Book

Tongan society

The MuseumHonolulu, Hawaii • Published In 1929 • Pages: iv, 366

By: Gifford, Edward Winslow.

Abstract
This is a general ethnographic introduction to Tongan society and culture based on nine months of fieldwork. It covers population, family and kinship, the kingship, social classes, kava drinking, land, property and inheritance, law, life crises (birth, marriage, funeral, etc.), warfare, cannibalism, entertainment, etiquette, keeping genealogies, personal names, and religion. Tongan society is socially and politically complex. The social structure is based on a combination of feudal regulations within and between ranked lineages. The king is the head of the dominant lineage, but each lineage contains chiefs, matapules (similar to an aristocracy) and commoners. Much of this source concerns these class and status relations. Numbers in parentheses refer to the sources in the bibliography which begins on page 351.
Subjects
Place names
Sociolinguistics
Personal names
Status, role, and prestige
Classes
Nuptials
Family relationships
Kinship terminology
Avuncular and nepotic relatives
Lineages
Community heads
Chief executive
Executive household
Revolution
Spirits and gods
Priesthood
culture
Tongans
HRAF PubDate
2006
Region
Oceania
Sub Region
Polynesia
Document Type
Book
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Martin J. Malone; John Beierle; 1978
Field Date
1920-1921
Coverage Date
900-1921
Coverage Place
Tonga
Notes
by Edward Winslow Gifford
'Bayard Dominick Expedition. Publication no. 16'
Includes bibliographical references (p. 351-353)
LCCN
29017752
LCSH
Tongans