Book Reviews

The author's argument is that the Mestizo type of culture endured through changes in institutional organization and political regime, as long as the sex and race ratio made marriage with locally born women necessary for immigrant men. [...]women are assigned a key role in the persistence of the Mestizo culture, whatever variations the latter may have undergone in style or manners. [...]the documents published in this third volume are on the whole a little less rich in interesting data on the Moluccas than those in the two former ones. According to Nancy Lutkehaus, however, the categories used are standard ethnographic ones such as, to start with, "the life cycle of individuals". To the astonishment of the missionaries, the people were receptive to their message, but also to that of other Christian denominations, even inviting their representatives to come and live in their villages and preach the Gospel, while at the same time the youngsters showed a keen interest in stories of their own culture. [...]a new cult (a cargo-cult) developed, this generally being a sign of disappointment.