Humanities and Social Sciences

Anthropology Program

Tongan History Association Newsletter

Vol.3 No.2, December 1991

Ko Hoku Tofia:Plans for the Fifth THA Conference

The fifth Tongan History Association conference will be held in Laie, Hawai'i, from May 20 to 23, 1992. Brigham Young University is the hosting institution; Dr. Eric B. Shumway has been the organizer. Dr. Shumway hgas recently issued a call for papers, giving January 30,1992, as the deadline for the submission of paper proposals. Program presenters will be notified of the status of their proposal by February 28,1992 (see the last page for a call for papers form).The program features cultural exhibits from the Bernice P. Bishop Museum, a concert of choirs from the Tongan community in Hawai'i, an evening at the Polynesian Cultural Center, and an arts festival and 'umu. The ambitious fourday schedule is as follows:

TUESDAY. MAY 19 4:006:00 p.m. Registration for eariy arrivals

WEDNESDAY. MAY 20 7:00 a.m. continental breakfast and registration 8:0011:30 a.m. Sessions 11:301:00 p.m. Welcome luncheon Keynote speaker 1:304:30 p.m. Sessions 7:009:00 p.m. concert by Tongan choirs

THURSDAY. MAY 21 8:0011:50 am. Sessions 12:001:00 p.m. No host lunch 1:004:30 p.m. Sessions Free evening

FRIDAY MAY 22 8:0011:50 a.m. Sessions 12:001:30 p.m. Luncheon 1:304:30 p.m. Sessions 5:009:15 p.m. Polynesian cultural Center (including luau/'umu and show)

SATURDAY. MAY 23 10:002:00 p.m. Tongan Festival (Katoanga) Tongan SocietyThe conference registration fee ($95.00) includes three full days of scholarly presentations, conference materials, food and lodging on campus, continental breakfast, two luncheons, Polynesian Cultural Center villages, luau, and evening show. A $75.00 registration fee does not cover meals and housing (see the last page of the Newsletter for a registration form).

Proposal for a Panel at the 5th THA Conference

Dr. Paul van der Grijp of Utrecht University has submitted a proposal for a panel at the Hawai'i conference. The folio wing excerpts this proposal. Those interested in receiving the full version of the proposal should write directly to Dr. van der Grijp, at this address: Dr. Paul van der Grijp, Weezenhof 6755,6536 BG Nijmegen, The Netherlands.

Perspective on Production and Change in the Study of Tongan Study - by Dr. Paul van der Grijp

