Oceanic sexual mores have been overly discussed in the context of European explorers being serviced by women. The case of childhood is less obvious. Schidlof (1908:p12)[2] offers the following second-hand account: "Geschlechtverkehr von Kinderen untereinander wird […] von vielen Reisenden bestätigt. Ribble [?] berichted ein Gleiches aus Rubiana [Roviana, Solomon Islands] und sagt: Beide Geschlechter werden sehr früh reif und es sind vor allem Knaben, die sehr frühzeitig beginnen, mit dem anderen Geschlecht intim zu verkehren".

A bibliography on contemporary adolescent sexuality was provided by Chung[3]. An overview of Pacific adolescence, with an emphasis on sexual behaviour and identity was provided by Herdt and Leavitt[4]. This is expanded by personal accounts from the South Pacific collected by Stewart[5].

Early Betrothal / Marriage [up] [Contents] [Index]

Early betrothal seemed to have been a rather common institution on Tahiti, "and many other islands of the South Sea, as also among several of the tribes inhabiting the Malay Archipelago"[6]. This was so case of the Kingmill Islands[7], Fiji[8], Hudson's Island[9], Nukahiva[10], Solomon Islands[11], New Caledonia[12], and New Britain[13]. Among the Trukese, "[p]arents may also betroth their children while they are still infants" (Bollig, 1927:p100)[14], who are then allowed the same "intercourse" as is allowed the married. Among the Lau Fijians, "[c]hild betrothal is not so common in Lau today as it was formerly, for there is a growing tendency for young people to choose their mates themselves. Child betrothal is arranged by the boy's father any time before the child reaches the age of seven or eight, when he is informed of the arrangement" (Thompson, 1940a)[15]. Infant betrothal among the Trobrianders has been discussed extensively by Malinowski (1929)[16]. Among the Melanesians, child betrothal occurs in Florida, and on the Northern New Hebrides, but only of "great people". On Leper's Island, a betrothed girl is taken into the house of the boy's mother to be taught the household ways[17].

Current Age of Consent [up] [Contents] [Index]

For details, one is to consult ECPAT[18]. As a pattern, a female AoC is not paralleled with a male equivalent. Currently (Nov., 2002) the following entries have been made by ECPAT (f/m): Fiji (16/-)[19], Kiribati (15/-)[20], Marshall Islands (?)[21], Micronesia (15/-)[22], New Zealand (16), Samoa (16/-, het.)[23], Solomon Islands (15/-, het.)[24], Tonga (16+extramar./12, het.)[25], Tuvalu (15/-, het.)[26] and Vanuatu (15/-, het.; 18, hom.)[27].

On Fiji, "[a]ny person who unlawfully and carnally knows any girl under the age of thirteen years is guilty of a felony, and is liable to imprisonment for life, with or without corporal punishment.(2) Any person who attempts to have unlawful carnal knowledge of any girl under the age of thirteen years is guilty of a misdemeanour, and is liable to imprisonment for five years, with or without corporal punishment; (3) It is no defence to a charge for unlawful carnal knowledge of a girl under the age of thirteen years to prove that she consented to the act" (Section 155, Amended by 11 of 1948, s. 2, and by 21 of 1950, s. 3). According to Section 154, 'Indecent assaults on females', "it is no defence to a charge for an indecent assault on a girl under the age of sixteen years to prove that she consented to the act of indecency".

Age-Stratified "Homosexuality" [up] [Contents] [Index]

Pacific "homosexuality" may have been "clearly age-identified" (Murray[28]; cf. Murray, 1992:xvii-xxi)[29]. Individual cases are dealt with under their geo/ethnographic heading. The selected cases are dealt with in the following societies: ®Hawai'i, ®Carolines Isl., ®"East Bay", ®Mewun (Malukula; cf. ®Vanuatu), ®Tahiti, and Small-Islanders.

Initiation and Sexuality [up] [Contents] [Index]

Regionally specific overviews of circumcision and initiation rites are provided by Schidlof (p17 et seq.), Jensen[30] and Zeller[31]. Though not as detailed as African cases, customs of "erotic indoctrination" are encountered in Polynesia, that is, "courses in sexual refinements" given by priestesses and Kariois (Danielsson, [1965:p89]). In the Tikopian context, Firth notes that "[i]n Polynesia there is hardly any of this teaching [on sex matters], and in Melanesia it is perfunctory".

Ethnographic Particularities [up] [Contents] [Index]

A recent overview of adolescent sexuality studies was provided by Chung[32].

Melanesia (separate section for New Guinea) (Solomon Islands [Tikopia, Kurtatchi, Shortland Isl., Siuai], Vanuatu [Big Nambas, Tanna, Mewun], Fiji) [up] [Contents] [Index] [Regional Index]

Reche[33] noted the late menarche and pubertal onset ("axillarche" and thelarche at age 16) in Melanesians[34]. Coital knowledge starts early, as is seen in demonstrations. Diamond (1990:p403)[35] mentions such obscene "unofficial" dances. Schievenhövel (1990:p403-7)[36] sketches an exhibitionistic childhood. No homosexuality is observed, although Schievenhövel "did hear of male and female children "having had intercourse" in the grassland beside the village. Everyone laughed with good humor about this behavior; the children involved were never reprimanded or punished in any way".

Solomon Islands (Melanesia) (Tikopia, Kurtatchi, Shortland Islanders) [up] [Contents] [Index]

I could not substantiate Ronhaar (1931:p338) citing Elton (1888:p93) in "children, when comparatively young, seem to have improper intercourse with others". Somerville (1897:394)[37] states that chastity is no virtue, women and men "as soon as they are of age to do so, may have connection promiscuously, just as they desire".

Buchanan-Aruwafu and Maebiru (2001)[38] [refs omitted]:

"In Malaita most people would say that talking about sex is taboo. We found that the comfortability people have in talking about sex is contingent on the context, gender, age, and relationships of the people involved in the conversation. Kastom ["Kastom can be glossed broadly in Solomon Islands Pijin as cultural traditions and beliefs"] does not promote free conversations about sexuality and sexual health between men and women, and parent's lack of knowledge and confidence does not promote discussions between themselves and their children (Buchanan, Konare and Namokari, 1999; Buchanan - Aruwafu, 2001). We found that only 10 out of 300 young people surveyed in Auki had ever spoken to their parents about sex or reproductive issues. The primary reasons for not talking to parents about sex were fear (49%), possible criticism (21%) and shame (14%); kastom and religion were at the basis of these reasons. Young people's sources of information around sex were their friends and peers, relatives, partners and school, while health workers were not identified as a source of information about sex and sexual health (Buchanan - Aruwafu, 2001)".

Tikopia (Solomon Islands, Melanesia) (3-,3-,3-,3-,3+,3+;5,5;B1;EF) (eHRAF) [up[Contents] [Index]

Firth (1936:p474)[39] states that young Tikopia children try to have intercourse with one another, yet "no actual copulation occurs, but they go through the motions. One young man told me how he saw a little boy of the Kafika family go to a little girl of the same household. It was at Muriava, on the reef when the tide was out. She lay on her back and attempted to copulate with her, made the movements, then rose and went away. He was about three and she the same age". Another said: "The children who go about there they are termed children, but no. They know, they look at women[40] who are seated together and they go and do this – " (illustrating the gesture of the fingers which imitates the sexual act). "The young men instruct them to go and act thus towards the women as a joke. So they go and do it". In should be noted that female seduction is reported:

"Apart from ordinary sexual intercourse there are other methods by which people obtain satisfaction. An adult woman, attracted by a young boy, will look round to see that no one is observing, then cover the child and herself with a blanket and insert his penis in her genitals. She lies on her back, holds the child on top of her and with her hand works his loins (p494)".

Tikopia boys receive superincision some time before puberty; the initiation (pu) does not include moral education, said Firth (1933)[41]. Later (1936) he is more exact:

"One of the basic functions of the initiation ritual emerges from the examination of its relation to education. The value of these ceremonies as a factor in primitive education cannot be denied, if by education is meant the process of adapting an individual to the community in which he is to live, inducing him to accept its discipline and norms of conduct. But of explicit instruction in tribal fore and manners there is usually, I think, less than is imagined, and what is given is by no means a primary feature of the institution. In Australia, it is true, totemic myths are taught at this time, and as in Africa, certain moral rules are inculcated. Frequently a little sex knowledge of a rough and ready kind is imparted, but this is apt to possess a purely formal value, since the lad is often cognisant already of such facts as the result of practical experiment. In Polynesia there is hardly any of this teaching, and in Melanesia it is perfunctory".

After initiation, the boy "is no longer specifically forbidden sex intercourse" (p467).

"My information regarding the sex life of children is inadequate. I have no data of value on the question of a possible latency period in childhood. My impression is, however, that for some years before the age of puberty, boys display little interest in the opposite sex, but busy themselves with their fishing, forest wandering, dancing, dart-throwing and other pursuite in their own bands. There is no formal segregation of the sexes for any period, as in some communities. What has been said so far applies to young children only. The practice of masturbation may perhaps be correlated with this absence of heterosexual interest. Immature girls do have intercourse at times, particularly with men older than themselves".

Kurtatchi (Solomon Islands, Melanesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Blackwood (1935:p82-3)[42] speaks of "comparatively little sexual interest" in children's games and reciprocal behaviour; "I have seen imitations of the act of coitus performed by children; they were done quite openly, butt amounted to no more than taking up the appropriate position. […] Small children who finger their own genitals of those of their companions are always promptly reproved by an older child or an adult". When a boy puts on his upi, at the age of nine to ten (or earlier) to 18, he is "forbidden to play or have any close converse with the girls and women. […] One or two cases were reported to me of boys still wearing the upi, but they were spoken of with bated breath, and clearly considered very great enormities and quite exceptional" (p100). Formal education is not given, not even during initiation (183, 199). Sexual incidents take on a prominent place in stories and myths told by children and adults of both sexes.

Girls are betrothed in their first year, and in the past "[…] it was only exceptionally that a girl was not claimed by a husband at or before sexual maturity […]" (p99-100). The boy may already wear his upi by then, and "[t]he marriage is never consummated till the puberty ceremonies are finished and the upi removed, and usually not until the girl has experienced her first menstruation, though there appear to be some exceptions to this latter rule", which is when a youth marries more than one wife.

Shortland Islanders (Solomon Islands, Melanesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Schidlof (1908:p10)[43] cites Ribbe on the fertility of both the Shortlanders and the slaves of Bourgainville that its low status is due to early intercourse.

Siuai (Bourgainville, Solomon Islands, Melanesia) (2,2+,2,2+,2,2;6,7) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Oliver (1955:p141)[44]:

"[…] as soon as the child begins to toddle it is conditioned for the sex role it will play in everyday occupations and in the sex act. By the time little boys try to climb palm trees and little girls walk about carrying toy baskets they sometimes enliven their game of "house" by pretending to copulate, imitating either parents or dogs, both of whom they have ample opportunity to observe in or around the hamlet house. However, their period of innocent sex play is not allowed to continue for long; their elders- although privately enjoying it as a great joke- put a stop to such antics with scowls and admonishments of "that's wicked" or "that's incestuous", so that the youngsters learn speedily that copulation is something important but must not be imitated in public, and particularly not with certain females. At that point, also, parents realize that they must in future be more circumspect in their own sex relations".

In the rest of childhood, the children are conditioned not to regard sex differences in terms of coitus.

Vanuatu, New Hebrides (Melanesia) (Big Nambas, Tanna, Mewun) [up] [Contents] [Index]

A boy-wife system is said to have been existent in on the New Hebrides (Vanuatu), especially in Northern and Eastern Oba, Maevo and Northern Pentecoast (Corlette, 1935:p486[45]; Allen, 1984)[46]. Humphreys (1926)[47] states that girls were betrothed at birth, and that they are usually given to their mother's brother's sons as wives.

Big Nambas (Malekula, New Hebrides, Eastern Melanesia) (eHRAF) [up] [Contents] [Index]

"Young Seniang children publicly simulate adult copulation without being reproved; older boys masturbate freely and play sexual games with little girls, but the boys are warned not to copulate on the grounds that this behavior would weaken them" (Ford and Beach, 1951:p189). "On Malekula girls are married at six or eight" (cited by Sumner, 1906:p382)[48]. Prepubertal male masturbation and heterosexual play were "common" (Deacon; see also Herdt, 1984:p12)[49].

