Ka'ili, Tevita O. Spring 2005
Tauhi va: Nurturing Tongan Sociospatial Ties in Maui and Beyond
The Contemporary Pacific. Volume 17, Number 1, pp. 83-114
1. What is the source’s stated purpose (the argument or thesis)?
The argument is that Tongan people, whether on the island or overseas, strive to keep the “va” or the relationship between family members and share in social and economic goods in order to maintain those relationships
2. What evidence does the author provide to support his or her main argument? How is the author attempting to logically prove his or her thesis and how does this affect the organization of the document?
The author uses qualitative research and his experiences in Tonga, Hawai’i and Seattle and wrote about people with whom he was related offering him goods, food, shelter, rides to church etc. because of strong ties with family members no matter how distant. He writes about interactions with people with whom he did not share a family relationship that did not offer goods or services to him.
3. Who is the audience? What does the author assume the audience already knows about the topic?
The audience consists mostly of people who want to understand cultural ties between family members across the pacific and into the United States. The author assumes nothing from the audience and does a very good job explaining his terms and defining Tongan words that he uses.
4.Describe the author’s methods (i.e. how does the author know what he or she knows)? In your opinion were they appropriate why or why not?
The author uses qualitative methods, writing about and keeping a journal of his experiences with Tongans. As a native Tongan and a researcher, he had a lot of access to the people and they were able to open up to him and trust him and he could also speak the language. So, his opinions were pretty valid and he was able to look at the people without biases and study them using the knowledge he had gained living as a native Togan.
5.To what other sources (theorist, researchers, artists) does the author refer? Explain the specific ideas the author draws upon from these other sources to support his or her own argument (the theoretical framework).
The author sites many other authors (Gupta and Ferguson 1997 ; Kahn 2000 ; Rodman 1992) and uses their research to talk about how Tongans have traveled and how their mobility has affected social life of the people. Then he uses their research to frame his own research about how Tongans maintain their family and social relationships outside of Tonga.
6. What are the connections between this source and your project? How useful or applicable is this source’s approach to your own project? How is yours new and different?
My project is going to be about social ties between Tongan women during tapa cloth making and weaving. This article has a lot to do with social ties, and how people maintain them, which is what I want to look at within the island.
White, Geoffrey M and Ty Kawika Tengan. 2001.
Disappearing Worlds: Anthropology and Cultural Studies in Hawai'i and the Pacific.
The Contemporary Pacific. 13.2 (2001) 381-416
1. What is the source’s stated purpose (the argument or thesis)?
The argument of the authors is to validate research among the pacific islanders and approaches to anthropological studies. Due to isolation, cultural diversity is extreme and even though western influenced, still maintains traditional culture.
2. What evidence does the author provide to support his or her main argument? How is the author attempting to logically prove his or her thesis and how does this affect the organization of the document?
The article discusses anthropologists who studied their native land versus the study of the “outsider” or the “stranger” looking in. Slowly, anthropology is becoming more reflexive in that research has been construed in a way that the best way of looking at a society is living in it as a stranger or wanderer not just looking in but living the lifestyle as well.
3. Who is the audience? What does the author assume the audience already knows about the topic?
The audience is mainly people who are interested in studying the Pacific or people who have studied there. They assume a lot of knowledge of sociological ontology and theory fro m the readers, assuming that they are researchers.
4.Describe the author’s methods (i.e. how does the author know what he or she knows)? In your opinion were they appropriate why or why not?
The author uses studies of the Pacific as their data and methods. They look at these and examine what biases and ideology different authors take, whether they are native and have concern for the welfare of the Pacific Islands or whether they are an outside researcher looking in to society. They look at fieldworks as practices and ideologies in order to separate the differences between anthropology and native studies.
5.To what other sources (theorist, researchers, artists) does the author refer? Explain the specific ideas the author draws upon from these other sources to support his or her own argument (the theoretical framework).
The authors site many different authors, including natives and non-natives who have looked at Pacific Island society and uses these to examine research that is performed in those areas.
6. What are the connections between this source and your project? How useful or applicable is this source’s approach to your own project? How is yours new and different?
My project is an anthropological research on Tonga so this applies to me since it looks at what are the best ways to study another culture, and how to study a culture that you belong and outlines anthropological studies versus native or cultural studies.
