Indigenous Studies Commons^™

Contesting The Erotic Zone: Margaret Mead's Fieldwork Photographs Of Samoa, Sharon W. Tiffany

Pacific Studies

Margaret Mead's photographs taken during her first ethnographic fieldwork in the South Pacific have received little scholarly attention. While some of Mead's images borrowed from earlier photographic conventions, her pictures also challenged prevailing representations of Polynesian women. Mead's photos experimented with alternative visual narratives about Samoan women's bodies and their everyday lives, in contrast to signature images of Pacific Islander women as commoditized sex objects, exoticized women of power, or as romanticized primitives. Mead's first effort at using a camera in the field provided a spectrum of representations useful for re-interpreting female embodiment and the gender politics of the photographic …

Margaret Mead And Gregory Bateson In The Sepik, 1938: A Timely Polemic From A Lost Anthropological Efflorescence, Eric Kline Silverman

Pacific Studies

Margaret Mead and Gregory Bateson's 1938 study of a Iatmul-speaking village in the middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea, remains an anthropological efflorescence. At the very least, this collaboration resulted in a well-known fieldwork photo: Mead and Bateson in the famous "mosquito room." Ironically, little is actually known about the 1938 undertaking, which remains, however famous, sadly obscure. Towards correcting this misjudgment, I have two objectives. First, I want to provide a selective overview of the 1938 project, focusing on its unique outlook, tone, voices, morality, and theoretical perspectives. But my objective is not merely historical and descriptive. Hence, my …

Using And Abusing The Works Of The Ancestors: Margaret Mead, Mary Catherine Bateson

Pacific Studies

Because early-twentieth-century anthropologists worked under very different circumstances from those of anthropologists today, they have become easy to criticize and hard to use fruitfully. Finding the appropriate use of Margaret Mead's work today is a goal she would have felt at home with. Criticism and correction are essential, but opportunistic uses of Mead's work, legacy, and persona, like the attack by Derek Freeman that made him famous, are essentially wasteful and exploitative. By focusing attention on Mead's earliest work, Freeman obscured her lifelong contribution and undermined concepts she helped embed in American thinking, like the indispensable (if vague) concept of …

Introduction: The Essentialization Of Margaret Mead, Nancy Mcdowell

Pacific Studies

Margaret Mead and her contributions to Pacific anthropology play a large role in the discipline, and anthropologists need to consider her work carefully and in context. Evaluators of Mead are often guilty of simplifying her work rather than assessing its full complexity. The reasons for this phenomenon are examined here: several commentators have not read the work carefully, while others select only some aspects of it to support their analyses. Many misrepresentations are the result of a failure to consider her work in its appropriate historical context, and a few employ Mead as a symbol or trope for broader phenomena, …

Tales From The Internet: Margaret Mead's Legacy In American Culture, Merrily Stover

Pacific Studies

This essay explores the importance of Margaret Mead for American society as revealed through the cultural domain of the Internet. By examining sites accessible through popular search engines, the essay analyzes Mead's life using Joseph Campbell's myth of the hero's journey. Mead's legend emphasizes her journey to far places and her return with important gifts of knowledge for society. Mead is also a distinctly American hero by representing values of pioneering, defense of personal freedom, and commitment to bettering society. The recognition of the importance of culture on human behavior, Mead's own life as a role model for people, the …

Gender, Sexuality, And Race: Rereading The Dakota War, Jonathan Went

Department of History: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

December 26, 1862, marked the culmination of the brutal hostilities that transpired between the Dakota Indians and American soldiers and settlers over the late summer and fall months in Minnesota. The American government condemned thirtyeight Dakota men to die on the gallows as punishment for their involvement in the war. While the event served as punishment for the Dakotas, it was also a culturally pregnant spectacle that provides deeper insight into not only the war but also Dakotan and American societies. The hanging was just as much about manhood, sexuality, and race, as it was about retribution.

