ROBERT BOROFSKY Rapa ETHNONYMS: Austral Islands, Oparo, Rapa-Iti, Tubuai Archipelago Orientation Identification.. Rapa is the southernmost island in the Austral Archipelago.. Goatsareown
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aforeign land Treatment involved communicationthrougha
seerwithone or moregods who would indicatethecauseand
treatment for the malady Pukapukans had (and still
prac-tice) a number offolkremediesand physical therapy
tech-niques, mostprominent being deep-pressure massage
Death and Afterlife Today Pukapukans mostly follow
Christiandoctrineregardinglife after deaththough,asnoted,
a belief in ghosts also exists Prior to missionization, the
Beagleholes report abeliefexisted thatapersondied when
thesoulpermanentlyleft theindividual'sbody.The soul then
journeyedtothe underworld (po) whereittook up residence
enjoying various pleasuresdeniedit in the upper world
Seealso CookIslands, Manihiki
BibNiography Beaglehole, Ernest,and PearlBeaglehole (1938) Ethnology
of Pukapuka Bernice P Bishop Museum Bulletin no 150
Honolulu
Borofsky, Robert (1987) Making History: Pukapukan and
Anthropological Constructions of Knowledge Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press
Frisbie, Robert (1930) The Bookof Pukapuka NewYork:
Century
Hecht, Julia (1977) "The Culture ofGenderinPukapuka:
Male, Female, and theMayakitanga 'Sacred Maid.'"Journal
of the Polynesian Society 86:183-206
Hecht, Julia (1981) "The CulturalContextofSiblingshipin
Pukapuka." In Siblingship in Oceania, edited by Mac
Marshall, 53-77 Landham, Md.: University Press of
America
ROBERT BOROFSKY
Rapa
ETHNONYMS: Austral Islands, Oparo, Rapa-Iti, Tubuai Archipelago
Orientation Identification Rapa is the southernmost island in the Austral Archipelago Its name is often given as 'Rapa-Iti" ("Little Rapa") to distinguishitfrom the distant Easter Is-land,whichiscommonlyknownas'Rapa-Nui" ("BigRapa")
OnRapaitself,however,'Rapa-Iti"referstoasmall islet off theeast coastof themainisland.Early European visitors fre-quently identified the island as 'Oparo," but the source of that name is notclear
Location TheAustralIslands, occasionally known also as theTubuaiArchipelago, straddle the Tropic of Capricorn in the South Pacific.They form part of FrenchPolynesiaand lie
to thesouth of the Society Islands and east of the Cook Is-lands The four islandsinthe group inaddition to Rapa are Rimatara, Rurutu, Tubuai, and Ra'ivavae With coordinates
of27°37'S, 144°20'W, Rapaislocated some 420 kilometers south-southwest of Tahiti and 180kilometers southeast of Ra'ivavae, its nearestinhabited neighbor Rapais asmall is-landof some 39 square kilometers It is a high island, the coneof along-extinct volcano The highest of the peaks ex-ceeds 600 meters The east side of the cone has been breached by the sea sothat the island has the form of a large bay (the volcaniccrater) encircled by a ringof mountains The coast is indented byseveral bays, each watered by one or more streams High mountain ridges between the bays, often meetingthe sea in precipitous cliffs, make inland travel diffi-cult Skies are often overcast and rainfallisabundant (slightly over 254 centimeters annually) Rapa becomes noticeably chilly in the winter months and average monthlytempera tures range from 17' C inAugust to240 C in February Demography. When firstsightedby Europeansin 1791, Rapareportedly had 1,500-2,000 inhabitants, but largely be-cause ofintroduced diseases the population declined to a low pointofonly 120 in 1867 In 1964 Rapans numbered only
360, and recent estimates indicate only 400 speakers ofthe Rapalanguage
Linguistic Affiliation Rapa is grouped with numerous others, including Tahitian, Tongareva, and Cook Islands Maori,inthe Eastern Polynesian Subcluster of the Nuclear Polynesian Subgroup of Austronesian languages, though it hasvirtually disappeared as adistinct language Tahitian is currentlyspoken on Rapa as it is in most parts of French Polynesia
History and Cultural Relations The first settlement of Rapahas been estimated at about AD
950fromgenealogicalevidence, and the earliest radiocarbon date fromthe island isA.D 1,337, plus or minus200 years The first European to visitthe islands was GeorgeVancouver,
in 1791 At that time thepopulation lived in fortified moun-tainvillages Remains of at least fifteen of thesestill promi-nently mark Rapa's landscape; they are among the largest handmade structuresin ancientPolynesia Apparently
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nation pressureforcedtheconstructionof thesemountain
vil-lagestofreescarcearable land for cultivation and for security
in a time offrequent warfare The prospect ofthe Panama
Canalstirred theinterestof BritainandFrance in the1860s
andagain inthe 1880s, forRapawasideallylocatedon the
routebetweenPanamaandAustralia and New Zealand The
British establishedacoalingstation onRapain late1867and
itserved monthly steamersuntil it was abandoned inearly
1869.MeanwhileRapa'sstrategiclocation moved the French
toestablishpoliticalpower over the island.Rapawas made a
Frenchprotectorate in1867and becamea French possession
twenty years later.Theinterest in Rapaas acoalingstation
wassporadic and short-livedand the islandslippedinto
inter-nationalinsignificance As lateas 1964threemonthsmight
passwithouta visitfrom the outside Inthat year,however,a
weatherstation wasestablishedonRapaandthisgavethe
is-landsome importance in the context of the French nuclear
weapons testing program.
Settlements
Sometimeprior to 1830 internal warfareceased, probably
be-cause massivedepopulationendedthe keen competition for
arable land, and thepeople abandonedthe fortified
moun-tainvillagesinfavorof lowlandvillagesonthevariousbays,
whichofferedeasier access totheseaandtocultivationareas.
With further depopulation villages in the outerbays were
gradually abandoned and the village of Ha'urei became
Rapa'smajorpopulationcenter. In 1964 Rapa's population
resided in twovillages locatedon opposite sides ofHa'urei
Bay (the large, central bay, craterof the ancientvolcano)
Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities For the most
part,Rapanssupportthemselvesbyfarmingandfishing.Taro
(Colocasia esculenta) isthestaple,andis eaten at everymeal
Itis grown inirrigatedterraceslocatedinlevelareasadjacent
tothevillage ofHa'urei, atthe head of Ha'ureiBay,andon
theouterbays.Rapanssometimesreach theirtaro terraces on
theouterbaysonfoot,buttheruggedterrainmakes this
diffi-cultandtheyoftentravelbywater inlocallymade canoes or
whaleboats.Thesevessels arealsoused forfishing,which is
done withspear guns orhooks and linesinthebaysand (in
whaleboats only) offshore Oranges and watermelons are
grownforlocalconsumption The main cash crop iscoffee,
althoughin 1964potatoes were introduced for export to
Ta-hiti Somepigs aretetheredon the outskirts of thevillages,
and goats, cattle, and a fewsheep roamunattendedinthe
hills.Goatsare eatenwheninclementweatherpreventsfish
ing; pork andbeefareserved atspecialfeasts Occasionally
some goats orcattle arecaptured andshipped toTahiti for
sale. Goatsareowned privately,butcattlebelongtothe
Co-operative Society, an organizationof shareholders thatalso
oversees coffee exports and operates a small store on the
island
IndustrialArts Rapan men makewicker basketsin many
sizesand oftenfanciful shapes.Someare usedlocally,butthe
moreelaborateones aremade forexport to Tahiti orfor sale
to passengers on oceanliners thatpasscloseenoughtothe
is-land for whaleboatsto go out to them Some of thelocally
madewhaleboats-graceful,narrow,andhighly seaworthy-arethemselvesworks of highartisanry.
