Tongan Chiefdoms
The Tongan archipelago, located in Polynesia, extends to about 300 kilometers and includes from 150 to 200 islands. The largest islands within the group are Tongatapu, ‘Eua, and Vava'u. Only three other islands are inhabited; Eva, Niuafo'ou, and Niuatoputapu (Goldman 1970: 281).Tonga is on the western side of the international date line. Radioactive carbon dating of a Tongan specimen gave us a date going back to about the 5th century B.C. This date is the oldest of all of Polynesia (Lieb 1972: 79).
Among the Polynesian chiefdoms, Tonga is unique because of its level of political development and extensive travel and exchange (Kirch 1984: 217). The entire archipelago was controlled by a pair of sacred and secular paramount chiefs. The placing of the islands in a south- west to north-east position made traveling easy. During the trade-wind season traveling up and down the chain of islands was easy (Kirch 1984: 219).
Despite the lost coral islets and atolls, the islands have extremely fertile soil. However, certain conditions do affect development. The islands are small with fixed boundaries and are occupied by tens of thousands of people. Irrigation is not possible, limiting their agricultural capabilities to dryland field systems. Being in the middle of the ocean leaves them susceptible to natural disasters such as cyclones and droughts (Kirch 1984: 221).
The rainfall is about 1500 mm to 1800 mm a year which made the islands flourish. Animal husbandry was well developed as was agriculture. The Tongans used swidden agriculture raise yams, aroids, and bananas. Although the land was not allowed to lay fallow for very long, it was kept fertile through mulching. There was also an emphasis on land division...
... middle of paper ...
... over males of the same generation. The father is the head of the household with authority over his wife and children. Even so he still must answer to the wishes of his older sister who in some ways is a "chief" (Lindstrom and White 1997: 49).
REFERENCES CITED
Gailey, C. W.
1987 Kinship to Kingship. University of Texas Press, Austin.
Goldman, I.
1970 Ancient Polynesian Society. The University of Chicago Press, Chicago.
Kirch, P. V.
1984 The Evolution of the Polynesian Chiefdom. Cambridge University Press, New York.
Leib, A. P.
1972 The Many Islands of Polynesia. Charles Scribner's Sons, New York.
Lindstrom, L. and G. M. White (editors)
1997 Chiefs Today. Stanford University Press, Stanford, California.
Sahlins, M. D.
1958. Social Stratification in Polynesia. University of Washington Press, Seattle.
The arrival of the missionaries in Hawaii changed the lives of the natives in huge ways that lasted forever. The introduction of western houses and culture had a big influence on Hawaii. The native Hawaiians built their houses out of grass and had very simple villages, but when the missionaries established their settlement they built more sophisticated and sturdy homes out of coral and used western architectural methods to construct buildings. The Hawaiians soon following their lead and the royalty all had western palaces for homes. This also lead to an increase in technology, such as the use of wells and water lines to store fresh water for the towns. They also began to bring in and
Foreigners also brought diseases over to Hawai’i and the Hawaiians did not have a sufficient immune system therefore they died. The population went from one million people to 134,000. This was in a span of forty-five years. Since the haoles were immune to the disease they were able to carry on and grow stronger. Hawaiians thought that since the foreigners were not getting sick they must be considered gods. Lies were repeated over and over by the haole and this is how they built there civilization.
As described by Linnekin and Bierle (2003), Hawaiians are a subsistence combination culture that are in the sub region off Polynesia. Hawaiians are indigenous to the Hawaiian Islands. They descended from Eastern Polynesians who originated in the Marquesas Islands. The current Hawaiian population is estimated to be 175,000 people. “Pure” Hawaiians, or people who are completely Hawaiian, consists of only about 9,000 people. Few Hawaiians can speak the Hawaiian language because it was suppressed in the mid-1900s. Most Hawaiians now speak Hawai’i island Creole, known as “Pidgin” by many who speak it.
Jovik, Sonia P. and James O. Jovik. (1997). “History.” Atlas of Hawaii. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, p.408.
