The Problem of Depopulation in Melanesia *

This discussion of the problem of depopulation in Melanesia limits itself to oudine form and brief treatment. Moreover, it is unwise to be dogmatic about the relative importance of the factors invQlved. Depopulation, wherever it occurs, is a phenomenon of complex derivation and of wide societal relationships, which vary accQrding to locus and are in some cases evanescent. The problem is one that involves practically all phases and activities of native life and is the most vital social dilemma that Melanesia faces at the present time. Many conflicting opinions exist and nearly every fieldworker in anthropology has found new evidence that is contradictory to accepted theories. The tendency is to overemphasize the importance of such material. This essay will attempt, therefore, to examine the data concerning depopulation in Melanesia and to consider how these data have been presented by others, with the aim of clarifying the problem rather than of seeking more than tentative conclusions. In defining Melanesia it should be stated that the designation is both geographical and ethnic. Generally, the term Melanesia is applied to the region of the southwest Pacific north of 200 south latitude and west of 1 80 longitude (see map). This would include the great island of New Guinea and most of the surrounding islands, especially the archipelagoes to the east and north-the D'Entrecasteaux, Calvados chain, Louisiades, Trobriands; New Britain, New Ireland and the vast Bismarck Archipelago; the Solomons farther on, the New Hebrides and intervening islands. This large area extends over some 2,100 miles of longitude and 1,200 of latitude. The islands themselves cover roughly 355,000 square miles and present considerable, often radical, variations of climatic and environmental conditions, particularly on the big, mountainous islands like New Guinea, New Britain, Bougainville,