Fine Mats and Money: Contending Exchange Paradigms in Colonial Samoa

The introduction of Western economic institutions is often credited with radical transformative power in contact situations. Recent literature stresses the variability of local/global "intersections" and recognizes the efficacy of indigenous action and intentionality in colonial encounters. This article examines early Western interpretations of Samoan ceremonial exchange and reviews attempts to regulate and prohibit prestations involving fine mats, an in-kind valuable that was instrumental in Samoan political maneuvering. Colonial suppression was unsuccessful in the long run, but not because of unwitting traditionalism on the part of the Samoans. The ostensible continuity of Samoan ceremonial exchange must be seen as part of a reflective and interactive process whereby Samoans actively participated in the redefinition and reorienting of their own institutions.