book chapter

The islands and their inhabitants

Fiji and the Fijians by Thomas Williams and James CalvertNew YorkPublished In 1860 • Pages: x, 209

By: Williams, Thomas.

AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This book describes aspects of Fijian culture and society during the rise of Bau as the dominant political center of Fiji, with considerable perspective on politics and events beyond the Bau chiefdom. There was a simultaneous increase in missionary activity, culminating in the conversion of Bau’s reigning chief to Christianity in 1854, immediately following the residence of the author on other islands where he frequently witnessed visits by chiefs from around the archipelago. The author also traveled extensively, closely observing the drama of daily life and organized ceremonials held on different islands. The result is a rich account of not just the observed aspects of community life and court politics, but also the moralistic and religious logic of controversial practices such as cannibalism and widow-strangling.
SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
Drives and emotions
Social personality
Cannibalism
Fishing
General character of religion
Form and rules of government
Chief executive
Gender status
Gender roles and issues
Warfare
Aftermath of combat
cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
Bau Fijians
RegionThe area the document pertains to
Oceania
Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
Polynesia
Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
book chapter
Evaluation
Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
Missionary
Document Rating A ranking done by HRAF anthropologists based on the strength of the source material on a scale of 1 to 5, as follows: 1 - poor; 2 - fair; 3 - good, useful data, but not uniformly excellent; 4 - excellent secondary data; 5 - excellent primary data.
5: Excellent Primary Data
AnalystThe HRAF anthropologist who subject indexed the document and prepared other materials for the eHRAF culture/tradition collection
Teferi Abate Adem ; 2017
Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
1840-1853
Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
1840-1853
Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
Fiji
NotesAdditional notes
By Thomas Williams
LCCNLibrary of Congress Control Number
05014486
LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
Fijians