Nanumean Kinship, Research Paper Example

Introduction

Nanumea is an atoll and one of a group of nine Polynesian Islands in the South Pacific.  It is the home place of the Polynesian people of Tuvalu.  As such Nanumeans may be classified as Polynesians.  The communities have distinct accents but the languages are generally interchangeable amongst the Polynesian people living on the Islands.  Samoans being amongst their closest neighbours. One of the most important cultural and historical links to Nanumean Society is that of the fighting spear or kaumaile.  It is described as originating on the Island from its early founders and used to fight off  invaders ” most notably by Lapi to defeat a giant, Tuulaapoupou.  Recent carbon dating tests have shown that the Kaumaile spear is over 800 years old.  (Chambers)

Comparative Analysis: Nanumean Coledctivism vs. USA Individualism

Nanumea may be defined as a collectivist society or culture.  This means that the way of life may be described as very community oriented.  Like other Polynesian cultures the people of Nanumea care for both family and friends and share a true spirit of community ship.  Virtually all elements of their life focus upon bonding and building up of community relationships. This is starkly contrasted to the West and by example the USA where the emphasis is much more towards individualism or self-serving.  Although the Polynesians have retained some degree of this spirit, they have been seriously impacted by the trading relationships created from the USA and European countries.  A lot of the younger people abandoning the Island life and traditions for more westernized communities like New Zealand and particularly the City of Auckland that has virtually become the largest Polynesian centre in the Pacific.  Polynesia, including Tuvalu and Nanumea were founded on the mana and tapu system.  A system that promoted values that are most beneficial for the society as a whole rather than any individuals contained within it. A much more holistic view on contribution and values. Although we see the young radically changing many of the tapu system beliefs, nevertheless there still remains a fair degree of community spirit in Nanumea and across Polynesia as a whole.

Nanumea has a particular passion for community spirit and sharing values amongst the community. Visitors are made to feel truly welcome and are provided with food and shelter. They truly believe that possessions should be shared and not coveted for individual gratification. This starkly contrasted the capitalistic society of the Western democracies where a person’s esteem is judged on wealth and the assets that they own.  Free spirits in the west look for places of meditation and contemplation in order to find their “inner person”.  In Nanumeia you know precisely where you fit in from the day you are born and equally what you will become from your family position.  The son of a fisherman was likely to carry on that tradition, similarly a family building canoes for the community would hand down those skills to the next generation and so the concept of not having a job or function was virtually nonexistent.  This starkly contrasted to the USA where unemployment is rife and a large number of the younger generation have no sense of purpose or direction. Even the more fortunate are more materialist driven on the basis of wealth and asset accumulation as opposed to more moral and spiritual values shared by Nanumeans towards both family and elders of the community.  (K. a. Chambers, Genealogies of Nanuma Island)

Within the USA it is the actual Declaration of Independence that provides us with an idea of our pursuits and values ‘Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness’.  Whilst Nanumeans share some of these values, they are not alone in this quest and have a large support system to draw upon.  Equally, everybody in the community wants to help you succeed, as opposed to the west where you compete for scarce resources, jobs and success and your only chance is your own ability and power of persuasion with others.  The West has helped to corrupt many of these traditional values, in some ways trying to make life easier for the Island communities, but stripping them of skills, trades and community work roles. For example, Motorized boats for fishing,  Modern construction materials for building houses,  introduction of different food types and seduction of modern technology luring them from the Islands to cultural centre’s like Auckland in New Zealand.  (Leach)

