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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS lllany people and institutions have contributed in a variety of capacities to the development of this book. Research on which the monograph is based was conducted in the Solomon Islands during a period of fourteen months in 1972-1973 and five months in 1983-1984. The first period of fieldwork was supported by a U.S. Public Health Service graduate student training grant administered by the University of Chicago's Department of Anthropology; my second field trip was conducted under the auspices of Kent State University's Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, which provided me with a semester of paid research leave to pursue my studies. To each of these institutions I wish to express my sincere gratitude. Without the interest and assistance of my many Anutan friends, informants , and custom kin, this book could never have been written. It would be impossible to list all of the people on Anuta who have contributed in some substantial way, but there are several who deserve particular mention. My single greatest debt is to Pu Koroatu, senior chief since about 1960 and among my closest friends and supporters from the time of my first arrival on Anuta. I have been privileged to be regarded as a member of his household, trusted confidant, and custom brother for more than a dozen years. In addition to providing me a place in Anura's social landscape , Pu Koroatu's interest in and support of my research has been essential to its successful completion. Moreover, he has freely shared his expertise on many facets of Anutan culture, including aspects of canoe ACKNOWLEDGMENTS xvii construction, seamanship, and navigation. At the time of my last visit to the Solomons, in 1983-1984, he was the embattled guardian of a way of life which was being systematically eroded by Western contact. I can only wish him well in his courageous struggle and hope that in some small way this book contributes to an appreciation of the culture he is striving to preserve. My debt to Pu Nukumanaia can no more be exaggerated than that to the senior chief. By all accounts, Pu Nuku is Anura's single most accomplished seaman. He is single-handedly responsible for almost all the major innovations in material and technique that have been adopted on the island over the past three decades or more. Among his contributions are the rectangular cloth sail, which has replaced the old triangular pandanus matting, and the splash-rail with which all Anutan canoes have now been fitted, making rides in surf or heavy seas both drier and more comfortable than was possible before the early 1970s. In addition, he is the acknowledged expert on star paths, sailing by wave configurations , and all else that goes toward making an Anutan mariner. Even under the most trying circumstances, Pu Nuku always took the time to explain patiently all the essential features of Anutan seafaring. Without his consistent and incisive answers to my many esoteric queries, this work would be immeasurably impoverished. In addition to Pu Koroatu and Pu Nuku, lowe much appreciation to Pu Tokerau. Pu Toke was the chief's younger brother and was the best English speaker on the island in 1972-1973. During my first visit to Anuta, I stayed in his house, and he was my single most important source of insight into the Anutan way of life. Pu Toke first introduced me to the sea as viewed through Anutan eyes. He arranged for my voyage to Patutaka in an Anutan canoe and insisted that we see it through to completion when others were discouraged by bad weather. And along with Pu Paone, he arranged for my uai pa-the ceremony which must accompany a novice's first fishing expedition and first interisland voyage. Pu Toke's untimely death in 1976at age 35 was both a tragic loss to the community and a great personal loss to me. lowe my information on Anutan constellations, star paths, and navigational techniques to Pu Maevatau, as much as anyone. It was my good fortune that he passed through Honiara, the Solomon Islands capital, while I was there in 1983. During that period we spent many hours discussing details of Anutan seafaring. His descriptions of star paths to the major islands of Anura's navigational universe and of auxiliary navigational techniques appear at appendixes D and E in this volume. Moses Purianga and Pu Nukumarere shared with me their extraordi- [18.119.131.178] Project MUSE (2024-04...

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