Polynesian Research: Hawaii
Polynesian Research: Hawaii

Author: William Ellis

Publisher: Tuttle Publishing

Published: 2012-02-14

Total Pages: 403

ISBN-13: 1462904580

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Polynesian Researches:Hawaii is the famous record of the author's visit to the Hawaiian Islands in the early nineteenth century. It includes an account of Hawaiian history, government, religion , warfare, and traditions- a general survey of Hawaiian life. More than this, it is the author's personal observations of Hawaiian manners and customs and is invaluable to anyone interested in old Hawaii. The author, Rev. William Ellis, lived in Polynesia as a missionary from 1817 to 1825. He spent much of his time in Tahiti and soon became fluent in the language. Before returning to England, he seized an opportunity to visit the Hawaiian Islands. He was soon able to talk with the natives in the Hawaiian language and made a tour of the island of Hawaii. On his tour he talked with chiefs, common people Hawaiian holy–men, and divinely possessed oracles. He climbed volcanoes, rode canoes, and visited the sight of Captain Cook's death. Besides the description of his tour, this book includes an account of Maui, Kahoolawe, Molokini, Lani, Molokai, Oahu, Kauai, Hiihau, and Kaula. The book is full of interesting descriptions of the author's encounters with Hawaiians. It is fast–moving and easy–reading. This book, an encyclopedic account of traditional Hawaii.

The Evolution of the Polynesian Chiefdoms
The Evolution of the Polynesian Chiefdoms

Author: Patrick Vinton Kirch

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 1989-07-13

Total Pages: 332

ISBN-13: 9780521273169

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A first study from an archaeological perspective of the elaborate systems of Polynesian chiefdoms presents an original account of the processes of cultural change and evolution over three millennia.

The Polynesian Iconoclasm
The Polynesian Iconoclasm

Author: Jeffrey Sissons

Publisher: Berghahn Books

Published: 2014-09-01

Total Pages: 170

ISBN-13: 1782384146

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Within little more than ten years in the early nineteenth century, inhabitants of Tahiti, Hawaii and fifteen other closely related societies destroyed or desecrated all of their temples and most of their god-images. In the aftermath of the explosive event, which Sissons terms the Polynesian Iconoclasm, hundreds of architecturally innovative churches — one the size of two football fields — were constructed. At the same time, Christian leaders introduced oppressive laws and courts, which the youth resisted through seasonal displays of revelry and tattooing. Seeking an answer to why this event occurred in the way that it did, this book introduces and demonstrates an alternative “practice history” that draws on the work of Marshall Sahlins and employs Bourdieu’s concepts of habitus, improvisation and practical logic.

Possessing Polynesians
Possessing Polynesians

Author: Maile Renee Arvin

Publisher: Duke University Press

Published: 2019-11-08

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13: 1478005653

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From their earliest encounters with Indigenous Pacific Islanders, white Europeans and Americans asserted an identification with the racial origins of Polynesians, declaring them to be racially almost white and speculating that they were of Mediterranean or Aryan descent. In Possessing Polynesians Maile Arvin analyzes this racializing history within the context of settler colonialism across Polynesia, especially in Hawai‘i. Arvin argues that a logic of possession through whiteness animates settler colonialism, by which both Polynesia (the place) and Polynesians (the people) become exotic, feminized belongings of whiteness. Seeing whiteness as indigenous to Polynesia provided white settlers with the justification needed to claim Polynesian lands and resources. Understood as possessions, Polynesians were and continue to be denied the privileges of whiteness. Yet Polynesians have long contested these classifications, claims, and cultural representations, and Arvin shows how their resistance to and refusal of white settler logic have regenerated Indigenous forms of recognition.

Developments in Polynesian Ethnology
Developments in Polynesian Ethnology

Author: Robert Borofsky

Publisher: University of Hawaii Press

Published: 2019-03-31

Total Pages: 448

ISBN-13: 0824881966

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Development in Polynesian Ethnology assesses the current state of anthropological research in Polynesia by examining the debates and issues that shape the discipline today. What have anthropologists achieved? What concerns now dominate discussion? Where is Polynesian anthropology headed? In a series of provocative and original essays, leading scholars examine prehistory, social organization, socialization and character development, mana and tapu, chieftainship, art and aesthetics, and early contact. Together these essays show how history, anthropology, and archaeology have combined to give a broad understanding of Polynesian societies developing over time--how they represent a blend of modernity and tradition, continuity and change. This book is both an introduction to Polynesia for interested students and a thought-provoking synthesis for scholars charting new directions and posing possibilities for future research. Scholars outside Polynesian studies will find the perspectives it offers important and its comprehensive bibliography an invaluable resource.