The purpose of the present article is to "reconstruct the prehistoric evolution and dispersal of Polynesian bark cloth (116)" using cladistic phylogenetic methods on ethnographic data. The author intends to shed light on the evolution of this cultural domain, as well as the settlement patterns and the diversification of Polynesian cultures. No hypotheses are explicitly stated or tested, rather, Larsen is concerned with designing the most accurate and reliable reconstructions in order to best conduct analyses and evaluate existing hypotheses. The utility of examining other cultural domains phylogenetically is discussed.