Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 407-427).

Thesis (M.A.)--Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, 1991. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 87-91).

xviii, 264 p. A print copy of this thesis is available through the UO Libraries. Search the library catalog for the location and call number. / This dissertation examines the role of stone tool production as a strategic resource in the development of chiefly authority in prehistoric Samoa. The evolution of Polynesia's complex chiefly systems is a long standing issue in anthropology, and prior archaeological research has identified that specialized goods were a significant factor in the elevation of elite status in many Polynesian contexts. Before Western contact, Samoa was a stratified chiefdom with leaders claiming exclusive privileges and participating in an extensive trade network within the Fiji-West Polynesian region during the Traditional Samoan period (c. A.D. 300-1700). However, Samoa's political structure was quite different in the earlier Polynesian Plainware period (c. 500 B.C.-A.D. 300). Archaeologists, with the aid of historical linguistics, have documented a simple hereditary system operating among small horticultural communities. To address this political transformation, I investigate coeval changes occurring in stone adze production recovered on Tutuila Island. Based firmly in the theoretical perspective of political economy, I ask three inter-related questions in my dissertation: were adze specialists present in ancient Samoa; if so, what was their connection to chiefly prerogatives; and what further relationship did these adze producers have with Samoa's emerging elite? To answer these questions, I utilize mass flake analysis and typological classifications to document technological and spatial changes in stone tool production. I also employ settlement studies and geochemical characterization to chart how leaders managed and controlled raw materials, as well as the distribution of basalt adzes in exchange networks. From my research, I record numerous nucleated workshops of adze specialization on Tutuila dating as far back as 800 years ago. As a new form of economic organization, these adze specialists acted as catalysts for increased political complexity and stratified authority. In addition, I trace how Samoan elites used their bourgeoning authority in restricting access to basalt sources and the distribution of the finished products during this same time period. In the larger Samoan political economy, I conclude that Tutuilan chiefs, located in an otherwise economically-impoverished island, utilized these newly-developed adze specialists and high-quality basalt as strategic resources for accumulating material surplus in prestige competition. / Adviser: William S. Ayres

Among the various adverse effects of climate change, sea-level rise is expected to increase the severity and frequency of flooding events impacting the vulnerable, low-lying islands of French Polynesia. It has long been understood that sea-level changes are not spatially uniform, yet this aspect is not taken into account in the decision-making. Notably, no projections of future sea level have been produced specifically for this region so far, partly because the processes driving sea-level changes remain poorly constrained. To approach the issue, we present a detailed reconstruction of sea-level changes for the mid-to-late Holocene, based on the observation of coral proxies. This dataset is then used to calibrate a sea-level model in order to estimate the contribution of glacial isostatic adjustment to regional sea-level changes and to infer past variations in global ice volume. Building upon this baseline and exploiting recent outputs of climate models, we project that in a “worst-case” scenario, sea level would rise 1.05 meters by 2100 in French Polynesia, exceeding the value adopted in the French adaptation strategy by 0.45 meters. We conclude that spatial variability of sea-level rise should be considered in future risk studies for this and other regions.

The Pacific is the part of the world that was last settled by humans. The colonization occurred in different stages which can be discerned through various methods, one of them DNA analysis of humans as well as other species of animals and plants associated with human settlement. The direction of human migration is traditionally believed to have taken a west-eastern direction, originating in the area near Taiwan and spreading eastward until reaching the islands of Remote Oceania. However, there are also strong indications of an east-western route of interaction, with recent DNA studies confirming prehistoric human contact between South American and Polynesian peoples. The aim of this paper is to investigate the current research on human settlement of the Pacific focusing on the genetic analyses of humans as well as animals and plants believed to have accompanied the human settlers. It is to be hoped that this research survey will shed new light on the subject of geographical origins of Pacific migration and the early interactions and settlement patterns that ensued. / Oceanien blev den sista världsdelen att befolkas av människan. Koloniseringen ägde rum i flera steg som kan studeras med olika metoder, däribland DNA-analys av människor samt andra arter av djur och växter vilka förknippas med mänsklig migration. Kolonisationen av Stilla Havet gick enligt den vedertagna forskningen i en väst-östlig riktning, med utgångspunkt från området kring Taiwan och vidare österut till Bortre Oceanien. Det finns emellertid även starka indikationer på öst-västliga interaktioner mellan polynesier och sydamerikansk ursprungsbefolkning. Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka det aktuella forskningsläget med fokus på genetiska analyser av människor såväl som av de djur och växter som tros ha följt människorna. Förhoppningen är att denna forskningsöversikt ska kasta nytt ljus över frågan om det geografiska ursprunget för den oceaniska expansionen och de tidiga migrationsmönster och interaktioner den gav upphov till.