"Sexual intercourse before puberty is strongly condemned by parents as being weakening. Nevertheless, masturbation and "playing" with the other sex are common among young boys. Homosexuality among boys, on the other hand, is apparently very rare. One boy at Benaur tried to make another his boy-lover, but the latter retorted: "Do you think I'm a woman!" and gave him a thrashing".

Parental intercourse is shielded from the child's eye:

"For sexual intercourse the parents will wait until the children are asleep, and then the woman will cross over to her husband's mat. Unlike boys, who leave the house and go to sleep in the amel when they are about twelve years old, girls remain living and sleeping at home until they are married and go to their husbands. […] If it is at night-time, the parents wait until the children are asleep, and then the wife goes across the room to her husband's sleepingmat. If they wish to have relations at any other time each of the children is told to go off on some distant errand, so that their parents may be left alone. It is considered bad for children to see any man or woman in the act of coition, and in the normal course of events this would never happen. A man is ashamed, too, should his son see his penis through some mischance, such as his nambas slipping down. After a girl is married it is indecent for her father to see her genitals, for only her husband now has the right to do so, and should any other man see them, through her having exposed herself indecently, it is her father's duty to reprimand her severely. The line drawn between decency and indecency differs greatly from our conventions. A small boy will give a realistic imitation of copulation in public without being reproved[50], but it would be regarded as indecent and suggestive were he to point out to a woman that there was a cockroach or a piece of mud on her skirt" (Deacon, p155).

"If, as is very general, a marriage is contracted before the girl has attained puberty, it may not be consummated for some two or three years". Nelaai signifies marriage in the legal sense, and may be used of the marriage of girls before puberty, when the consummation of the marriage is postponed for some years. Imi signifies to consummate a "child" marriage, and it is used also for performing the ritual of the "legal" marriage together with its subsequent consummation in adult marriage.

The expression Iap (to have intercourse with a woman) is an indecent word, used only by men, and it cannot be used openly except among men; it is never spoken in the presence of a woman or of small boys and girls.

Tanna (New Hebrides, Melanesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Tanna boys, may, after their circumcision at age 5 to 11 "chew kava for their elders and have sexual intercourse" (Mills, 1961)[51].

Mewun (Malekula, Melanesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Larcom (1980)[52]:

"While the wishes of men from a given ples contracted the pool of marriageable women for would-be suitors from another ples, the suitors tried to circumvent female infanticide and to expand the pool of possible wives through pre-natal betrothal. Because of the shortage of women, Mewun adult men frequently tried to betroth a wife before the wife was born. The story goes that they would go up to a pregnant woman, put their hand on her belly and claim the unborn child if it proved to be a girl. The bargain was sealed with a gift of a pig to the parents, refundable if they had a boy instead. Usually, affianced girls were left with their mothers until they were weaned. At that time the future husband would claim his bride by delivering the rest of the bridewealth and taking his adopted wife home to his own ples. There she would remain in the custody of one of his female relatives until she was into puberty at which time her husband would build her her own house and begin having intercourse with her" (p146-7).

-- Age Stratified Homosexuality [up] [Contents] [Index]

The description of Malekulan institutional "pederasty" described by Deacon (1934)[53] and Layard (1942)[54] on the islands Raga and Vao leaves room for speculation, since neither author offers a precise statement on initial ages of the novice, nor on the age of transition to active participant (Creed, 1984:p159-60)[55]. Thus, "[i]t is very unfortunate that in all his accounts of these ceremonies Deacon never mentions the approximate age of the novices, nor does he give any indications of how old a boy is when he first is taken as a lover" (eHRAF note, signed C. H. W.). On Malekula, the boy played the passive role in homosexual intercourse with a man "from the time when circumcision approached" to afterward, with abstinence in the seclusion period, which lasted thirty days (see also Bleibtrue-Ehrenberg, 1980:p96-8). The relation was said to be monogamous.

L. H. Gray (p665) comes to the conclusion that it is a preparation for sexual life only "in so far as it is a preparation for the duties and privileges of manhood."

Deacon:

"Among the Big Nambas, as in North Raga, homosexual practices between men are very highly developed. Every chief has a number of boy-lovers, and it is said that some men are so completely homosexual in their affections, that they seldom have intercourse with their wives, preferring to go with their boys[56]. Up to the time that a boy assumes the bark-belt, the badge of the adult male, he should not take a boy-lover, but himself plays this rôle to some older man. It is only after he has donned the bark-belt that he enjoys this privilege. It is clear, then, that for some time before a boy is circumcised he belongs to one of the older men. A boy-lover, like a circumcision candidate, is termed mugh vel, and he refers to his "husband" as nilagh sen. Nilagh sen is really the term employed by a man for his sister's husband, but in this context it is used in jest, for the rules regulating the behaviour of relations by marriage make it impossible for a man to have homosexual connection with his wife's brother. The association between a nilagh sen and his mugh vel is a very close one; indeed, the former has complete sexual rights over his boy. Thus, if the mugh vel were to have sexual intercourse with any other man, without the consent of his nilagh sen, the latter would be very angry. Further, the nilagh sen can "sell" his rights over the boy to another man. When this is done it is customary for the second man to copulate with the boy and immediately after having done so to give him some calico, fowl's feathers, or other ornament. This the boy then hands over to his nilagh sen. Boys are "sold" in this way only for short periods of time; after a few days they always return to their real "husbands", who have use of them as before. The bond between mugh vel and nilagh sen is, however, not only a sexual one. The boy accompanies his "husband" everywhere; works in his garden (it is for this reason that a chief has many boy-lovers), and if one or other of the two should die, the survivor will mourn him deeply". […] Whether it is the nilagh sen who is asked to play the part of dubut during the circumcision rites is not certain, but after the arrangements for circumcising the lad have been made, the dubut has exclusive sexual rights over him. He is now the boy's "husband" and is extremely jealous of any other man, not excepting the guardians of other boys, securing his mugh vel and having intercourse with him. So much is this the case that he will not allow him out of his sight. The dubut himself, however, cannot have sexual access to the boy throughout all the thirty days' seclusion which accompanies the circumcision rites. From the time of the operation until the wound is healed, intercourse is forbidden, and the dubut only plays the part of a guardian who cares for the novice's physical needs. But when the wound has healed he resumes his "marital" rights and continues to have relations with the boy until some time later the latter purchases his bark-belt. The reason, or rather the rationalization, which the natives put forward for their homosexual practises is that the boy-lover's male organ is caused to grow strong and large by the homosexual acts of his "husband". This growth of the penis is supposed to be complete by the time that the bark-belt is assumed. […] The next day a great feast is celebrated. The novices are led forth from the ghamal bagho, their fathers pay the guardians, and each lad now purchases his newly-won penis-sheath from his maternal uncle. It is important to notice that the boy himself, not his father, makes payment for this. He does not acquire the bark-belt on this occasion, but at some later date (the length of the interval was not stated and probably varies) the erstwhile novice pays his dubut a few coco-nuts or some tobacco for it. Until this payment is made the dubut continues to have homosexual relations with the lad, but when once the latter has assumed his bark-belt this bond is severed and he, being now a "man", can take a boy-lover for himself".

Layard, quoting Deacon, also dwells largely on

"[…] the organised practice of homosexuality existing in the two areas where circum-incision replaces the more usual incision, namely, among the Big Nambas and in South (and apparently also in North) Raga. The explanation usually advanced with regard to the Big Nambas is that the chiefs have so many wives that the commoners have to content themselves with substitutes in the form of boys. This explanation is, to say the least of it, unlikely, and is quite certainly not applicable to South Raga where there are no chiefs (p486-7). […] From Raga, the only other area from which organised homosexuality has been reported, we have no details by which to test the validity or otherwise of what has just been suggested. […] Indeed, so far as I could learn, though homosexuality is not unknown in the Small Islands, it is rare, and such relationships as exist almost always consist in a Small Island boy being the passive partner in a temporary union with an adult native from the Malekulan mainland, for which he is rewarded by the present of a money-mat in the same way as men throughout the group make such gifts to their girl-lovers. The Small Islanders' attitude towards such relationships are a comic look and the remark, "What a waste of time when there are so many women". On Atchin, more closely connected with the customs of the Malekulan mainland, the tutor actually addresses his novice as "my wife". Even there, however, where I myself had the good fortune to witness most of the rites, I was assured that this terminology did not indicate actual homosexual union, and the same is true of Vao where, though the novice does indeed sometimes speak of his tutor as his "husband", the more usual term used is to-mbat na-nuk, "my to-mbat", to which the tutor reciprocates by calling the novice mov ghal na-nuk, "my novice" " (p503-4)[57].

Fiji (Melanesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Mbau/ Lau Fijians (2+,3-,3,3+,3-,3-;-,9) (eHRAF) (Melanesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Child betrothal has already been discussed. On the Lau Islands, Fiji, "[u]p to the age of eleven or twelve no special attention is paid to the sex life of children except that the speaking tabu is enforced between brothers and sisters and parallel cousins of opposite sex. Apparently many girls as well as boys masturbate, and young mothers who are nursing babies- and hence forbidden sexual intercourse- occasionally do so also. According to the girls themselves, homosexual relationships among girls are not rare. These relationships usually begin by imitation of other girls before a girl's first menstruation" (Thompson, 1940a:p47-8)[58]. If a girl had sexual intercourse either before or during the tattooing period of about a year (begun shortly after a girl's first menstruation by a female who "felt the patient's thighs to determine whether or not the girl was ready for the operation"), the operation would be more painful and the wounds would require more time to heal than otherwise (Thompson, 1940b)[59]. Since boys could not play in mixed groups, "[t]he only emotional outlets for boys of this age is in masturbation and homosexual relations with other pilos (prepuberty boys)"[60].

Schidlof (1908:p9-10)[61] speaks of "recht vorzeitige Geschlechtsbetätigung, die aus Kinder Mütter und aus jungen Frauen Hexen macht" [genuinely premature sexual indulgence, that makes mothers of children and witches out of young women].

A girl enters womanhood through the four-day cohabitation ritual, resulting from an elopement (Turner, 1986:[p35])[62]. The "weak", "formless" and "socially immature" girl is thus "given a socially approved shape when a senior man instructs her in how to behave as a wife, as a woman. It is then that the girl, incapable of self-governing behavior, is turned into a responsible woman" ([p40-2]). Not even ending with marriage, the entire matagali is concerned about the girl's sexual conduct; especially the brother is to watch her moves.

[Additional refs: Abramson, A. (1987) Beyond the Samoan controversy in anthropology: a history of sexuality in the eastern interior of Fiji, in Caplan, P. (Ed.) The Cultural Construction of Sexuality. New York: Tavistock Publications; Lester, R. H. (1939/40) Betrothal and marriage customs of Lau, Fiji, Oceania 10:273-85]

Rotuman (Fiji, Melanesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

With the tattooing of boys at age 13, they became men; "if a chief, however, as soon as it was commenced, he was systematically taken in hand by the women and taught fornication" (Gardiner)[63]. The feasts that follow, "[…] were in no way accompanied by scenes of unnatural vice".

[Additional Refs: Howard, A. (1970) Learning to be Rotuman: Acculturation in the South Pacific. New York: Teachers College Press, Columbia University]

Micronesia / Federated States of Micronesia (Caroline Islands [Palau, Yap, Truk, Ponape, Ulithi, Ifaluk], Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands) [up] [Contents] [Index] [Regional Index]

Caroline Islands (Micronesia)

Carolinians, Saipanese (Micronesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

"Carolinian marriages were formerly arranged by the parents of the girl, and girls were married off very young, sometimes even before the onset of menstruation. This is unusual now" (Joseph and Murry, 1951:p75)[64]. "We were unable to get much information regarding the prevalence of masturbation and other sex play among children. All our informants were more or less evasive on the subject, which they evidently did not consider a proper topic for discussion. They generally appeared not to understand the question at first, then either flatly denied the existence of such practices or said that if there were children who did such things, they had never heard of them. This was, at least, revealing as to the attitude of the adults" (p64). "Pre-adolescent masturbation and sex interests were denied by our Carolinian informants as by the Chamorros, but their attitude toward these topics was strikingly different. While the Chamorros were embarrased and evasive, the Carolines could and did describe sexual practices in full detail and with entire freedom" (p77). "A Carolinian informant stated homosexual relations between older men and young boys occurred among Chamorros, but not among Carolinians. We heard no reports of homosexuality among girls or women" (p274).