Division of Labor Menarecharged with boat construc-tion, most aspects of house construction, and fishing from boats and canoes Women gather shellfish from the shore, prepare food, do laundry, and take care of small children Both sexes pick coffee and engage in taro cultivation, al-though the men build and maintain the irrigation ditches and turnthesoilin aterrace prior toflooding Labor is divided at least assignificantly by age as by sex The heaviest work (boat rowing, turningsoil, carrying heavy bags of harvested taro) is doneby youthsandyoungadults After about the age of 40, people begintoleavethese jobstoyoungermembersofthe household
Land Tenure Essential to the Rapan system of land ten-ureisthe proposition that improvements (gardens, groves of trees, andhouses) may be and usually are owned separately from thelandonwhichtheyarelocated Both territory and improvements are owned by ramages, known as 'opu
Kinship KinGroupsandDescent Themodem ramage or 'opu is
anonexclusive cognaticdescentgroup;that is, it is composed
of alllegitimatedescendants of its founder, counted through bothmale and femalelinks.So far as territory is concerned, ramagefounders were individuals to whom land was awarded
in ageneralland distribution in 1889 Founders of improve-ment-owning ramages are individuals who create the im-provement: whomake the taro terraces, build the houses, or plant the coffee groves Depending on the activity of the founder, then, the ramage composed of his or her descen-dants may ownone ormoreparcels of territory, taro terraces, coffee groves, houses,oranycombination of these The prop-ertyof a ramage may be widelydispersed over the island Be-cause ramage membership passes through both males and females, the various ramages overlap in membership Mem-bership in some iscounted through one's father, and others through one's mother Most Rapans belong to eight to ten (or more) damages A ramagehas no function beyond the ownership of property Its limited affairs are handled by a manager, who is usually the senior male of the group Kinship Terminology. Kinterms are of the Hawaiian or generational type, with terms that mark the relative age of same-sexsiblings and cousins
Marriage and Family Marriage Marriage is monogamous Rapans express a slightpreference forvirilocality,but in actualityvirilocal and uxorilocal residenceoccurwith equalfrequency.Cohabiting couplesare often reluctant to marry formally, as this is a sign thatthey are shifting from the carefree lifeofyouth to the soberresponsibilitiesof adulthood The decision to marry is frequentlymade upon the application of pressure by lay offi-cialsofthe church Divorceis rare Should aspouse die, the preferred remarriage is with the brother or sister of the decedent
DomesticUnit Households range from 2 to 15 members, with an average of 6.7 Rapans express a preference for ex-tendedfamily householdsbecause of greater sociability and
Trang 3economic efficiency Largely because of interpersonal
ten-sions that develop between constituent families in extended
family households, however, the majority of households on
the island consist of an elementary family To improve their
economic efficiency and enhance sociability, many
elemen-tary family households have formed themselves into work
groups, each of which is composed of four to five households.
One or two individuals from each household participate in
the group, and the group as a whole works on a rotating
schedule, devoting a day to each of its member households in
turn Some work groups are composed of neighboring
house-holds regardless of kin ties between them, while others are
based on kinship.
Inheritance Property passes from both parents to all
chil-dren Some gardens may be willed to individual children or
foster children, but the usual pattern is to leave property
jointly to children according to the rules of descent.
Socialization Children are raised by their own or foster
parents In fosterage, a child ideally acquires the obligation to
support his or her foster parents in their old age The strength
of this obligation depends on how much of a person's chid-~
hood was actually spent in the foster parents' home From the
age of 4 or 5 children make their own decisions as to where
they will live, and often they move between the homes of their
biological and foster parents In any event, a person's legal
status and inheritance rights continue to be reckoned
through the biological parents Couples with few or no
bio-logical offspring usually foster children of their more prolific
close relatives.
Sociopolitical Organization
Social Organization Class distinctions are not visible in
Rapan society Some persons are more active in church,
polit-ical, and other affairs than are others, but such involvement
depends upon individual leadership qualities Voluntary
asso-ciations are organized along village lines Both villages have
funeral clubs, which manage the feast and other practical
matters connected with the funeral at the death of someone
from a member household, and youth clubs, which form
soc-cer teams, organize entertainment for the 14 July Bastille Day
celebration, and undertake other projects for the benefit of
the village.
Political Organization In 1964, the Austral Islands
formed one of the five administrative divisions of French
Pol-ynesia Local government on Rapa at that time was vested in
a district council, consisting of seven members elected at
large for five-year terms After their election the new council
selected from its number a chief and assistant chief The
dis-trict council had relatively little power, and the role of chief
was largely ceremonial, but it was coveted nonetheless for its
salary In recent years the government has been reorganized
in French Polynesia, giving the territory more internal
auton-omy from France and increasing the power of local councils.
