Books by "Jeffrey P. Bishop"
2 books found
Waipio Valley: A Polynesian Journey from Eden to Eden recounts the remarkable migrations of the Polynesians across a third of the circumference of the earth. Their amazing journey began from Kalana i Hauola, the biblical Garden of Eden located along the shore of the Persian Gulf, extended to the Indus River Valley of ancient Vedic India, to Egypt where some ancestors of the Polynesians were on the Israelite Exodus, through Island Southeast Asia and across the Pacific Ocean. They voyaged thousands of miles in double-hull canoes constructed from hollowed-out logs, built with Stone Age tools and navigated by the stars of the night sky. The Polynesians resided on numerous tropical islands before reaching Waipio Valley, the last Polynesian Garden of Eden. Due to their isolation on the islands of the Pacific Ocean, Polynesian religious and cultural beliefs have preserved elements from mankinds past nearer the beginning of human history. Polynesian mythology includes genealogical records of their divine ancestors that extends back to Kahiki, their mystical land of creation and ancient divine homeland created by the gods, epic tales of gods and heroes that preserved records of their ancient voyages, oral chants such as the Hawaiian Kumulipo contain evolutionary creation theories that reflect modern scientific thought, and the belief in a Supreme Creator God.
Within little more than ten years in the early nineteenth century, inhabitants of Tahiti, Hawaii and fifteen other closely related societies destroyed or desecrated all of their temples and most of their god-images. In the aftermath of the explosive event, which Sissons terms the Polynesian Iconoclasm, hundreds of architecturally innovative churches — one the size of two football fields — were constructed. At the same time, Christian leaders introduced oppressive laws and courts, which the youth resisted through seasonal displays of revelry and tattooing. Seeking an answer to why this event occurred in the way that it did, this book introduces and demonstrates an alternative “practice history” that draws on the work of Marshall Sahlins and employs Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, improvisation and practical logic.