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Tikopia of Melanesia

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Tikopia of Melanesia
Tikopia of Melanesia
Barbara Pritchard
Anthropology 101
Instructor Tawny Townsend
June 27, 2011

Tikopia of Melanesia
Tikopia of Melanesia has been through many different changes in their society. Agriculture also known as agricultural states is their primary mode of subsistence; you may also call them emerging agriculturalists. The island of Tikopia is lead by chiefs which are their traditional ritual leaders. “Chiefs are the economic focus in the Tikopian society”, (Nowak & Laird, 2010). Another name for Tikopians village or community would be chiefdom. In this paper you will read about how, Tikopia of Melanesia is different in their subsistence practices, social change, political organizations, and beliefs and values.

Subsistence Practices
Tikopia practices a precise method of agriculture. Tikopians search for clear forests and dried swamps, which provide them with irrigated land, access to markets, and trade routes. The empty land allows control over resources. Technology also plays a part in their subsistence practices. “Technology may include intensive agriculture (for example, irrigation, terraces, and flood control) and trade infrastructure such as ships, ports, bridges, and roads. In addition, there may be ownership of technology, allowing for control over production and distribution”, (Nowak & Laird, 2010, p.146). Men mainly do the hard work, cleaning forests, building fences, and planting; the women do the gardening, take care of the children, and prepare food. The women and men both play major roles in their subsistence practices. They use balanced reciprocal exchange and redistribution to transport goods and services. Balanced reciprocal exchange is exchange with an agreement with a return of an equivalent item or an item with a greater value. “Redistribution is tribute, or the products of families’ or individuals’ labor, is collected in a central location and then sorted, counted, and either stored


References: Firth, R. (1970). Rank and religion in Tikopia. Science: Social Sciences: Anthropology: Cultural Anthropology: Ethnography, 25(424), Retrieved from http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/ethnoatlas/hmar/cult_dir/culture.7873 Macdonald, J. (2000). "The Tikopia and." "What Raymond Said": 113-7. Web. 27 Jun 2011. <http://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/bitstream/10289/3340/1/the%20tikopia.pdf >. Nowak, B., & Laird, P. (2010). Cultural anthropology (San Diego, Bridgepoint Education, Inc.), Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu Voegelin, C. (1974). Languages of the world. Indo-Pacific fascicle two, 6(7), retrieved from http://lucy.ukc.ac.uk/ethnoatlas/hmar/cult_dir/culture.7873
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