"New Zealand is a nation that exists on Pacific Islands, but does not, will not, perhaps cannot, see itself as a Pacific Island nation. Yet turning to the Pacific, argues Damon Salesa, enables us to grasp a fuller understanding of what life is really like on these shores. Setting a course through the islands of Pacific life in New Zealand ¿tara, Tokoroa, Porirua, ¿amaru and beyond he charts a country becoming even more Pacific by the hour. What would it mean, this far-sighted book asks, for New Zealand to recognise its Pacific talent and finally act like a Pacific nation?" -- Back cover.