Trobriand Islands

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Trobriand Islands
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The Trobriand Islands
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Trobriand Islands
Geography
Coordinates 8°40′S150°55′E / 8.667°S 150.917°E / -8.667; 150.917
Area450 km2 (170 sq mi)
Administration
Province Milne Bay
Largest settlement Losuia
Demographics
Population12,000

The Trobriand Islands are a 450-square-kilometre (174-square-mile) archipelago of coral atolls off the east coast of New Guinea. They are part of the nation of Papua New Guinea and are in Milne Bay Province. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main island of Kiriwina, which is also the location of the government station, Losuia.

Contents

Other major islands in the group are Kaileuna, Vakuta, and Kitava. The group is considered to be an important tropical rainforest ecoregion in need of conservation.

Geography

The Trobriands consist of four main islands, the largest being Kiriwina Island, and the others being Kaileuna, Vakuta and Kitava. Kiriwina is 43 kilometres (27 miles) long, and varies in width from 1 to 16 kilometres (0.62 to 9.94 mi). In the 1980s, there were around sixty villages on the island, containing around 12,000 people, while the other islands were restricted to a population of hundreds. Other than some elevation on Kiriwina, the islands are flat coral atolls and "remain hot and humid throughout the year, with frequent rainfall." [1]

People

History

Soul boat, Kiriwina, Trobriand Islands (wood and white lime) Soul boat, Trobriand Islands, Paupa New Guinea, Bishop Museum, 1989.400.268.JPG
Soul boat, Kiriwina, Trobriand Islands (wood and white lime)

The first European visitor to the islands was the French ship Espérance in 1793. The ship's navigator, Antoine Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, named them after his first lieutenant, Denis de Trobriand.

Whaling ships called at the islands for food, water and wood in the 1850s and 1860s. [2]

The first Europeans to settle in the Trobriand islands were a Methodist minister, Samuel Benjamin Fellows, and his wife Sarah Margaret Fellows who moved to the island of Kiriwina in 1894. They were followed a decade later by colonial officers from Australia who set up a governmental station nearby, and soon a small colony began to be set up by foreign traders on the island. Then in the 1930s, the Sacred Heart Catholic Mission set up a settlement containing a primary school nearby. It was following this European colonisation that the name "Trobriand" was legally adopted for this group of islands. [1]

The first anthropologist to study the Trobrianders was C. G. Seligman, who focused on the Massim people of mainland New Guinea. Seligman was followed a number of years later by his student, the Polish Bronisław Malinowski, who visited the islands during the First World War. Despite being a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian empire, which was at war with Australia which then controlled the Trobriand Islands, he was allowed to stay (provided he checked in with authorities every now and then). [3] His descriptions of the kula exchange system, gardening, magic, and sexual practices—all classics of modern anthropological writing—prompted many foreign researchers to visit the societies of the island group and study other aspects of their cultures. The psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich drew on Malinowski's studies of the islands in writing his The Invasion of Compulsory Sex Morality and consequently in developing his theory of sex economy in his 1936 work Die Sexualität im Kulturkampf .

In 1943, Allied troops landed on the islands as a part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied advance to Rabaul.

In the 1970s, some indigenous peoples formed anti-colonial associations and political movements.

In October 2022 there was an outbreak of tribal fighting on Kiriwina Island between the Kulumata and Kuboma people, which was reported to have been triggered by a death during fighting at a football match. At least 30 people died. While fights between different groups were not uncommon, this was the first time they had resulted in a large number of deaths. [4] [5]

Trobriand Islands in the modern day

Growing population

Since 1975, the government of Papua New Guinea has had political control of the island. In this time of growth, the population of the island is expanding quickly. [6] Therefore, more land has been cleared to accommodate the increasing population. [6] However, environmental concerns - such as deforestation - are affecting the islands. [6] The government often sends social workers to increase the use of birth control and contraception. [6] However, the Trobriand culture is not receptive to outside influences dictating their reproductive norms. This means that sex is "the most natural thing in the culture". [6] Another effect of Trobriand promiscuity is the rapid spread of HIV/AIDS caused by foreigners on the island. [7] The first documented case of HIV/AIDS was reported in 2001. Nowadays, HIV has become a major health problem. Since young Trobrianders often have multiple sexual partners before marriage, it is hard to slow the spread of the disease. [7] "The moralistic tropes of risk and promiscuity that dominate the language of HIV prevention are not easily accommodated by Trobriand ideations of sexuality, which celebrate premarital sexual activity as healthy and life-affirming, and which stress the productive values of reciprocity and relations of difference." [7]

