1. Tikopia A Modern Marvel

2. Background Tiny, tropical island located in the Southwest Pacific Ocean 800 people per square mile of farmable land –A very dense population for a traditional society without modern agricultural techniques

3. Background Despite it’s dense population, geographic isolation, and traditional agricultural/societal techniques, Tikopia has been successfully occupied for over 3,000 years!! Anthropologist Raymond Firth: – “It’s hard for anyone who has not actually been on the island to realize it’s isolation from the rest of the world. It’s so small that one is rarely ever out of sight or sound of the sea.” –“There is no faint haze to tell of the existence of any other land.”

4. Background The maximum distance from the center of the island to the coast is three quarters of a mile!

5. Disadvantages of Tikopia Dense Population Geographical Isolation Scarcity of Economically Significant Imports (Voyages to already scarce neighboring societies limited by the danger of the sea and the small size of traditional canoes)

6. Instead of failing, Tikopia has flourished as a self sufficient population for over three millennium. WHY?? –Sustainable food supply –Non-increasing population –“Bottom-up” societal management (to be explained…)

7. Sustainable Food Supply Advantageous Environmental Factors: –High rainfall –Moderate latitude –Location in a zone of high volcanic ash fallout and high fallout of Asian dust. A stroke of good luck for the Tikopian People!!!

8. Sustainable Food Supply All other factors attributing to Tikopia’s success are not simply stokes of good luck. Entire island is managed for continuous production of reliable food supply. –Most of the island’s land is devoted to food production and farming by the people (edible nuts and fruits, coconuts, breadfruits and more) –In essence, the people created a rainforest of useful plants. The canopy trees mostly nut-bearing and the under layers devoted to growing plants that they have specifically adapted to the dry conditions of their well-maintained harvest land. The people have created a multi-layered orchard, structurally mimicking a rainforest, yet with entirely edible plants!!

9. Sustainable Food Supply In addition to these fascinating orchards, Tikopians facilitate food production in: –Small freshwater swamps –Labored Fields: Taro Yams Manioc (South American type of yam)

10. Sustainable Food Supply While these orchards, swamps and fields produce the society with a steady supply of starchy plants, they still needed protein!!! –Ducks and fish (hunted from the island’s one small lake) –Fish and Shellfish (obtained from the surrounding sea) –Over fishing was prevented by the chiefs of the island

11. Sustainable Food Supply The likeliness of natural disaster on the Island of Tikopia forced these people to harvest more than one type of emergency food supply: –They fermented surplus breadfruits in man-made pits, creating a starchy paste that can be kept for several years. –Also, instead of ignoring those plants that produced undesirable (but somewhat edible) foods, Tikopians fostered them with the intentions of having an extra emergency food supply.

12. Non-Increasing Population By modern standards of population growth, Tikopia should currently have and estimated 25 million inhabitants. In reality, it is only home to about 1,278 people. HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE???

13. Non-Increasing Population Six methods of population control still in operation, one only used in the past. (According to Firth) 1.Contraception by coitus interruptus (withdrawal method) 2.Abortion 3.Infanticide 4.Celibacy (different than simply not engaging in intercourse- implies using any possible method of not having children) 5.Suicide 6.“Virtual Suicide” 7.Facilitated starvation of inferior tribes by cutting off their food source (not in operation for centuries)

14. Bottom-Up Metaphor Kind of approach to environmental management: –Small homeland allows all of it’s inhabitants to be familiar with the entire island or area. –They know that they all are affected by developments throughout the area. –Share a sense of identity and common interest with other inhabitants. In essence, the entire community works together to solve their collective problems

15. Bottom-Up Management Each Tikopian house holds pieces of land on the island. Anyone can fish on any reef, regardless of where it is located. Kinship among the islanders formed through overcoming natural disasters as a whole, powerful community. Isolation and small size of the island demand that decisions be made collectively. Chiefs share the same lifestyles as common people. Kinship, ritual and morality all central themes in the bottom-up management system of historical Tikopia.

16. Conclusion Until colonial government and Christian mission influence became relevant in the 20 th century, Tikopia had been practically self supporting on their tiny speck of land for over three thousand years!!