Pacific Islands

This classic of ethnography focused on the extensive, oceanic trading and gift giving system, the “Kula ring,” established by the Trobriand islanders.

Women played a large role in community life, taking the lead not only in deciding the course of human relationships but also in enjoying erotic life, which Malinowski regarded as much more elaborate and developed in Trobriand society than in so-called “civilized” societies.

Malinowski's imposing study of Trobriand m atrilinearity found wide-ranging consequences of matriarchy in this culture. Despite his grasp of the culture, Malinowski nevertheless insisted on presenting Trobriand economics as a male domain.

Anthropologist Weiner revised the Malinowski literature on the Trobriand Islanders finding a solid and healthy, male-female balance in Trobriand society by her research.

Weiner here analyzed the complementary nature of the oceanic “Kula ring,” the men's communal canoe expeditions to circulate gifts made from mussel shells, and the woman-run, reciprocal system of gift-giving to enhance their reputation. Women circulated the “Doba” or skirts of colored grasses and hand-worked banana leaves.

Brindley corrected the one-sided male perspective on Trobriand gardening in Malinowski's Coral Gardens by showing the significant role of women in the Trobriand economy.

In this anthology the contributions by Tiffany, “Feminist Perceptions in Anthropology,” and O'Brien, “Women Never Hunt: The Portrayal of Women in Melanesian Ethnography,” offered excellent critiques of anthropology's male-dominated perspective, which they argued had distorted reporting on the roles of Melanese women.

One of the first matriarchal studies of Hawai'i, Luomala's interesting hypothesis that the “Menehune,” or “Little People,” of the Polynesian islands were real and queen-ruled was confirmed by her presenting the stories and archaeological relics of the legendary first inhabitants of the Hawai'ian and Polynesian islands. The Little People had been driven out by the warrior chiefs of the later population of the Pacific.

Casey traced the pre-eminent role in religion and social life taken by the noble women of the Indigenous Hawai'ian culture.

Knipe trekked through Hawai'ian stories, taking a Jungian-inspired look at the Hawai'ian matriarchy, but her psychological lens tended to deflate the matriarchal content of the traditions. For her mythic materials, Knipe leaned heavily on Luomala.

Coming from a socio-political vantage point as a Hawai'ian native as well as a credentialed political scientist, Hawai'ian scholar Trask argued that Western naming had “co-opted” essential Hawai'ian identity in “a theft of matrilineal by Western patriarchal descent” (104). She showed the damage done to understanding by determined, colonial redefinitions of Hawai'ian culture.

The Indigenous author Tamasese emphasized the centrality of the sister-brother-relationship in her Samoan culture, placing it in a matriarchal context.