REFLECTIONS ON WOMEN, POWER, AND FAITH IN PRECHRISTIAN AND POSTCHRISTIAN POLYNESIA

Authors

Penelope Schoeffel, National University of Samoa

Abstract

In this article, I aim to draw attention to the scholarship of Alan Hanson and Neil Gunson, demonstrating that throughout pre-Christian Polynesia, chiefly women—even more so than chiefly men—possessed great mana and the powers to make or remove tapu. Gunson identified many great women chiefs and rulers in ancient Polynesia believed to have been descended from the gods. Hanson showed that the tapu on women in ancient Eastern Polynesian societies was because of their dangerous affinity to the gods. The missionary notion that pre-Christian Polynesians were mired in darkness led to the subordination of women when Christianity replaced the religious systems of ancient Polynesia. I suggest that there is a need, not for the rejection of Christian faith, but for a very critical analysis of Christian teaching and representations on the role of women.

Recommended Citation

Schoeffel, Penelope (2020) "REFLECTIONS ON WOMEN, POWER, AND FAITH IN PRECHRISTIAN AND POSTCHRISTIAN POLYNESIA," Pacific Studies Journal: Vol. 43: No. 1, Article 4.
Available at: https://digitalcollections.byuh.edu/pacific-studies-journal/vol43/iss1/4