article
Reorganized meeting house system: the focus of social life in a contemporary village in Tabiteuea South, Kiribati
People and culture in Oceania • 17 • Published In 2001 • Pages: 83-113
By: Kazama, Kazuhiro.
AbstractBrief abstract written by HRAF anthropologists who have done the subject indexing for the document
This document traces the “traditional” functions and seating arrangements for Kiribati village meeting houses as influenced by colonial rule and Christian missions prior to indipendence in 1979, comparing the information to observations made in the 1990s. The author recognizes the centrality of the structures in linking individual households with the central government and global markets, and how, by the time of fieldwork, meeting houses were qualitatively different from what had previously been reported. The most important change concerns the status and roles of different clans in the village council. In the past, functions and seating in the village meeting house were assigned strictly on descent, age and gender. In the new era meetings are attended by all residents, including young men, women, and newcomers whose ancestors never held seats.
- SubjectsDocument-level OCM identifiers given by the anthropology subject indexers at HRAF
- Community structure
- Community councils
- Community heads
- Activities of the aged
- Status and treatment of the aged
- Age stratification
- Gender status
- Inter-community relations
- Visiting and hospitality
- Clans
- Mythology
- Public structures
- Building interiors and arrangement
- Housekeeping
- Organized ceremonial
- External relations
- Acculturation and culture contact
- cultureCulture name from the Outline of World Cultures (OWC)
- Kiribati
- HRAF PubDateThe date HRAF published the document
- 2018
- RegionThe area the document pertains to
- Oceania
- Sub RegionThe more specific area the document pertains to, which is located within the Region
- Micronesia
- Document TypeMay include journal articles, essays, collections of essays, monographs, or chapters/parts of monographs
- article
- Evaluation
- Creator TypeThe type of person writing the document, e.g. Ethnographer, Missionary, Archaeologist, Folklorist, Linguist, Indigenous Person, and so on.
- Anthropologist
- 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.
- 4: Excellent Secondary 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 ; 2016
- Field DateThe date the researcher conducted the fieldwork or archival research that produced the document
- 1994-1996
- Coverage DateThe date or dates that the information in the document pertains to
- 1892-1996
- Coverage PlaceLocation of the research culture or tradition (often a smaller unit such as a band, community, or archaeological site)
- Tabiteuea South, Southern Kiribati Islands, Republic of Kiribati
- NotesAdditional notes
- Kazuhiro Kazama
- Includes bibliographical references (p. 112-113)
- LCSHLibrary of Congress Subject Headings
- Kiribati