Social Control In 1964 Rapa fell under the jurisdiction of
a French gendarme stationed on Ra'iavae, some 180
kilome-ters to the north Since then, one Rapan has held the position
of local police officer Social control is provided for the most
part, however, by the church Nearly all Rapans are affiliated
with the Protestant church, and one of the primary
responsi-bilities of the elected deacons and their and
Rapa 275
admonish those whose behavior is not satisfactory Rapans believe, furthermore, than oneshouldnottake communion whileharboringill will towardothers,sotheyoftenmake ef-fortstoresolve theirdisputespriortothecommunion service
onthe firstSundayofeverymonth.Finally,inthis small soci-etytherearefewsecretsandagoodmeasureof socialcontrol
is achieved bygossip orthe fear ofit
Conflict Disputes occasionally eruptover accusations of pettytheft,hostilities between stepparents andstepchildren,
orthe location of boundaries between coffeegroves These seldomgobeyond shouting matches,whichusuallytakeplace around mealtimes when manypeople are in the village and whichinvariablyandinstantlydrawlargecrowds More
per-manent factionalism existsbetweenthe twovillages and
be-tweenvaguelydefined andshiftinggroupsoffamilies Issues
at stake usuallyinvolve the distribution of benefits received from theFrenchgovernment.The headschoolteacher,an of-ficial appointed from Tahiti and the individual with whom visitingofficials interact mostfrequently, is a center of fac-tionalism for she is in agoodpositionto steergovernment
jobs and other benefits toward those Rapanswhogetalong withher andawayfromthose who donot.Thepastor, proba-blythemostpowerfulpersonontheisland,mayalsobecome
a centerof dissension ifit issensed that he doesnot treathis parishioners equally. Factionalism is fueledby a contradic-tionintheRapanvaluesystem.Those who havenothing spe-cialtoexpectfromanindividualin apublicpositiontrumpet the ideal that suchaperson isboundto act intheinterestsof all, while relatives and others withspecial ties tohim orher operateunder theexpectationthataperson'sfirstobligations
are to kin and allies Both ofthese values are honored in
Rapa,andanyone in apositionofauthorityfindsitdifficult
towalk a line between them
Religous Beliefs Rapa was converted to Protestant Christianitysoonafter the arrivalin 1826ofTahitian
teach-ersrepresentingthe LondonMissionary Society.Withthe ex-ceptionofa fewRomanCatholics, theentirepopulation of Rapa. is Protestant In addition to Biblical supernaturals,
most Rapans believe inthe existenceofghosts, normallyof persons who have died relatively recently, called tupapa'u Theymaycausesicknessamongtheliving,eitheroutofanger
orfrom apowerfuldesiretodrawadearlybelovedspouseor
childtothem If othermeansfail,atupapa'ucanbestopped
by exhumingand destroyingthe corpse,a practiceprobably encouraged by Dracula films, which are very popular in Tahiti
Religiouis Practitioners One pastor (a Rapan who was
elected as ayoung manbythe church members andsent to
Tahiti forseminarythinking)divides hisSundaysbetween the
two villages. Inadditionto the pastor, achiefdeaconserves
bothvillages,and eachvillagehastwodeacons andan
assis-tantdeacon.Totheassistantdeacon falls the tasks ofringing thechurch bellandprowlingthe aisleduringserviceswith a
long bamboopole toprod dozing parishioners. All of these officials are electedbythe communicant members, who es-sentially are the married adults
Ceremonies Physically, the church in each village
con-sists of a church proper, a meetinghouse, and an eating
1.
Trang 4276 Rapa
house Thechurch isimmenselyimportantinRapan society,
withno fewer than eleven church functions each week
Al-though scarcely anyone attends all ofthese events,one can
easily appreciatethejokingremark madebyone manthat 'in
Rapa, wespend moretimediscussingthe Bible than
cultivat-ing taro!"
Medicine Some illnesses are thought to be caused by
ghosts,butmost areattributedtonaturalcauses.Rapansaf
firmahot-coldsystemofillness, wherebyanupsetof the
bod-y's proper temperature equilibrium bringsondisease
Medi-cines are herbal and each one isaccompanied by aspecial
massage Medicines are private property, and nearly every
adult womanonthe islandownsoneor moreofthem Thus
instead of a few practitioners whotreatmanydifferentsorts
ofillness, the Rapan system of medicine has agreat many
practitioners,eachof whomspecializesin one ora few
disor-ders.Although others may know theherbalrecipefora
cer-tain medicine,it isineffective unless appliedby,orwiththe
express permission of, its owner Nochargeiseverassessed
foradministeringmedicines,but patients do reciprocate with
gifts Medicines originate in dreams Someone is sick, no
treatment is effective, and then a woman of thehousehold
sees, in adream, herdeceased motherorgrandmother
prepar-ing andadministering a hitherto unknown medical
concoc-tion of various leaves, water, etc Upon awakening, the
woman prepares the medicine just as she dreamed it She
givesit tothepatient, whorapidlyrecovers.Thewomanwho
dreamedit istheownerof thenewmedicine, andothers with
the same symptomscome tohertobe cured When she gets
oldshe givesthemedicine,and others she may havedreamed
orinherited, toindividualheirs-usuallyherdaughters-and
thus medicines pass through the generations
Death andAfterlife The deceased arethought to enter
the Christian heaven.Afuneralserviceandburialisfollowed
bya large feast People congregate at the house of the
de-ceasedforseveral evenings after the funeral for Bible
discus-sion andhymn singing, tosupportthe surviving loved ones,
and toreintegrate themgentlyinto society
See also Raroia,Tahiti
Bibliography Caillot, A.-C Eugene (1932).Histoirede MileOparoorRapa
Paris: Leroux
Hanson,F.Allan(1970).RapanLifeways:Society and History
onaPolynesian Island Boston: Little,Brown Reprint 1983
ProspectHeights, Ill.: Waveland Press
Hanson, F.Allan,and PatrickO'Reilly (1973).Bibliographie
de Rapa Paris: Socie't des Ocianistes
F ALLAN HANSON
Raroia
ETHNONYMS: Dangerous Islands, Paumotu, Poumot, Tuamotu
Raroia is anatollintheTuamotu-Gambier Archipelago
inPolynesia The archipelago consists of seventy-eight atolls located between1350 and 149° W and 14°and 23°S Raroia
islocatedatabout 142"Wand 16"S As are all the atolls ex-cept Makatea, Raroia is a low atoll with a land area of 21 square kilometers and alagoon of 240 square kilometers The land is mostly sand and gravel There are 30 species of plants and 19species ofbirds indigenous to the atoll and numerous fish andshellfish in the lagoon and sea The western atolls weresettledby people migrating east from Tahiti, the other atolls by people from the Marquesas and Mangareva Since the time of first settlement there has been regular contact with Tahiti The population of the Tuamotus was 6,588 in
1863and it subsequently decreased by nearly a third until it began increasing in the 1920s In 1987, the number of people claiming Tuamotu identity was estimated at 14,400, with about 7,000 in the Tuamotus and a sizablepopulation in Ta-hiti In 1897, Raroians numbered 260, by 1926 the popula-tion had decreased to 60, and then it slowly increased to 120
by 1950
First contactwith Europeans was in 1606, which was fol-lowed by only occasional contact with explorers and traders from various European nations for the next two hundred years or so From 1817 to 1945the Tuamotus were under the control ofTahiti, with Tahitian influence greatest in the western atolls However, by the end of the period, Tahitian influence had reachedthe easternatolls and Raroians were involved in the mother-of-pearl trade network In 1845 the Tuamotus cameunder French control and offical French rule began in 1880 Roman Catholic missionaries entered the atolls in the 1860s and the population was quickly converted
to Catholicism
Prior to European contact, Raroia was politically linked
to the neighboring atoll ofTukume.Atoll land was divided into districts with the land owned by a combination of line-ally and laterline-ally extendedkingroups Descent was bilateral, with Hawaiian-type cousin terms Leadership rested with ex-tended household heads, with the head of one household serving as the atoll leader and the ruler of Tahiti serving as thehead chief of the Tuamotus The subsistence economy was based on fishing in the lagoon and sea and the gathering
of shellfish, supplemented by pandanus nuts andtaro Raro-ians were skilledcanoe builders and sailors The traditional religion focused on various gods, spirits, ghosts, and associ-atedcults
Contact with traders, French officials, and missionaries for more than 100yearseffectively destroyed the traditional culture and replaced it with a Western economic and social system The subsistence economy has been replaced by a cash economy, with the collectionofpearls andpearl shells and copra production being the primary economic pursuits at var-ioustimes.Both activities have now declined in importance
as sourcesof income Tourism is now a major source of in-come onsomeatolls, though not on Raroia Leadership now rests withelected representatives, the wealthy, and
Trang 5missionar-Rossel Island 277
ies.Familiesare nowsmallerand nuclearinform,withan
em-phasisonindividualownershipof property About98percent
of Raroians are now RomanCatholics
See also Mangareva, Rapa, Tahiti
Bibliography Danielsson, Bengt(1956) Work andLifeonRaroia.London:
GeorgeAllen& Unwin
Emory,KennethP (1975).Material CultureoftheTuamotu
Archipelago Honolulu: Bernice P Bishop Museum
Rennell Island
ETHNONYMS: Mugaba, Munggava, Rennellese
BothRennell andits twinislandBellona(Munggiki) are
Polynesian outliers inthe centralSolomonIslands.Rennellis
araised coralatoll,withalargelakein itssoutheastern end,
located between 11°34' and 11°47' S and 159°54' and
160°37'E In 1976 therewere 1,945 inhabitants of Rennell
Island Rennellese ispartof the WestPolynesian Group of
Austronesianlanguages Rennellese settlements tendnot to
be nucleatedintovillagesbut ratherarescatteredthroughout
the island.Theyconsistof one ormoredwellings and acook
house around anopenclearingoff the mainpath
Food isobtainedmainlythroughhorticulture and
fih-ing,supplementedby huntingandcollecting.Yams, taro,and
bananas are very importantcultigens.The coconutis
tremen-dously important asa sourceof foodandrawmaterial.