Income inequality

After statehood in 1975, the Trobriand Islands' economy has been restructured to fit a tourist and export market. Most Trobrianders live on less than one dollar a day. [6] Since food has been traditionally distributed among the people based on their need, there has been little need for a currency-based economy outside of the Kula rings. [8] To counteract this lack of hard currency, several western goods stores have opened on the islands and created most of the foreign goods market. These stores are multimillion-dollar enterprises. [6] However, most Trobrianders struggle to pay for goods from these stores because they only take cash. [6] Due to this practice, there are often reports of unrest because of a lack of funds. One remedy that many islanders seek is to sell cultural artifacts and relics to tourists in exchange for their currency. [7] For example, a worker can spend 10 days working on a ceremonial turtle bowl and only get paid $10. "However this commercialization is often done sanctimoniously. " [8] "They protect their cultural identity and use it as a tourist commodity". However, one of the items imported that cause economic and social problems is betel nuts. [6] They are a major narcotic on the island. [6] Due to this new currency-based economy there is more reported crime on the islands. There is a great economic disparity due to the income inequality between the modern world and the Trobriands.

Early education on the islands featuring Malinowski Bronislaw Malinowski among Trobriand tribe 2 (cropped).jpg
Early education on the islands featuring Malinowski

Education

In addition to missionary schools, there are public schools on the Trobriands which were introduced by the government of Papua New Guinea "All children are required to go to school". [6] The required subjects are English, Maths, Science and culture. Schools also educate students about current international events. [6] Maths is the favorite subject among the students of the island. [6] On Wednesdays, the children are required to dress in traditional garb as part of the government-mandated culture day. [6] During this time, children are encouraged to explore Trobriand culture, history and values.

Malinowski's plaque in Kiriwina

A plaque dedicated to Bronislaw Malinowski in Omarakana, decorated by village children Malinowskis plaque.jpg
A plaque dedicated to Bronisław Malinowski in Omarakana, decorated by village children

There is a commemorative plaque dedicated to Bronisław Malinowski in Omarakana village, the residence village of the Paramount Chief of Trobriand Islands. [9] The current chief Pulayasi Daniel is positive that it is placed in the very same place where Malinowski's tent used to stand at the beginning of the 20th century. [10] There are two inscriptions on it – one in Polish and one in English – which say: "Toboma Miskabati Bronislaw Malinowski (1884–1942) Notable scientist The son of the Polish nation Father of the modern social anthropology Friend of Trobriand Islands peoples and the populizer of their culture" (see: picture). The plaque was brought to Kiriwina by sailors Monika Bronicka and Mariusz Delgas [11] who took it from New Zealand where it was left by two other yachts: "Maria" and "Victoria". [10] The plaque was sponsored by Jagiellonian University in Kraków and the National Museum in Szczecin, Poland. [10]

Tourism and artist visits

The Trobriand Islands are South Sea islands that have so far been little developed for tourism. In 2012 the German painter Ingo Kühl made studies on the kula culture in Kiriwina and Port Moresby. [12]

Calendar

The Trobriand Islands have a unique lunar calendar system. There are twelve or thirteen lunar cycles, but only ten are fixed: the others constitute free time. The calendar year begins with the sighting of a worm that appears to spawn, which initiates the Milamak festival. The concept of time in these islands is not linear, and so they only have one tense in their language. [13]

Anthropological studies and pop culture references

Books by Malinowski about the Trobriands

Other books about the Trobriands

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bronisław Malinowski</span> Polish anthropologist and ethnographer (1884–1942)

Bronisław Kasper Malinowski was a Polish-British anthropologist and ethnologist whose writings on ethnography, social theory, and field research have exerted a lasting influence on the discipline of anthropology.

In cultural anthropology, reciprocity refers to the non-market exchange of goods or labour ranging from direct barter to forms of gift exchange where a return is eventually expected as in the exchange of birthday gifts. It is thus distinct from the true gift, where no return is expected.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kula ring</span> Ceremonial exchange system in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea

Kula, also known as the Kula exchange or Kula ring, is a ceremonial exchange system conducted in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The Kula ring was made famous by the father of modern anthropology, Bronisław Malinowski, who used this test case to argue for the universality of rational decision-making and for the cultural nature of the object of their effort. Malinowski's seminal work on the topic, Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922), directly confronted the question, "Why would men risk life and limb to travel across huge expanses of dangerous ocean to give away what appear to be worthless trinkets?" Malinowski carefully traced the network of exchanges of bracelets and necklaces across the Trobriand Islands, and established that they were part of a system of exchange, and that this exchange system was clearly linked to political authority.

Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response to Colonialism is an anthropological Documentary film about the people of the Trobriand Islands and their unique innovations to the game of cricket, filmed in 1973–74. The film was made by Gary Kildea, under the direction of anthropologist Jerry Leach. It was shot in three weeks, on a budget of around Au$180,000.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Milne Bay Province</span> Place in Papua New Guinea

Milne Bay is a province of Papua New Guinea. Its capital is Alotau. The province covers 14,345 km² of land and 252,990 km² of sea, within the province there are more than 600 islands, about 160 of which are inhabited. The province has about 276,000 inhabitants, speaking about 48 languages, most of which belong to the Eastern Malayo-Polynesian branch of the Austronesian language family. Economically the province is dependent upon tourism, oil palm, and gold mining on Misima Island; in addition to these larger industries there are many small-scale village projects in cocoa and copra cultivation. The World War II Battle of Milne Bay took place in the province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kiriwina</span> Island of Papua New Guinea

Kiriwina is the largest of the Trobriand Islands, with an area of 290.5 km². It is part of the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. Most of the 12,000 people who live in the Trobriands live on Kiriwina. The Kilivila language, also known as Kiriwina, is spoken on the island. The main town is Losuia. The island falls under the administrative division of Kiriwina Rural LLG.

<i>The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia</i> Book by Bronisław Malinowski

The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia: An Ethnographic Account of Courtship, Marriage, and Family Life Among the Natives of the Trobriand Islands, British New Guinea is a 1929 book by anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski. The work is his second in the trilogy on the Trobrianders, with the other two being Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922) and Coral Gardens and Their Magic (1935).

<i>Argonauts of the Western Pacific</i>

Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea is a 1922 ethnography by Bronisław Malinowski, which has had enormous impact on the ethnographic genre. The book is about the Trobriand people who live on the small Kiriwana island chain northeast of the island of New Guinea. It is part of Malinowski's trilogy on the Trobrianders, including The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia (1929) and Coral Gardens and Their Magic (1935).

Labia stretching, also referred to as labia elongation or labia pulling, is the act of lengthening the labia minora through manual manipulation (pulling) or physical equipment. It is a familial cultural practice in parts of Eastern and Southern Africa, and a body modification practice elsewhere. It is performed for sexual enhancement for the benefit of both partners, aesthetics, symmetry and gratification.

Inalienable possessions are things such as land or objects that are symbolically identified with the groups that own them and so cannot be permanently severed from them. Landed estates in the Middle Ages, for example, had to remain intact and even if sold, they could be reclaimed by blood kin. As a legal classification, inalienable possessions date back to Roman times. According to Barbara Mills, "Inalienable possessions are objects made to be kept, have symbolic and economic power that cannot be transferred, and are often used to authenticate the ritual authority of corporate groups".

John Kasaipwalova is an author of Papua New Guinea. He was born in 1949 of indigenous parentage in Okaikoda Village on Kiriwina Island of the Trobriand Islands, Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. He was originally destined to be a tribal chief, but he was instead sent to Catholic school where he earned an academic scholarship to attend University of Queensland, to study veterinary medicine. Before finishing that degree he enrolled at the University of Papua New Guinea, where he began his literary career and gained a reputation as an anti-colonial radical.

Coral Gardens and Their Magic, properly Coral Gardens and Their Magic Volume I: A Study of the Methods of Tilling the Soil and of Agricultural Rites in the Trobriand Islands and Coral Gardens and Their Magic Volume II: The Language of Magic and Gardening, is the final two-volume book in anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski's ethnographic trilogy on the lives of the Trobriand Islanders. It concentrates on the cultivation practices the Trobriand Islanders used to grow yams, taro, bananas and palms which Malinowski's more famous ethnography Argonauts of the Western Pacific briefly mentioned in passing. It describes the gardens in which the Trobrianders grew food as more than merely utilitarian spaces, even as works of art. In 1988 Alfred Gell called the book "still the best account of any primitive technological-cum-magical system, and unlikely ever to be superseded in this respect". The book has been described as Malinowski's magnum opus.

Mailu Island is a small, 1.8 km long, island in Central Province, Papua New Guinea. It lies 250 km ESE from Port Moresby.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kaileuna</span> Island of Papua New Guinea

Kaileuna is an island in the Trobriand Islands group of Papua New Guinea. With an area of 45.53 km², it is the second-largest island in the group, after Kiriwina.

