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 SOME CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS REGARDING THE POLYNESIAN PROBLEM

BY EDWARD S. HANDY

IN view of the organized attack on Polynesian problems, anthro- pological and otherwise, which is on the eve of being launched at this time, it is perhaps the duty of those who feel that they have conclusions and theories which may possibly be useful or stimulating to others who are working or thinking in the same field, to put before their co-workers these suggestions, even though the conclusions are necessarily of a tentative nature. The conclusions stated below are based on literary research into certain phases of Polynesian culture in which the writer has been engaged for several years. While it is felt that the information derived from these sources is sufficient to warrant the drawing of such conclusions, it is hoped that these will be clearly understood to be tentative sug- gestions based on the limited data now available. The informa- tion now at hand will probably dwindle into insignificance before the more plentiful and accurate data which it is hoped that the next few years ' work in the area will place before the scientific world.

Unfortunately lack of time and space makes impossible the presentation of the evidence which it is believed supports the conclusions which follow. These conclusions are the outgrowth of a somewhat exhaustive study of the literary sources of informa- tion with regard to the area, in the course of which was accumu- lated a considerable amount of material which cannot even be referred to in an article of this kind. In most cases also it has been impossible to go into explanations of the lines of reasoning which have led to the conclusions. A few references chosen from a considerable number may aid those who are interested in judging for themselves as to whether the conclusions are justified.

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