Damm (1938:p189)[65] noted that on Faraulip coitus should not be practised before marriage, "doch wird es jetzt zumindest nicht sehr genau damit genommen. Das Coitieren […] wird beiden Geschlechtern von den alten Leuten systematisch gelehrt". On Sorol, a beard signified boy's mariageability; in girls, it was menarche (p267).

Western Carolines (Micronesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Sex is never discussed before children, especially girls (Ford and Beach, 1951:p180)[66].

Palauans (2,2+,2+,3,2,2;8,8;E) (Western Caroline Islands; Micronesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Barnett ([1962:p121])[67] comments on modesty and anal training. There is no formal age of nobility (p129), at least it did not always coincide with the onset of puberty. Adolescents would be deflowered by their mothers, and taught the arts of prostitution in special schools (Kramer). Milne (1924:p61)[68] stated that a few young unmarried men and women aged 17 to 25 "teach the mysteries of courtship to a certain number of small boys and girls". The elaborate, highly formalised courtship routines known as Prüh consists of an exchange of rhymes, and signifies the transition from childhood to boy- and girlhood proper. Rhymes are continuously abandoned for longer ones, and repeated until marriage. The process is known as "taming", or teaching, and commences at ages 9 or 12. Marriageability starts at twelve to seventeen.

[Additional refs: Barnett, H. (1979) Being a Palauan. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Wilson]

Yapese (Pelew Islands, Western Caroline Islands, Micronesia) (2,2,2,2,2+,3;8,5;G2;E) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Senfft (1907:p141)[69] stated that intercourse before menstruation was forbidden on the island of Yap. On the other hand, the following statement might oppose this argument: "Die Vorversuche zum Geschlechtsverkehr, wenn auch nicht, wie P. Salesius [[70]] behauptet, unter Anleitung der Alten ausgeführt, werden geradezu unter die Spiele gerechnet" (Müller, 1917, I:p231-2)[71]. Free adolescent courtship seems to have been the rule around 1910.

Trukese, Chuuk (Truk) (3-,3-,3+,3+,2-,2-;9,9;AF) (eHRAF) (Eastern Caroline Islands; Micronesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

"The Truk children are merry little people and often quite pretty to see, with their black locks, aside from the necessary dirt, of course", says Bollig (1927:p96)[72], a Capuchin missionary. However:

"Unfortunately the Truk children lack something which makes our [Western] children so attractive and that is innocence, guilelessness. The native children are well informed. There are no secrets before them. They hear so much dirt in the conversations of the adults and see so much with their own eyes that one should not be surprised. Their conversations often revolve around the same material as those of the adults. Fortunately through their whole way of life the sexual, the naked, is as natural to them as eating and drinking. It does not excite them. Therefore most of them are nevertheless good. When they reach puberty, to be sure, many, if not all, are morally depraved. The parents do nothing about it, and what are they to do? This is indeed Truk custom" (ibid., p97).

Early childhood betrothal and age-asymmetric marriage has already been mentioned. Thus, (Bollig, 1927:p93) "[n]icht selten heiraten Erwachsene Männer Mädchen, die noch nicht geschlechtsreif sind und verkehren auch mit ihnen". Damm and Sarfert (1935:p153)[73], on the Chuuk [Truk]: "Dem Geschlechtstrieb, der sich sehr frühzeitig einstelt, wird bereits in jungen Jahren stark gehuldigt. Bestimmte Grenzen scheinen dabei nicht zu bestehen […]".

The Trukese do not consider sexual maturity to be reached gradually, Gladwin writes; "in their view, at puberty as culturally defined (or actually slightly before) the person is capable of a sexual role as complete as he will ever achieve and is expected to begin at once to fulfil this role" (Gladwin).

The Truk are known to apply menopoetic meaning to coitarche (Fisher, 1950:p26[74]; Fischer, 1963:p531[75]; Gladwin and Sarason, 1953:p100[76]; Swartz, 1958:p467-8[77]). Swartz (1958:p467-8):

"The first sex experience for a boy is not said to produce any physiological change. However, girls are believed to begin menstruating and/or developing breasts only after their first coitus. Informants did not agree on this: some said that when a girl's breasts begin to develop it is then known by all that she has had sexual relations. Others said that both the onset of menstruation and the development of the breasts are due to coitus. One rather sophisticated informant suggested that men only get interested in girls when the breasts begin to develop, that perhaps both would begin without copulation, but that "we Trukese are bad and when we see a girl is almost a young woman, we want to have intercourse with her. […] Some informants say that preadolescent children would get sick if they engaged in sexual activity. Others said that boys "just did not start to think of women until they were almost young men". Sex play was not observed in children's groups, although boys in the 10- to 13-year-old age range were sometimes heard laughingly to accuse each other of masturbation" ".

[To contest the biosophy in case of girls, Goodenough (1949:p615)[78], who has few words on childhood, stated that "[a]ll informants agree that girls normally start having intercourse when, at the age of fourteen, their breasts become fairly well developed. The initial sexual experiences of boys occur at a somewhat later age, between the ages of sixteen and seventeen". Another source told Ford and Beach (1951:p181)[79] that in Trukese society, "children play at intercourse at an early age, although their parents will beat them if they are caught].

Gladwin and Sarason (1953:p89)[80] noted that the Truk vigorously battled masturbation.

"While idle fingering of the genitals is not stopped until the child can talk, active masturbation begins to be discouraged even before this time. Once the child is felt to be able to understand any such activity is dealt with severely. Heterosexual experimentation does not begin until later, probably not until shortly before puberty. It appears that most children of this age have experimented to some degree, but not many are caught at it. When they are they are disciplined but it is important to note that the reason given is not that it is inherently bad; rather it is not good for a child and will make him sick. The child is told to wait until he has reached puberty and then it will be all right"[81].

Specifically,

"[…] it appears that for several years they undertake little or no heterosexual experimentation of their own. Masturbation would of course be expected to be driven "underground" by parental censure, and we can make no estimate of the degree to which it is practised. However, even among children such self-stimulation evokes ridicule and since a child is seldom alone we are probably safe in saying that sexual activity is at a low level during the middle years of childhood- a lower level than it will again attain until real old age. During the two or three years which precede puberty, however, and possibly before, heterosexual activity of a limited sort does begin in spite of parental warnings. This probably results from the increasing contact of older children with young adolescents who, although considered mature sexually, are embracing this activity only tentatively. While such behavior even in late childhood continues to be disapproved it appears that parents actually expect their children to disregard their admonitions when the opportunity presents itself […]. Although it appears fairly certain that actual sexual intercourse takes place shortly before physiological puberty, at least in girls, we have already noted that several years prior to this time most children undertake at least some heterosexual experimentation, usually consisting in the boy putting his finger in and manipulating the girl's genitals (p253)".

Also,

"In our society sex is often explained to the child (frequently when he has been caught experimenting and punished) as "dirty", or he is told it will make him sick, or even crazy. He gains the impression that sex is inherently bad and dangerous. The Trukese, on the other hand, also tell their children sexual activity will make them sick, but only because they are still too young for it. They thus do not get the impression that sex is inherently bad and, as adults, in spite of the overevaluation and anxiety attached to sexual activity from other sources, show no signs of real impotence or frigidity. An example from our society of this type of restriction might be the driving of automobiles: we do not let our children drive because they are too small, but we do not tell them it is an essentially wicked activity; when they grow old enough to drive they learn to do so without any difficulty and, whether they are actually good drivers or not, are seldom troubled by any real anxiety over their competence on this score, in spite of the great economic, social and functional importance of driving a car" (p253).

The masturbation attitude of the Trukese is remarkable, since they are reported to masturbate their infants themselves (Gladwin and Sarason, 1953:p75, 257[82]; Stephens, 1971:p407[83]; Broude, 1995[84])[85].

Goodenough (1951)[86]:

"In aboriginal times such a [marriage by] purchase was often made for a girl under puberty, though the marriage was not consummated until after she had reached puberty. Old men used it as a technique for getting young brides. Informants reported that this type of marriage has always been in disfavor".

Fischer (1961)[87]:

"No doubt increased sexual interest at puberty can interfere with scholastic achievement in large urbanized societies as well. The point to be noted here is that Trukese culture maximized this interference by regarding early sexual activity as normal and healthy, whereas modern European cultures would tend to limit heterosexual contact and stigmatize sexual intercourse immediately upon reaching puberty as precocious and unhealthy".

Mahoney:

"Sexual intercourse is also offered as an explanation for illness in some of the branches of the spirit power "massage". Indeed, people are often treated with massage for strains, sprains and other muscular aches and pains thought to be due to too vigorous sexual activities. Here, too, however, this theory is used as an important control over sexual behavior, particularly, in this case, to restrain and to postpone the exploratory behavior of preadolescents. Young people are often warned about the possibility that something may go wrong with their bodies if they engage in sexual activities before they are considered old enough. (Since Trukese believe that first menstruation is brought on by inter-course, young people are not required to wait too long)".

Ponapeans, Pohnpei (Eastern Caroline Islands, Micronesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

According to Finsch (1880:p316)[88], impotent seniors [impotente Greise] performed digital and lingual macronympha on girls until puberty. Sometimes, the sting of an ant is used. Hamburgh and Eilers (1936:p76)[89]: "Einst wartete man wenigstens bei den Mädchen den Eintritt der Reife ab, die erste Menstruation. Jetzt werden Kinder, insbesondere Verlobte, vom vierten bis fünften Jahre ab im Geschlechtsverkehr unterwiesen. Die kleine Mädchen gibt man alten Männern, damit diese sie einführen […]. Von sechsten Jahre ab schlafen die Kinder-Verlobten zusammen. Ebenso werden Erwachsene junge Mädchen von Greisen in die Liebeskunst eingeführt". According to Fischer (1983:p163)[90], Ponapean parents lift their babies in the air and kiss the genitals or take these into their mouth, in order to please them. To excuse themselves of incest accusations, they might argue: "Is there no one who lifts up his child and sniffs?"(Fischer, Ward and Ward, 1976:p203)[91].

Ulithi (Caroline Islands, Micronesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Lessa (1966[92]:p78, 80, 82, 84-5, 87-8, 91, 98-9; 1977:p199, 201-2, 212-3)[93] provides a detailed coverage of Ulithian childhood sexual socialisation. In the context of pi supuhui village "holiday", "Small children pair off [as do all age sets] but they are usually made to keep at a distance from their elders. The play of these children is noncoital and considered to be innocuous, as it usually is, but it may go so far as to imitate the amorous words, caressing and embracing of men and women. Youngsters may even explore one another's genitals". Still, "[h]eterosexual explorations begin early in the preadolescent years among companions of approximately the same age. […]Genital exhibition is [given the rule of nudity] rendered meaningless, and the children proceed directly to the inspection of one another's sexual parts. Manipulation is usually confined at first to mere touching and does not ordinarily develop into truly mastabatory [sic] contacts. [...] Mouth-genital contacts appear to be rare, but genital apposition is not uncommon. Having in many instances witnessed copulation by their parents, the children may make clumsy efforts at penetration, but vaginal entries are rare and limited for the most part to finger insertion. Much of the sex play of young children comes when they are in mixed groups and have occasions to pair off, as when playing a game of hide-and-seek. There may be some hugging and tickling, and by the time of adolescence this may become a light petting" (1966:p88; 1977:p201-2). Nevertheless, "a boy may be warned that "if he plays with a girls genital she will bleed, sicken, and die; a girl is warned that if she handles the phallus of a boy he may be injured and perhaps die" (p212-3).

Ifaluk, Woleai (Central Carolines, Micronesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Prepubertal intercourse is strictly forbidden for girls, after puberty there is "almost complete freedom (Ford and Beach, 1951:p181)[94]. According to observations by Burrows and Spiro (1957:p284-97)[95]:

"Sexual activity of any kind is taboo until puberty. Sexual activity, it is believed, stunts their growth and causes illness. […] sexual behavior is punished by beating. […] I did not observe masturbation in young children though I have often observed children playing with, or fingering their genitals, with no comment at all from the adults. […] children stated that they were ignorant of the masturbating behavior of other children[96] […]. Whether or not children engage in overt heterosexual activity is a question I cannot answer. Both adults and children profess to know of no such behavior, and I myself never observed any. […] the prepubescent children sleep in one net. It is difficult to believe that children who sleep together in close proximity under one net do not engage in some type of sexual explorations. In the absence of other evidence, however, this must remain conjecture".

