Women in Mangaian society: A historical portrait

This article investigates commonly held assumptions about the subordinate place of women in Mangaian society before the arrival of Christianity. In a review of the available evidence from Mangaia and elsewhere in Polynesia, this paper suggests that suitably selected and trained women in a society such as pre-contact Mangaia could fill certain important positions as priestly experts and tribal historians. Mangaian women were also fearless warriors and resolute in saving the lives of family members and other connections, suggesting that they held a respected place within the ancestral social order of Mangaia.