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Book Review Forum: Tree Leaf Talk: A Heideggerian Anthropology By James F. Weiner, Andrew Moutu

Pacific Studies

Reviewed by Andrew Moutu, University of Cambridge.

James F. Weiner’s Tree Leaf Talk: A Heideggerian Anthropology explores the metaphor of a “firebreak” as a form of ethnographic writing that resists the unchecked spread of semantic associations and theoretical assumptions. Drawing on the Foi concept of irisae-medobora—a metaphorical, concealing speech used by high-status men in Papua New Guinea—Weiner parallels this with Heidegger’s Holzwege, suggesting that concealment can be a productive anthropological strategy. The book critiques the aestheticization of social relations and the uncritical embrace of non-Western media as ethnographic tools, arguing that social constructionism, rooted in Western metaphysics, may …

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2008): Pacific Studies Front Matter, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies Brigham Young University–HawaiʻI

Pacific Studies

Front Matter for the Vol. 31, No 1-March 2008 edition of the Pacific Studies Journal.

Japan's Industrial Development Of A U.S. Territory: Guam, 1941-1944, Wakako Higuchi

Pacific Studies

Guam's long-unsettled wartime reparations act-now sitting in the U.S. House of Representatives-concerns, among other things, forced-labor mobilization by the Japanese military. This issue has not been systematically studied from written sources of the war years. Based on official documents, this article examines the Japanese Navy's .industrial development policies and activities on Guam during the Pacific War, which inevitably involved forced labor. This article substantiates the Japanese Navy's attempt at economic exploitation and its failure, considering Guam's two characteristic features: its status as a former U.S. territory and its location in Japan's Mariana Islands .. Under the so-called "organic integration" policy, …

Books Noted: Recent Pacific Island Publications: Selected Acquisitions, January 2006-June 2006, Riley Moffat

Pacific Studies

This list of significant publications relating to the Pacific Islands was selected from new acquisitions lists received from Brigham Young University Hawai'i, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, University of Auckland, East-West Center, University of South Pacific, National Library of Australia, Melanesian Studies Resource Center, Center for Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Nijmegen, University of California San Diego, Secretariat of the Pacific Community Library, Center for South Pacific Studies, University of New South Wales, Macmillan Brown Library at University of Canterbury, and the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau's Center for the Pacific Development Training. Other libraries …

Books Noted: Recent Pacific Island Publications: Selected Acquisitions, July 2006-May 2007, Riley Moffat

Pacific Studies

THIS Iist of significant publications relating to the Pacific Islands was selected from new acquisitions lists received from Brigham Young University Hawai'i, University of Hawai'i at Manoa, Bernice P. Bishop Museum, University of Auckland, East-West Center, University of South Pacific, National Library of Australia, Melanesian Studies Resource Center, Center for Pacific and Asian Studies, University of Nijmegen, University of California San Diego, Secretariat of the Pacific Community Library, Center for South Pacific Studies, University of New South Wales, Macmillan Brown Library at University of Canterbury, and the Australian International Development Assistance Bureau's Center for the Pacific Development Training. Other libraries …

Faiva Fakaouli: The Tongan Performance Art Of Humor, 'Okusitino Māhina

Pacific Studies

This essay will critically examine faiva fakaoli, literally translated as "the art of funny things, in a number of separate but connected unique and universal contexts. I wish to make clear right from the outset that this essay is not an exercise in theoretically and practically reviewing the existing literature on humor, nor an attempt to make a comprehensive examination of what humor is, i.e., its form and content, nor, for that matter, what humor does, i.e., its social function.' While the theoretical and practical, ontological; and epistemological, or qualitative and utilitarian questions are extremely important, my …

Mangaia In The Colonial World, 1863-1899, Michael Reilly

Pacific Studies

This paper analyzes letters written between 1863 and l899 from the island of Mangaia in the Cook Islands. Collectively, they provide insights into how the people of Mangaia managed their relationships with the outside world, especially with British authorities in the Pacific. These letters are discussed in conjunction with other documents from the colonial archives in order to achieve a more balanced understanding of the way Mangaians acted upon the cultural values inherited from their ancestors in the context of an increasing assertion of foreign control over their island. These vernacular letters articulate a long-hidden subaltern history of Mangaia.

