Tikopia of Melanesia Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Tikopia of Melanesia - Research Paper Example CONCLUSION: A summary of key points 1.0 Introduction: Tikopia of Melanesia Tikopia of Melanesia is known to have gone through so many changes in society. The ‘Ticopia’ was an expression that the people of Solomon Islands used to make themselves distinctive from other people from neighboring islands, as a result forming the Tikopia community. From the past decade to the present, the communities’ culture remains unchanged, thus, portraying an interesting deal of information to be learnt about their way of life and work. Agriculture is their main means of subsistence, the tropical climate favoring the people to get good agricultural produce. They can be referred to as the emerging agriculturalists or horticulturalists. The Tikopia live on the island of Tikopia, which is in the Southwestern Pacific Ocean. From about half a century ago, the population of the Tikopia had grown dramatically, a factor that caused anxiety and concern among its leaders, there was the fear o f food shortages. As a result of this, they had to look for a solution on ways to control population growth. The community practiced some zero population measures which included warfare, sea voyaging and celibacy. These reduced their population and it is a good example of a reproduction policy (Nowak & Laid, 2010). This will form the basis of discussion in this paper. Thesis Statement: The Tikopia are a cultural group with unique kinship and reproductive practices aimed at promoting their idea of zero population growth and changes in the society so as to ensure survivability. 1.1 Subsistence Practices: The Tikopia of Melanesia practice precise techniques of agriculture. They are mainly Horticulturalists who rely on water from the sea for planting their main diet, however, on few cases they substitute fishing as part of their diet. The community is located near a sea that provides a wide variety of fish including shell fish. The Tikopia normally look for dried swamps and clear forest s, which usually provides them with trade routes and markets. The community does practice an intensive system of agriculture which has features of a perm-culture. The agricultural practices of the community depend on the density of the population, in the thick populated areas, some people practice fishing and pig rearing while others practice forest gardening. The foods that they grow include coconut, vegetables and yams which thrive best in the tropical environment, therefore, high yields of great quantity of foods are achieved. The access that the group has over empty land gives them control over a lot of resources. The Tikopia also incorporate technology into their subsistence practices. This is by practicing flood control, irrigation and terraces. In addition to this, technology has assisted the community in building roads, bridges and ports. Technology also allows the community to have control over their production and distribution (Nowak & Laird, 2010). Â  In the Tikopia soci ety, it is mostly men who do all the hard work such as building fences, clearing forests and planting processes. The women prepare food and take care of children. Both men and women play key roles in their society’s subsistence practices. The community uses redistribution and exchange of balanced reciprocals to ensure that their goods and services are transported. Balanced reciprocals exchange refers to an agreement where there is return of an item, which is equivalent to another item or one with a greater value. Redistribution refers to a tribute, an individual’