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 ANTHROPOLOGICAL NOTES

ANTHROPOLOGY IN THE PAN-PACIFIC SCIENTIFIC CONGRESS, HONOLULU, AUGUST 2 TO 20, 1920

THE first Pan-Pacific Scientific Congress for the consideration of research in the Pacific met in Honolulu last August at the invitation of the Pan-Pacific Union. The program and preliminary organization were placed in the hands of the National Research Council of the United States and were referred to the Committee on Pacific Exploration, of which Dr. J. C. Merriam is chairman. The members of this committee, not being able to attend the Congress, delegated their responsibilities to Dr. H. E. Gregory and Dr. Clark Wissler, to act as a sub-committee for the arrangement of the preliminary organization and the program. The plan submitted by this sub-committee was adopted by the Congress as its scheme of organization, declaring itself to be international in scope and representing the scientific men of all the nations in and around the Pacific.

Sixty delegates were in attendance, representing the United States, Territory of Hawaii, the Philippine Islands, Canada, Japan, England, Australia, and New Zealand. It was proposed that the members of this Congress should constitute a general committee for the formulation of a research program for the Pacific with a view to coordinating the scientific activities of all the nations concerned. To facilitate this program a number of sectional committees were formed, one of which was for anthropology. This section, in conformity to the policy of the Congress, undertook the formulation of a plan for the development and coordina- tion of anthropological research in the islands of the Pacific, particularly in Polynesia. Polynesia was emphasized because the section received a formal request from the Trustees of the Bishop Museum in Honolulu for detailed recommendations for the organization of their own investiga- tions in Polynesia for which funds have recently been provided. It proved impossible to complete the work of the section during the three weeks allotted, but provision was made for the final formulation of its recommendations under the direction of the section officers.

The Congress held daily sessions, giving the entire morning of each

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