Aliens on Our Shores: An Anthropological History of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea 1616 to 1914

by Paula G. Rubel, Abraham Rosman

Overview

Aliens on Our Shores is a deep dive into the mutual perceptions of a group of Melanesian peoples -- egalitarian societies unknown to Europeans for thousands of years -- and successive waves of European explorers, traders, plantation owners, missionaries, and eventual conquerors. This anthropological history makes use of existing information on political, social, and cultural organization of New Ireland, Papua New Guinea, villages, supplemented by the authors' comparative social research skills and original ethnographic fieldwork.

Professor Rubel and Professor Rosman have gone through the archeological record, to understand who the New Irelanders were before contact with Europeans. They have searched travelers' reports for information on how the first 250 years of contact were interpreted, understood, or misunderstood, and strategies accordingly deployed -- by both parties to the encounters. They strive to find New Irelanders' voice and agency in travelers' detailed accounts. And they explore the ways that Europeans used long-standing myths and racist stereotypes (Noble Savage, Wild Man, Cannibal, Utopia) as they sought to build capital in world markets.

This detailed history shows how capitalism and colonialism eventually demolished the political and economic autonomy of New Ireland peoples who seemed for more than two centuries to be in control of their contact situation.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780990633761
Publisher:	Development Resources Press
Publication date:	05/01/2021
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	269
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Paula G. Rubel is Emerita Professor of Anthropology, Barnard College, Columbia University

Abraham Rosman is Emeritus Professor of Anthropology, Barnard College, Columbia University

Table of Contents

Preface

Introduction

New Ireland Before the "Aliens" Arrived

European Ideas About Non-European Others

European Visitors to New Ireland During the Age of Exploration

Between Beach and Ship: The Development of Exchange Within the Liminal Area

New Irelanders Encounter Capitalism

Blackbirding: Shanghaiing New Ireland Workers for the Plantations

Christianity Comes to New Ireland: Establishment of Missionary Stations

Pacification and Administration: The Imposition of German Rule

Copra: Village Trade and the Establishment of Plantations

The Expansion and Spread of Christianity During the German Colonial Period

Consolidation of Colonial Control: 1884-1914

Conclusions

Appendix A. The Archeology and Linguistics of New Ireland

Appendix B. Deed of Land Purchase on New Ireland, May 5, 1885

Appendix C. The Population of New Ireland Before 1914

Bibliography

Index

About the Authors