Vari-ous birds, flyingfoxes,and sharksarealsoeaten Ingeneral,
women cook, garden, collect fruits and herbs, fish inshore,
plait, make nets, andtakecareof the children Men do the
heavygardening,hunt, fish,maketapa and sennit,andare
re-sponsiblefor woodcarving,canoe making,andhouse
build-ing Elaborate feasts effect the distribution of agricultural,
sea, and forestproducts among thedescent groups Landis
heldindividually by themenofalineage.Theprofession of
expert carpenter (mataisau) is ahighlyrespected one
Importantkingroupsincludeclans, subclans,and
patri-lineages.TheRennelleseviewmarriageas ameansof creating
alliances (hepotu'akinga) and as away tocontinue a man's
lineage One's mother's brother's daughter is the preferred
mate, and this traditionleads at times to conflict between
parents andchildinthechoice of spouse.Polygynywastradi
tionally approved but was not very common Residence is
nearly alwayspatrilocal,although afteradivorceawoman
re-turns with herinfant childrentoher father Thecoreof the
domestic unit (manaha) is a nuclear family, often
supple-mented with various relatives, both natural andadopted
Thekakai'angawasthelargestpoliticallyintegrated unit
Primaryauthority was vestedinthelandholdingmales and in
the senior men of senior lineagesineach generation In
addi-tionto'theseleaders Rennell hadaparamountchief(angiki)
who wasdescended from the leader of the first immigrants The angikicould communicate withandinfluence the gods during trances Hewas also thejudicialauthority andcould havecriminals beatenorputtodeathorhave their crops de-stroyed.Inspite of theoverwhelming patrilineal emphasis of Rennellese society, a person maintains close ties with the members of hisorhermatriline aswell
Rennellese religion had little to say abouteschatologyor cosmology; itsmajorconcern waslife and thefertilityof hu-mans and of the plants and animals they depended on Today, nearly all of thepeopleareChristians Alladult males officiatedatthevariousrituals, which were directed by priest-chiefs (tunihenua) The mostimportant ritualswere associ-atedwith the harvest anddistribution ofyams Mediums pos-sessed by supernatural forces could convey the latter's messages and wishes Eachkakai'angahaditsown setof an-cestors,whowereworshipedasgods.Inaddition,therewere twohigh gods:Tehainga'atna, the fierce god of nature; and Tehu'aigabenga, the god of culture, society, and cultivated plants
Bibliography Birket-Smith, Kaj (1956).AnEthnological Sketch of Rennell Island: A Polynesian Outlier in Melanesia Det Kongelige DanskeVidenskabernesSelskab, Historiskfilologiske Medde-lelser Bind 35,no.3.Copenhagen: DanishNaturalMuseum Birket-Smith, Kaj (1966) Language and Culture of Rennell andBellona Islands.Copenhagen: Danish Natural Museum
ETHNONYMS: Duba, Rova, Yela
Orientation Identification The Rossel Islanders live on the eastern-mostisland of the Louisiade Archipelago in the Massim cul-ture region (Milne Bay Province) at the east end of New Guinea They speak"Yelatnye," meaning "language of Yela," andtheir name forthemselvesis'Yelatpi," meaning "Rossel people."
Locaon Rossel Island is located at about 1° S and 154°
E.Theisland is 34kilometerslongand 14 kilometers across, beingapproximately 290 squarekilometers in area It is very mountainous, with the highest peak, Mount Rossel (also known locally as "Mbgo7,reaching 800 meters The coast is highly indentedandmainlyfringed by mangrove swamp The island is covered in tropical rain forest It is surrounded by a coral reef extending 12 kilometers east and 40 kilometers westofthe islandforming two lagoons The distance from Rossel to the nearest westward island of Sudest (Vanatinai) is
33kilometers.The trade windblows from the southeast from
Trang 6278 Rossel Island
MaytoOctober,themoreirregularnorthwestmonsoonfrom
Januaryto March, bothbringing rain.
Demography In1979thepopulationof RosselIslandwas
about 3,000 persons, with 800 beingaway from the island
workingorstudying.Thepopulation densityaverages8
per-sonsper square kilometer and thepopulationisgrowing at
therateof 3percent per year.Before 1950it wasdeclining.
