Papa Tom's quest for truth, history and culture has taken him around the world and even out of space, but it was in Aotearoa and the Cook Islands that it all began. The extraordinary Cook Islander who was the first person from NZ to work for NASA, was also one of the grandfathers of traditional vaka sailing in the Pacific. Sir Papa Tom Davis is still little known to many generations of young Pacific people and to the NZ public in general. This mini-doco biopic will look at the life of this extraordinary Cook Islander, who smashed new global frontiers in space and the ocean in a life that spanned so many fields of work. Putting Polynesians out to sea and also into outer space, are just part of a long list of what he counted as significant moments in his lifetime, which saw him be the first Cook Islands Harvard graduate, a game-changing medical doctor in Aotearoa and the Cook Islands, and a champion boxer to boot. Papa Tom’s story is an important one to tell as a more personalised view of Pacific history, and the inspirational way that game-changers were able to effect the course of history for Pacific people. Told via an archival interview with Papa Tom, and significant people from across the Moana and Aotearoa, this bio pic merges old Pacific worlds with the impact that Papa Tom had on modern generations today.

This is the story of I’iga Pisa. A survivor of those exiled as part of the Mau A Pule movement, who made it back to witness Samoa winning back her freedom from colonial rule. After escaping being exiled in Saipan by the Germans, I’iga embarked on an extraordinary journey to find his way home to Samoa, where he walked a fine line between the NZ administration and his own people, but would eventually help usher Samoa through to independence. 

On the 13th of October 1915, Niue - with a population of 4000 people, waved farewell to 150 of its sons, as they set sail for North Africa to fight in a war they knew very little about. They were off to join New Zealand's war effort. Most of them never made it to war and even more of them never made it home. Most of these men couldn’t speak English, some of them had never worn shoes and almost all of them had never seen a wet and cold winter.  Upon their arrival in Egypt they were quickly cut down by severe illness including measles.  The entire regiment was shipped out to England for medical treatment, but the freezing winter and the fact they’d had very little exposure to foreign diseases, meant that by April of 1916 - just months after arriving - nearly 52% of them were hospitalized due to illness and 5 had already been buried at sea. Of the soldiers who did survive, many died shortly after their return to Niue. Leki Jackson Bourke takes us on a journey back to Niue and back through history to discover why these men went to fight in a war they didn’t understand, for a King they didn’t know. He discovers the incredible legacy this has left on Niue as well as his own special connection to these men and this war. Niuean families speak of the horror of their ancestors leaving the island en masse to fight a war that wasn’t theirs, never to return. These are the stories of the families who sent their sons and ancestors to the failed war venture, who share their stories and memorabilia as they attempt to have their whanau’s lives honoured. {{36818}}

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

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.  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 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. 

‘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.

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? New Zealand's representative to Niue, Cecil Hector Larsen, was killed by Niuean locals, the first New Zealand diplomat to have been killed abroad. 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 this little-known New Zealand colonial history on the ‘realm nation’ of Niue.

Of the many real life events of Pasifika people in Aotearoa, the Dawn Raids period in our recent history, is a story that is overdue to be told. Long whispered about in secret family conversations, people have heard the words ‘Dawn Raids’ but not about 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.  {{23733}} This episode explores the landscape of Aotearoa in the 1970’s 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.

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.