Pauline Reynolds

• PhD at University of New England

Historically, scholarship of and about Mā’ohi Nui (French Polynesia) has been conducted using western methods, methodologies, and frameworks which has, to a large extent, resulted in inaccurate and degrading representations of the people and the islands. In accordance with the empowering trends of Critical Pacific Studies, this article proposes a n...

This article examines the tapa cloths made by the women associated with the Bounty, who sailed to Pitcairn Island with the Bounty mutineers to create a new society and culture. Traditional literature reveals a male-dominated narrative, which ignores any female agency in the Bounty-Pitcairn story, and merely objectifies them. The tapa cloths the wom...