Vol. 31 No. 1 (2008): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies Brigham Young University–HawaiʻI

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, …

Shaffer Pleads Not Guilty To Theft, Kenneth Hart

Indian Head Rock Project

Article published in the Ashland Daily Independent on Steve Shaffer's plead of not guilty on felony charges of theft from July 25, 2008.

Rockin' On In Portsmouth, Mark Maynard

Indian Head Rock Project

Article published in the Ashland Daily Independent describing the Fourth of July festivities at Portsmouth, Ohio from July 3, 2008.

Rockin' On In Portsmouth, Mark Mayhard

Indian Head Rock Project

An article published in the Ashland Independent on the Indian Head Rock Festival to held in Portsmouth, Ohio on July 4, 2008.

John Chestnut Cartoon, John Chestnut

Indian Head Rock Project

A cartoon published in the Portsmouth Daily Times on June 27, 2008 over the Indian Head Rock dispute.

Portsmouth Mayor, Citizen Must Testify In Rock Case, Kenneth Hart

Indian Head Rock Project

Article published in the Ashland Daily Independent on the ruling that the mayor of Portsmouth, Ohio would have to testify in Greenup County, Kentucky from June 26, 2008.

Grand Jury Indicts Leader Of Rock Expedition, Kenneth Hart

Indian Head Rock Project

Article published in the Ashland Daily Independent on the grand jury indictment of Steven R. Shaffer on June 20, 2008.

Grand Jury Indicts Leader Of Rock Expedition, Kenneth Hart

Indian Head Rock Project

Article published in the Ashland Daily Independent on the indictment of Steve Shaffer from June 20, 2008.

State-Line Battle Over Boulder Leads To Court, Joe Biesk

Indian Head Rock Project

Article published in the Lexington Herald Leader on the legal dispute over Indian Head Rock from June 20, 2008.

Kentucky Officials Charge Ohioan In Case Of The Pilfered Rock, Cate Doty

Indian Head Rock Project

Article published in the New York Times on the indictment of Steve Shaffer from June 20, 2008.

Rock Of Ages, Brad Lepper

Indian Head Rock Project

Blog written on the history of Indian Head Rock on June 20, 2008.

All Because Of A Rock, Benita Heath

Indian Head Rock Project

Article on the legal proceedings on the removal of Indian Head Rock from the Ironton Tribune on June 20, 2008.

Indian Head Rock: A Story In Five Scenes, Jon Hoban

Indian Head Rock Project

A five scene story on the history of Indian Head Rock written by Jon Hoban on June 11, 2008.

Stan Champer Column, Stan Champer

Indian Head Rock Project

Columnist Stan Champer writes in the Ashland Daily Independent on the story of Indian Head Rock from May 30, 2008.

Indian Head Fact Sheet, Kentucky Heritage Council

Indian Head Rock Project

Fact sheet published by the Kentucky Heritage Council on the Indian Head Rock in 2008.

Vol. 30, No. 3/4 (2007): Pacific Studies Full Issue, The Jonathan Nāpela Center For Hawaiian And Pacific Islands Studies Brigham Young University–HawaiʻI

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, …

Grandparenting Styles In An Urban/Rural Borderland In New Zealand, Sally Keeling

Pacific Studies

This paper on grandparenting styles draws on ethnographic interviews with old-old (80 and older) Anglo-Europeans living in a small-town community in New Zealand. The interviews were collected as part of the social content of a lon tudinal study of the epidemiology of a ng in an urban/rural borderland setting. Analyses indicate that grandparent status and role are both central to and contingent upon how old-old people negotiate and sustain independence and autonomy in the context of family and friendship networks. Diversity is examined using a typology developed from research on American Indian grandparents in an urban/rural situation as a framework, …

