  We present thermodynamic and neutron data on Ni_3V_2O_8, a spin-1 system on a
kagome staircase. The extreme degeneracy of the kagome antiferromagnet is
lifted to produce two incommensurate phases at finite T - one amplitude
modulated, the other helical - plus a commensurate canted antiferromagnet for T
->0. The H-T phase diagram is described by a model of competing first and
second neighbor interactions with smaller anisotropic terms. Ni_3V_2O_8 thus
provides an elegant example of order from sub leading interactions in a highly
frustrated system
