The Pacific rat, Rattus exulans, or Kiore as it is called by Maori, is a small human commensal associated with the human settlement of the Pacific. Archaeological evidence from Island Melanesia connects the distribution of the species with the presumed ancestors of all Polynesians, the...

This thesis looks at chiefly Polynesian leadership in the 21st century. Since 2006, Samoa, Tonga, Fiji, Cook Islands and Aotearoa have each experienced the loss of prominent chiefly leaders. In each of the cases, new leaders have risen to take the places of the recently...