Changing Contexts For Grandparent Adoption On Raivavae, French Polynesia, Jeanette L. Dickerson-Putnam

Pacific Studies

This paper examines change in grandparent adoption and care of grandchildren on the Austral island of Raivavae in French Polynesia. The focus is on how Raivavaens have utilized the flexible, negotiable, and contingent institution of grandparent adoption as a strategy for coping with changing global/local linkages, out-migration for employment, and introduction of nonindigenous institutions and processes. The inherent flexibility of the adoptive relationship is apparently enabling Raivavaens to mold it in ways that serve a new set of needs and circumstances, most of which reside with the grandchild's parents rather than the grandparents. Grandparents appear to have extended and otherwise …

Introduction: The Practice And Prospects Of Grandparenting In The Pacific, Dorothy Ayers Counts

Pacific Studies

The contributors to this special issue represent the orientations and approaches of several social science disciplines and are variously involved in interdisci­ plina1y endeavors. However, anthropology is the primary discipline and ethno­ graphy a shared methodology. It is a main task of any ethnography to make the exotic familiar and to treat the familiar as though it were exotic. The papers in this special issue achieve this for grandparenthood in the Pacific. The familiar concept of grandparenthood is shown to have multiple meanings in close examinations of how the status is achieved, for example, what it means for a person's …

Grandparenting Among The Chamorros Of Guam, Vicki Torsch

Pacific Studies

For the Chamorros of Guam, contemporary grandparenting reflects the cultural tension between the forces struggling for continuity with cherished traditions and values centered on caring and sharing, and those requiring adaptation, cultural change, and expanding lifestyle choices. Descriptions and analyses draw on data collected in 60 life-history inte1views and participant observation research. The paper focuses on an emerging duality in grandparenting styles and contrasts the gendered perspectives on grandparenting roles and attitudes. The diversity of styles is embedded in personalities, gender, educational level, and lifestyle choices, and reflects different responses to dramatic change in sociocultural and economic conditions.

Grandmothering And Social Old Age: Aotearoa New Zealand Variations On A Universal Theme, M. Jocelyn Armstrong

Pacific Studies

This paper explores change in definition and relevance of the grandparenting role in a population of young-old (ages sixty-five to eighty) women in urban New Zealand, and compares the experience of European and Maori women. I focus on how becoming and being a grandparent is configured into perceptions of social old age and seniority. New Zealand women of both ethnic groups recognize becoming a grandmother as still commonly considered a key marker of social old age by society at large. Differences are evident in ideas about how the role contributes to today's self-definitions. In women's own definitions, being a grandmother …

Continuities And Changes In Marshallese Grandparenting, Laurence Marshall Carucci

Pacific Studies

For Marshallese, grandparents do not exist as independent types of kin. A grandparent is a partner in a reciprocal grandparent/grandchild relationship. The relationship is not grounded in either biology or unchanging social status; rather, it is constructed out of practical activities as members of a shared community. Grandparents who actively earn respect in their relationships with others are recognized collectively as senior grandparents of the community or communal grandparents. This paper examines continuities and changes in the activities and social significance of grandparents of the community across three decades and four different social settings. The paper focuses on how shifting …

In My Nana's House: Grandparent Households In Fiji, Sela Panapasa

Pacific Studies

This paper uses a combination of household census data and case material to examine change in grandparent status and role in Fiji in the context of develop­ ment and the impacts of modernization and population aging. On one hand, there is more need and pressure for grandparents to be caregivers of grand­ children and sources of stability and continuity within family and home. On the other, there are the increased costs associated with greater longevity among the grandparent generation, such as care of a frail and dependent grandparent. Social exchange theory is used to compare these costs and benefits across …