L’échange ou le don du sacré. Polynésie orientale et sociétés kanak, hier et aujourd’hui

Abstract

A long-term observation of an old Polynesian rite called Pai’atua, and the customary ceremonies in the Hyeenen country point out “l’air de famille” of the oceanian societies: what matters in the exchanges is not what one gives or what one gets, but the action itself instead. Indeed, the action appoints entietes and statutes. Without the exchanges, the gods or the ancestors could die, therefore the necessity of a double circulation arises, in which sacrifice is one of the possibilities. The circulation of objects and the adoption of people is just the implement of a vital and sacred principle. It constitutes and enhances the visible and invisible space of a network which perceives itself as society thanks to its capacity to act as a society.