Pulotu - Culture Rarotonga

Rarotonga

Rarotonga is a high island in the southern Cook Islands. The islanders converted to Christianity in the 1820s and 1830s, and information on the indigenous religion is fragmentary. We do know that the Rarotongans worshipped some of the great Pan-Polynesian gods such as Rongo and Tangaroa, as well as more local deities such as the deified founding ancestor Tangiia. These gods were represented by enormous wooden images, which were destroyed during the conversion process.

Traditional Culture (1822)

Isolation

Question	Response	Source
Pre-Austronesian population	Absent: No evidence of human occupation prior to Austronesian settlement	Bellwood 1995: 109
Christian influence on supernatural belief	No evidence of influence but in a region where contact is likely (No evidence of Christian influence on supernatural belief, but culture is known to have had (or is likely to have had) contact with Christian societies at or prior to the time focus in question.)	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 4
Hindu / Buddhist influence on supernatural belief	No evidence of influence and not in region of known contact (No evidence of Hindu / Buddhist influence on supernatural belief, and culture is unlikely to have had contact with Hindu or Buddhist societies at or prior to to the time focus in question.)	Cribb 2000: Map 2.21
(Low) contact with other societies (SCCS v 787)	Occasional but not often (e.g. once in a generation)	Baltaxe 1975: 19-21
Islamic influence on supernatural belief	No evidence of influence and not in region of known contact (No evidence of Islamic influence on supernatural belief, and culture is unlikely to have had contact with Islamic societies at or prior to the time focus in question.)	Cribb 2000: Map 2.23
Distance to closest landmass inhabited by a different culture (km)	203.6	Calculator 2014
Distance to nearest continent (km)	4735	Calculator 2014

Physical Environment

Location

Question	Response	Source
Longitude of culture’s location (°)	-159.8	2014; Baltaxe 1975: 22
Latitude of culture’s location (°)	-21.2	2014; Baltaxe 1975: 22

Geographical Range of Culture

Question	Response	Source
Number of islands inhabited by culture	One	Baltaxe 1975: 22

Features of Island with Largest Culture Population

Question	Response	Source
Island type (island with largest culture population or largest island if unknown)	Volcanic high island (an oceanic island of volcanic origin, e.g. Hawaii)	Baltaxe 1975: 21-22
Maximum elevation (meters)	653	Baltaxe 1975: 22
Island Size (km²)	67.3	Baltaxe 1975: 22

Social Environment

Question	Response	Source
Estimate of culture population size at relevant time focus	7000	Baltaxe 1975: 45
Importance of Matrilateral descent (V.2)	Medium (Matrilateral descent plays an important role in determining social status and / or group membership, but is not the most important form of descent.)	Baltaxe 1975: 10-11
Importance of Patrilateral descent (V.2)	High (Patrilateral descent plays an important role in determining social status and / or group membership, and is more important than any other form of descent.)	Baltaxe 1975: 10-11
Polygamy (SCCS 861)	Limited polygyny (< 20% of married males)	Crocome 1991: 41
Marital residence (SCCS 69)	Patrilocal or virilocal - with husband's kin	Baltaxe 1975: 10
Kinship system (if applicable)	Hawaiian	Crocome 1991: 41
Estimated population of largest political community	1,000-9,999	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 6
Political Authority	Supralocal (encompasses multiple local groups)	Baltaxe 1975: 1-18, 33-96

Conflict

Question	Response	Source
(No) conflict (social or political) within the local community (SCCS v 767)	High (Conflict is frequent and often violent, but is not a pervasive aspect of daily life.)	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 14
(No) internal warfare (between communities of the same society) (SCCS v 773)	Common, at least every five years	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 14-16
(No) external warfare (with other societies) (SCCS v 774)	Rare or never	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 1-19

Subsistence and Economy

Land-based means of subsistence

Question	Response	Source
Animal husbandry as a source of food	Minor	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 15-16
Land-based hunting performed by individuals	Minor	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 15
Land-based gathering	Medium	Baltaxe 1975: 30
Land-based hunting performed by one or more groups	Minor	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 15
Agriculture / Horticulture	Principal (more important than any other source of food)	Baltaxe 1975: 30

Water-based means of subsistence

Question	Response	Source
Water-based gathering	Medium	Mokoroa 1981
Fishing and water-based hunting performed by one or more groups	Medium	Mokoroa 1981
Fishing and water-based hunting performed by individuals	Minor	Mokoroa 1981

Commercial Activity

Question	Response	Source
Trade / wage labour as a source of food	Absent

Post Contact History (1822-2014)