Linguistic Affiliation Yelatnye is a Non-Austronesian
language whose affiliation to other 'Papuan" languages of
NewGuinea andMelanesianislands hasnotyetbeen
estab-lished.RosselIslandersaretheonlypeopleinthe region who
speak a Non-Austronesian language The number of
cog-nateswith thelanguageof thenearestisland,Sudest,isonly6
percent.Yelatnye hasaverycomplexphonologyand grammar
and is regardedasextremely difficultbyoutsiders
History and Cultural Relations
The RosselIslandersprobablyrepresentthe lastremnantsof
an originalpopulationof the region, whichontheother
is-lands has beensupersededby,probably,several waves
ofAus-tronesian-speaking immigrants In oneof these pottery,
de-rived from the Lapita culture, spread through the Massim
about 2,000 B.P Itisprobablethatastratifiedsocial system
wasintroducedatthesametime,linkingislandpopulations
to political centers Although Rossel preserved its
Non-Austronesian language, the culture is much affected by its
Austronesian neighbors The first historical contact gave
Rossel an ill repute: 316 Chinese coolies, bound for
Aus-tralia, were reported massacred andeatenafterashipwreckin
1858 Rossel becameapartof the British (laterAustralian)
protectorate of Papuain 1884 During thenextdecadesthe
island was 'pacified"bygovernmentpatrols.In 1903 an
en-terprisingfamilyof traders establishedaplantation that
be-camethe economic center of the island for the nextfiftyyears
and deeply transformed the socioeconomic relations of the
people Rossel is now more involved inthe cash economy
than its nearestneighborstothewest.Theplantationis now
worked bylocal people.Missions wereestablished startingin
1930;the first was the Methodist(nowUnitedChurch)
mis-sion, followed in 1947 by the Catholic Now, roughly the
westernhalf of theislandisUnited Church, while the eastern
halfisCatholic
Settlements Earlier the settlement patternwas oneofhamlets scattered
alongthecoastandintheinterior.Acensus in1919showed
145villageswith anaverage ofteninhabitants During World
War11the populationwasconcentrated inabout 10villages
on the coast Most ofthese settlements brokeupintohamlets
orhamlet clustersafterthe war, butpeopledidnot return to
the interior.Althoughthereis nostandardsiteplan, hamlets
often feature acarefullyweededsquareor streetsurrounded
by living houses and with one ortwo stone sitting circles,
commoninthesouthernMassim.In 'traditional'hamlets,a
seclusion house for menstruating and postpartumwomen is
built behindthe house line Hamletsaresurroundedby
ba-nanatrees, coconutpalms,andotherfruittrees Early house
typesincluded a barrel-roofedgroundhouse andapilehouse
enteredthrough atrapdoor in thefloor Today, livinghouses
are regularly built on posts with a roof ofsago-palm leaves
and walls ofsago-leafsheaths.Cookingtakesplaceunderthe house oronaclay hearth onthe kitchen floor
Economy Subsistence and Commercial Activities Basic subsis-tence isbyswiddenhorticulture,gardensbeingusedfortwo
or more plantings and left fallow or, near the coast, being often used for small coconutplantations Crops are tubers suchastaro,yams,sweetpotatoes,and cassava,aswellas ba-nanas and sugarcane Sago flour is prepared from the pith of the sago palm.Treecrops are coconutsand breadfruit Wild nuts and fruits arecollected, as well as shellfish Feral pigs and opossumsarehunted and fisharecaught by line,spear,
or net orbymeansofdams A plant poisonisalso sometimes used for fishing Cooking methods include boiling with cream of coconut, roasting in embers, and baking in hot stones.Commercial crops aremainly coconut(for copra) and somecoffee Other important sourcesof cash income are the manufacture of shell necklaces and labor migration Industrial Arts Rosseliswell knownfor itshigh-quality
red-shell necklaces madefrom the molluskChama, whichis commoninthelagoon alongthe western half of the island This traditional craftwasexpanded and managed by the trad ers in the earlydecades ofthis century Imported grinding blocksare nowused Thenecklaces are of the type that move
inthe kula ring Theislandersbuild their own houses, canoes, and dinghies.Afewlargerboats have been built during recent years Basketwork, madebywomen, is of high quality Trade The dominant trade store is run by the Catholic missionbut smallstoresarefound in many hamlets Other-wisethere is no market onRossel Through a traditional visit-ing tradewithSudest Rossel exported shell necklaces and im-portedclaypots,pigs,and stone axes This trade connection
is now much weakened Internal noncommercial exchanges
by means ofacomplexsystemof shellvaluables-the famous 'RosselIslandmoney"-areimportant and include payments for pigs, houses, canoes, garden crops, and some forms of labor service There are twokinds of shell money Ndap are flat piecesofSpondylus,ki aresets of 10disks of Chama ona string Both are ranked into many classes Higher-ranking ndap are raretreasuresbelieved to have been made by deities and, likekula shells, individuallynamed.They are now out of opencirculation and change ownership through inheritance K1 andlow-ranking ndap still circulate and are still made Women own shell money and participate in exchange but theyrarely sponsor payments Exchange rules are very com-plex Wallace Armstrong, whofirst described this monetary system, explaineditby supposing lending at compound inter-est.This interpretation was based onmisunderstandings of theoperation of the system Other valuables are ceremonial stone axes andshellnecklaces Cash now enters into some payments
Division of Labor The main division of labor is by sex Men fell large trees for gardens, build houses and canoes, hunt, andfish;womencollect most shellfish and dominate in domestic tasks, suchas cooking and child care Both sexes plant, weed, and harvest crops Theycombineworkin sago preparation
Land Tenure Withafairly small population land pressure
is slight The tenure practices are flexible and disputes over
Trang 7Rossel Island 279
landinfrequent.Areasof landareassociated withmatrilineal
subclans,but stewards of land oftenbelongtodifferent clans
Use rights are frequently based on descent from bilateral
grandparents Mortuary payments of traditional valuables
from the deceased'sspouse'srelativestothe deceased's
rela-tivesconfirm such landrights
Kinship KinGroups andDescent Thereare somefifteen totemic,
matrilineal,anddispersedclans(pit) Subclans (piighi) share
exogamy withone or morelinked subclans of different clans
The members of subclans donotallresideinthesame area
but thereare local subclansections A moreloose cognatic
category (yo) denotes the bilateral descendants ofan
ances-tororthe bilateral kindred ofa person
KinshipTerminology Theterminologysystemis
classifi-catoryand of theCrowtype,withalternate-generation
termi-nologyinone'sown (malespeaking) and one's father's line
(both sexesspeaking)
Marriage and Family Marriage Marriagewithinmostclans,between one'sown
and linkedsubclans, between children ofmenofthe above
categories, and between firstcousins isproscribed Marriage
with a classificatorymother's brother'sdaughter is
discour-agedwhile marriage withaclassificatoryfather'ssisteror
fa-ther'ssister'sdaughterispreferred Actually, only46 percent
of asmall samplehadactuallymarriedaccording to this
pref-erence There is a tendency toward local endogamy Many
marriages are still arranged by elderly relatives A
consider-able bride-wealth ispaid in shell money, no cash being
al-lowed.Due to missionpressurepolygynousmarriagesare now
