The Trobriand social and economic life is influenced by exchanges and gifts that occur at different stages of a person’s life. Women play a key role in the shaping this culture. In this society, yams are a symbol of wealth and are exchanged in marriages, birth rituals, offered as gift by chiefs to commoners, given as gifts by a brother’s wife to the husband among others. In almost all the rituals and economic activities, women play an imperative role. In this study, the role of different types of gifts and exchanges were examined in relation to gender and the role played by women.
The Melanesian social life entails the movement of an individual from one social life to another. In this society, the passage from one stage to the other involves a complicated exchange of gifts with other members of the society. The exchange of goods and services is mainly manifested in various cultural forms such as gardening, marriage, birth rituals and death. The whole society is controlled by the issuance and receiving of gifts from one member of the community to another (Ember and Melvin 8). Generally, in Trobriand sociality, gifts are a way of life.
In this essay, two main aspects of the Melanesian society are studied. First, the study explores on exchange of materials that occur during marriage and gardening. The study then determines the different relationships in the Trobriand culture and ways through which gifts were used to cement these relationships. The role of women during exchanges is also critically analyzed.
As aforementioned, the exchange of gifts plays an imperative role in the Trobriand sociality. All activities in this society are controlled by a complicated system involving the exchanges of gifts and other items of trade. In addition, the exchange and giving of gifts is further dictated by the age, sex, gender and passage from one stage to another.
The Kula exchange or trade plays an imperative role in linking the different islands in Trobriand communities. In this trade, men and sometimes women travel from one island to the other exchanging yams for other valued commodities. Kula exchange act as a link between individuals living on the different islands. In the Kula exchange, men and women travel in a canoe to other islands where they exchange arm shells and shell necklaces. These shells are high valued in Trobriand culture. The Kula exchange follows a distinctive process with arm shells revolving counterclockwise while necklaces circulate in a clockwise direction among these islands. This trade started long time ago and helps in bidding distant Melanesian communities together (McDowel 5). According to malinoski, the Kula exchanges can be depicted as “give for the sake of giving”.
Though giving is symbolic in this society, the act of giving gifts and Kula exchanges is not only controlled by cultural values, rather, through these material exchanges, men become famous by circulating and accumulating valuable objects. The shells circulated during the Kula exchanges are valuable and they act as a symbol of success and a means of influencing and dominating others in the society. In the Kula exchange, some of the arm shells are individually owned, these are referred to as the kitomu shells. These shells can be used by an individual during trade. After individual posses these valuables, he can use them as gifts during various rituals such as marriage, death, child birth and yam competition. In this society, monogamy is a common type of marriage. Monogamy is practiced by most of the individuals though chiefs and those who want to gain political power are allowed to have many wives (Mosko 768).
Individuals allowed to practice polygamy are able to establish alliances through marriage and this is a symbol of power. The power possessed by chief in this community is marked by the number of wives one has. Since chiefs have many women, they are able to acquire many yams from their wives brother who garden for their sisters. In addition to having many wives, there is a lifelong exchange of yams between the various community members. Kula exchange is one of the distinctive forms of trade that is greatly influenced by culture, rites of passage and other forces within the society. A study of Kula trade enables one to link the people and the things the value most, that is, the Kula, the use of magic and women wealth. Through Kula exchanges, individuals are able to build their own reputation and influence others within the society.
In the Trobriand culture, marriage is one of the important cultural rite of passage. It is widely respected and is marked with the exchange of different valuables and yams. Solemnizing of the marriage is mainly done through yam exchanges. Unlike other communities, the traditional marriage ceremony does not take place in this community. When a couple wants to get married, they sit together at the verandah of the house. There is strong taboo that lovers cannot be seen eating together. When lovers eat together, it is taken that the marriage is officiated. Thus, when a couple is seen sitting together, the news travel quickly throughout the village and when the bride’s mother and brother receive the news, they prepare yams for the couple. Once the couple eats yams together, they are officially married. This signifies the first from of exchange during marriage.
After eating yams, the young man’s sister brings three long skirts to the wife. One of the skirts is tied around the waist of her new sister in law. This symbolizes that her adolescent is over and she can no longer wear short provocative miniskirts to seduce a man. After this, the man and the wife remove ornaments associated with adolescent and they wear ones symbolizing marriage. This symbolizes a transition from adolescent to adult hood. After marriage, the wife stays in her husband’s house. She does not cook for one year as her mother brings her cooked yams. Most marriages in Trobriand occur in the months of May to September when yams are in abundance. The exchange of yams in marriage is significant during and after ceremony. Since the newly wedded girl does not cook, her mother and mother’s brother bring yams to her. In addition, the mother brings her yams that have been collected from other men in their lineage.
As the girl’s kin are presenting the yams, the groom’s father and their matrilineal kinsmen prepare gifts to give to the wife’s family (Selkirk 1). These gifts are made up of valuables such as: the stone axe (beku) or the Kula shells. These two are highly valued by the community. The groom’s family can also give other secondary gifts like money or large clay pots referred to as (kuliya). Most valuables are not made within the island so the villagers must make distant voyages to other islands to collect these valuables. For example, stone axes are made in Muyua Island while large clay pots are made by women in Amphlett Islands.
Men have to travel to these islands so as to obtain these valuables. The exchange of these valuables can be through inheritance or ritual exchanges or trade (Kula exchange). These valuables are then used during marriage or death rituals. During marriage, all the people from the bride’s side who brought yams receive valuables from the groom’s family. These valuables create a sense of honor and obligations to both parties. On the bride’s side, they must take care of her husband. In cases where the woman rejects the husband, the family may try to win her back through man’s family may try to convince her using gifts or they can use magic. In almost all cases, the woman makes a choice whether to marry the man she is engaged to. In other traditional cultures however, men are the decision makers.
During the first year of marriage, the bride’s mother provides her with cooked yams. After the first year, the bride’s mother brings three large stones and sets up the cooking place. This symbolizes that the bride can start cooking for her man. The wife does all cooking except for baking pigs and boiling taro pudding as these are a man’s responsibility. When the first year ends, the couples return to the old ways of never being seen when eating. Thus, couples never eat together since it is a taboo to the community. Therefore, the process of marriage is marked by exchange of yams and other valuables. This is important, symbolic and also creates a bond between the two families.
Gardening is one of the most important economic activities in this community. Yams are widely cultivated because they are associated with wealth. The growing of these yams requires skills and is associated with wealth. The term Kubula is used to designate ownership of yams gardens in the region. Most of the yam gardens are associated and named after the women cultivating them. Even though, it is a man’s work to cultivate, couples work together during planting and cultivation.
Men must protect the crops from pigs by fencing these gardens. Sorcery and magic are used during the planting season to ensure that yams grow big and there are not impeded by stones. This requires exchange or trade between those who poses the magic and farmers growing yams. When the yams are ready, the gardener takes them to the woman who is the owner of the garden. The lady receives and stores these yams in the husband’s house. A traditional ceremony in form of dancing is usually performed to receive the yams. The husband receives the yams and pays the gardener in form of a pig or cooked taro.
Normally, it is the wife brother or father who gardens for their sister even if she is married. In Trobriand, the father starts gardening for her daughter at adolescent. When she becomes married, the father continues growing the yams for her. When the father becomes old, the brother takes up the fathers work (Havilland et al. 187). Therefore, the wife’s brother and father produce yams for the husband. In turn, the husband produces yams for the sister. In general, the woman plays a significant role in binding the society.
After the harvest, the man poses a lot of wealth. He uses these yams as food and trade. First, the man uses these yams to purchase magic to enchant the other members so that they do not eat a lot of yams. This ensures that he remains wealthy due to possession of the yams. The yams are also used to purchase necklaces, arm shells, chicken, betel nuts, wooden bowls, armbands, flour, pots, Chama shells and other products. After harvesting, yams are mainly used as the purchase most of the valued items. The couple avoids eating the yams as much as possible. Even during the era of money, yams are still the most prestigious form of currency. When death occurs, the couple may lose significant amount of yams and this interferes with their political and economic ambitions.
Most men inherit valuables from their father. These valuables are widely used for trade and other rituals such as marriage and death. These valuables are also widely used to make different kinds of payments. Such payments include: yams purchase, paying experts for magic and sorcery and in other forms of trade. When an item is passed from one person to another, its value increases because it is associated with many people. Stone axes on the other hand are used as compensation for sorcery or for payment of someone who was killed. Exchange of the stone axe blade between parties’ acts like a seal in contact formation and it binds people together.
In the Melanesian society, a person’s social identity is enhanced by people through the use of distinctive names that are associated with magic, knowledge and wealth. Through these names, the society creates some potential in their children. Throughout an individual life, a person can be able to build his reputation through exchange of yams, women and men valuables. Therefore, most individuals try to build their status in the society through these exchanges.