They children, however, exhibit themselves, grab at genitalia, bump and rub buttocks, and imitate sexual dances. "Often the men will engage in sexual "horseplay" with the boys. For example, a man may grab at the exposed penis of a young boy, the latter invariably withdrawing with mock-serious threat. Or a man may tickle the boy's penis with a twig[97]". There is much ignorance about conception and birth. Intercourse is permitted after the third menses, and, ambiguously, after "the first indication of their sexual virility".

Gilbertese, Gilbert Islands (Kiribati, Micronesia) (Makin G.:2,2,3,4-,4+,4+;1,1) [up] [Contents] [Index]

On Banaba (Ocean Island), "[a] girl was married to her betrothed a few months after she reached the age of puberty, if the boy's initiation into manhood was by then complete"; coital defloration was then enacted (Grimble, 1921:p32)[98]. However, "[c]hildren might be betrothed at a very early age, sometimes before birth" (p29). Much emphasis is placed on virgin coitarche.

[Additional refs: Luomala, K. (1980) A mythological charter for 'making a boy wild' in the Gilbert Islands, Asian Perspect 23,2:221-48]

Marshallese / Republic of the Marshall Islands (Jaluit; 2,2,2,2,2,2;8,8;D3,2;E) (Micronesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Kohler (1900:p417)[99] stated that on Talmit (Jaluit), a Marshall Island, sexual intercourse begins "with the first stirrings of nature before menstruation" (cf. Steinmetz, 1903:p436, 437 as cited by Ronhaar)[100]. Betrothal would occur in childhood (ibid.). Schidlof (1908:p10)[101]states: "Lange vor der Pubertät haben Mädchen bereits Umgang mit einander und derselbe häly such durchaus nicht immer in "normalen" Grenzen. Von den Mädchen wird keineswegs Keuschheit verlangt oder erwartet und "unnatürliche Laster stehen in voller Blühe (Hernsheim [[102]] n. v. Hellwald)". Erdland (1914:p132-3)[103] state that children become familiar with sexual matters through adult gossip[104]. "Sie wenden dann ihre theoretische Kenntnis praktisch an, sobald die körperliche Reife [?] es ihnen gestattet. Hier muß jedoch erwähnt werden, daß Eltern, selbst wenn sie blutwenig auf Unschuld geben, ihre Kinder keine unmoralischen Handlungen lehren". Intercourse is censored from sight, but they have a right to "deflower their own daughters". Puberty kicks in between ages 11 and 12 (boys), and between 9 and 11 (girls). Yet, "[d]urch künstliche Erregungen werden jedoch schon lange vor der Reifezeit spermatische Absonderungen erzeugt, wodurch nicht allein dem Körper, sondern auch dem Temperament geschadet wird. Den Eingeborenen ist nämlich wohl bekannt, daß frühzeitiger Verkehr besonderes bei Mädchen ein "mürrisches" Wesen bewirkt". Krämer and Nevermann (1938:p184-6, 192)[105] state: "Vom Eintritt der Reife an ist beiden Geschlechtern freier Geschlechtsverkehr erlaubt. Auch vor der Reife findet er statt, wird dann aber mißbilligt. […] Onanie wird von Jugendlichen bereits sehr früh begonnen. […] Unschickliche Äußerungen dürfen [die Eltern] den Kindern gegenüber nie tun. Da die Kinder jedoch von anderen Leute genug aufgeklärt werden, beginnen sie auch lange vor der Reife, sich sexuell zu betätigen". Coitus is prohibited during a one-month male initiation. After initiation of girls instruction is done by an "old woman": "Auf der Ratak-Gruppe nimmt eine alte Frau die mannbaren Mädchen mit sich in den Busch, um sie hier sechs Monate lang in einer Art Schule (bogge) in allen Künsten der Liebe zu unterweisen. Nach der Rückkehr empfangen die Mädchen zu Hause drei Monate lang Männer und verheiraten sich dann" (p194).

Spoehr (1949:[p197])[106] stated that on Majuro, grandparent-grandchild joking relations, bearing a sexual reference, "permits the grandparents to pass on information regarding the sex functions to their grandchildren, whereas the parents do not do so" (cf. p194, 213); formerly the girls' puberty hut might have played a role. Children are encouraged to play separately from age five or six, a segregation becoming less sharp at puberty. By the time of "adolescence" unmarried brothers and sisters sleep separated, even in different houses. Children of cross-cousins cannot marry, or joke on obscene subjects. "Sexual relations between boys and girls commence after puberty. Love-making and pre-marital sexual intercourse are concomitants of adolescence and the sex behavior of adolescents is subject to no rigid controls and restrictions except for those associated with incest prohibitions". Girls married at age 17/18, boys at about 20.

[Additional refs: McCartney, J. L. (1947) Paradise lost: the psychology of the Marshall Islanders, J Clin Psychopathol 8:405-21]

Polynesia (Pukapukans, Ra'Ivavae, French Polynesia [Marquesas Islands, Cook Islands [Tahiti, Aitutaki, Mangaia], Samoa, Tonga Islands]; East Bay) [up] [Contents] [Index] [Regional Index] French Polynesia: [IES]

Danielsson (1954 [1956:p81-105]) gives an informed account of sexual development in Polynesia. The Polynesians "made no attempt to suppress sexuality in the younger generation; parents indeed, encouraged their children in free experimentalizing and realistic play. For the Polynesians childhood and youth were a time of preparation in this respect as in others, and they considered, without doubt rightly, that it was of the greatest importance for everyone to acquire as much sexual knowledge and skill as possible before marriage". Children often witnessed the sexual act of their parents, and overheard their conversations. Parents "often urged their children to masturbate when they wanted peace and quiet, more or less as we give our children rubber teats. When the children grew rather older, they had to learn various sexual games. "Daddy, Mummy and children", for example, was played much more realistically than our children play it, and, in concordance with adult customs, often with two or three daddies and mummies at once. […] Small children imitating sexual intercourse were a common sight on all the islands. Only children of the same age, however, took place in these sexual games, and it was considered in the highest degree improper and abnormal for an adult person to show any interest in them. Any such offence was punished with extreme severity, sometimes even with death. […] Sexual experimentalizing became bolder and bolder during [the] free association in play groups consisting of both boys and girls, and many of them had intercourse, though naturally [?] they could seldom attain orgasm". Puberty was not a social secure in this respect. Boys and girls had their "first real intercourse" with "an older, experienced person" belonging to the same set, but often also from the parental generation (aunts, uncles). In the Austral Islands, it is stated that "young males received sexual instructions from the Kariois, young females from priestesses. Courses in sexual refinements were given in the karioi-society"[107]. On Tongareva (Penrhyn), a "woman of mature age", appointed by the father, practically instructed the pubarchic boy in intercourse after conditioning his preputium[108]. In Hawai'i, a boy of noble family was equally instructed by a mature chiefess[109].

Polynesian adolescence may be characterized as a period in which boys form cohorts, the primary focus of interest of which is sex (Ortner, 1981 [1986:p380][110]). This may commonly be organized around a dormitory system (Suggs, 1966:p175; Firth, 1963:p82).

Pukapukans (Polynesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Beaglehole and Beaglehole (1941:p292-4)[111] note that Pukapukan children indulge in "family plays in which a child pairs off with another of the opposite sex, the two playing at being husband and wife by manipulating each other's sex organs and imitating the sex act". "Masturbation is extremely common among children of both sexes to the age of about 12 years […] The attitude of adults to masturbation in children and sex organ manipulation is one of good-humored tolerence; that is, it is considered amusing if called to their attention. But for the most part adults never feel called upon to notice. […] [Masturbation] is regarded as their [children's] game, natural to children of certain ages, and that is all there is to it".

Beaglehole and Beaglehole (1939:p138; cited by Danielsson, 1956:p83)[112] quoted a native female Pukapuka: "As a girl I loved to play at having babies. We used immature coconuts as babies just as the little girls of today. Sometimes only girls played this game, at other times both girls and boys, aged 10 years or so. After a pretended cohabitation, the girl-mother stuffed the coconut inside her dress and realistically gave birth to her child, imitating labor-pains and letting the nut fall at the proper moment".

[Additional refs.: Beaglehole and Beaglehole (1941)[113]]

Ra'Ivavae (Polynesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

"To the Polynesian, sex is life itself: the entire cycle of birth, love-making, death- and then eternal life through one's seed. It is all-embracing, like the weather or the sea, and it is talked about as freely. Even the small children on Ra'ivavae know that navenave means to experience the orgasm, and they understand that both men and women are capable of it. Both sexes know from infancy that the clitoris, tira, is the seat of female pleasure, as is the penis, ure, of the male". According to Marshall (1962:p241-59)[114], as among for the Mangaia, but not contemporarily so, the girl's clitoris used to be massaged, moulded, balmed, and orally stimulated by the mother. The length of the organ was regularly measured by priests within sacred grounds, to provide additional advise. The aim may be the increase of fertility thought to result from satisfactory sexual contacts, or rather, "to protect the virginity of the girls, as the clitoris covered the vaginal opening and prevented the boy's organ from making entry". Presumably for this reason, boys' penises were pulled by the mother to modify their length.

Children see every scene of the life cycle, including copulation. There is "no" system or philosophy of child rearing; much occurs in the age group. Although menarche [12 or 13] and superincision [no fixed age] end childhood, "[…] copulation could well have taken place before this" (p246). The superincisor instructs the boy in sexual matters, and an older woman initiates him into the technique of intercourse, "a universal phenomenon in the many Polynesian islands with which I am familiar"".

French Polynesia (Marquesans, Tahiti, Mangaia, Samoa) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Marquesans (French Polynesia) (2-,2-,2-,2-,2,2;8,8;B1;E) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Suggs (1966:p51-2): "Marchand (1797:p109)[115] noted eight-year-old girls indulging in public intercourse and other unnatural acts. (One girl was held by four old women when she would not submit.) Lisiansky (1814:p67)[116] stated that "age was no test of innocence" for the Marquesan girls who had sexual relations with his crew. Some, who he believed were not more than ten years old, "rivalled their mothers in the wantonness of their mothers and the arts of allurement". The same was noted by Von Krusentern (1813, I:p116, quoted by Danielsson, 1954 [1956:p88])[117]. Waitz (1872:p124)[118] remarked that, among older women, an eight-year-old girl "offered herself" to the ethnographers. Handy (1923:p93)[119] points out that in aboriginal times, presuperincision was practiced earlier than at the time of writing, suggesting an earlier coital license in that era.

Even as late as 1989, Oliver (p592, 593)[120] mentions that coitus is practised in childhood, and that actual insertion occurs at age seven to nine.

Apparently without more recent data, Bolin (1997)[121], reviews on French Polynesia:

"The cultural practices of Marquesans and Pukapukans not only allowed open sex play among children but [...] provided children clandestine opportunities to observe adult sexual behavior due to sleeping arrangements. According to Oliver (1974)[122] on Tahiti, coital simulation became actual penetration as soon as young boys were physiologically able. The Tahitians found children's imitation of copulation humorous. Other evidence suggests that young girls may have engaged in copulation before age 10 (Gregersen 1983)[123]. […] Suggs (1966:p25) comments that in traditional Marquesan society, girls may have had their first coital experience by age 10 […]. Oliver's (1981)[124] ethnography includes in-depth discussion of infancy, childhood, and other life-course stages in Tahiti (see the chapter on "Passing Through Life," p342-400). In this regard, he notes that children played in mixed-gender groups until 13 or 14 years old. The Tahitian attitudes to children playing at copulation was one of amusement (1981:p366). However, as children approached the age of 11, adult parental attitudes shifted in regard to young females but not males. Oliver points out that parents objected to girls engaging in sex prior to marriage, an ideal that coexisted with an open and sex-positive attitude".

