ABSTRACT
For many centuries, the different island groups in the South Pacific Ocean have been inhabited by three broad racial groups: the shorter, darker, curly haired Melanesians in the western and central islands now known as Fiji Islands, New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and Vanuatu; the taller, lighter skinned, wavy haired Polynesians in the eastern islands now known as Cook Islands, French Polynesia, Niue, Samoa, Tokelau and Tonga; and the medium sized, lighter skinned, straight haired Micronesians in the northern island groups now known as Kiribati and Nauru.1 There have been some exceptions to these broad racial groupings, especially the Polynesians who were to be found in parts of the Fiji Islands, in Tuvalu, and in parts of Vanuatu, but, broadly, the indigenous people of each of the island groups of the South Pacific were people of one of these three racial categories. Although the indigenous inhabitants of each island group in the South Pacific were basically of the same racial category, there was no concept within each island group of a unified society, let alone a unified state. Within each island group, people tended to live in separate communities under the control of separate leaders and chiefs. Each community regulated itself in accordance with its own traditions and practices and in accordance with the wishes and policies of its leaders, and, on occasions, its paramount chiefs. Moreover, since there was no knowledge of writing or printing, the regulation of social order was entirely unwritten, and communicated solely by word of mouth and actions. It would be a mistake to assume that these communities lived in an atmosphere of peace, tranquillity and stability. Again and again, social relationships were disrupted by discord from within the communities, and by natural and man made disturbances from outside the communities. Social order in such communities was, therefore, based partly upon community practices and usages, and partly upon the dictates of leaders and paramount leaders, but subject always to dislocation or displacement produced by national
catastrophes, such as volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, floods and landslides, or man made disturbances, such as inter-tribal wars, the demands of paramount chiefs, and the obligations of shifting allegiances with other chiefs.
