Society-TIKOPIA

The island of Tikopia is located in the southwestern Pacific Ocean
at lat. 12 degrees 18 minutes S by long. 168 degrees 48 minutes E.
Politically, the island is part of the British Solomon Islands Protectorate,
which lies within the Melanesian culture area; but culturally and
linguistically, Tikopia is actually a Polynesian outlier and should
be classified with Western Polynesia. The Tikopian language, Tikopia-Anuta,
is part of the Austronesian language family (Voegelin and Voegelin
1974: 2-3).

Tikopia is a small, volcanic island, approximately six square miles
in size. The climate is hot and humid, with daily temperatures registering
around 26.7 degrees C. to 29.4 degrees C. Prevailing wind patterns
divide the year into two seasons. From April to September, the trade
winds bring frequent cloud cover, rain, and cool temperatures. The
monsoon season, from October to March, displays variable weather:
hot days and periods of calm are broken by torrential downpours and
high winds. Tropical vegetation covers the rugged landforms.

The Tikopian population had grown from 1,278 people in 1929 to 1,735
in 1953. They have traditionally subsisted by fishing, collecting,
and horticulture. Because of the lack of animals on the island, hunting
is not practiced. Marine fauna are the major source of protein in
the Tikopia diet and are taken by line or net fishing, frequently
from sea-going canoes, or by collecting with nets along the reefs.
The bulk of the diet, however, comes from fruits, vegetables and root
crops, both wild and cultivated. Fields are opened by slash-and-burn
techniques, and cultivation is done with digging sticks. Major crops
include taro, breadfruit, yams, manioc, sago, pulaka, coconuts, bananas,
and tobacco. In general, men fish, do woodworking, make nets, and
clear the fields. Women do most of the collecting and tending of the
crops, and also make mats and bark cloth. Both sexes engage in planting
and food preparation. With increasing population pressure on the island
resources and greater articulation with the outside world, migratory
wage work on the Solomon and New Hebrides islands has become an important
economic activity, especially for males.

The Tikopians are distributed into 21 villages located along the coastline.
No particular settlement pattern characterizes these villages, nor
are there any village headmen. Village households are most frequently
composed of a single nuclear family, but households comprising extended
families or nuclear families plus other kin are also common. The village
is an important unit in cooperative economic activities. The 21 villages
are divided into two major social-geographical districts, named Ravenga
and Faea. Relations between villages of the same district are characterized
by mutual interest and cooperation for the most part. In contrast,
relations between villages of different districts are marked by rivalry
and hostility.

Village and district distinctions are cross-cut by a system of four
principal kin groups, which Firth (1936, 1959) calls "patrilineal
clans." The "clans" are further segmented into patrilineages. "Clans"
are not localized; each has members in both districts and in many
or most of the villages. But nearly every village has a preponderance
of households of one "clan," which is the politically and ritually
dominant group in that village.

Integrated with this system of kin and local groups is a strongly
developed status system, which, when expressed in a political form,
constitutes a rank structure with chiefs at its apex. Patrilineages
are headed by chiefs (maru), who are usually the most senior men in
the direct lines of descent from the lineage ancestors. Lineage heads
have important political, ritual, and economic functions, but more
important are the "clan" chiefs (ariki). Succession to these offices
is determined by primogeniture and direct descent from the common
"clan" ancestor.

Clan chiefs are the traditional political and ritual leaders of the
"clan"; they theoretically own all the land, are key figures in production
and distribution, and major agents of social control. Each chief has
two sets of advisors, one for each ritual and secular affairs. As
a result of missionary activities, the Tikopians have become Christianized,
and ritual advisors are no longer important. Although the "clans"
are hierarchically ranked, the chief of the highest ranked "clan"
should be considered as "first among equals," rather than as a true
paramount chief.

Tikopian marriages are prohibited among relatives of the first degree
of relationship according to their classificatory kin reckoning. Neither
lineages nor "clans" function as exogamous units. People are divided
into two classes, the chiefly class and the commoner class, according
to lines of descent. Until recently, there was a preference for intra-class
marriages, although this was not rigorously enforced. Polygyny is
practiced, but monogamy is the prevalent form of marriage. Despite
occasional separations of married couples, the Tikopians have no formal
mechanisms for divorce. Delayed age of marriage for males, infanticide,
and abortion are among the Tikopian practices that have traditionally
functioned to control their population.

The aboriginal Tikopian religious system was oriented around rituals
for various ancestors and gods, with the aim of obtaining such ends
as favorable weather, crop productivity, success in fishing, and the
curing of illness. The most important mediators between the Tikopians
and the supernaturals were the "clan" chiefs, or ariki. An ariki was
thought to derive his religious powers (manu) from the gods, and he
served as a priest in important rituals involving joint participation
of the Tikopian "clans" as well as the ritual for his own "clan."
In addition, each lineage in a "clan" had a ritual elder (matapure
or pure matua), appointed by the ariki, who dealt with lineage ritual
(Firth 1970).

Because of its remote and isolated location, Tikopia had few contacts
with outside groups until well into the twentieth century. Tikopians
occasionally visited other islands, but these trips were limited by
the large distances and great hazards involved in canoe ocean voyages.
Contacts by Westerners began sporadically around the beginning of
the nineteenth century, but in 1927, when Firth did his initial fieldwork
in Tikopia, the indigenous culture was largely intact. The major contact
agents were, first, missionaries and, later, labor recruiters. By
the 1950s, all the Tikopians had become Christianized, and most of
the native ritual practices had ceased. Much of the Tikopian life
style has remained intact, but the forces of Westernization have been
making inroads throughout the twentieth century.

Raymond First is the major authority on Tikopian ethnography, having
spent 12 months in 1928-29, ca. 5 months in 1952 and a short time
in 1966 on the island. The only study of Tikopia previous to Firth's
was made in 1910 by the Reverend W. J. Durrad, based on a stay of
2 months.

Culture summary by Robert O. Lagace and Eleanor C. Swanson



Firth, Raymond William.
 We, the Tikopia: a sociological study of kinship in primitive Polynesia.
 With a preface by Bronislaw Malinowski.
 London, Allen and Unwin, [1936].
 25, 605 p. illus., maps.
 Firth, Raymond William.
 Social change in Tikopia: restudy of a Polynesian community after a generation.
 London, Allen and Unwin, [1959].
 360 p. illus., maps.
 Firth, Raymond William.
 Rank and religion in Tikopia;
 a study in Polynesian paganism and conversion to Christianity.
 Boston, Beacon Press, 1970.
 424 p. illus., tables.
 Voegelin, Carl F. Languages of the world: Indo-Pacific fascicle two.
 By Carl F. Voegelin and Florence M. Voegelin.
 Anthropological Linguistics, Vol.
 6, No.
 7, 1974.


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