Suggs (1966:p45-6, 51-3)[125]: "[At the age of approximately seven years, Marquesan b]oys and girls, playing at "mother and father", will often place their genitalia in contact for brief periods. The girl either stands against a tree or lies supine on the ground, with the boy assuming the normal position for coitus. Contact is brief, accompanied occasionally by pelvic movement with much laughter. This activity is carried out in isolated areas where adults will not be apt to surprise the gathering". Suggs agrees with Linton (1939)[126] that it was a group event. Linton (1939:p168): "Sexual play was a regular practice among the children from the earliest period. The adult attitude toward it, if not one of active encouragement[127], was at least that of mild amusement. […] Regular intercourse began before puberty with patterns of group sexual play, two or three girls in the gang serving a number of boys in rapid succession with the other boys looking on. Occasionally there were individual affairs. Sexual techniques were learned through imitation of the adults. […] Homosexuality was present in the form of mutual masturbation, but I have no data as to its frequency". The children had their own sexual culture: "The gap between adults and children was such that it was impossible for an adult to win the child's confidence. Relations between them were amiable but entirely dissociated".

Suggs (1962:p118-21)[128] relates:

"Marquesan children are likely to suprise Europeans with their sophistication in sexual matters- if they can be induced to talk at all. This is a direct result of the matter-of-fact treatment that such matters receive in daily life and the fact that in most families parents and children sleep in one room. The children begin experimenting rather early; little boys begin masturbating at two or three years of age, engaging in group activities of this type by the age of five or six, and having casual homosexual contacts as well. Little girls are carefully prepared for their roles as future mates by parents and grandparents. At the age of a few weeks a course of medication is begun with a view to making them more satisfactory sexual partners later in life. Astringents, concocted from a number of herbs and bushes, are employed for this purpose, with daily dosages continuing to the age of about twelve. Little girls also engage in "the solitary vice" and begin homosexual contacts at an early age, which continue from the years before to shortly after puberty".

"A boy usually has his first sexual experience [sic] with a much older woman, who instructs him in his first bungling attempts. Many of my older Marquesan friends looked back upon this initiation with fond memories and much amusement at their own ineptitude. The boys generally join a small informal group of comrades of similar age, who spend their evenings wandering about the dark valleys attempting to enter the homes of receptive women of all ages and conditions of life. […] For girls, adult sex life begins somewhat earlier than for boys, usually with defloration by an older male, after a chance encounter in the bush or a surreptitious invasion of the family home. Girls are usually, therefore, far more experienced than boys of their own age and may have been indulging in normal sexual relations for some months before the onset of menstruation"

Frequent sexual relations in adolescence are considered normal.

Contemporary Marquesans seem to recognise an adolescent sex problem (Kirkpatrick, 1987)[129]. Menarche gives occasional for "a few words of instruction" from the mother, not a public rite. Boys are supercised at age 10-18, and no sexual intercourse should be had until then. One woman would "make a point of initiating boys in her valley soon after they were cut, but this was her choice, not a ritual role".

[Additional refs.: Kirkpatrick, J. (1987) Taure'are'a: a liminal category and passage to Marquesan adulthood, Ethos 15,4:382-405]

Tahitians (Society Islands, French Polynesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Early betrothal was described by Ellis[130]. Cook noted in 1769 that a boy announced his wedding with an eleven- or twelve-year-old girl by having sexual intercourse on the market, thereby advised by the audience (Stoll, 1908:p693; Sutor, 1964:p418; Brongersma, 1993:p123)[131]. As mentioned before, Oliver (1974)[132] noted that coital simulation became actual penetration as soon as young boys were physiologically able. Oliver (1981)[133] notes that children played in mixed-gender groups until 13 or 14 years old. The Tahitian attitudes to children playing at copulation was one of amusement (1981:p366). As children approached the age of 11, adult parental attitudes shifted in regard to young females but not males. Jacobus X ([1893] 1898, II:p440-5])[134] fully agrees. The children "learn at an early age to play at little husband and little wife. Children of neighbours form couples, and mutually instruct each other. The Tané is precocious; he attains puberty at eleven or twelve years at the latest. By the age of ten, he has commenced to prepare for the work of love". The boys practice urinary preputial adhaesiolysis, and sometimes perform an imitated preputial incision, to hasten readiness. "As soon as the gland [sic] can come out freely, the young Tané, whether he produces sperm or not, commences to copulate with his "little wife". Due to the "habitual coition with children of the same age, whose yards are in proportion to the size of the vulva and vagina, [t]here is a slow and gradual dilatation, which distends the hymen without tearing it". On Taihiti, one Dr. Lesson (quoted by Caufeynon, 1920:p72)[135] noted the close, in fact causal, connection of coitarche and menarche: "Toute fille réglée, est à leurs yeux une fille déflorée, et la menstruation est l'indice certain qu'elle a subi les approches de l'homme"[136].

In the Tahitian institution of mahu, adult males would have practised fellatio and/or intercrural intercourse with local "boys"[137]. The mahu would be "particularly selected when boys and kept with the women solely for the caresses of the men" (Bligh as cited by Levy, p13). Levy found a single 16-year-old mahu in the early 1960s, noting that "[o]vert homosexual behavior was distinctly not an essential shared part of the community's idea of the mahu's role".

Levy further documents that "[t]here is much homo-erotic play among boys, particularly related to the adolescent boys' life stage in which membership in the village peer group is of central importance. There is much body contact, occasional dancing together, occasional group masturbation, much darting out timidly into heterosexual forays and then a return for bragging and discussion to the peer group" (p18).

Cook Islands (Polynesia) (Aitutaki, Mangaia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Aitutaki (Cook Islands, Polynesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Beaglehole (1957:p188-9)[138] states:

"The sex education of the Aitutaki child is largely directed to two ends: one of these is to teach the child modesty, the other is to frown upon overt heterosexual activity in children of the middle years. Grandparents or parents often in their play with infants or very small children lightly kiss the child on the genitals- but this is thought of objectively as just part of the fun of playing with a baby. […] a boy appearing without pants in a mixed play group (not a swimming group) will be ridiculed about his black scrotum or warned to keep his genitals covered for fear of something biting his scrotum. The occasional child who play with his own genitals is mildly reprimanded by his parents, but without fuss or anxiety. Heterosexual experimentation by boys and girls of school age is generally disapproved by parents and teachers, and if persisted in would be punished. Yet children of this age are fully cognizant of the physiological facts about sex through study of animals and though their interest in older girls who are visited clandestinely in the house by boys. The general attitude of parents seems to be one of disapproval for precocious sex activity, whereas during and after adolescence nature is expected to take its own course. In general, adolescence is a period of low pressure and little difficulty as far as adjustment to the maturation of the body is concerned".

Attitudes toward premarital sex are subject to "a somewhat conventional double standard"; supported by the church. If parents approve of the boy, they do not much object to their daughter's experimentation, otherwise she may be beaten. A boy should have his way in experimenting, lest he becomes an "unfortunate woman-hunter in later middle-age". Circumcision at age 14, the end of the middle years.

Mangaia (Cook Islands, Polynesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Marshall (1971:p108)[139] relates that boys and girls are separated by the age of four or five. The uncircumcised penis is not shamed.

"Young children imitate the work and activities of their elders as a basis of play. In the course of this, according to some informants, they are thought to play at copulation. But this activity is never seen in public", which would be in tune with Mangaian sense of "public privacy". "Despite varied sexual activities that occur continuously within the one-room houses, it is outside of the home that the child learns more intimate details of sex and their results- such as "where the babies come from". The knowledge is achieved at about age eight or nine. For just as brothers and sisters are not seen together in public, so they do not discuss sexual matters together […]. Mothers and daughters or fathers and sons do not discuss sexual matters with one another- or even with the older persons among whom they work".

Marshall states that a boy's penis is orally and manually stimulated, together with the cunnus (p109, 110) in an attempt to change its size. Masturbation, not seen in public, is learned at ages 7-10, and practised about 2-3 times a week, while "excessive masturbation is thought to expose the glans of the penis […] prior to superincision. Mangaians believe that boys with few friends tend to masturbate more than those who spend more time with other children". Nocturnal emissions are blamed on the visit of avaricous "ghost women". "Although parents may try to stop children from masturbating, once they know of it, their efforts are not very heavy nor their punishments severe. The boys experimenting with coitus before superincision "must content themselves with sexually knowledgeable and promiscuous older women and widows of the village, rather than copulating with either the younger girls or with what are referred to as the "good girls". Most boys wait until age thirteen or fourteen to commence their sexual adventures […], following the act of superincision". The superincisor provides sexual instruction, and may arrange for women to provide "more practical" instruction (p113). The information not only includes "[…] detailed information [concerning] techniques of coitus, but it is also said to include the means of locating a "good girl" ". It includes such techniques as cunnilingus, orgasm timing act. Girls are taught by elderly women. Whereas in former days the age of the operation ranged 15-26, it was replaced by an earlier timing (age 10) or infant circumcision.

Sexual matters are not discussed in the home except for covert references, and are left to the peer group. After circumcision, the glans must not be shown.

Samoans (2,-,2+,-,3,3;7,7;E) (Polynesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

The greatest sin of children would be to appear "precocious", or generally forward, their lives being filled with babies instead of dolls (Mead, 1928:p636)[140]. Mead (1928)[141] remarks that, although she thinks it "inevitable that children should see [genital] intercourse, often and between many different people"[142], thus "coupled with the sophistication of the children went no pre-adolescent heterosexual experimentation and very little homosexual activity, which was regarded in native theory as imitative and substitutive for heterosexual". This "lack of precocious sex experimentation is probably due less to a direct parental ban on such precocity than to the strong institutionalised antagonism between younger boys and younger girls and the taboo against any amiable intercourse between them". Further, no Samoan girl would cohabit with an uncircumcised boy (Krämer, 1903, II:p61)[143], the operation performed at ages 10 to 14. Schidlof (1908:p11-2)[144] quotes Turner on the promiscuity that followed from Samoan single-room housing. A later report by Shore (1981)[145] states that "[a]lthough discouraged by public morality and church teaching, premarital sex play is part of growing up for many Samoan boys and girls". Premarital virginity remains "an important value" in Samoan society (p197). The pōula or night dance, traditionally a time of relative freedom, discontinued under missionary influence.

Mead's work caused a major discussion among anthropologists following Freeman's 1983 attack[146], as judged from a 74-item annotated bibliography (Laurie, 1998) on the matter. One of the objections reads that a key informant would have subjected Mead to "fibbing pranks"[147] when discussing Samoan sexual liberalism. Another role would be reserved for Edward Craighill Handy at the Bishop Museum in Hawai'i, introducing Mead to her proneness to be hoaxed by suggestions regarding premarital permissiveness. The controversy has led to an influx of data as well as reinterpretations (e.g., Tcherkézoff, 2001)[148].

Tonga Islands (Polynesia) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Martin[149] speaks of early betrothal. According to Morton (1996)[150], rough play between boys and older males "often involves an element of sexual joking- grabbing roughly at boy's genitals or making jokes about their uncircumcised state. Other jokes about uncleanliness and scatological and sexual jokes are also very common. Boys are given more freedom to go naked as babies and toddlers, and people will touch or make joking reference to their genitals", and these parts are also touched (p105-6). In girls, "sexual joking" includes "shaming rather than tacit approval", in tune with a strict modesty code (p106, 134). "As the child grows up, she soon realises that her genital area is forbidden […]. As soon as a child is seen with her hands in this forbidden area, she is soundly smacked and threatened with worse punishment if she is caught doing it again […]. [T]he Tongan woman emerges confused, ignorant and very shy about this important part of her anatomy […]" (Ikahihifo and Panuve, 1983:p40)[151]. Although earlier observers mentioned that Tongan children learn about sex at an early age, because the one-room houses offered little privacy (Lovett, 1958[152]:p35; Spillius, 1958:p62)[153], most modern houses now have separate bedrooms, and "children are unlikely to observe [parental] sexual behavior" (p83, 107). Rather, "many now see naked bodies and some sexual behavior on videos". Videos may be fast-forwarded, but there is "generally no attempt to prevent children from watching these videos, nor is any explanation given to them about what they are seeing". In general, sexual matters are not discussed (p46), except perhaps on the occasion of menarche or boy's circumcision (p114).

Hawai'i (US) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Schidlof (1908:p10)[154]: "Die Frühriefe führt dazu, daß Vierzehnjärige bereits kirchkich getraut werden und "klimatische Verhältnisse, unsittliche Gebärden, böse Beispiele und Lebensweise wecken im Herzen des Kindes heimliche Gelüste und dessen Geschlechtstrieb reift in überraschender Weise frühzeitig heran" ". Single-room housing would lead to "eine sittliche Verweichung […] die besonders die Kinder ergriff und eine schrankenlose Vermischung herbeiführte" (Karsch-Haack, 1901[1983:p258-9])[155]. Ploß (Die Frau, I) stated that, according to Richard Neuhauss, Hawai'ian "girls of 12 to 14 years are generally virgins no more and acts of impurity of father with daughter are no rarity".