Religious History

Conversion

Question	Response	Source
Was a foreign religion adopted through a top-down (those high in the social hierarchy converted first, followed by the general population) or a bottom-up (the general population converted first, followed by those high in the social hierarchy) process?	Primarily a top-down process.	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 21-22
Use of force in conversion	Low (most communities adopted the new religion either voluntarily or due to pressure from other communities of the same culture)	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 20-56
Adoption of a world religion	Present and predominant (At one time or another during the post-contact period, at least 75% of the indigenous population practiced a world religion.)	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 26
Resident missionary involvement in conversion process	Present, and from non-Austronesian societies (Resident foreign missionaries, at least one of whom was from a non-Austronesian society, played an important role in the conversion process.)	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 20-56

Syncretic Movements

Question	Response	Source
Syncretic religious movements	Absent	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 20-56

Secular History

Demographic and Social Changes

Question	Response	Source
Replacement-level immigration	Low (Replacement-level immigration occurred. The immigrant culture had a population size more than 10% of that of the indigenous culture at one time or another, but this figure never exceeded 50%.)	Office 2011: 11-12; Gilson (eds.) 1980: 78, 182
Language shift	Medium (The indigenous language remained an important means of communication for the duration of the post-contact period, but at one time or another the indigenous population used a non-indigenous language to roughly the same extent.)	Office 2011: Table 3.8
Foreign education systems	High (At one time or another during the post-contact period over 75% of children received some at least a basic non-indigenous education.)	Office 2011: 12
Foreign government systems	Present, and of high importance (At one time or another during the post-contact period the culture was subject to a foreign government system that controlled most important decisions.)	Williams 2001: 106

Economic Changes

Question	Response	Source
Changes in means of subsistence	High (No indigenous means of subsistence has remained major or principal.)	Office 2011: 16-19
Exportation of goods to other cultures	Present and substantial (At one time or another during the post-contact period, exports were a primary focus of economic activity for over 10% of the population.)	Islands). 2014

Modern Infrastructure

Question	Response	Source
Vehicles and roads	Present and widely used (At one time or another during the post-contact period, motor vehicles were used by a substantial proportion of the population.)	Office 2011: Tables 1.1, 8.14
Air travel	Present and long-distance (At one time or another, most members of the culture had access to international air travel.)	Office 2011: 9
Sea port	Present (At one time or another during the post-contact period most members of the culture had access to a sea port.)	Agency 2009: 174

Loss of Autonomy

Question	Response	Source
Loss of autonomy during postcontact period	High (On at least one occasion during the post-contact period, the culture came under the political dominance of a foreign power, and this event resulted in considerable loss of autonomy.)	Scott 1991: 285-286, 298; Gilson (eds.) 1980: 59-60, 62-64, 104, 107, 111-112
Nature of loss of autonomy – voluntary vs. forced	Partly voluntary (e.g. Autonomy was ceded voluntarily but under duress; some communities ceded their autonomy voluntarily but others were forced to do so by an foreign power.)	Gilson (eds.) 1980: 59-60, 62-64, 104, 107, 111-112, 119-121

Coordinates WGS84

21°12'S, 159°48'W
-21.20, -159.80

Sources

2014: Google Maps
Agency 2009: World Port Index Nineteenth Edition
Baltaxe 1975: The transformation of the rangatira: A case of the European reinterpretation of Rarotongan social organization
Bellwood 1995: Austronesian Prehistory in Southeast Asia: Homeland, Expansion and Transformation
Calculator 2014: http://www.daftlogic.com/projects-google-maps-distance-calculator.htm.
Cribb 2000: Historical atlas of Indonesia
Crocome 1991: Cook Islands
Gill 1979: Cook Islands Customs
Gilson (eds.) 1980: The Cook Islands 1820-1950
Islands). 2014: The World Factbook: The Cook Islands
Marck 1996: The First-Order Anthropomorphic Gods of Polynesia
Mokoroa 1981: Traditional Cook Islands Fishing Techniques
Office 2011: Census of Population and Dwellings 2011
Scott 1991: The Years of the Pooh-Bah: a Cook Islands History
Sissons 1989: The Seasonality of Power: The Rarotongan Legend of Tangiia
Smith 1898: Hawaiki: The whence of the Maori; with a sketch of Polynesian history; being an introduction to the native history of Rarotonga
Williams 2001: Economic Marginalism and the Microstate, the Impact of Donor Conditionality Requirements in International Aid Programmes on a SHRM Training Project in the Cook Islands
nd: Gems from coral islands; or, incidents of contrast between savage and Christian life of the South Sea Islanders (Vol. II: Eastern Polynesia: Comprising the Rarotonga Group, Penrhyn Islands and Savage Island)