J. I. Staley Prize 1998 Patrick V. Kirch and Marshall Sahlins were awarded the 1998 J. I. Staley Prize for their book, Anahulu: The Anthropology of History in the Kingdom of Hawaii (University of Chicago Press 1992, two volumes). The announcement was made by Douglas W. Schwartz, then President of the School, who said the two authors will share the $7,500 award at a ceremony to be held at the American Anthropological Association Meeting in Philadelphia in December 1998.
In presenting this work to the School's Board of Managers for approval, Schwartz specifically cited the authors' integration of anthropology's subdisciplines as a significant factor mentioned by each of the six nominators. Rob Borofsky and Thomas J. Riley noted that "Anahulu not only brings together different anthropology sub-disciplines but different anthropologists practicing these sub-disciplines." Roger C. Green wrote, "For the first time within recent memory, a major work illustrates that the conjunction between several subdisciplines within anthropology can be a vital, productive and complementary exercise." Another nominator, Jonathan Friedman, called this work "...one of the crowning achievements of an intellectual project...a classic landmark in the history of anthropology." Bruce Kapferer felt the book demonstrated the "importance of intense archaeological and anthropological cooperation that hopefully will become a model for future generations of scholars." Maurice Godelier's nomination underlined the authors' approach by saying "such cooperation fosters a deeper and at the same time more critical understanding of history."
The Board also considered reviews of Anahulu and the comments of this year's Staley Prize Review Panel. One panel member called the book "the most important (work) that has happened in Oceanic history and ethnology in a long while." The Staley panelists agreed that on the basis of prestigious scholarship, the book stands as an exemplar, illustrating an incredible power, a great sweep of history, and portrays "...the truly unique quality anthropology: a classic job of going back and forth between local and global/world systems."
Members of the 1998 Staley Review Panel convened at the AAA meetings in November and in Santa Fe in January to review all the Staley nominations and reach their recommendation. Panel members were Jane Buikstra, University of New Mexico, Linda Cordell, University of Colorado, Steve Feld, New York University, Robin Fox, Rutgers University, and Jane Hill, University of Arizona.Affiliation at time of award:
Patrick Kirch, Professor of Anthropology, University of California, Berkeley
Marshall Sahlins, Charles F. Grey Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago
