Paper short abstract:

The present paper will provide a critical history of Die Samoa Inseln, which were first published in 1902-3, but soon became an oceanic-ethnological classic.

Paper long abstract:

The two volume monographs Die Samoa Inseln were first published in 1902-3. They are generally referred to as a major and highly comprehensive treatment of Samoan genealogy. Written by Dr. Augustin Krämer (1865-1941), a German Navy surgeon and ethnologist, these monographs are not only used by anthropologists and Pacific scholars alike, but also create the basis for claims at the Land and Title Court in Samoa. Their increasing use has been facilitated by an English translation, which was published in the 1990s.

This paper will explore the history of these volumes which were Krämer's first major ethnographic publication and saw his interest shift from natural science towards ethnology. Special attention will be given to Krämer's fieldwork in Samoa which he began during a naval cruise in 1893-5 and intensified during a second Oceanic voyage from 1897-9. The paper will consider Krämer's relationships with Samoans and the fieldwork methods he developed. Although Die Samoa Inseln remains an ethnological classic, it also characterises the nexus between European anthropological discourses and field experience at the beginning of the twentieth century.