Sex and Repression in Savage Society is a 1927 book by anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski. It is considered "a famous critique of psychoanalysis, arguing that the 'Oedipus complex' described by Freud is not universal." Malinowski gives a partial explanation of the role of sex in social organization through the synthesis of psychoanalysis and anthropology, considered competing academic disciplines at the time. The book is considered an important contribution to psychoanalysis, which Malinowski acknowledged was a "popular craze of the day."

I have never been in any sense a follower of psycho-analytic practice, or an adherent of psycho-analytic theory; and now, while impatient of the exorbitant claims of psycho-analysis, of its chaotic arguments and tangled terminology, I must yet acknowledge a deep sense of indebtedness to it for stimulation as well for valuable instruction in some aspects of human psychology.

<i>In a Savage Land</i> 1999 Australian film

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Annette Barbara Weiner née Cohen was an American anthropologist, Kriser Distinguished Professor of Anthropology, chair of the Anthropology Department, dean of the social sciences, and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Science at New York University. She was known for her ethnographic work in the Trobriand Islands and her development of the concept of inalienable wealth in social anthropological theory.

A Diary in the Strict Sense of the Term is a collection of the private diaries of the prominent anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski during his fieldwork in New Guinea and the Trobriand Islands between 1914–1915 and 1917–1918. The collection is composed of two diaries, written in Polish.

The people of the Trobriand Islands are mostly subsistence horticulturalists who live in traditional settlements. The social structure is based on matrilineal clans that control land and resources. People participate in the regional circuit of exchange of shells called kula, sailing to visit trade partners on seagoing canoes. In the late twentieth century, anti-colonial and cultural autonomy movements gained followers from the Trobriand societies. When inter-group warfare was forbidden by colonial rulers, the islanders developed a unique, aggressive form of cricket.

Susanne Kuehling is a scholar of anthropology and ethnology. She currently works at the University of Regina.

References

  1. 1 2 Weiner, Annette B. (1988). The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 10–11.
  2. ↑ Langdon, Robert (1984). Where the whalers went: an index to the Pacific ports and islands visited by American whalers (and some other ships) in the 19th century. Canberra: Pacific Manuscripts Bureau. pp. 188–189. ISBN   086784471X.
  3. ↑ Weiner, Annette B. (1988). The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea. Orlando, Florida: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich. pp. 1–4.
  4. ↑ Kuku, Rebecca. "More than 30 dead in tribal fighting on Papua New Guinea's 'island of love'". The Guardian. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  5. ↑ "PNG official confirms 30 dead in tribal clash". Radio New Zealand. Retrieved 25 October 2022.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Toby Marshall (Narrator); Thomas Euting (author) (16 May 2012) [November 1995]. The Unholy Paradise (video). ZDF. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021. Retrieved 9 January 2018.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Peters-Golden, Holly (2012). Culture sketches: case studies in anthropology (6th ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: The McGraw-Hill. p. 264. ISBN   9780078117022. OCLC   716069710.
  8. 1 2 Peters-Golden, Holly (2012). Culture sketches: case studies in anthropology (6th ed.). Dubuque, Iowa: The McGraw-Hill. p. 168. ISBN   9780078117022. OCLC   716069710.
  9. ↑ Gumowska, Aleksandra (2014). Seks, betel i czary. Życie seksualne dzikich sto lat później[Sex, betel and witchcraft. The Sexual Life of Savages One Hundred Years Later.] (in Polish). Kraków: Znak Litera Nova. p. 29. ISBN   9788324025701.
  10. 1 2 3 Gumowska, Aleksandra (2014). Seks, betel i czary. Życie seksualne dzikich sto lat później[Sex, betel and witchcraft. The Sexual Life of Savages One Hundred Years Later.] (in Polish). Kraków: Znak Litera Nova. p. 35. ISBN   9788324025701.
  11. ↑ "Przygoda, Rafa Koralowa i życie bez butów [ZDJĘCIA]" [Adventure, Coral Reef and life without shoes [PHOTOS]] (in Polish). 18 August 2017. Archived from the original on 4 September 2021.
  12. ↑ Ingo Kühl Sketchbook Trobriand Islands (ingokuehl.com PDF)
  13. ↑ Longhurst, Brian (2016). Introducing Cultural Studies (3rd ed.). Oxford: Routledge. p. 42. ISBN   9781317426011.
  14. ↑ Senft, Gunter (2010). de Gruyter Reference Global - The Trobiand Islanders' Way of Speaking. doi:10.1515/9783110227994. hdl:11858/00-001M-0000-0013-3B2F-C. ISBN   9783110227994.
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