This discussion paper is concerned with the significance of thinking within the production and reproduction of Tongan society. Production in the broad sense of the word includes not only material, social, and technological aspects, but also ideas, such as ideas about the place of individuals and groups in society. From this perspective mode of production and mode of thinking are complementary concepts.Definition of conceptsl define a mode of production as the combination and conjuncture of the forces of production and relations of production in a society. This is a historically determined combination of social relations (the relations of production) in which social labor is employed in the use of tools, skills, organization. and knowledge (the forces of production) in order to transform nature into products for the satisfaction of the material and social requirements of the people concerned. One should beware of biological reductionism in this connection: the reduction of the needs of life to what Malinowski (1931:136) so trenchantly referred to as '`food, sex and shelter." In human society biological requirements are culturally translated from the first. Moreover, typically cultural requirements should form the focus of the analysis, for example in dealing with the question of participation in the ceremonial exchange of gifts.The concepts of society and mode of production are both used in this perspective, but there is a significant difference between them. Unlike the use of the term ''society'' in common anthropological parlance, where the empirical relations between people serve as the starting point, the use of the concept of mode of production in the present perspective is intended, without replacing the concept of society, to reveal the economic, political and other structures on which the empirical relations are based and by which those relations are oriented and constrained. The concepts of society and mode of production are thus situated at different levels of abstraction. The importance of the concept of mode of production therefore does not lie in an attempt to classify different societies, but in its ability ''to underline the strategic relationships in the development of social labor by organized human pluralities" (Wolf 1982: 76; cf. 1990). In my opinion, analysis using the concept of mode of production opens up a heuristic perspective on the confrontation between different economic, political and ideological systems. In the case of Tonga, this is the confrontation between an original mode of production and mode of thinking and a capitalist one. The changing configuration of both modes of production and modes of thinking have to be studied on the basis of its actual manifestations in Tongan society.Many capitalist elements are present in contemporary Tongan society to a greater or lesser degree, but they do not form a single system. It is therefore not legitimate to conclude that Tongan society is capitalist. On the contrary, as we shall see, it represents a dynamic convergence of elements from the original system with capitalist elements.This situation has been noted by other anthropologists, though not using the same terms and concepts. For example, George Marcus calls the syncretism of traditional and modern, Western imported elements in Tongan society a `'compromise culture" (1980). However, we may join MarieClaire Bataille in wondering whether Tonga today represents a compromise situation, or whether it is not rather a case of what she refers to as a "basculement total d'un societe a une autre. d'un svsteme de valeur a un autre'' (1986:124). Of course, it is no easy task to determine scientifically whether the present situation of a society is the start of a fundamentally new phase. In other words, how competent are anthropologists to make statements about the future developments of a society?All the same, the results of my own investigations in Tonga during the last ten years do suggest a fundamentally new development. I do not consider the hybrid relations of production found in Tonga as examples of a "compromise culture," but as manifestations of social contradictions. A dialectic of contradictions is not the same thing as a succession of compromises.Mode of thinkinq and asymmetrical ideoloqyThe concept of asymmetrical ideology is here connected with social inequality. I see asymmetrical ideology as the system of ideas in which forms of social inequality are presented as selfevident and natural, or even as representing God's will. This definition of asymmetrical ideology (as the presentation of social inequality within a society as something selfevident) is intended to give the concept of ideology a heuristic value. I further refer to mode of thinking, a broader category than asymmetrical ideology. I see mode of thinking as those ways of thinking which are connected with the mode(s) of production present in the society under consideration. In my opinion insight into production and mode(s) of thinking is a good entrance to understand the asymmetrical ideology present in Tonga.The reason for formulating ideology so specifically in connection with situations and processes of social inequality is due both to the debates which have taken place in anthropology over the past decennia and to the situation in Tonga. With the rapid development of critical anthropology since the sixties, anthropologists have come to pay increasing attention to social inequality in the societies that they study. This goes far beyond the class struggle. This development received a further stimulus in the seventies from feminist anthropology, which concentrated on the social asymmetry between the sexes. These discussions are one of the sources behind my formulation of a concept of ideology which is aimed at an understanding of and explanation for social inequality in general. The Tongan situation was also a factor in making this choice because of the stress that the Tongans themsleves lay on social inequality. This emphasis is expressed in the ~ dichotomy on the basis of which Tongans constantly set one another in a certain category: they are either socially inferior ~ or socially superior ~. Now that Tongan society is increasingly exposed to capitalist penetration, the emphasis is moving from the ~ dichotomy based on kinship and descent to social inequality based on wage labor and capital. At the present time both forms of social inequality are interwoven in a specific way.The ultimate questions which research in Tonga may confront are concerned with modes of thinking which are connected with modes of production. By this I mean that although there is a connectiona `'correspondence"between modes of production and modes of thinking, it is impossible to derive the modes of thinking directly from the modes of production. The "correspondence" hypothesis excludes complete determination of thought by production, in my view, but it does imply that they cannot be understood in isolation from one another. The mode(s) of production of a society cannot be understood, let along explained, without a grasp of thinking in that society, and vice versa. After all, these are the two sides of a single social entity. On the one hand, this theoretical perspective is opposed to a traditional anthropology which has been divided up into religious, political and economic anthropology without tackling the fundamental question of the connections between these areas. On the other hand, it is opposed to certain dogmatic positions which are too often referred to as Marxist, but in which the study of "superstructural" phenomena is viewed as a subsidiary activity because the "superstructure'' is supposed to be entirely determined by the economic base.

References

Bataille (Benguigui), MarieClaire. 1986. "Les Polynesiens des iles de Tonga et leur representation du milieu marin." [These de doctorat en thnologie, Universite de Paris X.] 2 vols.

Malinowski, Bronislaw. 1937. "culture as Determinant in Behavior," in Factors Determining Human Behavior. Cambridge: Harvard Tercentenary Publications.

Marcus, George. 1980. The Nobility and the Chiefly Traditions in the Modern Kingdom of Tonga. Memoir No. 42. Wellington, Polynesian Society.

Wolf, Eric. 1982. Europe and the People without History. New York: Columbia University Press.

