UU 204 Reflective Writing Paper 4 Missionaries Impact on the Pacific

Personally this unit was like chess, a game that is known to enhance ones mental capabilities. It had provided an added interest which to me was like a social arena where one can feel accepted easily. I began to read and research on books on how the early foreigners streamed into the Pacific, in order to understand how these foreigners had affected our Pacific way of living. After about a week of research I prevailed against this outstanding topic which was how the early Pacific missionaries had impacted our oceanic nations. I established a sense that I enjoyed the act of tracing our Pacific Island culture and the way these early foreigners had affected it as I knew what benefits I would reap from it. Throughout the course of the unit I enjoyed the act of continuously improving, and wanting to achieve more from my findings.
When the flow of foreigners began in the Pacific, changes in our Pacific Island cultures and structures became inevitable (Shineberg 1999). Newly introduced weapons, tools, food, and lifestyle were bounded to our Pacific and would have an irreversible effect that had been catastrophic for some and unsettling for all (Garette 1982). What I had learnt from my research was that these changes and its impacts were rather chaotic to both foreigners and Pacific Islanders as these foreigners only pursued their interest according to their own values and preferences whether peaceful or warlike, immoral or moral (Wiltgen 1979). There were two types of influences in the Pacific Islands by foreigners that is the religious and commercial influences (Latukefu 1974). It was noted that the commercial influences were governed mainly by the laws of supply and demand while the religious influences were introduced by missionaries’ efforts which were complementary rather than coordinated (Campbell 1996).
Undoubtedly, the missionaries helped shape the Pacific up until the 19th Century and it was through them that the Pacific is at where it is today. With tribal

References: Campbell, I. 1996, Worlds Apart: A history of the Pacific Islands, University of Canterbury, Christchurch New Zealand, pp-78-96. Daveta, L. Personal Interview 5th October 2013. Garrett, J. 1982, To Live Among the Stars, World Council of Churches and Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific Fiji. Gunson, N. 1978, Messengers of Grace, Oxford University Press, Melbourne, pp 90. Hilliard, D. 1978, Gods Gentlemen, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia, pp 56-60. Latukefu, S. 1974, Church and State in Tonga: The Wesleyan Methodist Missionaries and Political Development 1822-1875, Canberra University Press, 1974. Laracy, H. 1999, Marists and Melanesians: A History of Catholic Missions in the Pacific, Australia National University Press, Canberra. Ridgell, R (ed). 2006. Pacific Nations and Territories: The Islands of Micronesia, Melanesia, and Polynesia 4th Edition. Honolulu, pp 54-60. Shineberg, D. 1999, The Pacific Trade: Pacific Island Labourers 1865-1930, Melbourne University Press, Carlton. Wiltgen, R. 1979, The Founding of the Catholic Church in Oceania, Australia University Press, Canberra.