Papa Tom, an extraordinary Cook Islander who smashed new frontiers in space and the ocean in a life that spanned many fields of work.

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Papa Tom's quest for truth, history, and culture has taken him around the world and even out to space, but it was in Aotearoa and the Cook Islands that it all began...

The extraordinary Cook Islander, the first person from New Zealand and the Pacific to work for NASA, was one of the grandfathers of traditional vaka sailing in the Pacific, and who revolutionised economic reform in the Cook Islands. He is still little-known to generations of young Pacific people and to the New Zealand public in general.

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The life story of I'iga Pisa, an independence activist who sailed hundreds of kilometers in a small canoe to escape exile from Samoa.

*This story was updated on 9/5/2024 to clarify details regarding I'iga Pisa's life.

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In 1909, Samoan independence activist I'iga Pisa was condemned to exile in Saipan by the German colonisers of Western Samoa.

In an extraordinary feat, he escaped from exile by borrowing a small outrigger canoe from a friend and paddling from Saipan to Guam. This was a distance of more than 150 km over a period of several days in which he navigated using the stars.

He had learned German during his exile, but just before his escape from Saipan, he learned that New Zealand had taken over as the new colonial rulers of Samoa.

I'iga lived in Guam for several years, during which time he learned to speak English. He then travelled by boat from Guam to Hawai'i, another US territory, in 1918. In Hawai'i, he worked in a printing firm and improved his English with the aim of returning to his homeland of Samoa. He finally arrived home in 1919.

I'iga worked for the Department of Samoan Affairs, under the New Zealand Administration, until 1942. Some Samoans labeled him a "judas" or traitor for working alongside the New Zealand regime, but historians and family members argue he was trying to change the system from within.

I'iga was the only one of the exiled Samoan revolutionaries who survived to see Samoa win back its freedom from New Zealand in 1962.

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This is the little known story of The Forgotten Soldiers of Niue: 150 men plucked from their island paradise and sent 17,000 kms away to the cold frontlines of France during World War I. The Niuean soldiers never made it to the frontline, however. They instead died en route with the introduction of diseases they had never been exposed to.

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Told in three separate stories, season two of Untold Pacific History shines a light on key events in the Niue, Samoa and Rarotonga that have been little told in Aotearoa.

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This episode examines how and why Indian populations were brought to Fiji, and how the inequities under the colonial government's Girmit system, created a society of instability and countless coups.

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Delving into the legacy of the colonial history that underpins much of the racial disharmony in modern day Fiji, this episode examines some of the fraught factors that have led to the migration of Indo-Fijian and indigenous Fijian communities to Aotearoa.

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This is a story of indigenous land rights gone awry, a makutu from an aggrieved family and the failed business ventures of an infamous 'haunted hotel' in Rarotonga.

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In pre-colonial times, it was the scene of bloody battles between rival tribes, and ancient spirits are said to patrol the area. It is also the subject of a bitter ownership dispute that dates back more than a century and which gave rise to the curse that is still said to hang over the area.

This is the 'cursed' Sheraton hotel complex in Rarotonga, a long-abandoned luxury resort that has lain derelict for a quarter of a century. The stories of Italian Mafia connections, failed government business dealings, and indigenous land rights come together in this episode of Untold Pacific History.

*We apologise for any offence caused by Pa Ariki's incorrect statement in this piece that 'the More family are all dead' in context of the historic family involved in this land dispute. We acknowledge that there are descendants of this family alive today, and that this context was unclear in Pa's statement in this video.

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This episode examines the fatal consequences of New Zealand's rule in Samoa, and the key events that led to the rise of Samoa's 'Mau' resistance movement.

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The Mau became a revolutionary movement for Samoa's independence against New Zealand's brutal period of colonial administration. In what is possibly one of the most significant stories of New Zealand's little-known history in the region, this episode looks at the events that led to the rise of the 'Mau' resistance movement and the fatal consequences of New Zealand's rule in Samoa.

New Zealand's period of rule in Samoa was marred by bungled administration and fatal decision-making. The death of one-fifth of the population via Spanish influenza, and the fatal shooting of unarmed Samoans by NZ police during a peaceful public march are two key events.

This piece sheds light on this period of New Zealand and Samoan history that remains little examined in Aotearoa. Former Head of State Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese, the nephew of the slain Mau leader, tells of his tumultuous family history under the NZ reign and how it led to Helen Clark's famous 2002 apology on behalf of the New Zealand Government.

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What led Commissioner Larsen, the New Zealand administrator of Niue in the 1950s, to be murdered in his bed by three locals hell-bent on justice and revenge?

25/05/2021: We have updated this file with an acknowledgement of the death of Alapasa Nemaia who sadly passed away after the filming of this video and the important contribution she made to this story.

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In an extraordinary story of the trauma suffered by indigenous people at the hands of an alleged tyrant, a dramatic chapter in NZ and Niuean history is unravelled.

Niuean family members, politicians and historians give their perspectives on the little-known New Zealand colonial history of the 'realm nation' of Niue.

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Of the many events affecting Pasifika people in Aotearoa, the Dawn Raids story is overdue to be told.

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Long whispered about in secret family conversations, people have heard the words 'Dawn Raids' but not what really happened.

In this critical examination of a time little-known in New Zealand's social history, this piece features key talent involved in the infamous New Zealand government 'Dawn Raids' regime; from a Samoan policeman who was at the forefront of the raids; to the personal stories of families impacted in this time.

This episode explores the landscape of Aotearoa in the 1970s and the global political factors that led to the economic decline that turned the tide of public sentiment against 'illegal immigrants'.

This important mini-doco looks at the relationship of Aotearoa and its Pacific population, and how this has evolved over the decades.

In this short-form encapsulated history of the Dawn Raids era, historians, Pacific families, teachers and a policeman help to paint a picture of a time that redefined the lives of Pacific people in Aotearoa.

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A dynamic & often provocative account of New Zealand's relationship with the Pacific & the broad impact it's had on New Zealand's own history & relationship with Pacific peoples in Aotearoa today.

Untold Pacific History is a dynamic and often provocative account of New Zealand's relationship with the Pacific and the broad impact it's had on New Zealand's own history and relationship with Pacific peoples in Aotearoa today.

The series shines a light on five key stories in the Pacific that have been little-told in Aotearoa. From the epic drama of NZ's colonisation of Samoa, schoolboys that were hidden under floorboards as part of the NZ Dawn Raids, to the extraordinary story of an allegedly 'cursed' hotel in the Cook Islands.

Untold Pacific History explores little-known snippets of the history of the Pacific and the part New Zealand has played in it.

This first-time series aims to be an accessible introduction to the history of a region which continues to emerge as pivotal to Aotearoa's future.

Untold Pacific History aims to present a refreshed view of New Zealand's relationship with the Pacific, which will help to contextualise today's Pacific experience in Aotearoa and how it came to be.

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