Cultural Shifts Within Polynesia

The situation of the Nanumeans is not unique within the Polynesian communities. Other native peoples have undergone similar transformations.  Perhaps the best example being the Maori people of New Zealand.  The incoming colonists had a profound impact on the Maoris over the last 200 years.  A treaty called the “Treaty of Waitangi” was made to try and ensure peaceful co-existance between the Maori and the colonists.  The treaty became largely ignored and resulted in land wars in 1845 and since that time the Maori suffered both loss of land and cultural identity.  Despite these setbacks the Government of New Zealand has worked with the Maori people to regain both its cultural identity and influence.  Auckland is now considered to be the biggest Polynesian City in the world. ” The Maori have also embraced modern societal structures, which is possibly why they’ve remained successful. They form a significant political power in New Zealand, have influenced school curriculum, and since 2004 have owned their own television network. There have also actively participated in the UK government structure and hold several seats in New Zealand’s parliament” (Cristiansen)

The Pacific Islands are amongst the last peoples on Earth to become integrated into modern high technological society of world trade and communications. War was commonplace amongst all of the differing tribal nations spread throughout the Pacific Islands.  Despite this certain Islands were relatively peaceful and had a long standing sense of tradition and order.  Samoa being amongst these groups.  To-day represents a different story and like the native Nanumean people they are fleeing the Islands. ” Since the 1960s the Samoans have experienced massive emigration. Today there are more Samoans living abroad – mainly in New Zealand, Australia and the United States – than in Samoa itself. It is both interesting and troubling that Samoans living overseas are often characterised by non-Samoans as an aggressive, even violent people. Why should this be so, given the high value Samoans place on peace and harmony in their cultural values and social institutions? A possible explanation is that the impersonality of life in large western cities places great strains on Samoan values.” (Penelope S. Meleisea)

There exists ample evidence to suggest that the old cultural ways of fishing, eating, building houses, cultivating and social values are changing.  Other than tourism value much of this is being abandoned or lost in favour of more modern practices introduced by the concept of globalization and change.  The attraction of having modern paid jobs, living in the comforts of modern technological homes and eating more diverse range of foods has swayed the younger generations to move towards different lifestyles and ways of living.  The impact has been spread right across the Polynesian countries.

The concept of “modernity” has also threatened their very existence by the possibility of climate change and the melting of the polar ice caps.  The global warming will continue to raise the sea levels and many of the Pacific atolls will disappear as they vanish between the rising sea levels.  ” Eight years ago, as exclusively reported in The Independent on Sunday, the first uninhabited islands – in the Pacific atoll nation of Kiribati – vanished beneath the waves. The people of low-lying islands in Vanuatu, also in the Pacific, have been evacuated as a precaution, but the land still juts above the sea. The disappearance of Lohachara, once home to 10,000 people, is unprecedented”  (Lean)

“In Tuvalu, the oceans are similarly reclaiming the motu of Tepuka Savilivili. Its once extensive sand banks have also disappeared, its coconut trees have gone, and the ocean is slowly moving up its remaining rock”.  (El-Ashrey) Perhaps nature has the final word on cultural extinction and changing demographics.

Works Cited

Chambers, Keith and Anne. Chambers, Keith and Anne. Genealogies of Nanuma Island. Sydney: Australia National University, 1973.

—. A Website for the People of Nanumea. 2008. 30 11 2009 <http://nanumea.net/Faiga_mo_Iloga.html>.

Chambers, Keith S. and Anne. Unity of Heart: Culture and Change in a Polynesian Atoll Society. Illinois: Waveland Press , 2001.

Cristiansen, Tricia Ellis. Who are the Maori? 2009. 1 12 2009 <http://www.wisegeek.com/who-are-the-maori.htm>.

El-Ashrey, M.T. Vanishing Islands. 2009. 1 12 2009 <http://www.unep.org/OurPlanet/imgversn/103/06_van.htm>.

Leach, James. “The Contemporary Pacific.” Leach, James. The Contemporary Pacific. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1969. 440-442.

Lean, Geoffrey. Global warming claims first inhabited island . 27 12 2006. 1 12 2009 <http://climaction.blogspot.com/2006/12/global-warming-claims-first-inhabited.html>.

Penelope S. Meleisea. A Case Study of Samoa. 2009. 1 12 2009 <http://www2.unescobkk.org/elib/publications/sourcebook_teachers/06SAMOA.pdf>.