Issuance of gift is one of the most significant aspects of Trobriand culture. Gifts are normally awarded at different occasion and they have different meaning. Trobriand believe that people should not eat yams that they have grown. As a consequence, people must grow yams and give to others in their lineage. In this society, gifts are used to mark transitions between different cultural stages (Robbins 205). The issuing of gifts among the Trobriand is also associated with wealth and power. Gifts form a significant role in the development of Trobriand sociality. When a man dies, the yam house is destroyed as it represents a unique association between a man and his wife. The yam that a man amasses is dependent on the work of others and involves a constant repetition of work for many years. Since yams cannot be stored for a long time, gardening must be done constantly. Therefore, men with large garden are powerful and rich.
For one to gain political power, gifts play a crucial role. Normally, chiefs are polygamous and their source of yams comes from their kin. The wealth amassed by chiefs is used to influence other members of the community to fund expeditions to collect arm shells and other valuables. The chiefs are also responsible for organizing party’s where they give out their accumulated wealth and in return, they receive prestige and control of the people.
At childbirth, the father provides the child with gifts that are associated with a certain aspect. These gifts bestow the child a sense of identity and class. A boy is given betel nuts, gifts for courtship, items for Kula trade and magic to help him during marriage and gardening. The father on the other hand makes a garden for her daughter when she marries. During childbirth, the parents take care of their young one. This is traditionally referred to as kopoi. The term is also used to mean the care and rituals performed on a dead person. Traditionally, the woman nurses the young baby for one and half years. Men play a very significant role in nurturing their baby. The people believe that baby is conceived in an ancestral land and men plays no physical role in the impregnating the wife. When a child is bone, it is taken care of by the parents and all the kinsmen. In Trobriand, it is the responsibility of the father to provide the child with food and wealth and this is observed by all the villagers.
If a man takes good care of his baby and gives him wealth, this has political consequences and he is deemed as responsible and rich. The father not only provides food but also decorates his child with shells. At childbirth, the father decorates the child with necklaces such as the Chama shells which are thin and uniformly polished. The type of necklace given to a child is greatly connected to the father’s wealth and political influence and it signifies the wealth they have. This in effect transfers the father’s wealth and political power to the child. For example, if the father has a lot of political influence, then, the child has the capacity to become a politician. Necklaces and earrings are also given to a girl by her father. If a child has no necklaces, earring and arm shells, he is referred to as gudukubukwabuya or a “fatherless child”.
At the adolescent stage, the father must also purchase magic to ensure that the girl child has important attribute of beauty such as a light skin, smooth face, and beautiful lips. The decorations given to a child are not only used to decorate them but also to symbolize their matrilineal kin. After a woman is married, her father will make a yam garden each year. After five years, the brother starts to work for her sister. On taking this role, the brother will make a yam garden for his sister every year. Normally, the eldest brother takes care of the elder’s sister while next oldest, takes care of the next sister. On the other hand, the wife’s husband takes care of his own sisters. Thus the responsibility of caring for a girl child is not passed from father to husband but from father to the brother.
When a man is economically stable, he has many yams. These yams are usually given during presentations and they show how powerful and wealthy a man is. It takes a long time before a man can own his own yam house and it is the wife’s brother who decides whether he can construct this house since they are the ones that supply him with yams. When a man’s daughter reaches adolescent, the man starts to make yam gardens for her. In addition he also makes yam gardens for his own sisters who are married. At the same time the bother to his wife makes gardens for his wife. This forms a fundamental relationship between men and women in the Trobriand society (Weiner 1976, 171).
There also exist a strong bond between a father and a son. Sons usually work for their father. The first produce from a man’s garden is normally given to the father. This exchange is called kavitam. In exchange, the father gives his son betel nuts and buana to his son’s girlfriend. When the father becomes old, the son takes up his father’s responsibility such as taking care of his married sister. When the father dies, his son will bury him, after some few years, he will dig him up, clean the bones and use them for rituals.
The exchange that takes place between sisters is nearly the same exchange that takes place in marriage. When one sister gives the other a basket of yams, the other sister responds by giving her a valuable such as a clay pot (Weiner 1988, 75). Other gifts are those between husband and wife. During the courtship process, the man and the woman also exchange gifts.
In conclusion, exchange of gifts is one of the key activities in Melanesian culture. The society believes that one cannot eat what he has planted and this must be given or exchanged with other commodities. Women play an important role in gardening and they bind the whole community together. Brothers and fathers of married women garden yams which they give to the woman. In return the husbands make yam gardens for their sisters. This creates a complex interrelationship between the members of the community. Kula exchanges also bind the members of different island together. Yams are highly valued in this community and they are exchanged and given in all rituals.
Works Cited
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