infrequent Residence is predominantly patrivirilocal
Di-vorce is rare
Domestic Unit The nuclearfamilyisthe primary
domes-tic unit (the people who pool food resources and eat
to-gether),with the addition of occasional unmarried youngor
old enfeebled relatives Thisunitconducts dailyfood
produc-tionbutisassistedbybilateralkin andaffines forlargertasks
such as forestclearing orhouse building
Inheritance The main significant property is fruit trees
andceremonial stone and shellvaluables Sonstend to
in-herit from their fathers and daughters from their mothers
Theperson whotakesmainresponsibility fortaking care ofa
close relative in old age receives the majorshare
Socialization Infants and childrenareraisedby members
ofthe domestic unit and by grandparentsand other elderly
relatives.Socialization practicevariesbetweenfamilies
Gen-erally sharing and cooperationis emphasized and, although
self-assertion is discouraged, autonomy ofthe individual is
valued
Sociopolitical Organization
RosselIslandispart of PapuaNewGuinea,asovereign state
inthe BritishCommonwealth Rossel elects one member to
theProvincialAssemblyoftheMilne Bay Province With the
EastCalvados chain andSudest Rosselforms theYelayamba
Local Government Counciland elects sevenof the sixteen
councillors
SocialOrganization. There is nodescent grouprank on Rossel.Inequalityismanifested in the greaterinfluenceand prestige of elders inrelation to the youngand men in relation
to women A"financialaristocracy"ofexchangeexpertsand owners ofhigh-rankshell money form thedominating stra-tum of the population
PoliticalOrganization. The island isdivided into ten cen-sus"villages" that,incombinations, elect the seven local gov-ernmentcouncillors.Alower-lever functionaryisthe komiti Precolonial leaders were warriors, ritual experts, and powerful big-men The last category hadattached henchmen and con-trolledhigh-rankshell money usedinpayments forcannibal victims Pacification and mission influence weakened the powerofindigenousleaders butelderlymales with financial expertisestill commandsomelocalinfluence.Councillorsare younger men withoutside experience and language ability Thegovernmentprovides primary-school education, a hospi-tal, medicalaid posts, and other services, such as an airstrip, a minorwharf, andwater-supply facilities
SocialControlandConflict Pacification and mission in-fluence have produced a very peaceful society onRossel Is-land.Conflicts anddisputes are remarkably rare A major de-terrent from offending others is fear of sorcery retaliation Dominanceoverthe young is supportedby the control of the elders ofsupernatural knowledge and of the intricate system
ofexchangeofindigenousvaluables.While villagers attempt
tosettle minoroffenses informally, major delicts are prose-cuted by the government, represented on the island by a pa-trol post
Religion and Expressive Culture ReligiousBeliefs Thereligious system is a combination of Christianity andtraditionalbeliefs Although two Christian denominations (United Churchand Catholic) divide the is-land,therelationsbetweenthem are harmonious The island-ers have adoptedChristianityasameansof acquiring a link
toforces of the greater world, spiritually as well as in terms of health-care, education, andcash opportunities The govern-menthas taken overhospitals and schools, but these services arestill located at the missions Apart from Christian beliefs theislandersstillhold beliefs in local supernatural beings and ways ofcommunicating with them by means of incantation and sacrifice Deities(woyili)arebelieved to have lived on the island before, when they brought or created natural and cul-tural featuressuch aslandscape forms,food plants, sorcery, etc Some areregarded asancestors of subclans Later they disappeared into theunderworld(teme) at the sacred places They may appear as snakes, crocodiles, or dugongs Arm-strong's report of ahierarchy of gods cannot be supported Thepower of the deitiescan causeblessings, such as crop fer-tility,ormisfortune, suchassickness Each sacred place is as-sociated with only one or two effects Formerly, they were avoided, except by the knowledgeable custodians Now some havefallen into disuse and are not respected any more Other supernaturals were ogres (podyem),withwhiteslin and long hair, and gnomes (k5mba) living in hollow trees They are rarely, if ever, reported now
Religious Practitioners Christian practitioners are UnitedChurchpastors-largelyfromneighboring islands-and Catholic catechists Some men, who have inherited
Trang 8280 Rossel Island
spells and ritual knowledge associated with sacred places
(yopo), stillperformritesthere Because ofmission aversion
such practices tendtobe secret.
Ceremonies Theguardiansofsacredplacesaresupposed
tokeepthemclean andat certain timesof the year,orwhen
needed, performritessuchaslibations and reciting ofspells
inthe presence of othermen.Otherceremoniesconnectedto
the deities are nocturnal singing of sacred songs (ndam5)
Thisworship is amale cult Women have won alegitimate
place in religiousworship onlywithChristianity
Arts Traditional Rossel carving style, for example on
canoes andlimespatulas,isplain,usually nonfigurative,and
symmetric It has largely been supplanted by the Massim
stylecharacterizedbytheuseofspirals andscrolls.A
num-ber of types ofbasketsarewoven,fromlargefoodcontainers
tofine baskets forshellmoney.Thereare notraditional
mu-sical instruments but drummingon canoe hulls may take
place in connectionwith the singing of ndam5 There are
several types oftraditional dance and songperformances
The most commonis the tpilove, inwhichmen appearin
dancing skirts
Medicine Illnessistraditionally mainlyattributedto
sor-ceryandinfringement of sacredplaces Curing practices
in-clude countermagic, sacrifices atsacred places, traditional
medicines, and healing
Death and Afterlife Burial takes place in an L-shaped
grave,usually in a common cemeteryforanumber of hamlets
Formerly, thebodywasplacedin ashallowgraveinthe house
and later exhumed The skullwasexposedinthe hamlet and
later deposited inashelterinthe bush.Atthe death ofan
im-portant person in-laws wereusually accused of sorcery and
had to atone bysupplyingacannibalvictimforaspecial feast
(kann3) Now, a week after the death the mortuary feast
(kpakpa) isheld Here,the burial services are rewarded and
donations of traditional valuables are presented tovarious
categories of relatives of the deceased When the spirit
(gh&tmi) leaves the body at death it travels to Yeme, the
mountain ofthedead,atthewesternend of Rossel
Accord-ing to anotherbeliefthe dead go to the underworld Formerly,
the spirits of victims ofcannibalism were believed to go to
Tpi,amountainonthesouthside of Rossel.Ordinaryghosts
(mbwe) are notgreatly feared, unlike the ghosts of cannibal
victims In contrast tobeliefsinSudest, in Rossel culture the
dead are not supposed tointerfere much in the life of the
living
Bibliography Armstrong, Wallace E (1928) Rossel Island: An Ethnological
Study Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
Liep, John (1983) 'Ranked Exchange inYela (Rossel
Is-land)." InThe Kula: NewPerspectives onMassim Exchange,
edited byJ. W Leachand E Leach, 503-525 Cambridge:
Cambridge UniversityPress
Liep,John(1983)."ThisCivilising Influence': The Colonial
TransformationofRossel IslandSociety."TheJournal of
Pa-cificHistory 18:113-131
Liep,John (1989).'The Day ofReckoningonRosselIsland."
