This is a study of individuals of German-Tongan descent living around the world. Taking as its starting point the period where Germans in Tonga (2014) left off, it examines the family histories, self-conceptions of identity, and connectedness to Germany of twenty-seven individuals living in New Zealand, the United States, Europe, and Tonga, who all have...

Floods are the most common form of natural disasters globally, disproportionately impacting lower income countries and in many cases the poorest citizens therein. The increasing frequency and intensity of floods present civil society, policymakers, and development practitioners the challenge of reducing disaster risk, and populations’ vulnerability to extreme weather events. This thesis explores the roles...

Field data were collected on Fatato Island, Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu, to understand contemporary wave transformation processes on a previously unstudied atoll. Subsequently, a fully nonlinear Boussinesq model was used to simulate wave processes on Fatato and other reefs with variable morphology to evaluate the impact of sea level rise (SLR) on shoreline wave energy, runup...

Cook Islands Māori is an endangered East Polynesian language closely related to but distinct from Tahitian and New Zealand Māori. This project focusses specifically on the varieties of Cook Islands Māori originating from, and spoken in, the Southern Group of the Cook Islands, that is, the islands of Rarotonga, Aitutaki, Atiu, Maꞌuke , Mitiꞌaro and...

This thesis offers a reappraisal of Earth as presented in Gen. 1:1-2:4a from a Samoan gafataulima (accomplish/fulfil/capable) hermeneutical perspective. The inspiration for the study arose out of a personal dilemma concerning my religious beliefs and the reality that I am experiencing in the world today, specifically, the tensions between Earth's perfect portrait in Gen. 1:1-2:4a...