Unity of Heart: Culture and Change in a Polynesian Atoll Society / Edition 1

by Chambers, Anne Chambers

Overview

The authors are social anthropologists affiliated with Southern Oregon University. They write here about their fieldwork in Nanumea, one of eight separate island communities comprising the modern Pacific nation of Tuvalu. The book includes a glossary, a bibliography, and a study guide, but, inexplicably, no index. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781577661665
Publisher:	Waveland Press, Inc.
Publication date:	10/15/2000
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	9.00(w) x 6.00(h) x (d)

Table of Contents

	Geographic Note	IX
	Preface	XI
	Acknowledgments	XVII
1	Encountering Nanumea	1
	Learning to Speak	2
	Fieldwork Methods	3
	A Second Chance	10
	A Third Visit	13
	Seeking Feedback	16
	Looking Back over a Quarter Century	16
	Notes and Suggestions for Further Reading	18
2	"Of the Island"	21
	Notes and Suggestions for Further Reading	38
3	Tefolaha in the Cookhouse	41
	Family Corporations	42
	A Cookhouse Encounter	49
	Community Foundations	51
	Myths and "Reality"	52
	Notes and Suggestions for Further Reading	54
4	Emerging from the "Days of Darkness"	57
	Dating Tefolaha	58
	Precontact Society	61
	Themes in Nanumean Traditional History	63
	Explorers and Whalers	68
	Missionaries	71
	Traders, Beachcombers, and Sailors	74
	Under Colonial Administration	76
	The War Years	80
	Passage to Independence	82
	Notes and Suggestions for Further Reading	85
5	Coral and Sand	91
	A Marginal Human Habitat	92
	"What Do We Rely on for Life?"	95
	Shared Estates	96
	Working the Lands	101
	Coconut and Water	105
	Root Crops and Prestige	111
	Using the Sea	115
	Notes and Suggestions for Further Reading	122
6	Something for All	125
	Categorizing Exchange	127
	Sharing and Compassion	130
	Sharing in Practice	132
	The Local Cooperative Store	135
	Dilemmas Facing Entrepreneurs	140
	Group Selling	143
	Household Strategies for Making Money	146
	Changes in Cash Income	155
	Notes and Suggestions for Further Reading	157
7	Family Matters	161
	Networks of Kin	162
	Clues about Family Relationships	163
	Balancing Respect and Caring	170
	To Marry or Not to Marry	175
	Children as a Blessing	180
	Household Dynamics	185
	Notes and Suggestions for Further Reading	187
8	Community	191
	Community Organization	192
	Heart of the Community	199
	Service-Oriented Leadership	205
	Getting Along Together	210
	Heirs of Tefolaha	217
	Notes and Suggestions for Further Reading	218
9	Challenges of the Twenty-first Century	221
	Rising Sea Levels	223
	Local Identity, National Identity, and Pressures for Westernization	225
	Inroads of Capitalism	230
	Equality under Threat	232
	Leadership Issues	234
	Balancing Urban and Outer Island Opportunities	236
	Looking to the Future	241
	Notes and Suggestions for Further Reading	241
10	Unity of Heart	245
	Notes and Suggestions for Further Reading	249
	Glossary of Tuvaluan Words	251
	Bibliography	257
	Study Guide	275