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Early European–Polynesian contact reenacted
Author(s) -
FEINBERG RICHARD
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
american ethnologist
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.875
H-Index - 78
eISSN - 1548-1425
pISSN - 0094-0496
DOI - 10.1525/ae.2006.33.1.114
Subject(s) - negotiation , extortion , pacific islanders , history , genealogy , geography , contact zone , ethnology , archaeology , political science , law , ethnic group
This article recounts an incident in which many of the dynamics of early contact between European sailors and Pacific Islanders appear to have played out. The event occurred in 1973 on Anuta, a remote Polynesian enclave in the eastern Solomon Islands. Over a three‐day period, islanders acquired highly valued commodities from a Taiwanese fishing boat through a combination of extortion and some very tough negotiations. This incident, I argue, helps to supply a missing piece in the puzzle of early contact.