Mission and Anthropology in the Solomons

Abstract

When several parties have to work together, it is possible for them to differ, or to be at cross purposes, because they differ fundamentally in aim; but it is very likely that their differences arise because, although their aims have much in common, they differ on means of attaining them, which indeed they may elevate to the status of ends in themselves. Both situations can easily arise when a colonial government, a Christian mission, and an indigenous people are in contact. An extremely interesting case of such differences, both on ends and on means, is described in a recent paper, “Natural Disaster and Political Crisis in a Polynesian Society,” by James Spillius.1 What gives especial interest to this case is that a further party was present, Spillius being an outsider who, by force of circumstances, was drawn into helping both the colonial government and the Polynesians, and who, in addition, was by training and temperament disposed to look at the whole pattern of relations between all parties. Moreover, the natural disaster that caused him to be involved in the affairs of the people he was studying was such that the possibilities of famine, disorder, discord, misunderstanding, and intrigue that had been latent in the society were starkly revealed.