InDeath andLifeRitualsinthe SocietiesoftheKula Ring, ed-itedbyF.Damon andR.Wagner, 230-253 DeKalb: North-ern IllinoisUniversity Press
JOHN LIEP
Rotuma
ETHNONYMS: none
Orientation Identificatio Rotumalies approximately 480 kilometers north of Fiji, on the westernfringe of Polynesia The island is very nearthe intersection of the conventional boundaries of Micronesia,Melanesia, and Polynesia, and traces ofinfluence fromeachof theseareascanbe found in thephysical compo-sition, language,andculture of the island'sinhabitants Al-though Rotuma has been politically associated with Fiji since
1881,whenthe chiefs ceded the island to Great Britain, the Rotuman people are unique, forming a distinctive enclave within the Republic
Location Rotuma is located at 12°30' S and 177°40' E Theisland is ofvolcanic origin, with the highest craters rising
to heights of260 meters It is divided into two main parts joined by an isthmus of sand, forming a total configuration about 13kilometers long and, at its widest, nearly 5 kilome-terswide The land area is approximately 44 square kilome-ters April through November the prevailing winds are from east tosouth, December through March from north to west Rainfall averages about 350 centimeters per year
Demography The first census of Rotuma was taken in
1881,theyearof its cession to Great Britain The population was reported as 2,452 Following a devastating measles epi-demic in 1911, it declined to under 2,000, then began to in-crease gradually As thetotal approached 3,000 in the late 1930s, out-migration to Fiji became animportant means of alleviating population pressure According to Fiji census rec-ords, in 1936 91.3 percent of Rotumans werelivingon their homeisland By 1956 the percentage had decreased to 67.7 percent, andby 1976 it had declined to 37.1 percent In re-cent years out-migration has accelerated, not only to Fiji but
to New Zealand, Australia, and the United States As a re-sult, the population of the island has declined to around 2,500, representing less than 25 percent of the total number
of Rotumans
linguistic Affiliation Linguistic evidence suggests that Rotuman belongsin asubgrouping (Central Pacific) that in-cludesFijianandthe Polynesian languages; within this group there appears tobeaspecial relationship between Rotuman and the languages ofwestern Fiji The vocabulary shows a considerabledegreeofborrowing from Tongan and Samoan
Trang 9Rotuma 281
History and Cultural Relations
Until the archaeologyofRotuma isdone, theorigins ofits
populationwill remainclouded.There is,however,solid
evi-dence that migrations from SamoaandTonga occurred after
initialsettlement, and otherdatasuggest Rotumans were in
contact with Tuvalu (Ellice Islands) to the north, Kiribati
(Gilbert Islands) tothenorthwest, Futuna andUvea tothe
east, andFiji to the south The first recorded European
con-tact was in 1791 with Captain Edwardsin H.M.S.Pandora,
while he was searching for the mutineers of the Bounty The
first half of the nineteenthcenturywas a timeof increasing
contact, asRotumabecameafavoriteplacefor whalersto
re-plenish their provisions A substantial number ofsailors
jumpedship there,and thebeachcomber populationwas
esti-mated at times to be more than 100 Inaddition towhalers
werelabor recruiters, whofound Rotumansquite willingto
sign on Bythe mid-nineteenthcentury manyRotuman men
had beenabroad,and some had visited the centers of
Euro-pean civilization before returninghome Inthe 1860s
Euro-pean missionaries from the Wesleyan and Roman Catholic
churchesestablished themselvesonRotuma, and the island
wasdivided between them Antagonisms between converts to
each faith mounted until 1878, when theyculminatedin a
war wonby thenumericallysuperiorWesleyans The unrest
thatfollowedledthechiefs of Rotuma's sevendistricts to
pe-titionQueen Victoria for annexation, andin 1881the island
wasofficiallyceded to Great Britain Rotuma wasgovernedas
part of theColonyofFijiuntil 1970,whenFiji gainedits
in-dependence Since then it has been anintegralpart of that
is-land nation
Settlements
A packed-sand road encircles the perimeter of the eastern
part of the island andextends to the northern and southern
sides of the western part Sincecolonialtimes, atleast,almost
all settlement has been on the coastal areasalong this road
Althoughthe island is divided into districts and the districts
intovillages,settlementalongthe road isnearlycontinuous,
and it is often difficult to determine boundaries In recent
years bushpaths have beenwidened, andthough still quite
rough,theymakeitpossible to traverse the interior of the
is-land by motor vehicle Traditional Rotuman houses were
madeofthatch,but over timelimestone,cutlumber,and
cor-rugated ironreplacedmuch of thethatching. In1972
Hurri-cane Bebe destroyed most of the remaining native-style
houses A relief team from New Zealandorganized the
con-struction of over 300 cement and iron structures Most
households also maintain a thatched cooking house, and
some have separate toilets and wash houses There are no
freshwater streams onRotuma, and until recently rainwater
stored in cement or iron tanks was the main source of water
fordrinking andbathing.During the 1970s, however, a
fresh-water underground lens was tapped and now most
house-holds have access topiped water Income from salaries and
remittances are often used to improve houses, and a number
oftwo-story structures have been built over the past few years
Economy SubsistenceandCommercial Activities The vast
major-ity of households in Rotuma maintain gardens that supply
their staples (taro, yams, tapioca, breadfruit, andbananas) Pineapples, papayas, mangoes,watermelons,and oranges are also grown inabundance to supplement the diet Soil type varies from sandy to loam,andthesoilis quitedeep.While the entireisland isexceptionally fertile, the eastern side is covered with stones andboulders,making it more difficult to work The main implements in gardeningare the bush knife, forclearing land, and the dibblestick,which is used to make holes in the earth for planting root crops.Rotation ofcrops is thecommon pattern;typicallyyams areplantedthefirst sea-son, followed by taro and then by tapioca and banana trees Although only a few men engage in deep-sea fishing, the fringing reef that surrounds the island iswidelyexploitedfor a varietyof fish, octopuses, crustaceans, andedible seaweed Chicken, cannedcornedbeef, andcannedmackerel supple-ment the daily diet, whilecattle,goats, and pigs are consumed
on special occasions such as weddings,funerals, and welcom-ing ceremonies The main export product is copra It is mar-ketedby the Rotuma Cooperative Association,which domi-nates the commercial life of theisland
Industrial Arts The main Rotuman handicrafts are pan-danus mats andbaskets Mats, particularly fine white ones, are central toRotuman ceremonies, andthey were tradition-ally considered to be the main form ofwealth Canoe making still occurs on a small scale, but aside from foods made in two bakeries, Rotumans do not produce anygoodsfor commer-cial markets
Trade An airstrip was opened on Rotuma in 1981, but fewgoodsaretransported byair.Shippingbysea isirregular, aggravatingthe problem of Rotuma's isolation from potential markets This isolationhas especially inhibited the develop-ment of agricultural exports Rotuman oranges, for example, arefamous for their quality and are extremely abundant, but
asyettheyhavenotbeencommercially exploited becauseof difficulties withstorage and transportation.
