ABSTRACT
T H E M A I ' A O ARE PEASANTS; most of the 'A'ou 'a are proletarians. T h e
Mai ' ao are peasants i n that they are self-employed farmers and fisher-
men w h o have one foot i n the subsistence economy and one foot i n
the cash economy. A l t h o u g h the Mai 'ao produce m u c h of the i r o w n
food and some of the i r other necessities, they also produce a number
of cash crops and products — notab ly copra, r oo f ing tha tch made
f rom panclanus leaves, and fish — w h i c h they sell to traders f r o m
Pape'ete, or d i rec t ly to outlets there, and w h i c h prov ide t hem w i t h
cash to purchase i m p o r t e d goods — notab ly foodstuffs, c l o t h i n g and
b u i l d i n g materials — f rom v i s i t i ng traders and f r o m Pape'ete stores.
