Help me, o Internets; I don't know where to start.

[swan_tower]

So I know you all are still waiting for The Tropic of Serpents to come out, but backstage, we're already ramping up for the third book of the series. And you know what that means: research!

. . . on a topic I don't know at all. A large portion of the third book, you see, will take place in an area based on the Polynesian Islands. My knowledge of Polynesian culture pretty much consists of "tourism in Hawai'i," which, y'know. Not so much. The sole book in my library on the topic is Pacific Mythology, which is an encyclopedia-style overview of the entire Pacific, Polynesian and otherwise.

So where do I start? Does anybody out there have recommendations for good early histories (pre-European contact, though not necessarily pre-other-people contact), "daily life in ancient Hawai'i" type books, local mythology 101, etc?

I also could use recommendations of appropriate music. I make heavy use of playlists to set my brain in the right gear, but I have zilch in the way of stuff from that particular milieu. I don't even know what it sounds like, beyond "stereotypical hula tunes." Traditional folk music, movie scores that draw on that kind of sound, all of those things are good.

Help me, o Internets. I'm dead in the water here.

Comments

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

in my own book collection, I have a few, but my focus really wasnt on Hawaii per se.

Daws, Gavan Shoal of Time A History of the Hawaiian Islands (1989) kinda dry, but has a good timeline for the islands

McDermott, John F. People and Culutres of Hawaii A Psychocultural Profile (1980) this one is more modern dealing with social conditions and culture in a more modern culture, but it has bibliographies.

James Michener's Hawaii... well, the first half of the book where he takes you from the geology of how the islands formed up to the arrival of white people.

Oliver, Douglas L. Native Cultures of the Pacific Islands (1989) (an abridgement of Oliver's Oceania: The Native Cultures of Australia and the Pacific Islands is intended for college level courses on precontact anthropology, history, economy and politics of the Pacific, Including Australia)
Pacific Islands (1975) published by the University of Hawaii Press ... you should go to their online catalog and check out the more current offerings from UofH.

Heyerdahl, Thor Aku-Aku, Fatu-Hiva, Kon-Tiki, and the Maldive Mystery. Sea faring at its most basic.

most of my other books on the islands of the Pacific are all WW2 stuff, and of course, the woowoo factor of David Childress Lost Cities .. sunken continents..

Cambell, Joseph Historial Atlas of World Mythology
The Masks of God

[swan-tower.livejournal.com]

Oliver, Douglas L. Native Cultures of the Pacific Islands (1989) (an abridgement of Oliver's Oceania: The Native Cultures of Australia and the Pacific Islands is intended for college level courses on precontact anthropology, history, economy and politics of the Pacific, Including Australia)

That sounds FANTASTIC. Thank you.

[martianmooncrab.livejournal.com]

well, I dont have that much on Hawai'i in my Library, but I do have a few.

For music, a friend of mine had watched the videos of the yearly competitions for Hula and other native music forms. I forget what the thing is called though.