Nest in the Wind: Adventures in Anthropology on a Tropical Island, Second Edition [Paperback]

Martha C. Ward (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1577663683 | ISBN-13: 978-1577663683 | Publication Date: October 2004 | Edition: 2nd

During her first visit to the beautiful island of Pohnpei in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, anthropologist Martha Ward discovered people who grew quarter-ton yams in secret and ritually shared a powerful drink called kava. She managed a medical research project, ate dog, became pregnant, and responded to spells placed on her. Thirty years later she returned to Pohnpei to learn what had happened there since her first visit. Were islanders still relaxed and casual about sex? Were they still obsessed with titles and social rank? Was the island still lush and beautiful? Had the inhabitants remained healthy? This second edition of Ward’s best-selling account is a rare, longitudinal study that tracks people, processes, and a place through decades of change. It is also an intimate record of doing fieldwork that immerses readers in the sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and the sensory richness of Pohnpei. Ward addresses the ageless ethnographic questions about family life, politics, religion, traditional medicine, magic, and death together with contemporary concerns about postcolonial survival, the discontinuities of culture, and adaptation to the demands of a global age. Her insightful discoveries illuminate the evolution of a culture possibly distant from yet important to people living in other parts of the world. (Not-for-sale instructor resource material available to college and university faculty only; contact the publisher directly.)

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

During her first visit to the beautiful island of Pohnpei in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, anthropologist Martha Ward discovered people who grew quarter-ton yams in secret and ritually shared a powerful drink called kava. She managed a medical research project, ate dog, became pregnant, and responded to spells placed on her. Thirty years later she returned to Pohnpei to learn what had happened there since her first visit. Were islanders still relaxed and casual about sex? Were they still obsessed with titles and social rank? Was the island still lush and beautiful? Had the inhabitants remained healthy? This second edition of Ward’s best-selling account is a rare, longitudinal study that tracks people, processes, and a place through decades of change. It is also an intimate record of doing fieldwork that immerses readers in the sights, smells, tastes, sounds, and the sensory richness of Pohnpei. Ward addresses the ageless ethnographic questions about family life, politics, religion, traditional medicine, magic, and death together with contemporary concerns about postcolonial survival, the discontinuities of culture, and adaptation to the demands of a global age. Her insightful discoveries illuminate the evolution of a culture possibly distant from yet important to people living in other parts of the world. (Not-for-sale instructor resource material available to college and university faculty only; contact the publisher directly.)

From the Author

". . . I wrote the first edition of Nest in the Wind with the shameless goal of enticing students into the romance of anthropology, of making readers part of the smells, tastes, and sensations of the island culture I had come to love. Three decades later I went back to discover what had happened and learned what none of us had predicted." — from the Introduction

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Waveland Press; 2nd edition (October 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1577663683
• ISBN-13: 978-1577663683
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #47,574 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Personal touch, August 27, 2004

By 

Erika Mitchell (E. Calais, VT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nest in the Wind: Adventures in Anthropology on a Tropical Island (Paperback)

This book is an ethnography of the people of Pohnpei. The author accompanied her husband to Pohnpei during the 1970s and they lived there together for several years. In the 1940s, army doctors had noted that the people of Pohnpei all had quite low blood pressure. Ward and her husband were the anthropologist components of a team that was trying to determine whether the initial blood pressure observations were accurate, and if so, whether societal influences seemed to be playing a role. Although the blood pressure study was the impetus for going to Pohnpei, and provides much of the framework for Ward's time on Pohnpei, this book isn't about that project. Instead, the book describes how Ward gradually integrated herself into the culture to the greatest extent that she could during her limited stay.

As a trained anthropologist, Ward was primed to observe the culture on Pohnpei. She notes that the society was matriarchal and that ceremonial titles were highly important. Personal names were impermanent, and many people, including study subjects, changed their names frequently. She struggles to learn the language, noting that it makes use of dual number in addition to singular and plural, and makes a distinction in personal pronouns between inclusive and exclusive "we". She discusses diet, gender roles, politics, education, courting behavior, and funeral rites. All of this is done, however, informally, almost in the manner of a travelogue. Indeed, many of the chapters close with letters that she wrote home to family or friends, many with humorous touches as she struggles with culture shock. As the time on the island passes, Ward relates to us the challenges that she faced in finding housing, a local research assistant, and conducting research related to the blood pressure project. She describes feasts that she attended, and feasts that she gave, and how a ceremonial title came to be bestowed on her. She also tells us of her decision to have child, and how her pregnancy was greeted by the local Pohnpeians.

One initial theory about why the Pohnpeians had low blood pressure was that this was a tropical paradise, where everyone had low-stress lives. Ward noted that this was, of course, a baseless assumption, since people on Pohnpei certainly did have problems and stress. Unfortunately, the results of the blood pressure project were never published in detail. However, in the epilogue, Ward notes that the study found some people with high blood pressure, especially among the sedentary and obese. The book closes with an annotated list of additional readings. It does not have an index. It has maps and a few black and white sketches, but no photographs.

The book is quite accessible to general readers, while containing the kinds of information that anthropologists would expect to find in an ethnography. In addition to observations on the local culture of Pohnpei, Ward also tells us a little of the culture of North American researchers and Peace Corps volunteers working on the island. In this book, we can find a window into Pohnpei (albeit the Pohnpei of thirty years ago) that will be interesting to travelers and anthropologists alike.

15 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A great read that captures the essence of Pohnpei!, June 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Nest in the Wind: Adventures in Anthropology on a Tropical Island (Paperback)

I lived on Pohnpei for a year in the early '90's. I picked up this book to see how well the author described the island and the customs. I was amazed and continually delighted with how she detailed the rituals, feasts and problems of Pohnpei. She absolutely captures the feelings that are associated with living on Pohnpei, and does a great job incorporating those into the book. I found myself wanting to go back to the island, and wishing that I had taken the time to learn more details of this fascinating place. This easy-to-read book is great for people that are interested in anthropolgy, other cultures, Pohnpei or even Micronesia in general.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nest in the Wind: Adventures in Anthropology on a Tropical Island, Second Edition, March 13, 2011

By 

Lorlain Oliver "Lorlain" (Tracy, CA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Nest in the Wind: Adventures in Anthropology on a Tropical Island, Second Edition (Paperback)

I would like to thank the author for writing this book. I bought this book, because I am from the island of Pohnpei, and would like to know if the project was successful and was published. I was not surprised to learn that it was not a very successful project...the people of my island, then, would have been a skeptical bunch, and would not have provided accurate information to questions asked due to family and cultural secrets that they would've believed "must be protected". On the other hand, the evaluation of culture and the role of both men and women on the island was very accurate. My uncle was in the group that caught the crocodile mentioned in the book. :)