Relations between Missiology and Anthropology Then and Now—Insights from the Contribution to Ethnography and Anthropology by Nineteenth-Century Missionaries in the South Pacific

Mythologies clouding the historic contribution of missionaries to anthropology do not help current relationships between missiology and anthropology. Tracing actual relationships between South Pacific missionaries and nascent anthropology from the 1830s to 1910 shows significant missionary involvement in developing ethnographic tools and data gathering as an inherent part of nineteenth-century approaches to mission. A range of missionary attitudes and contributions are categorized. This raises questions about present-day missiologists' relationships with mainstream anthropology. While suggesting that nineteenth-century models may helpfully inform present-day relationships between the disciplines, a wealth of historical data on missionaries and anthropology is uncovered to dispel the popular mythologies.