Anuta: Polynesian Lifeways for the 21st Century (review)

In his new book, Feinberg remembers his first encounters with the small island, Anuta, that he was going to study and become very attached to in the following years. Understandably enough, now he wishes to revise his earlier studies and share his new observations with his readers.

I remember when Raymond Firth and I were preparing to leave Tikopia in 1966. We had decided to board a boat that was going to Anuta before returning us to Kirakira, the main port of Makira Island in the central Solomon Islands. We wanted to go to Anuta to investigate whether anthropological fieldwork ought to be done there.

We had welcomed this opportunity to visit the 0.4 square kilometer volcanic island with its approximately 200 Polynesian inhabitants, because Firth had previously been there for only a few days. But a warning of bad weather had been sent out, so the ship left Tikopia without us. That night, astorm rose and prevented the ship from passing through the fringing reef of Anuta; it therefore had to return to Tikopia to pick us up before heading back to Kirakira. Back in Honiara, Firth mentioned that he was still determined to find an able person to do fieldwork on Anuta.

Fortunately, years later Sir Raymond managed to encourage one of his bright, young American colleagues, Richard Feinberg, to go to Anuta and conduct an anthropological study of its people. Feinberg began his fieldwork on Anuta in March 1972 and stayed until January 1973. He followed these studies up in Honiara and on Anuta on several occasions (1983-84, 1988, 1993, and 2000), accompanied by his wife, Nancy, and their two then small children.

This latest book contains an updated version of chapters 2-7 of his substantial 1981 publication, Anuta: Social Structure of a Polynesian Island. In this new context Feinberg includes data on events, social changes, and ideas that have come into existence since he published the first volume. In a persuasive way, Feinberg convinces his readers that "Anutans have maintained a classically Polynesian culture, emphasizing principles of hereditary rank, supernaturally derived power, and kinship as defined in terms of genealogical connection and aropa (affection). Since aropa so admirably complements Christian principles of love andcharity, I found Anuta in the early 1970s,to live out its religious ideals with amazing consistency. As the island is drawn into the world capitalist economy, a system of social relations based on aropa has grown increasingly difficult to sustain. Nonetheless, Anutans have survived their periods of stress, met the test, and, for the most part, remained faithful to the values of their ancestors" (220).

Updating is of importance in anthropological work and should be carried out wherever and whenever possible. Personally, I can only agree with Feinberg's realistic analyses. We have both made efforts to work as translators of different Polynesian cultures and languages and make them intelligible to the readers. Feinberg has done a perfect job; he is a good translator. His linguistic and cultural analysis of Anutan lifeways seems to be both thorough and sympathetic. In my view, it is admirable and of the utmost importance that the author has made the effort to learn Anutan language (and use it even in his dreams). I wish that all students would follow his example and learn the appropriate languages in their respective fields of study. The endnotes and the glossary in the back of the book are very valuable. The section entitled "Lessons for America" (220-223) is enlightening for future students to understand how the structure of a micro-society reflects the structure of the macro-societies in the world when studied in detail.

However, when the back cover informs the reader that this book is "stimulating" and "engaging" for an undergraduate audience, I beg to disagree that this is true for the entire text. As an example, the graphic figures 3...