Within little more than ten years in the early nineteenth century, inhabitants of Tahiti, Hawaii and fifteen other closely related societies destroyed or desecrated all of their temples and most of their god-images. In the aftermath of the explosive event, which Sissons terms the Polynesian Iconoclasm, hundreds of architecturally innovative churches - one the size of two football fields - were constructed. At the same time, Christian leaders introduced oppressive laws and courts, which the youth resisted through seasonal displays of revelry and tattooing. Seeking an answer to why this event occurred in the way that it did, this book introduces and demonstrates an alternative "practice history" that draws on the work of Marshall Sahlins and employs Bourdieu's concepts of habitus, improvisation and practical logic.

Jeffrey Sissons is Associate Professor of Anthropology at Victoria University of Wellington. He is the author of numerous publications on Maori and Polynesian history written over the past 25 years. His most recent book is First Peoples: Indigenous Cultures and their Futures (Reaktion Books, 2005).

Seeking an answer to why the event occurred the way that it did,The Polynesian Iconoclasm explores the ten years in the early nineteenth century during which inhabitants of Tahiti, Hawaii and fifteen related societies destroyed or desecrated their temples and god-images. In the aftermath, hundreds of architecturally innovative churches were constructed, and oppressive laws and courts were introduced and rebelled against.

List of Figures
Acknowledgements
List of Abbreviations

Introduction: Exploding History

Chapter 1.The Seasonality of Life
Chapter 2.The Moorean Iconoclasm
Chapter 3. Pomare's Iconoclasm as Seasonal Sacrifice
Chapter 4. More Distant Emulations
Chapter 5. Re-consecrating the World
Chapter 6. Re-binding Societies
Chapter 7. New Tabus and Ancient Pleasures
Chapter 8. History, Habitus and Seasonality

Appendix

References