Organized thematically, this …

Freedom House In The Pacific: Democratic Advancement In Fourteen Island States, Dag Anckar

Pacific Studies

The Freedom House surveys of political rights and civil liberties in the countries of the world show that the small Pacific island states perform remarkably well as democratic units. A further analysis of the surveys identifies two characteristic traits of democracy Pacific style. First, the general trend over time is one of improvement and advancement. Second, this fortunate development is promoted by betterments in political rights rather than civil liberties. This probably reflects efforts in the region to introduce concessions to traditional authority. However, the Freedom House conception of democracy does not include considerations of policy. Less than prosperous and …

Expressions Of Interest: Informal Usury In Urban Papua New Guinea, Michael Goddard

Pacific Studies

This article examines the nature and practice of small scale usury in a "grassroots" urban community in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. In this environment the moneylenders are people of limited financial resources, barely richer than their clients. The latter are often self-employed in informal occupations. Using examples from cases where usurers have taken defaulting debtors to urban "village courts," I show how debt is negotiated by usurers and clients, and I indicate differences between local attitudes toward usury and those that are generally held in Western societies. I discuss prevalent views in social science literature about the influence of …

Neville Proof Fence, Antonio De Paulo Buti

Pacific Studies

The separation of Aboriginal children from their families formed a central plank of Aboriginal affairs policy in Australia for at least the first six decades of the twentieth century. In no state was the separation policy more pervasive than in Western Australia. And no one individual stands out more in the planning and implementation of the removal or separation policy than Auber Octavius Neville, chief protector of Aborigines in Western Australia from 1915 until 1940. This article focuses on Aboriginal affairs in Western Australia during the Neville era and also on the influence his views and ideas attained on the …

Vol. 28 Nos. 1/2 (2005): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 28, Nos. 1/2-Mar 2005 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

Cultural Constraints And Corrosive Colonization: Western Commerce In Aotearoa/ New Zealand And The Extinction Of The Huia (Heteralocha Acutirostris), Clark S. Monson

Pacific Studies

Early Maori occupation of New Zealand was marked by profligate use of avian resources and the resultant extinction of numerous species including the archipelago's famed moas. As in other Polynesian cultures, however, Maoris came to adopt conservation strategies. I suggest that the Maori conservation technique of tapu or rahui - chiefly prohibitions governing the harvest of vulnerable biological resources - offers crucial insights for modern managers. The former efficacy of rahui is examined through a detailed case study of an extinct New Zealand bird - the huia. Formerly protected by the cultural and religious potency of tapu, the huia met …

Vol. 28 Nos. 1/2 (2005): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US $26.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, …

Corral Family: Robert Pena Corral (Elder), George Kim

Native American Stories

Robert P. Corral did not live on an Indian reservation; he grew up speaking both English and Spanish. The federal government would ration one buffalo a year for meat requiring Robert to hunt for his family’s food; he would use his bow and arrow to kill wildcat, bear, deer and beaver. Robert also traded animal hides for additional staples…

Reconstructing Early Historical Landscapes In The Northern Santa Clara Valley, Alan K. Brown

Research Manuscript Series

The following essay, which is not a finished treatise upon any aspect of the early environmental history of the northern Santa Clara Valley, is also not intended to be a manual of procedures for investigating that subject. Although I would hope that elements ofboth purposes can be found here, the intention, more generally and tentatively, is to point out a few possibilities that may be incorporated into more rigorous and, in terms of practical consequences, more important future investigations by others. Because of the variety and incompleteness of the approaches that are followed here, no attempt has been made to …

Appendix E: Comments By Number, 2005, Us Army Corps Of Engineers

US Government Documents Related to Indigenous Nations

This comments matrix, published in 2005, provides a summary of public comments made in 2005 regarding the proposed return of land to the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. These comments were recorded from transcripts of three public meetings held in Bismarck, North Dakota (ND) on May 24; in Dickinson, ND on May 25; and in Williston, ND on May 26. The matrix also includes comments received outside these meetings via email and letter. The land return, based on the Mineral Restoration Act of 1984 (Public Law 98-602), proposed to return a portion of the land taken for …

Phase I Archaeological Intensive Survey Of Hassanamesitt Woods Property, Grafton, Massachusetts, Jack Gary, Stephen Mrozowski, David B. Landon

