Mothers' Darlings of the South Pacific

Mothers' Darlings of the South Pacific

The Children of Indigenous Women and U.S. Servicemen, World War II

With contributions by: Judith A. Bennett, Saui'a Louise Marie Tuimanuolo Mataia-Milo, Kathryn Creely, Jacqueline Leckie, Alumita Durutalo, Angela Wanhalla, Kate Stevens and Rosemary Anderson
Edited by: Judith A. Bennett and Angela Wanhalla

University of Hawaii Press | 2016

https://doi.org/10.1515/9780824858292

Overview
Contents

About this book

Over the course of World War II, two million American military personnel occupied bases throughout the South Pacific, leaving behind a human legacy of at least 4,000 children born to indigenous mothers. Based on interviews conducted with many of these American-indigenous children and several of the surviving mothers, Mothers’ Darlings of the South Pacific explores the intimate relationships that existed between untold numbers of U.S. servicemen and indigenous women during the war and considers the fate of their mixed-race children. These relationships developed in the major U.S. bases of the South Pacific Command, from Bora Bora in the east across to Solomon Islands in the west, and from the Gilbert Islands in the north to New Zealand, in the southernmost region of the Pacific.

The American military command carefully managed interpersonal encounters between the sexes, applying race-based U.S. immigration law on Pacific peoples to prevent marriage “across the color line.” For indigenous women and their American servicemen sweethearts, legal marriage was impossible; giving rise to a generation of fatherless children, most of whom grew up wanting to know more about their American lineage. Mothers’ Darlings of the South Pacific traces these children’s stories of loss, emotion, longing, and identity—and of lives lived in the shadow of global war. Each chapter discusses the context of the particular island societies and shows how this often determined the ways intimate relationships developed and were accommodated during the war years and beyond.

Oral histories reveal what the records of colonial governments and the military have largely ignored, providing a perspective on the effects of the U.S. occupation that until now has been disregarded by Pacific war historians. The richness of this book will appeal to those interested the Pacific, World War II, as well as intimacy, family, race relations, colonialism, identity, and the legal structures of U.S. immigration.

Author information

BennettJudith A.:

Judith A. Bennett is professor of Pacific history at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand.WanhallaAngela:

Angela Wanhalla is associate professor in the Department of History and Art History at the University of Otago.

Reviews

This book is a long overdue and much needed account of stories that have been neglected in the ongoing narrative of World War II.

Frontmatter Free access PDF PDF	i
Contents Free access PDF PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Free access PDF PDF	xi
Abbreviations Free access PDF PDF	xix
Prologue: War Comes to the Pacific Judith A. Bennett Free access PDF PDF	xxi
Introduction: A New Net Goes Fishing Judith A. Bennett Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	1
1. Bora Bora: “Like a Dream” Judith A. Bennett Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	31
2. “There Are No Commoners in Samoa” Saui‘a Louise Mataia-Milo Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	42
3. New Caledonia: The Experiences of a War Bride and Her Children Kathryn Creely Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	83
4. No Bali Ha‘i: New Hebrides Judith A. Bennett Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	118
5. Wallis (Uvea) Island: A Different Kind of Love Story Judith A. Bennett Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	146
Tonga in the Time of the Americans Judith A. Bennett Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	165
7. Kai Merika! Fijian Children of American Servicemen Jacqueline Leckie and Alumita Durutalo Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	183
8. “I Don’t Like Maori Girls Going Out with Yanks”: Māori-American Encounters in New Zealand Angela Wanhalla and Kate Stevens Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	202
9. The Solomon Islands: Off the Radar Judith A. Bennett Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	228
10. Marike Koe: The American Children of the Cook Islands Rosemary Anderson Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	243
11. On the Atolls: Gilbert Islands Judith A. Bennett Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	270
Epilogue Angela Wanhalla, Judith A. Bennett and Rosemary Anderson Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	300
Appendix 1 Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	309
Appendix 2 Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	311
Notes Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	315
References Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	347
Contributors Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	365
Index Access restricted Content is available PDF PDF	369

Mothers' Darlings of the South Pacific

The Children of Indigenous Women and U.S. Servicemen, World War II

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