For infant females in Hawai'i, "milk was squirted into her vagina, and the labia were pressed together (Diamond, 1990) [156]. The mons [veneris] was rubbed with kukui (candlenut) oil and pressed with the palm of the hand to flatten it and make it less prominent. The molding continued until the labia did not separate. This chore usually was done by the mother or by an "aunt" [...]". The buttocks of infants, males more than females, were molded so that they became "rounded and not flat", also clearly evolving from an aesthetic motive. A "blower" is designated for each male infant, ostensibly to prepare him for subincision of the foreskin: "the penis was blown into daily starting from birth. The blowing was said to loosen and balloon the foreskin [and] continued daily [...] until the young male was 6 or 7", when penile subincision takes place (Diamond, 1990:p430-1)[157].

Diamond (p433) reports:

"Individuals of both sexes were expected to initiate and participate in coitus at puberty, although sexual activity, play, instruction, and so forth occurred much earlier. For instance, as part of exploratory play, the young investigated each other's genitals, and young males and females might masturbate each other heterosexually or homosexually. This activity occurred without adult disapproval, and it was considered to be an introduction to adulthood. Casual intercourse before adolescence was not an uncommon experience for males (Handy and Pukui, 1958:p95) and females (Pukui, Haertig and Lee, 1972:p78)".

Murray (1992:p15-8)[158], particularly drawing from Beaglehole (1967) summarises pre-contact homosexuality involving aikanes, or chiefs' young retinues. A further treatise was offered by Morris[159].

East Bay (pseud.; Santa Cruz Islands) (Equador, Southwest Pacifics) [up] [Contents] [Index]

Davenport (1965:p196; 1966)[160], on the "East Bay" society: "Despite the apparent latency period for both sexes, youthful attempts at copulation are sometimes discovered, especially between sister and brothers. Such behaviour is immediately interrupted with a scolding, but as long as the miscreants have not reached full sexual maturity, their parents are more likely to joke about it than to be deeply shocked". Little is done to discourage genital behaviour in infancy. More strictness is applied after age four (boys may be ridiculed for erections), and girls' genitalia are more tabooed than boys'. From age five, the touch-taboo extends to the whole female body. Despite nudity till puberty, there is little evidence of heterosexual play, except between siblings, where it is immediately discouraged. Sexual matters are discussed in the family with complete frankness, and children of five and six are rather completely knowledgeable on sexual matters. Adolescent heterosexual behaviour is strictly forbidden. Adolescents may have homosexual interactions in the men's house. A man may have sexual interaction with a young boy, often too young to be living in a men's house. Sexual interaction takes place in the bush, and incest taboo is observed. No homosexuality is reported for girls. Marriage arrangements can be made at all ages, from infancy on.

New Zealand (Maori) [up] [Contents] [Index] [Regional Index]

[Additional refs.: Davis, P. (1977) Early Sexuality and Sexual Socialisation: Some Recent Data for New Zealand, Australian & New Zealand J Sociol 13,2:119-25; Lungley, S., Paulin, J. & Gray, A. (1993) Ways of Learning about Sexuality: A Study of New Zealand Adolescents' Sexual Knowledge, Attitudes and Behaviours. Wellington: Health Research and Analytical Services, Department of Health, for the New Zealand Family Planning Association]

Maori (2,2,2,-,2,2;8,8;E) (New Zealand) [up] [Contents] [Index]

"The girl of ten years, is frequently a married woman in New Zealand, and at eleven becomes a mother […]" (Polack, 1840, II:p175)[161]. Tregear (1890:p101-2)[162] stated their women wouldn't know about the fate of their virginity, "for she had love affairs with boys from the cradle". The custom of betrothal in infancy was by no means uncommon among the Moari folk, as it some times occurred at the conclusion of the Pure ceremony over a newly-born child (Best, 1914:p159; Rubel and Rosman, 1971:p664)[163].

"Maori children frequently meet in the bush for sex play" (Ford, 1945 [1964:p20])[164]. Maori children "play together at being husband and wife at night in the Bush. Full copulation frequently occurs before puberty" (Ford and Beach, 1951:p192)[165].

The Beagleholes[166] write: "Perhaps because of [the] trait of casualness spills over into other parts of life and because this Maori society is still fairly casual about the biology of sex, it appears that sex play and masturbation among these Maori children are rare. One young mother said that the only sex play she learned as a child was taught by pakeha schoolboys. Another young mother could remember only one Maori boy who masturbated and no girls. There may, of course, be other cases in the community. The fact remains, however, that sex play among these Maori children seems to be infrequently indulged in" (p131-2). Enlightenment by the same-sex parent seems customary, at least in early adolescence (p153-4).

[Additional refs.:]

-- Earle, M. J. ( 1962) Rakau Children From Six to Thirteen Years: A Reissue. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington

-- Ritchie, J. (1957) Childhood in Rakau. Wellington: Victoria University of Wellington

Additional References: Pacifics [up] [Contents] [Index]

-- Beben, W. (1990) An anthropological view of sexuality, in Ingebritson, J. F. (Ed.) Human Sexuality in Melanesian Cultures. Goroka: POINT

-- Buck, P. (1938) Ethnology of Mangavera. Honolulu: Bishop Museum, p127-8

-- Elliston, D. (1995) Erotic anthropology: "Ritualized homosexuality" in Melanesia and beyond, Am Ethnol 22:848-67

--Henry, T. (1928) Ancient Tahiti. Honolulu: Bishop Museum, p274

-- Okamura, A., Heras, P. & Wong-Kerberg, L. (1995) Asian, Pacific Island, and Filipino Americans and sexual child abuse, in Fontes, L. A. (Ed.) Sexual Abuse in Nine North American Cultures: Treatment and Prevention. Thousand Oaks, CA, US: Sage Publications, Inc., p67-96

-- Oliver, D. L. (1974) Ancient Tahitian Society. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press. See also p257, 431, 783

-- Suggs, R. C. (1960) The Island Civilizations of Polynesia. New York: The New American Library of World Literature

[1] Suggs (1962 [1963:p121]), cit. infra

[2] Schidlof, B. (1908) Das Sexualleben der Australier und Ozeanier. Leipzig: Leipziger Verlag

[3] Bibliography by M. Chung (nd) on Adolescent Sexuality in Pacific Island Countries.

[4] Herdt, G. & Leavitt, S. (Eds., 1989) Adolescence in Pacific Island Societies. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press

[5] Stewart, R. (Ed., 1982) Pacific Profiles: Personal Experiences of 100 South Pacific Islanders. Extension Services, The University of the South Pacific, Suva

[6] Westermarck, E. ([1901]) The History of Human Marriage. London: MacMillan. 3rd ed., p214. See n8

[7] Wilkes (V, p102)

[8] Ibid., III, p92

[9] Turner, Samoa, p290

[10] Waitz-Gerland (VI, p127)

[11] Zimmerman (II, p90)

[12] Turner, p240

[13] Powell, p85

[14] Bollig, L. (1927) Die Bewohner der Truk-Inseln. Münster i.W.: Aschendorffsche Verlagsbuchhandlung. "When one looks at the married couples concretely it is difficult to say what points of view are decisive for a girl in the choice of her future husband. Old chaps, young girls -- young lads, decrepit women -- pretty girls, men covered with sores and ringworm, etc., in all varieties". "A variant of the arranged marriage may take the form of a formal betrothal of children not yet of marriageable age. Although there is some disagreement in regard to how young children may be when they are betrothed, there is little question that the majority of such relationships are, and were in the past, established very shortly before the children reach puberty" (Gladwin, 1953:p125-6). "Infant betrothal also occurs" (Goodenough, 1951).

[15] Thompson, L. (1940b) Southern Lau, Fiji: An Ethnography. Honolulu, Hawaii: Bernice P. Bishop Museum: "Child betrothal (watchi ni suthu ) is common in Lau. The boy's father arranges his betrothal to his female cross cousin, the preferred mate, some time before he reaches the age of seven or eight. […] When the children reach the age of seven or eight they are informed of the arrangement" (p90f).

[16] See also Malinowski (1927:p230); Malinowski, B. (1926) Crime and Custom in Savage Society. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Company, p100; Robinson, M. S. (1972) Complementary Filiation and Marriage in the Trobriand Islands. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

[17] Parsons, E. C. (1906) The Family. New York & London: Putman, p70-1

[18] ECPAT International, Online Database [http://www.ecpat.net/eng/Ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/online_database/index.asp]

[19] "The age of majority is 21 years of age and the age of sexual consent for females is 16. There is no age prescribed for males. The age of criminal liability is 10 years of age. The Penal Code of Fiji has general provisions prohibiting sexual contact with children. It is illegal to indecently assault girls under 16. It is no defence to this crime to show that the girl consented to sexual contact".

[20] "The age of sexual consent is 15 years for girls, but there is no prescribed age of sexual consent for boys. A child under 10 years old cannot be held criminally liable for their actions. A child between the ages of 10 and 14 years can only be held criminally liable if it is proved that they had the capacity to understand that they ought not commit a criminal act. A boy under 12 years old is deemed incapable of having sexual intercourse".

[21] "Children between the age of 10 and 14 are […] presumed to be incapable of committing a criminal offence except in circumstances where they are charged with murder or rape, in which case the presumption is rebuttable. The Marshall Islands criminal code does not deal with Child Prostitution or sexual contact with children".

[22] "The age of sexual consent is 15 years for girls. There is no prescribed age of sexual consent for boys".

[23] "The age of sexual consent for girls is 16 years. There is no heterosexual age of consent for boys. All sexual contact between males is prohibited whether it is consensual or not. […] It is a crime to have any sexual contact with a girl under the age of 12. It is no defence for the accused to prove he had a mistaken belief that the girl was over 12 years old. It is also an offence to have sexual contact with a girl under the age of 16 but over the age of 12 whom is not married to the accused. There are two defences to this crime. If the accused perpetrator is younger than the girl victim then it is a defence to prove that the girl consented. Also, if the accused perpetrator is under 21 years of age and can prove that he had a reasonable belief that the girl was over the age of 16 it is a defence to this crime".

[24] "The age of sexual consent is 15 years for girls. No age of consent is prescribed for boys. Homosexual sexual contact is illegal at any age whether the contact is consensual or not. A boy under 12 years old is deemed incapable of having sexual intercourse".

[25] "The age of sexual consent for girls is 16 years and the age of sexual consent for boys is 12 years. Sodomy is illegal at any age. […] The general offences include indecent assault of girls under 16 and indecent assaults on boys and girls under 12 (''indecent assault'' would appears to include consensual sex). It is no defence to a charge of indecent assault or carnal knowledge of a child under 12 to show that the child consented. Sexual intercourse with a girl under 12 years old is also prohibited. It is no defence to show that the girl consented or that the accused had an honest belief that the girl was over 12 years old. Additionally, it is illegal to have sexual intercourse with an unmarried girl under 18 years of age".

[26] "The age of sexual consent for females is 15 years. There is no age prescribed for males. Male homosexual sex is prohibited whether it is consensual or not. […] A male under the age of 12 is deemed incapable of having sexual intercourse".

[27] "The age of sexual consent is 15 years for a girl to have heterosexual sexual contact and 18 years for girls and boys to have homosexual sexual contact. There appears to be no heterosexual age of consent for boys".

[28] Murray, S. O. (1990) Pacific cultures, in Dynes, W. R. (Ed.) Encyclopedia of Homosexuality. New York & London: Garland Publ. Inc. Vol II, p937-40

[29] Murray, S. O. (Ed., 1992) Oceanic Homosexualities. New York & London: Garland. Esp. section on "age-stratified homosexuality: introduction" [p3-150] and Murray's introductory notes, and Introduction, p3-23

[30] Jensen, A. E. (1933) Beschneidung und Reifezeremonien bei Naturvölkern. Frankfurt am Main: Strecker & Schröder, p74-114

[31] Zeller, M. (1923) Die Knabenweihen. Bern: Paul Haupt, p41-66

[32] Chung, M. (March, 2000) Summary of Research Findings on Adolescent Sexuality & Men's Attitudes to Family Planning In Pacific Island Countries. Report prepared for the Regional Population and Reproductive Health Advocacy Project, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, p11-8

[33] Reche, O., Untersuchungen über das Wachstum und die Geschlechtsreife bei Melanesischen Kindern, Korrespondenzbl Deutsch Ges Anthropol 41,7. Cited by Freimark, H. (1911) Das Sexualleben der Afrikaner. Leipzig: Leipziger Verlag

[34] See also Höltker, G. (1949) Zur Frage nach dem Reifealter bei Melanesischen und Indonesischen Mädchen, Acta Trop (Basel) 6:13

[35] Op.cit.