Andrew Fiske Memorial Center for Archaeological Research Publications

The Center for Cultural and Environmental History conducted a Phase I archaeological intensive survey of the Hassanamesitt Woods property in Grafton, Massachusetts from October 2004 through January 2005. Documentary evidence has suggested that the property may contain remains of the church for the Praying Indian village of Hassanamisco, established by John Eliot in 1660. Historical deed research has also placed several Nipmuc families on the property in the early 18th century, suggesting the area was resettled by the original inhabitants of Hassanimisco in the aftermath of King Philip's War. Throughout the course of the 18th and 19th centuries the property …

Corral Family: Margaret Sanchez Corral (Middle), Lindsey Gaines

Native American Stories

Margaret Sanchez has spoken two languages for as long as she can remember, Spanish and English. This allowed her to appreciate her dual cultural heritage from a young age. She was born in French Camp in 1952 and raised in Stockton. She was the third oldest of eight children. Her father, a mechanic, had Northern Valley Yokut, Ohlone, and Miwak ancestors while her mother was of Mexican decent. Her grandparents on both sides of the family, were strong influences on her childhood; the family spoke both English and Spanish at home and served cuisine from both cultures...

Perez Family: Francisco Cardenas (Youth), Tammy Hunt

Native American Stories

Sometimes Francisco Cardenas felt tense growing up, but he always found peace at a Mother Lode retreat—the tribal roundhouse in Volcano. He remembers people dancing and talking, but also leaving him space to stop and think. “It was a calm, soothing place,” he recalls. He could leave school and work behind. Outside this sanctuary, however, being an adolescent was a challenge. He craved independence, but he also wanted recognition from his family and community…

Perez Family: Margaret Perez (Elder), Jillian Altfest

Native American Stories

“Never marry a man from Mexico,” Margaret’s grandmother advised her. Grandmother pressed her early on in life to marry only within their tribe, and to keep the language and traditions of the family alive. Margaret is a natural mischief-maker, and she remains unmoved by her grandmother’s tales of ghosts or devils who would come and take her away. Typically ignoring grandma’s advice, Margaret fell in love with a Mexican…

Corral Family: Robert Corral Iii (Youth), Tara Runnels

Native American Stories

Robert Corral began his life in French Camp in 1979. He is of mixed ancestry—Caucasian, Mexican and Native American, but feels he identifies most with his Native American heritage. Robert feels his interests, beliefs and personality are similar to those of other Native Americans. He is very proud to consider himself a part of the Northern Valley Yokut/Ohlone/Me-Wok tribe and the California Indian culture.

Perez Family: Ernestine Cardenas (Middle), Jessica D'Anza

Native American Stories

There are many cultures in the world with defined guidelines that determine whether one is an adult or still a child. From that determination, the law and society will treat one as an adult with adult responsibilities. Native American tribes signify one’s adulthood in a variety of different ways depending on specific tribal traditions. Ernestine grew up on a small reservation where her family made a home. On the peaceful reservation, Ernestine was allowed to wander and play. She and her family were involved with their tribes traditions that had been handed down for generations…

Changing Perceptions Of A Missionary-Researcher, Philip Gibbs Svd

Pacific Studies

The missionary-researcher might well begin fieldwork after an existence as book-bound as any Ph.D. candidate. However, the motives for going to live with people differ from those of most academic anthropologists. Whether one has an academic qualification or not, the primary motive for the missionary-researcher is to come to know and understand people so as to share a faith message with them in a meaningful way. The key term is "dialogue" and just how long that dialogue might last is often not a major issue. For the neophyte academic anthropologist and the novice missionary-researcher alike, culture and sharing people's lives …

"We Didn't Think You Was Comin' Back": Art, Fieldwork, And History In The East Kimberley, Western Australia, Eric Kjellgren

Pacific Studies

Heracleitus observed that it is impossible to step into the same river, yet the river remains over time. This paradox summarizes the relationship between anthropological fieldwork and ethnography. Entering the field is to experience a culture at one point in time. To write ethnography is to create a general analysis of that culture. Just as one can better understand a river's nature by observing it over time, one gains a more nuanced understanding of a culture through repeated episodes of fieldwork. Using examples from my research in the East Kimberley, Western Australia, I explore how the ongoing history of cultural …

