A new book, Marjorie Crocombe – e va’ine toa, e rangatira, honours the extraordinary life and contributions of Marjorie Tua’inekore Tere Crocombe. It will be launched on Tuesday, 25 February 2025, at 11am at the University of the South Pacific (USP) Cook Islands campus. All are warmly welcomed.

Marjorie Crocombe was a towering figure in Pacific education, creative writing, ethnohistory and publishing, leaving an enduring legacy for the region before her passing in 2022 at the age of 92. Beginning her work at a time when colonial attitudes often dismissed Indigenous knowledge, she helped blaze the way for Pacific scholarship and creative expression.

Portrait of Dr. Marjorie Tua'inekore Tere Crocombe; artist Nanette Lela'ulu, 2012. The artist pictures Marjorie inher doctoral robes with bare feet on a woven mat emphasising her ‘groundedness’ in the Pacific. On the blackboard behind her are lines from her ground-breaking book "Cannibals and Converts - Radical Change in the Cook Islands". Professor Ron Crocombe’s empty chair stands beside her depicting the absent ‘other half’ of a 50-year partnership. SUPPLIED/25022104

This new volume brings together essays, poetry and reflections, celebrating her decades-long dedication to uplifting Pacific voices. It complements a previous volume Ron Crocombe e toa!, a tribute to her husband, Professor Ron Crocombe, with whom she shared a lifelong mission to advance Pacific studies.

The book originated from the 2023 Pacific Islands Universities Research Network (PIURN) Conference in Rarotonga, where a special session was dedicated to Marjorie’s life and influence. Contributors include early career Pasifika academics as well as her former colleagues and peers. The new volume is edited by Linda Crowl, Rod Dixon and Vaine Wichman.

In her contribution to the book, Professor Alice Te Punga Sommerville (University of British Columbia) ranks Marjorie alongside Albert Wendt and Epeli Hau’ofa as one of the key thinkers behind the concept of Oceania. She praises Marjorie as a “producer of the space for texts to be created and shared,” recognising her impact as a writer, scholar, and connector. Dr Emma Ngakuravaru Powell (University of Otago) echoes this sentiment, calling Marjorie a “ferocious and intelligent leader” whose “incredible legacy of literary work and institution-building has left an indelible mark on how we understand the development of our Pacific intellectual heritage.”

Reflections from her peers further illuminate her influence. Professor Randy Thaman recalls Marjorie as “a bigger-than-life, strong-willed Polynesian duchess … Marjorie was without ego and never blew her own horn. She never travelled business class or first cabin; she travelled on deck with ‘her people’ as she plied her trade … She was far more concerned about serving the region and the people of her beloved Cook Islands than about titles and honours, although she was ultimately honoured with more honours than, perhaps, anyone in USP’s history.”

Marjorie having coffee at the Dearloves. SUPPLIED/25022103

Professor Konai Helu Thaman remembers Marjorie as a “big sister” and a foundational figure in Pacific literature, instrumental in launching the South Pacific Creative Arts Society (SPCAS) and its journal, Mana. Professor Peggy Fairbairn-Dunlop similarly recalls Marjorie as “an older sister – telling us ‘like it is.’” Poet Makiuti Tongia celebrates Marjorie as a “practitioner, not a talker… She was a leader, pushing herself and everyone else to keep paddling her vaka of discoveries.”

Joan Gragg and Tricia Thompson document Marjorie’s contributions to language preservation and education. Former Cook Islands prime minister Henry Puna credits her advocacy with establishing a full degree programme in Cook Islands Māori at USP in 2018. This milestone paved the way for similar programmes in Tongan and Niuafoˈou, Vagahau Niue, Vanuatu Language Studies and Rotuman.  “She challenged me, as Prime Minister and USP Chancellor, to walk the talk on strengthening Indigenous languages,” Puna shares. “She was not seeking to make me uncomfortable, but she did. Her manner has always been so frank as to send the most skilled politicians running for cover.” The first cohort of the Diploma in Cook Islands Māori language graduated in 2021.

Additional contributors detail Marjorie’s collaborative approach to research and publishing. Ina Herrmann remembers Marjorie “stirring the embers and awakening the fires of writing and of creativity” within the Atiu community, particularly the collaborative writing project Atiu: E Enua E Tona Iti Tangata.  Mary and Kevin Salisbury reflect on how Marjorie’s collaborative research ethos influenced their work with the Pukapuka community in the monumental task of translating the Bible into the Pukapuka language. Diane Goodwillie documents Marjorie’s pivotal role in Pacific early childhood education, continuing education and women’s advancement, while Linda Crowl chronicles the history of SPCAS,  Mana and the Institute of Pacific Studies at USP.  Additionally, Linda and Mary Northcott Leano present a comprehensive index to Mana, offering students an invaluable resource for researching the history of Pacific literature.

Rod Dixon and Jean Tekura Mason pay tribute to Marjorie’s ongoing work on the identification of Pacific and Cook Islands national treasures abroad. Together they track down the fascinating backstory of a magnificent tapa in Kew Gardens, London, originally identified as Rarotongan by Marjorie.

In her contribution, Vaine Wichman uses a tivaivai as metaphor to encapsulate Marjorie’s life and legacy. The tivaivai’s backing, she writes, would be a deep ocean blue representing the sporting colours of her village of Titikaveka, with rays of green and brown symbolising the lush gardens she nurtured in Titikaveka, Suva, and Nika’o. ‘It would have shafts of warm yellow sunlight peeping out from behind arrangements of tiare māori and pua neinei … on a dark green bed of maire, the strong fern that does not wilt easily and is used for healing. The browns signify the life of the coconut as it falls to give life again; her browns have spread to colour the lives of all those unrecognised men and women with hidden stories to be written and published. And if a tivaivai could talk, Marjorie’s tivaivai would be telling us, “History can only be told properly by the people of the land – their stories, in their own words and language.”  Dr Debi Futter-Puati echoes this, describing Marjorie as a visionary of a decolonised Pacific, inspiring generations to challenge dominant Western narratives by researching, revaluing and recording their own stories.

Interwoven with paintings by Joan Gragg and Mahiriki Tangaroa, poetry from celebrated Pacific writers such as Jean Tekura Mason, Konai Thaman and Lisa Williams, and an album of photographs curated by Jaiah Arai, the book captures Marjorie’s lifelong passion for nurturing creativity in the Pacific.

The launch event, at USP Cook Islands, Tuesday 25 February at 11am, will include readings, discussions and an opportunity to purchase copies of the book. USP welcomes everyone to join this celebration of a remarkable woman whose work continues to inspire generations across the Pacific.

The book is available for overseas customers at https://www.blurb.com/b/12163927-marjorie-crocombe-e-va-ine-toa-e-rangatira