Recherches ethno-archéologigues sur l'exploitation du milieu marin à Napuka (Tuamotu).

Within the general context of an ethno-archaeological study of the fishing technics of times past in French Polynesia, an intensive investigation has been underway since 1981 on the atoll of Napuka (Tuamotu). Special conditions have caused this atoll to be one of the few places in this Territory where acculturation has occured at a relatively slow pace and where the traditional standards of life have been perpetuated up until recent times and — to a certain extent — up until the present day. The investigation which was carried out amongst the elderly fishermen of the island, has made it possible for one to examine technics still in use today and to recreate methods that have disappeared in Napuka only in recent times and which are no longer used in the other atolls of the archipelago due to a timelag in the acculturation process and this for several generations. The study covered one hundred and one different technics. Therefore and for the first time ever in French Polynesia, the possibility is given one to exploit all the methods for fishing and gathering seafood which were traditionally used in tapping the ressources of an atoll. These technics should of course be replaced in their socio-cultural context and be considered in the light of its evolution since the final years of the 19th Century, the earliest period during which ethno-historical sources became available. In order to replace these fishing technics in their entirety in the ecological context of the atoll, great attention was accorded to the fishermen's knowledge of the sea and land environment. A detailed study was carried out in which fish were classified by vernacular species and notes taken on the influence of supernatural and natural factors as regards to preys (seasons, lunations, tides, swells, winds, etc.). Moreover, information on hand regarding most available species was systematically classified. We therefore now have data which is of utmost use for exchanges between naturalists and which will enrich one and all.Nous n'avons voulu donner ici qu'un aperçu rapide de l'information recueillie en abordant deux points qu'il était possible d'évoquer brièvement : la gestion du milieu et les problèmes liés aux transformations techniques. Il reste que l'analyse des techniques de pêche et le recueil des connaissances indigènes sur le milieu et les poissons, qui constituent l'essentiel de la recherche réalisée, n'ont pu être que mentionnés pour mémoire. Nous possédons pourtant une somme d'informations qui bénéficient de l'expérience acquise de longue date par les Polynésiens grâce à une exploitation quotidienne du milieu marin. Ces connaissances transmises de génération en génération sont un élément essentiel de la culture traditionnelle des insulaires. Elles sont complémentaires des observations effectuées par les naturalistes et mériteraient d'être confrontées comme un autre regard porté sur la même réalité.Conte Éric. Recherches ethno-archéologigues sur l'exploitation du milieu marin à Napuka (Tuamotu).. In: Journal de la Société des océanistes, n°80, tome 41, 1985. pp. 51-56