[36] Schievenhövel, W. (1990) Ritualized adult-male/adolescent-male sexual behavior in Melanesia: an anthropological and ethnological perspective, in Feierman, J. R. (Ed.) Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions. New York (etc.): Springer, p394-412

[37] Somerville, B. T. (1897) Ethnographical notes in New Georgia, Solomon Islands, J Anthropol Instit Great Britain & Ireland 26:357-412

[38] Buchanan-Aruwafu, H. R. & Maebiru, R. (2001) Stiki Lole: Mediating Hidden Desires and Pleasures in Auki Malaita, Solomon Islands. Paper for presentation at the 3rd IASSCS Conference in Melbourne, 1-3 Oct. 2001

[39] Firth, R. (1936) We, the Tikopia: A Sociological Study of Kinship in Primitive Polynesia. Boston: Beacon Press. See also Whiting, J. & Child, I. (1953) Child Training and Personality: A Cross-Cultural Study. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, p81; Fox, J. R. (1962) Sibling incest, J Sociol 13:128-50, p144-6

[40] "A practice sometimes adopted by boys is to climb a tree and to overlook women who are bathing. After obtaining excitation in this way then they proceed to masturbation either in the branches or on the ground" (p494).

[41] Firth, R. (1933) Initiation Rites and Kinship Bonds in Tikopia, Man 33:117-8

[42] Blackwood, B. (1935) Both Sides of Buka Passage. Oxford: Clarendon Press. See also (Ford, 1945 [1964:p20]) and Whiting, J. & Child, I. (1953) Child Training and Personality: A Cross-Cultural Study. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, p88-9

[43] Op.cit.

[44] Oliver, D. L. (1955) A Solomon Island Society. Cambridge: Harvard University Press

[45] Corlette, E. A. C. (1935) Notes on the natives of the New Hebrides, Oceania 5:474-87

[46] Allen, M. (1984) Homosexuality, male power and political organisation in North Vanuatu: a comparative analysis, in Herdt, G. (Ed.) Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia. University of California Press

[47] Humphreys, C. B. (1926) The Southern New Hebrides: An Ethnological Record. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Cited by Seligman, B. Z. (1928) Asymmetry in Descent, with Special Reference to Pentecost, J Royal Anthropol Instit Great Britain & Ireland 58:533-58, see p551

[48] Sumner, W. G. (1906) Folkways. Boston [etc.]: Ginn & Co. Citing Austral Assoc Adv Sci, 1892, p704

[49] Herdt, G. H. (1984) Ritualized Homosexuality in the Male Cults of Melanesia, 1862-1982: An Introduction, in Herdt, G. H. (Ed.) Ritualized Homosexuality in Melanesia. Berkeley: University of California Press, p1-81

[50] This would seem to contradict the statement made above, that normally a child would not see a man and woman in the act of coition. It is probable that in Seniang, as in our own society, the actual knowledge of small boys concerning sexual matters is very much greater than what is theoretically supposed.—C. H. W. [eHRAF addition]

[51] Mills, A. R. (1961) Ritual Circumcision on Tanna, New Hebrides, Man 61:185

[52] Larcom, J. C. (1980) Place and the Politics of Marriage: The Mewun of Malekula, New Hebrides/ Vanuaaku. Ann Arbor, Mich.: University Microfilms International

[53] Deacon, B. A. (1934) Malekula: A Vanishing People in the New Hebrides. London: Routledge

[54] Layard, J. (1942) Stone Men of Malekula. London: Chatto & Windus

[55] Creed, G. W. (1984) Sexual subordination: institutionalized homosexuality and control in Melanesia, Ethnology 23,3:157-76

[56] The act of coition, when intercourse is homosexual, is carried out standing up, not lying down as is usual when cohabiting with a woman.—A. B. D. [eHRAF]

[57] Also quoted by Greenberg, D. F. (1988) The Construction of Homosexuality. Chicago & London: Chicago University Press, p40

[58] Thompson, L. (1940a) Fijian Frontier. San Francisco, Calif.: American Council, Institute of Pacific Relations

[59] Thompson, L. (1940) Southern Lau, Fiji: An Ethnography. Honolulu, Hawai'i: Bernice P. Bishop Museum

[60] See also Bullough, V. L. (1976) Sexual Variance in Society and History. Chicago & London: University of Chicago Press, p28-9

[61] Op.cit.

[62] Turner, D. M. (1986) Women's Ritual Roles in Matailobau, Fiji Islands: The Construction of Gender and Social Life. PhD Thesis, Michigan State University

[63] Gardiner, J. S. (1898) The Natives of Rotuma, J Anthropol Instit Great Britain & Ireland 27:457-524, at p481

[64] Joseph, A. & Murry, V. (1951) Chamorros and Carolines of Saipan. Cambridge: Harvard University Press

[65] Damm, H. (1938) Zentralkarolinen. 2nd halfvol. Hamburg: Friederichsen, De Gruyter & Co.

[66] Op.cit.

[67] Barnett, H. G. ([1962]) Palauan Society. Eugene, Oregon: University of Oregon. 2nd pr.

[68] Milne, L. (1924) The Home of an Eastern Clan. Oxford: Clarendon Press

[69] Senfft, A. (1907) Die Rechtssitten der Jap-Eingeborenen, Globus 41 :[141]

[70] Salesius, Pater (ca1906) Die Karolinen-Insel Yap. Berlin, p131

[71] Müller, W. (1917) Yap. Hamburg: Friederichsen. First halfvol. Also cited by Ronhaar, J. H. (1931) Woman in Primitive Motherright Societies. Groningen: Wolters/ London: D. Nutt, p330

[72] Bollig, P. L. (1927) The Inhabitants of the Truk Islands: Religion, Life and a Short Grammar of a Micronesian People. Munster i W.: Aschendorff

[73] Damm, H. & Sarfert, E. (1935) Truk, in Thilenius, G. (Ed.) Ergebnisse der Südsee-Epedition 1908-1910. Hamburch, Friederichsen. Vol. 6, 2nd halfvol., p153

[74] Fisher, A. M. (1950) The Role of Trukese Mother and its Effect on Child Rearing. Washington, D.C.: Pacific Science Board

[75] Fischer, A. (1963) Reproduction in Truk, Ethnology 2:526-40, p531: "There is some contradictory evidence regarding beliefs about menstruation. Most informants reported that menstruation begins at about sixteen years of age, but some stated that it can begin as early as fourteen. The first menstruation is thought to be the result of having sexual intercourse. One informant began to menstruate the morning after a man had come to her, but she admitted that as a child she had intercourse with a small boy without the same result. An informant pointed to a child with menstrual blood on the back of her dress and said she must be having an affair, but the child, when asked, said that she was too young to have affairs".

[76] Gladwin, Th. & Sarason, S. B. (1953) Truk: Man in Paradise. New York: Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthropological Research

[77] Swartz, M. J. (1958) Sexuality and aggression on Romonum, Truk, Am Anthropol 60:467-86

[78] Goodenough, W. H. (1949) Premarital freedom on Truk: Theory and Practice, Am Anthropol 51:615-20

[79] Op.cit.

[80] Op.cit.

[81] "Older men not infrequently perform cunnilingus on preadolescent girls; both are said to enjoy this, the men because it is their only sexual outlet and the girls because it is so gentle" (p115), while the elder use dogs for the same behaviour directed on themselves. "Both of these practices are referred to with tolerant amusement over the dilemma of these old people who have to resort to such devices in order to obtain sexual satisfaction".

[82] Op.cit.

[83] Stephens, W. N. (1971) A cross-cultural study of modesty and obscenity, in Technical Report of the Commission on Obscenity and Pornography. Washington, US: Government printing office. Vol. 9, p405-51

[84] Broude, G. J. (1995) Growing Up: A Cross-Cultural Encyclopedia. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO

[85] An overview of contributors on the matter is also provided by Mahony, F. J. ([1971]) A Trukese Theory of Medicine. Ann Arbor, Michigan: University Microfilms

[86] Goodenough, W. H. (1951) Property, Kin, and Community on Truk. New Haven: Published for Dept. of Anthropology, Yale University

[87] Fischer, J. L. (1961) The Japanese schools for the natives of Truk, Caroline Islands, Human Organization, 83-8

[88] Finsch, O. (1880) Über die Bewohner von Ponapé (östl. Carolinen), Zeitschr Ethnol 12:[p316], as quoted by Stoll, O. (1908) Das Geschlechtsleben in die Völkerpsychologie. Leipzig: Veit, p547

[89] Hamburgh, P. & Eilers, A. (1936) Ponape, in Thilenius, G. (Ed.) Ergebnisse der Südsee-Epedition 1908-1910. Hamburch, Friederichsen. Vol. 7, 2nd halfvol., p76. See also Ford and Beach (1951:p189), op.cit.

[90] Fischer, J. L. (1983) Birth on Ponape: myth and reality, in Schiefenhövel, W. & Sich, D. (Eds.) Die Geburt aus Ethnomedizinischer Sicht. Braunschweig: Vieweg, p159-72. "Most often parents would lift up the baby and mouth, blow on or sniff the genitals".

[91] Fischer, J. L., Ward, R. & Ward, M. (1976) Ponapean Concepts of incest, J Polynes Soc 85:199-207

[92] Lessa, W.A. (1966) Ulithi: A Micronesian Design for Living. Prospect Heights: Waveland Press, Inc.

[93] Lessa, W. A. (1977) Ulithi: a Micronesian design for living, in Spindler, G. & Spindler, L. (Eds.) Cultures Around the World: Five Cases. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston

[94] Ford, C. S. & Beach, F. A. (1951) Patterns of Sexual Behavior. New York: Harper & Row

[95] Burrows, E. G. & Spiro, M. E. (1957) An Atoll Culture. New Haven: HRAF

[96] "Certain informants, however, maintained that children violate the taboo. They also maintained that the children engage in mutual masturbation […]" (p296).

[97] The "taboo on overt sexual verbal or physical behavior does not apply in the case of interaction between adults and children" (p298).

[98] Grimble, A. (1921) From Birth to Death in the Gilbert Islands, J Royal Anthropol Instit Great Britain & Ireland 51:25-54

[99] Kohler, J. (1900) Rechte der deutschen Schutzgebiete, III: Das Recht der Mashallinsulaner, Ztschr f Vergleich Rechtwiss 14:407-55. "Auf die Keuschheit der Mädchen vor der Ehe wird kein Werth gelegt, der Geschlechtsverkehr steht allen frei und beginnt, sobald der Sinn erwacht, also beim Mädchen schon vor der Menstruation. Man glaubt allgemein, dass es kein Mädchen von 12 Jahren giebt, die noch nicht deflorirt wäre, wie denn auch schon durch Ansteckung hervorgerufene Geschlechtskrankheiten bei Kindern von circa 10 Jahren constatirt worden sind".

[100] Steinmetz, S. R. (1903) Rechtsverhältnisse von einigen Eingebornen Völkern in Afrika und Ozeanien. Berlin; Ronhaar, J. H. (1931) Woman in Primitive Motherright Societies. Groningen: Wolters/ London: D. Nutt, p340

[101] Op.cit.

[102] Hernsheim, F. (1880) Beitrag zur Sprache der Marshall-Inseln. Leipzig: F. Thiel, p43. Also cited by Ronhaar, J. H. (1931) Woman in Primitive Motherright Societies. Groningen: Wolters/ London: D. Nutt, p331

[103] Erdland, A. (1914) Die Marshall-Insulaner. Münster: Aschendorff. Cf. Ronhaar (1931:p331) and Hartland, E. S. (1909) Primitive Paternity. London. Vol. II, p262

[104] The practice was counteracted by parents. Cf. Erdland (1906:p187), as cited by Krämer and Nevermann (1938:p185), cit. infra

[105] Krämer, Au. & Nevermann, H. (1938) Ralik-Ratak (Marshall-Inseln). Hamburg; Friedrichsen, De Gruyter & Co.

