The University of Arizona Press
Early Tonga As the Explorers Saw It, 1616–1810
Paperback ($29.95), Ebook ($29.95)
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Ethnographic observations and experiences on the Tongan Islands up to 1810—just prior to intensive Christian missionary activities—provide an early historic baseline of culture for those interested in alter culture change in Tonga, the only Polynesian island group that has never been ruled by outsiders. Ferdon has drawn on a variety of records to provide a well-documented and highly readable account of major aspects of Tongan life—material culture, government, food and drink, recreation, customs, trade, and warfare—at the time when European influences were only beginning to modify traditional island patterns.
The ethnohistorical approach to early Tongan culture offers not only a fascinating glimpse into a world long past but also a basis for the comparative study of European acculturation throughout Polynesia.
Edwin N. Ferdon first became interested in early Polynesia while serving as an archaeologist with Thor Heyerdahl’s 1955 expedition to Easter Island. He is also the author of Early Tahiti As the Explorers Saw It, 1767–1797.
The ethnohistorical approach to early Tongan culture offers not only a fascinating glimpse into a world long past but also a basis for the comparative study of European acculturation throughout Polynesia.
Edwin N. Ferdon first became interested in early Polynesia while serving as an archaeologist with Thor Heyerdahl’s 1955 expedition to Easter Island. He is also the author of Early Tahiti As the Explorers Saw It, 1767–1797.
"An interesting and extremely useful volume. . . . Ferdon provides the reader with an easy-to-read and effective overview into the Tongan Islands for the years under discussion. . . . A must for any serious Pacific student and should be in every library."—American Anthropologist
"It is a wide-ranging and well-knit account of the traditional way of life in Tonga, and serves as a baseline from which the thorough-going changes consequent upon European contact may be traced and assessed. . . . His concern is to present Tonga as it was seen by its early literate visitors, and he has succeeded admirably."—Pacific Affairs
"It is a wide-ranging and well-knit account of the traditional way of life in Tonga, and serves as a baseline from which the thorough-going changes consequent upon European contact may be traced and assessed. . . . His concern is to present Tonga as it was seen by its early literate visitors, and he has succeeded admirably."—Pacific Affairs
339 Pages
6 x 9 x 1.2
Published: December 2014Paperback ISBN: 9780816531691
Published: January 1988Ebook ISBN: 9780816546299