Voyages

This text documents the social phenomena of mass migration from agricultural ex-colonies and ex-protectorates to the industrial world. The author focuses on the perspective of one extended family and one village in the Kingdom of Tonga, an independent island nation in the South Pacific which has lost one third of its population to migration since the mid-1960s. Moving between Tonga and California, Small chronicles the experiences of a family from the village of 'Olunga. Some members stayed and some migrated to California in successive waves in the 1960s-1990s. Through their lives, she presents a portrait of Tongan culture in the United States. Returning to 'Olunga with family members and their American-born children, she shows what has happened to village life and to kin relationships after 30 years of migration. Throughout the narrative, Small examines her own experience as an anthropologist, asking how the migration of Tongans has affected what she sees and the way she writes. She attempt to reveal not just the story of migration, but also the transformation of culture and anthropology.