ABSTRACT
Though the Tikopia in common with the inhabitants of Mukava (Rennell) Island are unquestionably the most primitive of Polynesians, they have not remained altogether outside the orbit of European culture. For nearly a century and a half they have been subjected to various influences of the “ civilizing ” order, and these have left their mark. But the changes effected by the introduction of these foreign cultural elements, though seeming fairly considerable, when reviewed in total have really done very little to disturb the fundamental social structure of the people. The Tikopia have selected the items most relevant to their needs, have adapted them to their own social forms— sometimes in rather curious ways—have ingested them by the political organization, the kinship bonds, the religious system, and the linguistic apparatus of their own collective manner of life. The process so far has been one of inculturation rather than of acculturation; the Tikopia, secure in their isolation, have been able to transform what they have received, rather than compelled to mould their own culture to it. Even of Christianity, the most powerful force they have yet encountered, they have made something which corresponds only in a few external features to the religion of monotheism, personal sacrifice, and universal brotherhood which has animated the bringers of that gospel.
