Paper short abstract:

While information oriented society is progressing, how can local people maintain their culture, and what kind of role should the anthropologist play in it? The conflict between the international environmental group and Solomon Islands' villagers about traditional dolphin hunting will be analyzed.

Paper long abstract:

A few villages in the Melanesian islands have inherited dolphin hunting techniques to obtain meat and teeth as traditional treasure. In April 2010, six members of the international environmental group flew down by helicopter to one of these villages in the Solomon Islands. These "white people" told villagers that their dolphin hunting activity was castigated by all over the world. The information made villagers frightened, they signed a contract paper under duress.

The contract was as follows, instead of two years of dolphin hunting, the community will receive 2400,000BSD (240,000USD) as compensation. The amount is considerably large and, in a certain sense, meant that controlling them through economical power. The money payment was termed externally as "payment for eco-system services" or for dolphin conservation activity by villagers. The environmental group that operates by the donation can get increased funding by attracting attention.

Villagers had kept to the contract and they did not hunt for dolphin during the season in 2011 and 2012. However the "compensation" was not paid in full, only 700,000BSD was given to the community. Hence, hunting began once again on 21 January 2013. This news went around the world in a week through the Internet, bringing severe censure to the villagers.

This case is not a debate on the right or wrong of dolphin hunting. While globalization brings about an information oriented society, we must consider how local people can maintain their culture, and what kind of role should anthropologists play in it.