essay

Putting down sisters and wives: Tongan women and colonization

women and colonization : anthropological perspectivesPraeger • Published In 1980 • Pages: 294-322

By: Gailey, Christine Ward.

Abstract
This article is a summary of the second part of Gailey's larger work (see document no. 113) on gender and state formation in Tonga. It focuses on gender relations in the precontact and colonial periods. As Gailey argues here and elsewhere, sisterhood was a powerful dyadic relationship in the Tongan kinship system, which defined work groups, exchange networks, and wider kin group relationships. Gailey discuses how sisterhood came under attack from missionaries who emphasized the husband-wife dyad and laws that changed property rights in favor of men.
Subjects
Acculturation and culture contact
Real property
Gift giving
External trade
Division of labor by gender
Status, role, and prestige
Gender status
Family relationships
Avuncular and nepotic relatives
Legal norms
Missions
culture
Tongans
HRAF PubDate
2006
Region
Oceania
Sub Region
Polynesia
Document Type
essay
Evaluation
Creator Type
Ethnologist
Document Rating
4: Excellent Secondary Data
5: Excellent Primary Data
Analyst
Ian Skoggard; 2004
Field Date
1986
Coverage Date
1600-1800
Coverage Place
Tonga
Notes
Christine Ward Gailey
Includes bibliographical references (p. 320-322)
LCCN
79015318
LCSH
Tongans