1/10 Wendy Pond is a great scholar & a great rebel. Because of her adventurousness & non-conformity, few NZers know of her work. In a new podcast, though, Pond tells the story of her revolutionary work in Tonga's most remote islands. 
2/10 In 1966 Wendy Pond & her husband & fellow anthropologist Garth Rogers sailed a small yacht to Niuafo'ou, Tonga's northernmost island. They were escaping the Eurocentrism & moralism of postwar NZ society, & seeking alternative ways of living.
3/10 Pond & Rogers studied the sociology & dances & poems of the island. Niuafo'ouans have their own language & culture, but they were colonised centuries ago by Tonga. Pond was a socialist, & she shared Niuafo'ouans' anger at oppression by the monarchy in distant Nuku'alofa
4/10 In their book The Fire Has Jumped, Pond & Rogers documented the mistreatment of Niuafo'ouans by Tonga's government, which forced their deportation after the eruption of their motu in '46. After a protest campaign the islanders were able to return.
5/10 The book was remarkable for its method as well as its subject. Pond & Rogers let islanders speak for themselves, weaving a narrative out of their voices. Decades before the notion of decolonising academic study became was fashionable, Pond was democratising her work.
6/10 Pond befriended Kitione Mamata, who wrote songs protesting against the neglect & impoverishment of Niuafo'ou. She wrote a remarkable essay on Mamata, & with her help his music began to appear on Tongan radio, inspiring the pro-democracy movement.
7/10 Rogers & Pond eventually separated, & Pond moved to another northern island, the famously steep volcano Tafahi. The only other palangi there was Taavi, the Dutch royal who had become a wandering 'holy man' in Tonga.
8/10 Because it is so inhospitable, Tafahi has never been home to a chief. Nor have missionaries been attracted to the island. Pond soon realised that many elements of ancient Tongan culture had survived on Tafahi.
9/10 Pond recorded hundreds of songs & dances on the island. They were relics of an egalitarian & 'pagan' way of life. Islanders sometimes danced themselves into visionary trances. Pond realised she was seeing remnants of ancient religious ceremonies.
10/10 The material Pond collected on Niuafo'ou & Tafahi is nowadays stored at Victoria University. Her remarkable thesis on dance & politics in northern Tonga is available online via VU. Her new podcast-interview can be heard at soundcloud.com/user_amps/drwe…
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