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Ethnology of Tokelau Islands

The Household

The Household

The family consisting of father, mother, and children is considered a biological unit. It is the source of the living group or household, but not a social entity, participating in social life as a self-contained group. In its page 45 origin the household corresponds with the family, but new members, not necessarily related by blood, are frequently added.

The determining factor in the arrangement and function of the household is economic. The household is a cooperative domestic unit, in which the members share the land, its produce, and the work. They live together in one house or in nearby sleeping huts and use a common cook shed and fishing canoe. Household affairs are directed by the senior mother and her husband.