Book
Taro, fish, and funerals: transformations in the Yapese cultural topography of wealth
UMI • Ann Arbor, Mich. • Published In 2005 • Pages:
By: Egan, James A..
Abstract
The two major questions Egan sets out to answer in this doctoral dissertation are i) why in the post-colonial period (1986 and after) have funerals, once staid affairs, become the site of extravagant ceremonial exchanges and gift-giving, and ii) why no one can buy taro, the Yap staple, in any market in spite of the commodification of all other Yap produce? In the past, elaborate gift-giving ceremonies (MITMIT) were centered on weddings and involved two main staples: fish, caught by men and taro, grown by women. Following the work of Labby (see document no. 26), Egan shows how these exchanges express, fortify, and manipulate property, kin, and political relationships. The colonial powers considered the MITMIT a pagan ritual and suppressed it, but ignored the cash donations given at funerals, which had come under the purview of the Catholic church. In the post-Second World War period, expanding US bureaucracy, aid, and trade, especially in the post-colonial period after 1985, heated up the Yap economy resulting in an increase in funerary donations. Men now had access to cash and imported goods to donate, whereas women, still tied to the farm, could only reciprocate with their traditional taro produce, which they kept off the markets in order to use for gift-giving.
- HRAF PubDate
- 2000
- Region
- Oceania
- Sub Region
- Micronesia
- Document Type
- Book
- Evaluation
- Creator Type
- Ethnologist
- Document Rating
- 4: Excellent Secondary Data
- 5: Excellent Primary Data
- Analyst
- Ian Skoggard ; 2005
- Field Date
- 1988-1993
- Coverage Date
- 1850-1993
- Coverage Place
- Yap State, Federated States of Micronesia
- Notes
- by James Arthur Egan
- UM9821439
- Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of California, Irvine, 1998
- LCSH
- Yapese (Micronesian people)/Yap (Micronesia)