Paper short abstract:

This paper examines the transformation of an island by a cyclone, and the effect this has had both on attitudes to the land and on internal power relations. There are also ideological repercussions from interventions by external eco-do-gooders.

Paper long abstract:

In 2002 a serious cyclone devastated part of Tikopia, a small and isolated Polynesian outlier. Because of ethnic tension in the Solomon Islands at the time, the usual sources of relief (plant and building materials from other islands) were not supplied and the island was slow to recover. The Tikopia make an explicit connection between the bodies of the chiefs and the body of the land, the health of one reflecting and predicting the health of the other. This cyclone destroyed the villages and property of three of the four chiefs and scattered the bones of their dead. While other cyclones have caused destruction the villages were previously rebuilt on the same sites. This time, the chiefs lost confidence in the safety of their traditional sites and had to redefine their place on the island, both physically and in terms of power. The fact that the fourth chief had no damage to his village has caused some discussion of power, potency and status. A further complicating factor has been the intervention of some wealthy European yacht owners who, after seeing the destruction, decided to raise money and find expertise to repair the breach the cyclone made between lake and sea which caused the lake to become saline and freshwater fish to die. This private charitable enterprise was put into practice in 2006. The issues I will discuss cover identification with the land and damage to this identity as well as the effect of external eco-charity on internal power relations.