Genealogies as Culture and Biology: a Tokelau Case Study

Abstract

It has become dogma among cultural anthropologists that genealogies are primarily political documents which do not necessarily give reliable accounts of actual biological relationships. This paper examines this assertion in the light of social and serological evidence from one small Polynesian society. It is shown that, within certain limits, Tokelau genealogies do give accurate accounts of biological relationships, and provide a sound basis for interdisciplinary studies which cross the interface between biological and social systems.