In a Polynesian feast, food is a metaphor for the essence of Polynesian culture—giving without self regard. As Polynesian culture evolves, its aesthetic standard must necessarily change. Two seemingly conflicting essentials are necessary here for the survival of culture—the evolution of the cultural aesthetic, and the constancy of the culture's essence. One might consider as a metaphor the evolution of a tree through the seasons—though the foliage blooms, changes colors, dies and grows brittle, falls and regenerates, etc., the roots remain constant—ever nourishing the tree and ever supporting it and holding it up. As with the tree, the essence of the Polynesian culture must always remain constant, though the aesthetic trappings evolve and adapt to survive in an ever-changing environment. The work described herein demonstrates the glacial drift of culture and how, in the trappings of a modern, ever-evolving world, the Polynesian culture's essence survives. This work stands as a signpost on the road of identity, helping the earnest searcher to see, through the ever-changing foliage, the root or essence of identity. Thus, this work imbues its viewer with a sense of freedom with respect to her search for identity; for once the viewer recognizes that which is necessarily constant, she can freely embrace that which is necessarily evolving.

Les premiers explorateurs polynésiens découvrent Tahiti et ses "îles de lumière", ces terres paradisiaques les rapprochant du lieu où la lumière créatrice de la cosmogonie polynésienne originelle surgit, grâce à la maîtrise des astres , des vents et des courants marins ouvran la voie à leurs majestueuses pirogues doubles 150 ans avant Jésus Christ. Le triangle polynésien, où elles se situent au centre, désigne une aire culturelle et linguistique commune. La "Poly-nésie" désigne les "multiples îles" et se distingue de la "Méla-nésie à l'ouest, désignant les "noires îles" et de la "Micro-nésie" et ses "petites îles".C'est d'abord à travers son histoire particulière qu'on doit appréhender cette entité qu'est devenue la Polynésie française, avant de s'interroger sur la signification du concept d'autonomisation, et de fixer dans ses grandes lignes le cadre dans lequel se déroulent les jeux politiques qui en conditionnent la mise en oeuvre. / The first Polynesian explorers discover Tahiti and her "light islands", the heavenly lands closer to the place where the creative light of the original Polynesian cosmogony arises, through control of the stars, winds and sea currents ouvran the way for their majestic double canoes 150 years before Jesus Christ. The Polynesian Triangle, where they stand in the center, means a common cultural and linguistic area. The "Poly-nesia" means "many islands" and differs from the "Melanesia to the west, designating the" black islands "and" Micronesia "and" small islands ".It is primarily through its particular history we must understand what this entity became French Polynesia, before wondering about the meaning of the concept of empowerment, and set in outline the framework within which take place in the political games that condition the implementation.

French Polynesia relies solely on the collection of wild Pinctada margaritifera spat for pearl oyster culture. This was developed to help protect the wild populations from overexploitation, but it is feared that massive spat collection could lead to erosion of genetic diversity both in farmed and wild stocks. Wild and farmed collections of P. margaritifera from four atolls in French Polynesia were genotyped at eight microsatellite loci to determine whether there was a loss of genetic diversity from the wild to adjacent farmed aggregations. The average allelic richness for wild samples was not significantly different from that seen for farmed samples, but there was a significant effect of atoll and locus. Pair-wise genetic differentiation (FST) was not significant between adjacent wild and farmed collections or across atolls. Overall there was no evidence for a loss of genetic variability in farmed oysters. Both farmed and wild individuals analyzed here were adults and could have originated from multiple spawning events in time and space. This could have masked genetic processes linked to recruitment happening at a finer scale. P. margaritifera demonstrates high recruitment variability, but the number of parents contributing to a successful cohort of juveniles recruited on collectors is unknown. Low effective number of breeders and variable recruitment are assumed to be responsible for the genetic patchiness that has been observed at a small spatial scale for this species and this could lead to a loss of genetic diversity in both the farmed and wild stocks. The genetic diversity and family make-up of three groups of 1.5 year old oysters were assessed using 13 microsatellite markers. These individuals were harvested on collectors in three closely located sites of the Takapoto atoll. Higher recruitment density and higher allelic richness was observed in one zone compared to the other two. Significant genetic differentiation was also observed at a small spatial scale. Pair-wise FST estimates between collectors within zone were not significant, but were generally significant across zones. Estimates of effective population size and number of families present for these individuals were larger than expected and suggested that the numbers of parents contributing to the recruits on these collector lines were not limited. Similar results were obtained when assessing monthly cohorts of recruits collected in Takapoto over 5 months with 11 microsatellites. Levels of allelic richness were not significantly different among monthly cohorts, and were comparable to the levels observed in the adult samples above. Small but significant temporal genetic differentiation was observed between the monthly cohorts. Again, there was no evidence for low effective population size or for significant family structuring and it did not appear that a limited number of parents produced these temporal cohorts. Patchy genetic structure was observed, but recruitment on collectors does not seem to be driven by a limited number of successful parents. It does not appear that the current pearl culture practices are negatively impacting the local farmed and wild stocks of P. margaritifera in French Polynesia by reducing their levels of genetic diversity.

The Western imagination has ascribed histories and identities of the Marquesas Islands throughout centuries of evolving discourses and representations as a paradoxical paradise, bolstering colonialist ideologies of social evolutionary theory. The islands have either been represented as backwards on a social scale to justify Western dominance, or have been represented as being in a state of authentic human nature out of colonial guilt and imperialist nostalgia. These representations reveal a paradox in which the Marquesas is ascribed in the Western imagination as a degenerate space, yet also as a space where the regeneration of human nature is made possible— provided that a time-backwards Marquesas is dependent on a civilized West.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 2007 / Pacific Islands Studies