Women of the Place: Kastom, Colonialism and Gender in Vanuatu

Women of the Place is a study of gender relations in the kastom communities of South Pentecost, Vanuatu. It considers kastom in these communities not as an eternal tradition, but rather as a way of life, an identity in relation, and in resistance to the forces of European development. The way in which Christian missions, the labour trade, and the development of Western political institutions had a divergent impact on women and men is explored. The way in which this [is] related to [the] women's indigenous situation in the patterns of producing things and reproducing persons is analysed. The relations between persons and things is highlighted in an examination of the myths and rituals of the life-cycle and of grade-taking. The significance of this ritual and in particular the famous land dive is located in the context of colonial history, the impact of pacification on men. Finally, the author considers in more general terms kastom and gender in the post-colonial state.

Margaret Jolly is Convenor of the Gender Relations Project in the Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University.