The Trobriand Islanders

The Triobriand Islands

This week we will look at another culture in the tropics, the culture of the Trobriand Islanders. The Trobriand Islands are located off the coast of Papua New Guinea and are home to many individuals. The island of Kiriwana is the most populous and is home to around 25,000 people, and the total population of the islands is around 30,000. Believing that they came from the underground, Trobrianders also believe that there are four clans that make up humanity. They live in thatched huts, and yam is one of the most important foods and crops in the community. Pigs are also an important source of food as well as fish, which provide most of the protein for the society.

Yams are an integral part of the culture.

As stated before, the production of yams is a crucial and integral part of the Trobriander lifestyle. They are both a food source, a source of wealth and a political tool due to the fact that they can be stored for almost half a year. Men are usually in charge of growing yams, and they typically create entire gardens that are just filled with this product. Women usually are in charge of the other food gardens which also contribute to a substantial portion of the Trobriand diet.

The typical homes in the Trobriand Islands.

European sailors and traders exerted influence in the Trobriand Islands, and Australia had control of the islands in most of the twentieth century, but the islands gained independence in 1975. The villagers occasionally dress in Western clothing, but typically they dress in fiber skirts and colorful cotton cloth. As stated before, the Trobrianders are a part of four matrilineal clans called kumila. Matrilineal refers to the idea that descent is traced through the mother and maternal ancestors. These clans dictate marriages, and individuals must marry someone from a different clan because marriage is seen as a way to strengthen ties. Trobrianders also belong to their mother’s matrilineage called the dala.

Trobrianders have interesting ideas about the beginning of life and conception. They believe that the island of Tuma is the place that a spirit goes after death, and they believe that this spirit then returns to the island of Kiriwina, enters a woman’s body and grows to become her child. They believe that the father contributes to further development of the baby through frequent intercourse, but they do not believe the father alters or contributes in any way to the physiology of the child. The child is seen as the consummation of the woman’s blood and the spirit child.

A young Trobriander with a cockatoo.

Fathers are held responsible for the safety and caretaking of their children, meaning that the fathers are responsible for providing for their families. Fathers are also responsible for maintaining their child’s physical and social beauty, and they do this to demonstrate their own wealth and prosperity. Death in the Trobriand Islands is said to be caused by something, and they believe that people are always “killed” when they die and that people never die just from natural causes. They have many rituals that surround the death of individuals, such as engaging in ritualized crying, grieving for months, prohibiting the widow or widower from speaking or feeding themselves and secluding the spouse for months after the death.

Dance competitions can last for weeks in the islands.

As stated before, yams are an important political tool. They are also significantly important in marriage, and the bride’s father plants a yam garden for his daughter a year after the marriage has passed. The brother of the bride then takes over the task eventually of caring for the garden. The growth of the yams also determines the holiday times for the people, and they rest when the yams are harvested and the yam houses are filled. The Trobrianders hold many yam competitions during this holiday period as well as dance competitions. Cricket is another staple activity of the Trobrianders, and the sport was brought to the islands by the British. Similar to the yam and dance competitions, the cricket matches often contain overt sexual activities, and this can be seen through dress, chants and dances. Magic is also an integral part of Trobriand society, and anthropologists Malinowski and Weiner have come to two different views of magic in the society. We will discuss these views later in the paper as both anthropologists have contributed significantly to the study of the Trobriand culture.

Children also take part in the dancing.

The Trobrianders also participate in something called the kula ring, which is a system of the exchange of shells. The system has both ceremonial value as well as allowing traders to exchange their surpluses for other items and goods that are needed for them and their clan. Women also participate in a type of manufacturing and distribution of goods as well. Women in the culture produce skirts and bundles from leaves of bananas, and these skirts and bundles are typically used when individuals in the community die.

HIV and AIDS are currently major issues in the Trobriand society. It is so prevalent due to fact that individuals engage freely in sexual relations with numerous partners, including at times their own family members. Due to the fact that Papua New Guinea is one of the largest developing countries in the South Pacific, the Trobriand Islands have seen many tourists in the recent past. But a fire that destroyed the island’s hotel halted tourism, and the islanders have resisted change. Nonetheless, the Trobrianders have begun to slowly assimilate to modern society even though their kula traditions still remain strong at the roots.

To learn more about Trobriand culture and customs, visit http://www.everyculture.com/Oceania/Trobriand-Islands.html.