On a magnificent island in the middle of the Pacific lives a people who eat dogs, grow quarter-ton yams in secret,
stage extraordinarily dramatic feasts, have exceptionally relaxed attitudes about sex, and ritually share a potent
drink called kava. Nest in the Wind is a very personal record of the field experiences of a female anthropologist
who managed a scientific research project on the lush, tropical island of Pohnpei in the early 1970s. Her picture
of life on Pohnpei is gripping and accurate: living in a tin shack, speaking a new language, observing manners
and following customs, finding food, adopting a son, earning a high title, becoming pregnant, and overcoming spells
placed on her. The standard questions of ethnography, including family life, sex, childbirth, economics, politics,
religion, medicine, magic, and death, are thoroughly addressed, clothed in the easy format of personal experiences
with real people.
Table of Contents
Introduction. Once Upon a Time
1. Fruit in the Hands of the Gods
2. Green Leaves on Stories
3. Water Running Under Boulders
4. Smoke Follows the High People
5. A Locked Box
6. The Ends of Canoes
7. The Core of a Mangrove Log
Epilogue. Since Then
