"We used to eat people" - Revelations of a Fiji Islands Traditional Village

Living in a reed hut on Taveuni--the "garden isle" of Fiji--the author studied the native language and carefully observed their traditions until he was accepted as a (somewhat unusual) member of the village.
Despite five cyclones the summer of 1985, daily life was idyllic. Cannibalism has been abandoned, reluctantly, at the behest of the new Christian God. But the old religion survived beneath the facade and priests danced naked on the beach beneath the full moon. The village pulsated with factions and feuds, resolved by the stern but benevolent chief, whose word was law. Legends told of a princess born as a bird, who was killed and thus became a comely maiden--but the murderer had to be cooked and eaten.

About the author

R.M.W. Dixon is an anthropological linguist at James Cook University in Cairns, Australia. He has authored many books on linguistic theory, and grammars based on immersion fieldwork in the Amazonian jungle, in the rainforest of north-east Australia, and in Fiji.

Product details

• Authors: R. M. W. Dixon, R.M.W. Dixon
• Publisher: Ingram Publishers Services
• Languages: English
• Age Recommendation: from age 18
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 27.12.2017
• EAN: 9781476671819
• ISBN: 978-1-4766-7181-9
• No. of pages: 218
• Dimensions: 152 mm x 229 mm x 11 mm
• Weight: 290 g
• Illustrations: Raster,schwarz-weiss
• Subjects: Social sciences, law, business > Sociology > General, dictionaries; Biography: general, BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / General, HISTORY / Expeditions & Discoveries, LANGUAGE ARTS & DISCIPLINES / Study & Teaching, Geographical discovery & exploration, Geographical discovery and exploration, Language teaching and learning, Oceanic and Austronesian languages, Oceanic & Austronesian languages, Language teaching & learning (other than ELT), LANGUAGE STUDY / Oceanic & Australian Languages