Swinburn, Boyd. et al. ‘Do Polynesians Still Believe that Big is Beautiful?, in New Zealand Medical Journal,1996, 109. 100-103
Ii, John Papa., Mary Kawena Pukui, and Dorothy B. Barrère. Fragments of Hawaiian History. Honolulu: Bishop Museum, 1983. Print.
Easter Island, submerged volcanic mountain range in the eastern Pacific Ocean, is located 500 miles South of the Tropic of Capricorn, and 2,200 miles West of Chile. This area is located were it is swept by strong trade winds. Because of his, the island remains warm through out the year. As you know, Easter Island is small. To be exact it has an area of 64 square miles about the size of Washington D.C. Easter Island’s population as grown a lot since diseases spread to most of the island in1877. Some of the remaining people left for South America, and the island was left 110 people. The population grew throughout the years in 1955 it was 990, in 1980 it was 1,842 and in 1989 it was 2,095.
In the chronological, descriptive ethnography Nest in the Wind, Martha Ward described her experience on the rainy, Micronesian island of Pohnpei using both the concepts of anthropological research and personal, underlying realities of participant observation to convey a genuine depiction of the people of Pohnpei. Ward’s objective in writing Nest in the Wind was to document the concrete, specific events of Pohnpeian everyday life and traditions through decades of change. While informing the reader of the rich beliefs, practices, and legends circulated among the people of Pohnpei, the ethnography also documents the effects of the change itself: the island’s adaptation to the age of globalization and the survival of pre-colonial culture.
The Polynesian peoples have a lifestyle quite different than that of any other culture, as living on an island requires a level of flexible adaptability in order to cope with such a different, sometimes difficult environment. We see the way diverse cultures build their lives around their circumstances and how they respect them in their cultural myths and stories. The Polynesian legends emphasize the physical environment that they live in. They are quite different than any other region in the world, but the beauty and individuality of the Polynesian culture is prominent as seen in their mythology.
A small archipelago off the northwest coast of Britsh Columbia is known as the “islands of the people.” This island is diverse in both land and sea environment. From the 1700’s when the first ship sailed off its coast and a captain logged about the existence, slow attentiveness was given to the island. Its abundance, in both natural resources physical environment, and its allure in the concealed Haida peoples, beckoned settlers to come to the island. Settlers would spark an era of prosperity and catastrophe for the native and environmental populations.
There is a diversity of tribes that the human society was once uninformed of its existence. Until the 1970, mankind was unaware of the Korowai society existence. The Korowai also known as Kolufu are from the southwestern part of the western part of New Guinea. The Korowai tribe follows a common language, economic system, and an exceptional lifestyle. They practice rituals and have incredible architectural knowledge. In the verge of extinction the Korowai tribe continues to practice their unique culture and traditional rituals.
Before I came to Hawaii, I didn’t really know anything about the Native Hawaiians and the current local Hawaiians culture or their lifestyle. I am so blessed to be living in Hawaii and very lucky to have the opportunity to be surrounded by the local culture, as important as it is to understand this culture, I really wanted to dig deeper into the lives of the native Hawaiians, the people that were here from the beginning. Going out into the field trips and gaining understanding from actual natives and participating in the field work was the best way for me to gain the knowledge I was looking for. I also used the assistance of some texts, and online resources.
... harvest fruits and berries and grains from the island. This will supplement the food that can be grown and harvested on the island. Everyone on the island will share the food available equally. If a point comes where there is more food than what the people can eat, at that point we will dry grains, fruit, and vegetables for use later. Even meat can be thinly sliced and smoked and dried to preserve it.
Do you ever think about marriage? If so, where, when, how, and who do you want to marry? Do any of those things even matter to you? Everyone regardless of age, gender, background, or culture will contemplate about marriage at least once in their lifetime, in fact some even plan their dream wedding since they were a kid. However, in reality, marriage is more than just a fairytale-like, dreamy concept as some cliche Hollywood films would portrait. Marriage requires countless serious negotiations and decisions, that couples would soon realize deciding on a marriage was only a tip of an iceberg of decision-making. Couples will have to decide on where to live, how to split the work at home, if they want to expand the family, have children, and etc,
In addition to physical male dominance, economic superiority was displayed every time the male, whether it is the boyfriend in the intimate couple, or the father in the family, paid the bill, rather than the female.