__________1990. "Distinguished Lecture: Facing PowerOld Insights, New Questions," American Anthropolooist 92:58696.

May 1992 "Constitutional Conference" in Tonga

The Taimi 'O Tonga of 15 November 1991 has announced a ''Constitutional Conference'' to be held at the Atele Sports Stadium on May 1821,1992. The theme of the conference is ''Tonga by the year 2,000.'' Those attending include: Rev. Siupeli Taliai, Professor Futa HelU, Bishop Finau, Rev. Dr. 'Amanaki Havea, Dr. 'Ana Taufe'ulungaki, Mr. Mahe Tupouniua' Hon. Cecil Cocker, Hon. Tasi Fakafanua, and Mrs. 'Eseta Fusitu'a. According to Tongatapu representative Viliami Fukofuka, some ''speakers . . . will address political issues such as the need for constitutional change, and others. . . will address economic as well as social issues'' (Taimi 'O Tonga' 15 November, 1991, p. 11).

A New History of Tonga

Dr. Ian C. Campbell's new book, Island Kingdom: Tonga Ancient and Modern is being published by the University of Canterbury Press and will be available in February 1992. Canterbury University Press has provided the following information:This is the story of Tongan society since its foundation by potterymaking, seafaring colonists about 1500 B.C. The Tongans developed the most elaborately hierarchical society in ancient Polynesia, and their navigators carried their name to distant islands. The book shows how European imperialism, far from oppressing these people, merely set them new challenges to which they responded through assimilating Christianity and by political innovation. Looking at the late twentieth century, the book also shows how rapid modernization has presented new social, political and economic changes, which the Tongans have met with characteristic creativity under the imaginative leadership of King Taufa'ahau Tupou IV.Illustrated with more than 40 photographs, maps and drawings, Island Kingdom: Tonga Ancient and Modern is essential reading for anyone seeking better to understand this island kingdom and its people.Dr. Ian Campbell has degrees from the Universities of New England and Adelaide, and has specialized in Pacific history. His acquaintance with Tonga began in childhood and has been sustained by frequent visits since, including a period of lecturing at 'Atenisi University, where he wrote much of this book. He now teaches at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, and has published extensively in academic journals. However, this work, like his previous book A History of the Pacific Islands has been written for nonspecialist readers.Order from Canterbury University Press, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand. The cost is AUS$26.00 (includes surface postage) and NZ$29.95 (incl. GST). Send check or international money order with your order.

Research Communications

Margaret Hixon is searching for primary source materials on the life of Queen Salote Tupou III, particularly for the years 19001918. She welcomes information concerning private papers, memoirs, journals, letters, photographs, and other memorabilia. Her address is Box 837, Nelson, New Zealand.

People

Sione Latukefu has retired from the Principalship of the Pacific Theological College in Suva, Fiji. In the future, he can be reached at this address: 8 Dennis St., Garran, Canberra, ACT 2605, Australia.

According to the JulyAugust 1991 issue of Matangi Tonga' ''The performance of a Tongan kava ceremony by Leonaitasi Hoponoa, a matapule [named] Tukifai, and members of the Tongan community in Honolulu was a highlight at the 17th Pacific Science Congress held May 27June 2 in Honolulu.'' The setting for the kava ceremony performance was the symposium chaired by Nancy Pollack from Victoria University, Wellington, New Zealand. Leonaitasi explained the kava ceremony as both art form and political and social ritual. Originally from Vava'u, matanule Tukifai chanted at the ceremony while Leonaitasi prepared the kava. Leonaitasi and Tukifai performed an abbreviated version of the Tongan kava ceremony to a standingroom only crowd.

Helen Kavapalu's thesis, ''Becoming Tongan: An Ethnography of Childhood in the Kingdom of Tonga,'' has been approved at the Australian National University. She will be leaving Canberra for Melbourne. Her new address is: 3 The Nook, Viewbank, Victoria 3084, Australia.

Aletta Biersack is returning to the University of Oregon and can be reached from January 1,1992 at: Department of Anthropology, University of Oregon, Eugene, Oregon 97403, USA

Ian Campbell, 'Okusitino Mahina, and Caroline Ralston gave papers at the ''Pacific Islands History Workshop: Practices and Practitioners'' held in the Division of Pacific and Asian History, Research School of Pacific Studies, December 46, 1991.

'Okusitino Mahina gave a presentation on Tongan poetry' music, and dance, at the annual meeting of the PanPacific and Southeast Asian Women's Association in Canberra on September 7, 1991. His lecture on Tongan dancing was illustrated by Siua Lafitani, with assistance from Sione Faka'osi and Falamani Mafi. Siua also illustrated 'Okusi's paper at the Pacific Island's workshop, demonstrating, among other things, the milolua.

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