The Social and Political Systems of Central Polynesia, Volume 3The University Press, 1924 |
Autres éditions - Tout afficher
The Social and Political Systems of Central Polynesia, Volume 3 Robert Wood Williamson Affichage du livre entier - 1924 |
The Social and Political Systems of Central Polynesia, Volume 3 Robert Wood Williamson Affichage d'extraits - 1967 |
Expressions et termes fréquents
Aana according ali'i ancestors appeared appointed Areas and Systems Ari'i Taimai ariki Atua belonged Bovis breadfruit brother Bülow Caillot called ceremony chapter chiefs or kings child coconut custom D'Urville death descendants draw attention Easter Island eldest election Ellis evidence father Finau fono Funafuti Gill gods head chief hereditary high priest hoang Ibid kava Krämer land Malietoa Mangaia Mangareva Mariner Marquesas matabule matter means Moerenhout natural priests Niue orator chiefs Papara perhaps person Polynesia Pomare Pomare II portion possessed practice probably punishment question ra'atira Ra'iatea rank Rarotonga refers regarded Rotuma S.I. vol sacred king Samoa sanctity Savai'i says secular king seems separate ownership social group Society Islands speaking statement Stuebel sub-group succession successor taboo Tahiti Tangaroa tells Thomson Tikopia Tokelau Tonga Tongatabu trees Tuamasanga tuiaana tuiatua tuimanu'a tuitonga tulafale Turner Tyerman village districts whilst writers
Fréquemment cités
Page 66 - ... by the votaries of the imaginary divinity, and at other times officiated as the head of his people, in rendering their acknowledgments to the gods. The office of high-priest was frequently sustained by the king — who thus united in his person the highest civil and sacerdotal station in the land. The genealogy of the reigning family was usually traced back to the first ages of their traditionary history ; and the kings, in some of the islands, were supposed to have descended from the gods. Their...
Page 196 - ... him as his counsellors ; but every edict was issued in the name and on the behalf of the young ruler ; and though the whole of the executive government might remain in the hands of the father, he only acted as regent for his son, and was regarded as such by the nation. The insignia of regal authority, and the homage which the father had been accustomed to receive from the people, were at once transferred to his successor. The lands, and other sources of the king's support, were appropriated to...
Page 383 - At his death, his successor was generally, but not necessarily, his brother or son. If one failed to satisfy the people, he was deposed and another chosen. This man was regarded as very holy. He dwelt with his family apart from the rest of the people. His house was generally built on piles over the shallow water in the lagoon. He never worked, but he and his family were fed by...
Page 276 - ... fact in the Sandwich Islands. There were certain districts which constituted the patrimony of the royal family ; in these they could walk abroad, as they were sacred lands. The other districts were regarded as belonging to their respective occupants or proprietors, who were generally raatiras, and whose interest in the soil was distinct from that of the king, and often more extensive. These lands they inherited from their ancestors, and bequeathed them to their children, or whomsoever they chose...
Page 295 - ... with great hospitality by others at their houses. This is the case, also, with those particularly expert in catching fish : persons of property give such land to reside on, and furnish them with canoes, for the benefit of their services. All the land, with the growth upon it, is hereditarily possessed by the higher orders, civil and religious, the chiefs, warriors, prophets, priests, and their assistants, the boundaries of the respective domains of each being accurately defined and well known....
Page 201 - One of these was a very unnatural practice, called kukumi anga. As soon as a son reached manhood he would fight and wrestle with his father for the mastery, and if he obtained it, would take forcible possession of the kainga or farm previously belonging to his parent, whom he drove in a state of destitution from his home. Another perplexing custom was the ao anga. When a wife was bereft...
Page 325 - I gather, of the tuitonga,or perhaps of the tuikanokubolu or tuihaatakalaua, who was thus, in his capacity of sacred or secular ruler, exercising a systematic control over the food supply of the island. This alternative suggestion is consistent with the idea that the monarch was primarily responsible for the maintenance of the food supply of his subjects, and information given by Mariner points to a similar responsibility taken by Finau on behalf of the people of Vavau Island which was then under...
Page 80 - Every thing in the least degree connected with the king or queen — the cloth they wore, the houses in which they dwelt, the canoes in which they voyaged, the men by whom they were borne when they journeyed by land, became sacred — and even the sounds in the language, composing their names, could no longer be appropriated to ordinary significations. Hence, the original names of most of the objects with which they were familiar, have from time to time undergone considerable alterations.
Page 156 - In Tonga, according to Baker's dictionary, the term fehingoaaki is a verb, indicating "two persons taking each other's name as a challenge." Mariner says it was customary in Tonga for every professed warrior, before he went to battle, or expected the coming of the enemy, to give himself the name of some one particular person, whom he meant to single out and fight, and he refers to the case of a warrior who proudly called himself fannafonnooa (a great gun), declaring that he would run boldly up to...
Page 53 - ... interested in upholding both — force not being sufficient, without fraud, to hold even barbarians under their bondage. Justice and humanity were out of the question ; nothing was too violent or too infamous to be adopted, if it promised to strengthen or to increase royal or sacerdotal usurpations. The king stood at the head of all the chiefs on the one hand, and of all the priests on the other ; consequently, these two bodies supported their common head, while he protected and aggrandized each...