Home Institution
Bates College
Publication Date
Spring 2019
Abstract
The Candoia bibroni (Pacific Boa), is a non-venomous Samoan snake that recently become an endangered species, possibly due to human killing on sight. This interdisciplinary research investigates how Pacific Boa came to be perceived as dangerous animals that need to be killed. Following snake tracks through the history of Samoa and into the present, this research suggests that the relationship between Samoans and the Pacific Boa questions the simple binaries of real/imagined, material/semiotic, subjective/objective, and material/immaterial. Particularly with the introduction of Christianity by missionaries in the early-1800s, the Pacific Boa snake came to inhabit the liminal space between these apparent dichotomies.
Disciplines
Animal Sciences | Biodiversity | Christianity | Pacific Islands Languages and Societies | Philosophy | Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion | Social and Cultural Anthropology
Recommended Citation
Abonizio G. S., Ariel, "Endangered Danger: Christianity, Affect, and Harmless Snakes in Samoa" (2019). Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection. 3046.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/isp_collection/3046
Included in
Animal Sciences Commons, Biodiversity Commons, Christianity Commons, Pacific Islands Languages and Societies Commons, Philosophy Commons, Religious Thought, Theology and Philosophy of Religion Commons, Social and Cultural Anthropology Commons
Program Name
Samoa: Social and Environmental Change in Oceania