The purpose of this paper is to construct a leadership model in the modern context through consideration of the relationship between local leadership and economic development projects, namely forestry development, on Santa Isabel Island, in the Solomon Islands.
Although the Solomon Islands declared independence in 1978, development towards modernization, has been slowed by restrictions generated by the traditional systems of land tenure, and the economic realities of local communities with subsistence economies based on swidden cultivation. Since 1990, the government has encouraged local people to engage in the logging business with foreign investors in order to alleviate the country's dire economic situation. Logging now accounts for over 50% of the total value of exports.
This paper focuses on two case studies: (1) a project which a certain descent group has planned in cooperation with a Japanese company, and which was suspended later due to problems; (2) a project which is at the center of a dispute between a village community and a joint-venture company. By analyzing narratives of local leaders about these development projects, this paper argues that for local subsistence communities, economic development requires co-ordination between a modern nation-state and the community. Furthermore, the emergence of local leaders who can control or manipulate development affairs is resulting in new leadership models.
Man and Culture in Oceania, 14: 1-29.
Key words: Santa Isabel; leadership; forestry development; logging; Christianity; kastom
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Hawaiian cultural identity and various discourses surrounding it are highly debatable issues in \enskip the contemporary cultural and political circumstances \enskip in Hawaii. In the age of Hawaiian cultural revival and the sovereignty movement, Hawaiian traditional culture is more and more eloquently narrated and represented. However, it is generally recognized that a large majority of Hawaiians maintain Christian traditions to a greater or lesser degree.
This paper aims at investigating the relation between Christian tradition and traditional Hawaiian religion in the construction of Hawaiian identity. In order to do so, I will analyze the results of a questionnaire conducted among Hawaiian students, after a general review of the history of Hawaiian ethnicity and the current social circumstances surrounding Hawaiians. The results of the survey indicate that 1) "culture," "blood" and "land" are the most significant elements for their perception of Hawaiian identity, 2) traditional Hawaiian religion does not occupy the central position of identity composition among Hawaiian students, and 3) the construction of Hawaiian identity, especially in its relation with traditional Hawaiian religion, can be various between different groups, such as between Christian Hawaiians and non-Christian Hawaiians.
The relation between Christianity and traditional religion is a difficult problem which cannot be easily resolved by many Hawaiians. Different Hawaiians have different attitudes and solutions to this problem. Although the questionnaire alone is not a suitable method to investigate the complicated issue of Hawaiian cultural identity, the results of the survey will give a hint for understanding the current cultural condition of Hawaiians, and also a clue for more intensive ethnographic study in the future.
Man and Culture in Oceania, 14: 31-68.
Key words:Hawaiians; cultural identity; ethnicity; Christianity; sovereignty movement; cultural revival; questionnaire
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The perception of the internal and external affinities of Micronesian populations is heavily influenced by linguistic models. The observation that linguistic boundaries correspond to the distance traveled during an "overnight voyage" (Marck, 1986) suggests that linguistic divergence may reflect geography rather than prehistory. To evaluate the relationship between geographic isolation and linguistic divergence from a biological perspective, I have generated and analyzed biparental and maternal genetic data from 276 people representing eight Micronesian populations. The genetic data indicate that gene flow within Central and Eastern Micronesia has been male biased and extensive throughout prehistory. Furthermore, the biparental genetic and the linguistic distances are both significantly correlated with geographic network distances based upon short, island hopping voyages across a West - East voyaging corridor (0.52 < r < 0.72, p < 0.01). These results suggest that the peoples and cultures of Central and Eastern Micronesia have evolved via exchange and continuous male-biased gene flow since colonization.
Man and Culture in Oceania, 14: 69-80.
Key words: Micronesia; genetics; geography; language
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We identified 215 bird bones from five archaeological sites on the islands of Mangareva, Aukena, and Kamaka in the Gambier Islands, French Polynesia. The bones, which are from birds that were killed for their flesh, feathers, or bones by prehistoric Polynesians, represent 15 species of seabirds (most or all resident) including Bulweria cf. B. fallax, three species of resident landbirds (the heron Egretta sacra and two extirpated columbids Gallicolumba erythroptera and G. nui), a migrant shorebird Numenius tahitiensis, and the non-native chicken Gallus gallus. Of the 18 certain or presumed resident species, at least four and perhaps as many as eight species no longer occur on Mangareva. While informative, this sample of bones is too small to estimate the true extent of the prehistoric extinction of birds on Mangareva.
Man and Culture in Oceania, 14: 81-98.
Key words:Polynesia; Mangareva; zooarchaeology; birds; extinction
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In the lower valley of the Koumac River, the ancient dwelling sites are found in the vicinity of limestone formations and are characterised by the presence of circular earth-mounds representing former dwelling platforms, of horticultural structures associated with habitat and, often, of a particular type of vegetation known as sclerophyllous forest. Numerous artefacts are found on the surface of these sites: seashells, pottery sherds and flakes and fragments of various materials (stone, glass), witness to ancient activites of tool-making. A study of these material remains and of the spatial arrangement of dwellings and agricultural structures, cross-checked with ethnographic and historical records dating back to the time of the arrival of the first Europeans, enabled us to reconstruct a general pattern of these settlements and to trace back some of the activities of their inhabitants. This study, furthermore, is used to demonstrate the importance of vegetation and tool materials as datation indicators for ancient occupations.
Man and Culture in Oceania, 14: 99-119.
Key words:settlement patterns; dating methods; stone tools; glass tools; vegetation; agricultural structures; Koumac; New-Caledonia
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