[106] Spoehr, A. (1949) Majuro, a Village in the Marshall Islands. Chicago: Chicago Natural History Museum

[107] Stimson Archives. Peabody Museum, Salem, Mass., USA [orig.footnote]

[108] Buck, P. H. (1932) Ethnology of Tongareva. Honolulu, Hawai'i: Bernice P. Bishop Museum

[109] Handy, C. (1951/2) The Polynesian Family System in Kau, Hawaii, J Polynesian Soc

[110] Ortner, Sh. B. (1981 [1986]) Gender and sexuality in hierarchical societies, in Ortner, Sh. B. & Whitehead, H. (Eds.) Sexual Meanings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p359-409

[111] Beaglehole, E. & Beaglehole, P. (1941) Personality Development in Pukapukan Children, in Spier, L. et al. (Eds.) Language, Culture and Personality: Essays in Memory of Edward Sapir. Sapir Memorial Publication Fund, Menasha, WI, p[292-4]. See also Whiting, J. & Child, I. (1953) Child Training and Personality: A Cross-Cultural Study. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, p80

[112] Beaglehole, E. & Beaglehole, P. (1939) Brief Pukapuka case history, J Polynesian Soc 48:144-55; Danielsson, B. (1961) Sex life in Polynesia, in Ellis, A. & Abarbanel, A. (Eds.) The Encyclopaedia of Sexual Behavior, Volume 2. London: W. Heinemann, p832-40

[113] Beaglehole, E. & Beaglehole, P. (1938) Ethnology of Pukapuka, Bull Bernice P. Bishop Museum 150:1-419

[114] Marshall, D. S. (1962 [1961]) Island of Passion, Ra'Ivavae. London: George Allen & Unwin; Marshall, D. S. (1961) Ra'Ivavae: An Expedition to the Most Fascinating and Mysterious Island in Polynesia. Garden City, New York: Doubleday. See also Van Ussel, J. (1975) Intimiteit. Deventer, Holland: Van Loghum Slater, p90-1

[115] Fleurieu, C. P. Claret de & Marchand, E. (1798-1800) Voyage autour du Monde, pendant les années 1790, 1791, et 1792. Précédé d'une introduction historique auquel on a joint des recherches sur les Terres Australes de Drake, et un examen critique du Voyage de Roggeveen. Paris, Imprimerie de la République

[116] Lisiansky, A Voyage Around the World in the Years 1803-806 in the Ship "Neva". London

[117] Kruzenshtern, I. F. (1813). Voyage around the World in the Years 1803, 1804, 1805, & 1806, by order of His Imperial Majesty Alexander the First, on board the ships Nadeshda and Neva, under the command of Captain A. J. Von Krusenstern, of the Imperial Navy. Translated from the original German by Richard Belgrave Hoppner. [Facsimile ed.] London, John Murray, 1813. Tenri, Japan, Tenri University Press, 1973; Danielsson, B. ([1954] 1956) Love in the South Seas. (transl. F. Lyon). London: Allen & Unwin

[118] Waitz, Th. (1872) Anthopologie der Naturvölker. Leipzig: F. Fleischer. Vol.6

[119] Handy, E. S. C. (1923) The Native Cult of the Marquesas. B.P.Bishop Mus. Bull. 9, Honolulu, as cited Suggs, R.C. (1966) Marquesan Sexual Behavior. New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, p52

[120] Oliver, D. L. (1989) Oceania. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. Vol. 1

[121] Bolin, A. (1997) French Polynesia, in Francoeur, R. T. (Ed.) The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality. New York: Continuum. Vol. 1. Quoted from online edition

[122] Oliver, D. L. (1974) Ancient Tahitian Society. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press

[123] Gregersen, E. (1983) Sexual Practices: The Story of Human Sexuality. New York: Franklin Watts

[124] Oliver, D. L. (1981) Two Tahitian Villages: A Study in Comparisons, Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press

[125] Op.cit.

[126] Linton, R. (1939) Marquesan Culture, in Kardiner, A. (Ed.) The Individual and his Society. The Psychodynamics of Primitive Social Organizations. New York: Columbia University Press, p137-96. Quoted in Whiting and Child (1953:p83)

[127] Parents masturbated the children (p166, 168, 205, 213).

[128] Suggs, R. C. (1962) The Hidden Worlds of Polynesia. London: The Cresset Press

[129] Kirkpatrick, J. T. (1987) Taure'are'a: A Liminal Category and Passage to Marquesan Adulthood, Ethos 15,4:382-405

[130] Ellis, Polynesian Researches, I, p267, 270; Westermarck, E. ([1901:p214])

[131] Sutor, J. /Jacobus X (1964) The Erogenous Zones of the World, by a French Army Surgeon. New York: Book Awards; Brongersma, E. (1993) Jongensliefde, Deel 2. Amsterdam: SUA. Cook speaks of an "odd scene" in which "a young fellow above six feet high lay with a little girl about ten or eleven years of age publickly".

[132] Oliver, D. L. (1974) Ancient Tahitian Society. Honolulu, HI: University of Hawaii Press

[133] Oliver, D. L. (1981) Two Tahitian Villages: A Study in Comparisons, Provo, UT: Brigham Young University Press

[134] Jacobus X ([1893]1898) L'Amour aux Colonies. Paris : I. Liseux. 3 vols. Second and enlarged english ed., Untrodden Fields of Anthropology (etc.). Paris: Librairie de Medecine, Folklore et Anthropologie. 2 vols.

[135] Caufeynon (1920) L'Œvre de Chair et L'Enfantement dans l'Humanité. Paris: Bibliotheque Populaire des Sciences Médicales

[136] Herman-Giddens et al. (1988) suggested that sexual abuse of children caused a protraction of sexual maturity, because of an inspecific stress reaction. See Herman-Giddens, M. E., Sandler, A. D. & Friedman, N. E. (1988) Sexual precocity in girls. An association with sexual abuse? Am J Dis Child 142,4:431-3

[137] Levy, R. I. (1971) The community function of Tahitian male transvestism, Anthropol Quart 44:12-21. Also cited by Brewis, A. A. (1992) Sexually-transmitted disease risk in a Micronesian atoll population, Health Transition Rev 2,2:195-213, at p197n6

[138] Beaglehole, E. (1957) Social Change in the South Pacific: Rarotonga and Aitutaku. London: Allen & Unwin

[139] Marshall, D. S. (1971) Sexual behavior on Mangaia, in Marshall, D. S. & Suggs, R. C. (Eds.) Human Sexual Behavior. New York & London: Basic Books, p103-62. See also Van Ussel, J. (1975) Intimiteit. Deventer, Holland: Van Loghum Slater, p90-2, and Yates, A. (1978) Sex Without Shame. New York: William Morrow, p68, 70-5

[140] Mead, M. (1928a) Samoan children at work and play, Natural Hist 28:626-36

[141] Mead, M. (1928b) Coming of Age in Samoa. New York: William Morrow. See also Lewandowski, H. (1958) Ferne Länder, Fremde Sitten. Stuttgart: H. Günther Verlag, p133; and Süssmuth, R. (1968) Zur Anthropologie des Kindes. München: Kösel

[142] "[…] souring the village palm groves in search of lovers is one of the recognized forms of amusement for the ten-year-olds".

[143] Krämer, Au. (1903) Die Samoa-Inseln. Stuttgart: Schweizerbartsche. Vol. II

[144] Op.cit.

[145] Shore, B. (1981 [1986]) Sexuality and gender in Samoa: conceptions and missed conceptions, in Ortner, Sh. B. & Whitehead, H. (Eds.) Sexual Meanings. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p192-215

[146] Freedman, D. (1983) Margaret Mead and Samoa: The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.

[147] Freeman, D. (1989) Fa'apua'a Fa'amu and Margaret Mead, Am Anthropol 91,4:1017-22; Freeman, D. ([1983] 1996) Margaret Mead and the Heretic: The Making and Unmaking of an Anthropological Myth. Ringwood, Vic.: Penguin; Freeman, D. (1999) The Fateful Hoaxing of Margaret Mead. Boulder, Colo: Westview Press; Freeman, D. (1999) Was Margaret Mead Misled or Did She Mislead on Samoa?Current Anthropol 41,4:609-14 et seq.

[148] Tcherkézoff, S. (2001) Le Mythe Occidental de la Sexualité Polynésienne 1928-1999: Margaret Mead, Derek Freeman et Samoa. Paris: PUF

[149] Martin, II, p167; Westermarck ([1901:214])

[150] Morton, H. (1996) Becoming Tongan: An Ethnography of Childhood. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press

[151] Ikahihifo, T. & Panuve, M. (1983) Report of a Preliminary Study of Traditional Medicine and Practices in Relation to Obstetrical and Gynaecological Conditions and Disorders amongst two Communities in Tonga. Suva: Centre for Apllied Studies in Development, University of the South Pacifics

[152] Lovett, I. (1958) A Study of Tongan Children with Special Attention Given to the Pre-Adolescent Age Group. Dip. Ed., Auckland University

[153] Spillius, E. (1958/1960) Report on a Brief Study of Mother-Child Relationships in Tonga. MS, Nuku-'alofa, Tonga

[154] Op.cit.

[155] Karsch-Haack, F. (1901) Uranismus oder Päderastie und Tribadie bei den Naturvölkern, Jb Sex Zwischenst 3:72ff. Reprinted in 1983 (Schmidt, W. J. (Ed.), Vol.1:p229-96

[156] Diamond, M. (1990) Selected Cross-Generational Sexual Behavior in Traditional Hawai'i: A Sexological Ethnography, in Feierman, J. R. (Ed.) Pedophilia: Biosocial Dimensions. New York: Springer-Verlag, p422-43

[157] Diamond draws on data by Pukui et al. (1972) and Handy and Pakui (1958). See Pukui, M. K., Haertig, E. W. & Lee, C. A. (1972) Nana I Ke Kumu. 2 vols. Honolulu: Queen Lili'uokalani Children's Center; and Handy, E. S. C. & Pukui, M. K. (1958) The Polynesian Family System in Ka-'u Hawaii. Wellington, New Zealand: The Polynesian Society

[158] Op.cit.

[159] Morris, R. J. (1992) Same-sex friendships in Hawaiian lore: constructing the canon, in Murray, S. O. (Ed., 1992) Oceanic Homosexualities. New York & London: Garland, p71-102

[160] Davenport, W. (1965)Sexual patterns and their regulation in a society of the south west Pacific, in Beach, F. (Ed.) Sex and Behaviour. New York: Wiley, p164-207; Davenport, W. (1966) Sexual patterns in a southwest Pacific society, in Brecher, R. & Brecher, E. (Eds.) An Analysis of Human Sexual Response. New York: Signet Books, p175-200. See also Money, J. & Ehrhardt, A. A. (1973/1996) Man & Woman, Boy & Girl. London: Aronson, p135-9

[161] Polack, J. S. (1840) Manners and Customs of the New Zealanders. Christchurch: Capper Press. Vol. 2. 1976 reprint. See also Westermarck, E. ([1901]) The History of Human Marriage. London: MacMillan. 3rd ed., p214. Westermarck refers to Angas, Savage Life, I, p314

[162] Tregear, E. (1890) The Maoris of New Zealand, J Anthropol Instit Great Britain & Ireland 19:96-123

[163] Best, E. (1914) Ceremonial Performances Pertaining to Birth, as Performed by the Maori of New Zealand in Past Times. J Anthropol Instit Great Britain & Ireland 44:127-62; Rubel, P. G. & Rosman, A. (1971) Potlatch and Hakari: An Analysis of Maori Society in Terms of the Potlatch Model, Man, New Series 6,4:660-73

[164] Ford, C. S. (1945) A Comparative Study of Human Reproduction. New Haven: Yale University Press. 1964 HRAF reprint

[165] Op.cit.

[166] Beaglehole, E. & Beaglehole, P. (1946) Some Modern Maoris. London: Whitcombe & Tombs

Insular Pacifics, Non-Australian Oceania

Regional Index

Micronesia, Melanesia, New Zealand, Polynesia

Ethno/geographic Index

Contents of Section

Introduction, Generalia [up] [Contents] [Index]