Pisa was condemned to exile in Saipan by the German colonisers of Western Samoa. In an extraordinary feat, he escaped from exile by borrowing a small outrigger canoe from a friend and paddling from Saipan to Guam. This was a distance of more than 150 km over a period of several days in which he navigated using the stars. He had learned German during his exile, but just before his escape from Saipan, he learned that New Zealand had taken over as the new colonial rulers of Samoa. I'iga lived in Guam for several years, during which time he learned to speak English. He then travelled by boat from Guam to Hawai'i, another US territory, in 1918. In Hawai'i, he worked in a printing firm and improved his English with the aim of returning to his homeland of Samoa. He finally arrived home in 1919. I'iga worked for the Department of Samoan Affairs, under the New Zealand Administration, until 1942. Some Samoans labeled him a "judas" or traitor for working alongside the New Zealand regime, but historians and family members argue he was trying to change the system from within. I'iga was the only one of the exiled Samoan revolutionaries who survived to see Samoa win back its freedom from New Zealand in 1962. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    49 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    Papa Tom Davis, From the Seas to the Stars (Rarotonga)

    Papa Tom, an extraordinary Cook Islander who smashed new frontiers in space and the ocean in a life that spanned many fields of work. Watch the video version of the episode here. Papa Tom's quest for truth, history, and culture has taken him around the world and even out to space, but it was in Aotearoa and the Cook Islands that it all began... The extraordinary Cook Islander, the first person from New Zealand and the Pacific to work for NASA, was one of the grandfathers of traditional vaka sailing in the Pacific, and who revolutionised economic reform in the Cook Islands. He is still little-known to generations of young Pacific people and to the New Zealand public in general. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    35 min

  4. SEASON 2 TRAILER

    Introducing: Untold Pacific History S2

    Told in three separate stories, season two of Untold Pacific History shines a light on key events in the Niue, Samoa and Rarotonga that have been little told in Aotearoa. Go to this episode on rnz.co.nz for more details

    1 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
4 Ratings

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A dynamic and often provocative account of New Zealand's relationship with the Pacific.

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