Living A "Convenient Fiction", Anne Chambers, Keith S. Chambers

Pacific Studies

Long-term fieldwork offers a unique perspective on the complex, interactive process of interpretation on which ethnography depends. Through shared experiences, the ethnographer(s) and host community collaborate in constructing reciprocal identities tailored to their respective needs and the local situation. The mutual expectations and assumptions grounding this relationship become more visible as they are defined by subsequent events and encounters over the years. Our article analyzes some significant and turns in our thirty-year relationship with the Tuvaluan atoll community of Nanumea. In initially defining us as "of the island," the community established us in a local category' resonant with key emic …

Contextualizing Histories: Our Rotuman Experience, Alan Howard, Jan Rensel

Pacific Studies

Alan conducted fieldwork on Rotuma in 1959—1960 and did not return until 1987, this time with Jan. Together, we have returned nine times since, for visits ranging from one week to six months. During this period the "field" has changed. About four-fifths of Rotumans now live abroad. We have visited Rotuman communities in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the U.S. mainland, and Europe, and we keep in touch with Rotumans via the Internet. Prolonged involvement has resulted in a shift away from a scientific generalizing viewpoint to one emphasizing context and personal histories. It has also forced us to reexamine our …

Returning To The Field: I'M Older And They're Wiser, Juliana Flinn

Pacific Studies

Several processes of change and of human development affect the process of fieldwork over time. The concerns, issues, interests, relationships, coping strategies, motivations, and even personality of a mature adult are not the same as those of a younger adult. Consequently, fieldwork conducted on Pollap Atoll in Micronesia in 1998—1999 differed from dissertation research conducted in the same place eighteen years earlier. Changes since 1980 in the Pollapese way of life, their relationships with outsiders, and their understandings of anthropology contributed to a different experience, as did my heightened sense of confidence, decreased anxiety, and increased faith in participant observation.

Life In Dis-Place: Re-Searching Processes Of Imagining With Enewetak-Ujelang People, Laurence Marshall Carucci

Pacific Studies

The current article attempts to outline the way in which ongoing research with the Enewetak-Ujelang community and with other Marshall Islanders over a period of nearly three decades has required the author to reformulate taken for granted ideas about "culture," "the field," and "field research" as well as presuppositions about self/other and about ethnographic writing. Not only has the shape of "the field" shifted substantially during this time period, becoming much more multifaceted and multilocational, so too, the identity of the author has been recontoured many times over by members of Enewetak-Ujelang communities. Therefore, neither "field" nor "fieldworker" are ever …

Vol. 27 Nos. 3/4 (2004): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 27, Nos 3/4-Sept./Dec. 2004 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

Films And Other Trials: Reflections On Long-Term Fieldwork Among The Maisin, Papua New Guinea, John Barker

Pacific Studies

This essay is a personal reflection on my developing relationship with the Maisin of Papua New Guinea from December 1981 to the present. I discuss my initial research focus and how my early fieldwork helped me to better understand the ways the Maisin have responded to changes in their community over the past twenty years, particularly in dealing with outsiders. I contrast my understandings of Maisin society with portrayals in two documentary films made in the community, Anthropology on Trial (1983) and Changing Ground (2001). I argue that the relationship between anthropologists and host communities fuses intellectual engagement with a …

Vol. 27 Nos. 3/4 (2004): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies

Pacific Studies

Pacific Studies is published two times a year by The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies, Brigham Young University Hawai‘i #1979, 55–220 Kulanui Street, Lāʻie, Hawai‘i 96762, but responsibility for opinions expressed in the articles rests with the authors alone. Subscription rate is US $26.00 yearly, payable to The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies. The Jonathan Nāpela Center for Hawaiian and Pacific Studies (formerly The Pacific Institute) is an organization funded by Brigham Young University Hawai‘i. The Center assists the University in meeting its cultural and educational goals by undertaking a program of teaching, research, …