Culture and Race

The task of separating what is known of Polynesian material culture into distinct Negroid, Caucasian, and Indonesian divisions, as attempted by Linton (19, p. 463) may be left as he left it. If more detailed information from a part of the Cook Islands and Samoa can so alter the distribution relied upon page 665by Linton, there is no knowing what will happen when the work of Bishop Museum expeditions on the material culture of the Austral Islands, Society Islands, and Tonga are published, to say nothing of the further work planned on the Tuamotus, Cook and northern islands. The further task of associating the uncertain culture traits with definite waves of distinct racial stocks which are based on incomplete anthropometrical data is one which must await collaboration between the ethnologist and the physical anthropologist when each has more information than is available at the present time.

Territorial relationship of culture. Linton (19, p. 460) gives Society Islands culture as occupying an intermediate position with numerous resemblances to both the Samoan-Tongan and Maori-Marquesan cultures. On the material culture side, the outstanding resemblances between Samoa and the Society Islands as listed by Linton are oval houses and the construction of canoes made of several courses of planks cut to fit together accurately. When these two important traits are analyzed as regards technique, they will be found to have nothing in common beyond the general statement of the traits. Society Islands culture will be found to be closer to Maori, Marquesan, and Hawaiian cultures than it is to Samoan.

Territorial designations. Samoa has been referred to in various writings as central and in others as nuclear Polynesia. It is more accurate to regard it as forming a locality in western Polynesia and providing a type culture of the western Polynesian area. The Society Islands both geographically and historically form the true center of the largest groups of islands and the largest numerical groups of people. Hawaii, Marquesas, Tuamotu, Easter Island, Austral Islands, Cook Islands, and New Zealand are all marginal to the Society Islands. For the purpose of the present study, the whole marginal area with the Society Islands as its center will be regarded as forming the eastern Polynesian area with variant forms of an eastern Polynesian culture. The object will be to compare and contrast some of the main features of Samoan material culture with the culture of eastern Polynesia.