Division of Labor In general, Rotumans follow the gen-eral Polynesian pattern of women's workbeing close to home while men's labor takes them farther afield Women are ex-clusively responsible for mat making, and they take major re-sponsibility for child care, washing clothes, cleaning the household compound, and the preparation and serving of familymeals They also harvest marine resources on the reef Men take primary responsibility forgardening, animal hus-bandry, cookingin earthen ovens, andhouse construction The division of labor is not rigid, however,and couples gener-allyhelp each other when required
landTenure Land is important toRotumans for its sym-bolic significance as well as for its subsistence value The main landholding unit is the kainaga, abilateral group based upon common descent from ancestorswho resided at, and held rights in, a named house site (fuaq ri) Each person is considered to have rights in the fuaq ri of his eight great-grandparents, although typically rights are exercised selec-tively Associated with each fuaq ri aresections of bush land, andmembership in a givenkainagaentitlesone torights in this land The person who lives on thefuaq ri acts as steward
of the land and controls access He, orshe, is obligated to grant usufructuary rights tokainagamembersfor any reason-ablerequest At times land has been sold or given for services
to specific individuals, but over generations it becomes
Trang 10282 Rotuma
kainagalandagain When the population of the island
ap-proacheditshighestlevels,duringthe1950sand1960s,land
disputes intensified and access was generally restricted to
dose relatives.In recentyears,however,out-migration has
re-lievedtensions andthemainproblemnow isoftento
deter-minewhich of a set ofsiblingswillremainbehindtosteward
the land and care for aging parents
Kinship KinGroups and Descent Descent isbilateral Theterm
kainaga,in its mostgeneralsense, denotescommon
member-ship in a class Itisusedtodescribe animal andplantspecies
aswell as humankinship,anditappliestopersonalkin who
function during life-crisis ceremonies (e.g., the bride's
rela-tives),aswell astodescent-basedlandholdingunits (see
sec-tion onland tenure)
Kinship Terminology Kin terms are essentially of the
Hawaiiantype Withinego'sgeneration,cross-sexsiblingsare
distinguished from those of the same sex
Marriage and Family
Marriage Traditionally, Rotuman marriages were
ar-ranged by parents,although generallywith the prior consent
ofthepartners.Publiccourtshipdisplayswerefrownedupon,
so liaisons had to be formedsurreptitiously Courtshiprules
have been relaxed in recent years, buta strong concern
re-mains for the decorum ofunmarriedyouths Marriages with
second cousins are allowed Postmarital residence with the
wife's family ispreferred, althoughmovementbetween
hus-band'sandwife's natal homesiscommonoverthespan ofa
lifetime Marriages are quitestable;the great majorityare
ter-minatedonlybythedeath ofaspouse Divorce isunderthe
jurisdiction of Fijian courts, which are modeled on British
law Property is rarelyinvolved, and youngchildrenare
dis-tributed by mutual agreement
Domestic Unit Households aredefinedintermsof
shar-ing a common hearth and eating together Household size
hasdeclinedinresponsetoout-migration, fromanaverage of
about 7.5 in 1960 to about 4.5in1988 Mostconsist of a
nu-clearfamily, extended byrelatives of either the husband or
wife.Childrenare often leftwith grandparentswhen married
couplesemigrate, so three- and four-generation households
are common Since maintaining a household requires the
labor of both menandwomen, single personsareoften
in-vited to become de facto members of aneighbor'shousehold
Inheritance Each surviving child inherits anequalshare
in rights over familylandholdings, although traditionallythe
senior male is favored in successionto stewardship Today,
however, it is often one of the youngersiblings who remains
behind to look after the family estate while elder siblings
emigrate
Socialiation. Infants andchildren are cared for by both
parents, by grandparents, and by eldersiblings.Physical
pun-ishment is rare, andchildren's autonomy isrespected
Chil-dren circulate freely between households in the vicinity of
their household, and they are never excluded from
adult-centeredevents Valueemphasesareplacedonsharing,
coop-eration, and respecting the autonomy ofothers
Sociopolitical Organization Rotumawasgovernedas anintegral part of the Colony of Fiji after cession to Great Britain in 1881 Following Fiji's inde-pendencein1970 andthemilitarycoups of 1987, Rotuma re-mainedwith Fiji
SocialOrganization Rotuma isdivided into seven auton-omousdistricts, each with its ownheadman (gagaj 'es itu'u) The districts are divided into subgroupings of households (ho'aga) that functionas work groups under the leadership of
a subchief (gagaj 'es ho'aga) All district headmen and the majority ofho'aga headmen are titled In addition, some men hold titles withoutheadship, although they are expected to exerciseleadership rolesinsupport of the district headman Titles,which are held forlife,belong to specified house sites (fuaq ri).Allthe descendents of previous occupants of a fuaq
rihave a right to participate in the selection of successors to titles.Onformaloccasions titled men and dignitaries such as ministers andpriests,government officials, and distinguished visitors occupy a place ofhonor They are ceremonially served foodfrom special baskets and kava In the daily routine ofvil-lage life, however, they are not especiallyprivileged.As yet no significantclassdistinctionsbased on wealth or controlof re-sourceshave emerged, but investments in elaborate housing and motorvehiclesby a few families have led to visible differ-ences instandard ofliving
PoliticalOrganization. Atthe time of discovery by Euro-peans there were threepan-Rotumanpolitical positions: the fakpure,thesau,and the mua Thefakpureacted as convener andpresiding officer over the council of district headmen and was responsible for appointing the sau and ensuring that he was cared for properly Thefakpure was headman of the dis-trict thatheaded the alliance that had won the last war The sau's role was to takepart in the ritualcycle,oriented toward ensuring prosperity, as an object of veneration Early Euro-pean visitors referred to the sau as'king,"butheactually had
no secular power The position of sau was supposed to rotate betweendistricts, and a breach of this custom was considered
to beincitement to war Theroleof mua is more obscure, but likethe sau, he was an active participant in the ritual cycle According to some accountsthemuaacted as akindof high priest.FollowingChristianization in the 1860s, the offices of sau and mua were terminated Colonial administration in-volved the appointment by the governor of Fiji of a Resident Commissioner(after 1935, a District Officer) to Rotuma He was advised by a councilcomposed of the district headmen
In 1940 the council wasexpanded to include an elected rep-resentative from each district and the Assistant Medical Prac-titioner Following Fiji'sindependence in 1970, the council assumed responsibility for the internal governance of Rotuma, with the District Officer assigned to an advisory role Up until the first coup, Rotuma was represented in the Fijilegislature by a single senator
SocialControL The basisfor social control is a strong so-cialization emphasis on social responsibility and a sensitivity
to shaming Gossip serves as a mechanism for sanctioning deviation, but the most powerful deterrent to antisocial behavior is an abiding belief in immanent justice, that super-natural forces will punishwrongdoing Rotumans are a gentle people; violence is extremely rare and serious crimes nearly nonexistent