Obama's mother wrote thesis "Peasant Blacksmithing in Indonesia""

http://www.worldcat.org/title/peasa...5874559/editions?editionsView=true&referer=br

And a few other pieces about cottage industry in that nation.

Being as many here are sort of on the "peasant blacksmith" level(including those with advanced degrees and real jobs) I wonder if there is anything interesting or useful, being as they are certainly a sea-going people.

Maybe not, because she was an "anthropologist" and not a tinkerer.

But if anyone has what it takes to actually get a copy and post it somewhere I'd take a look. I don't think copyright is an issue on these sort of papers, not withstanding the "public figure" aspect...and that she was US Govt funded.

 

http://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015082687073

 

They certainly were remarkable navigators. A recent book suggests that
the Lapita people migrated to New Zealand much earlier than first thought.

See:
Pearce, C.E.M, and Pearce, F.M,
"Oceanic Migration
Paths, sequence, timing and range of prehistoric migration in the Pacific and
Indian Oceans",
Springer, 2011.

You might be interested to read some of the free pages online at:
http://books.google.com.au/books?id...y#v=onepage&q=Pearce Migration Lapita&f=false

Leo.