Academic survey of the Pacific Islands. Includes maps, photographs, tables, diagrams, atlas, and detailed index.

Anne E. Becker examines the cultural context of the embodied self through her ethnography of bodily aesthetics, food exchange, care, and social relationships in Fiji. She contrasts the cultivation of the body/self in Fijian and American society, arguing that the motivation of Americans to work on their bodies' shapes as a personal endeavor is permitted by their notion that the self is individuated and autonomous. On the other hand, because Fijians concern themselves with the cultivation of social relationships largely expressed through nurturing and food exchange, there is a vested interest in cultivating others' bodies rather than one's own.

This collection explores birthing in the Pacific against the background of debates about tradition and modernity. A wide-ranging introduction and conclusion, together with case studies from Papua New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji, and Tonga, show how simple contrasts between traditional and modern practices, technocratic and organic models of childbirth, indigenous and foreign approaches, and notions of "before" and "after" can be potent but problematic. The difficulties entailed confront public health programs concerned with practical issues of infant and maternal survival in developing countries as well as scholarly analyses of birthing in cross-cultural contexts. The introduction analyzes central concepts and themes: questions of survival, safety, and well-being; the significance of postures, practices, and sites; the role of midwives, traditional birth attendants, and nurses; and the role of men in birthing and reproduction. Contributors--four anthropologists, a historian, and a community health worker--offer insights into the ways mothers, midwives, and nurses relate the traditional and the modern, and how ideas of tradition and modernity have shaped representations of Pacific childbirth. The conclusion provides researchers with a guide to relevant literature from several disciplines. As a whole the collection warns against either a celebration of emancipation through biomedicine or a recuperative romance about women's past powers in reproduction. Contributors: Ruta Fiti-Sinclair, Margaret Jolly, Vicki Lukere, Shelley Mallett, Helen Morton, Christine Salomon.

"The aim of this book is to present a picture of past and present Polynesian medicinal plants. Although several books have been published on herbal medicine in Polynesia, these are either limited in geographic scope (mostly to Hawai'i) or are unscientific in basis. Restricting the study of herbal medicine to a single Polynesian island or archipelago is a disadvantage because the early accounts of medicinal practices are so sketchy. A more comprehensive approach is rewarding because so much can be learned from the similarities among the various Polynesian cultures. A scientific approach is necessary because of the nature of the subject--medicine and plants. "To establish a comprehensive and scientific basis for this book, three types of research were conducted: (1) an extensive review of the literature on Polynesia; (2) interviews with scores of Polynesian healers in Hawai'i, Samoa, Tonga, Tahiti. the Cook Islands, and Tokelau; and (3) botanical collecting work in Polynesia over a twenty-year period, involving over forty research trips to the South Pacific." --from the Preface

This book is an attempt to ensure that traditional knowledge is not lost and that ecosystems are protected for future generations. It describes more than 270 traditional medicinal treatments, all of which use the plants of the Marshall Islands, and provides a biogeographical, historical and anthropological context, with a particular focus on the use of traditional medicine for the treatment of women.

Medical practitioners and the ordinary citizen are becoming more aware that we need to understand cultural variation in medical belief and practice. The more we know how health and disease are managed in different cultures, the more we can recognize what is "culture bound" in our own medical belief and practice. The Encyclopedia of Medical Anthropology is unique because it is the first reference work to describe the cultural practices relevant to health in the world's cultures and to provide an overview of important topics in medical anthropology. No other single reference work comes close to marching the depth and breadth of information on the varying cultural background of health and illness around the world. More than 100 experts - anthropologists and other social scientists - have contributed their firsthand experience of medical cultures from around the world.

This far-reaching volume analyzes the social, cultural, political, and economic factors contributing to mental health issues and shaping treatment options in the Asian and Pacific world. Multiple lenses examine complex experiences and needs in this vast region, identifying not only cultural issues at the individual and collective levels, but also the impacts of colonial history, effects of war and disasters, and the current climate of globalization on mental illness and its care. These concerns are located in the larger context of physical health and its determinants, worldwide goals such as reducing global poverty, and the evolving mental health response to meet rising challenges affecting the diverse populations of the region. Chapters focus on countries in East, Southeast, and South Asia plus Oceania and Australia, describing: · National history of psychiatry and its acceptance. · Present-day mental health practice and services. · Mental/physical health impact of recent social change. · Disparities in accessibility, service delivery, and quality of care. · Collaborations with indigenous and community approaches to healing. · Current mental health resources, the state of policy, and areas for intervention. A welcome addition to the global health literature, Mental Health in Asia and the Pacific brings historical depth and present-day insight to practitioners providing services in this diverse area of the world as well as researchers and policymakers studying the region.

"This is the first comprehensive study of Samoan music. Cluny and La'avasa Macpherson have carried out intensive investigation into the practice and beliefs of contemporary indigenous healers, or fofố, in Western Samoa to produce a fascinating and throughful study. They explain convincingly why traditional Samoan medicine and its skilled practitioners continue to flourish alongside Western medical practice both in Samoa and in Samoan immigrant communities..."--Back cover.

Experiencing Ritual is Edith Turner's account of how she sighted a spirit form while participating in the Ihamba ritual of the Ndembu. Through her analysis, she presents a view not common in anthropological writings—the view of millions of Africans—that ritual is the harnessing of spiritual power.