The Demise of the Man Who Would Be King: Sorcery and Ambition on Nukulaelae Atoll

Abstract

Two ideological currents underlie political life on Nukulaelae Atoll (Polynesia): one that calls for a strong leadership structure and another that argues for egalitarianism. This paper focuses on the fate of one ambitious leader who fails to heed the community's egalitarian ideology and whose career is cut short by gossip alleging him to be a sorcerer. The analysis of a meeting in which this man attempts to deny the accusations shows that the ambiguous epistemological status of sorcery turns such accusations into particularly effective political tools. Public discourse colludes with offstage gossip to deny the accused the possibility of denying the allegations and transforms his attempt to do so into a degradation ceremony, through which his marginalization is further affirmed. Sorcery accusations have been described as either hierarchy-maintaining devices or weapons of resistance. On Nukulaelae, they help maintain a delicate tension between hierarchy and equality.