In primitive Polynesia -- Adjustment to civilization -- Village life -- Household and family -- Personal relations in the family circle -- The kin of father and mother -- Language of kinship -- Cooperation and constraint in marriage relationships -- "House" and clan -- Principles of land tenure -- A modern population problem -- Firing the ovens of youth -- Marriage by capture -- Kinship and social stability.
This comprehensive treatment of a tribal society was written after a year of field work on the small Pacific island of Tikopia in the 1920s, at a time when these Polynesian people were almost untouched by Western civilization. The religious, familial, political, economic, and cultural features of Tikopian tribal organization are covered in detail--Publisher's description.