What is the Kula in the Trobriand Islands?
The Trobriand people are one of the tribes that participate actively in a “human social institution” called the kula, a complex system of exchange based on magical beliefs, traditions, duties and obligations. What other systems of exchange did Malinowski observe in the Trobriand Islands?
What is the significance of the Kula ring?
The Kula ring is a classic example of Marcel Mauss' distinction between gift and commodity exchange. Melanesians carefully distinguish gift exchange (Kula) and market exchange in the form of barter (gimwali). Both reflect different underlying value systems and cultural customs.
How did the Trobriand Islands exchange bracelets?
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 (the Kula ring), and that this exchange system was clearly linked to political authority.
What did the Trobriand Islanders of Melanesia do?
The Trobriand Islanders of Melanesia make a distinction between the practices of ceremonial gift exchange and bartering for commodities. Anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski famously detailed these two types of exchange in Trobriand society. In this activity, you will compare and contrast two Trobriand practices of reciprocity.
What is the purpose of the Kula ring?
It provides internal status for men, and strengthens political stability among kula trading islands by reinforcing peace, since Trobrianders are highly reticent to attack islanders who are partners in kula.
Why do Trobriand Islanders Exchange Kula objects?
These were red shell necklaces and white shell bracelets, which were not producers' capital, being neither consumable nor media of exchange outside the ceremonial system. Kula objects, which sometimes had names and histories attached, were not owned in order to be used but rather to acquire prestige and rank.
What is the Kula ring and how is it important to life on the Trobriand Islands?
This system is known as the "Kula Ring" and involves annual inter-island visits between trading partners who exchange highly valued shell ornaments. The goods used in Kula exchanges consist of two types: necklaces (soulava) and armbands (mwali). Neither trade item is particularly well made or crafted of rare materials.
What items were traded in Kula trade?
Traditionally two kinds of items were traded; arm bands carved from the toea shell know as Mwali and spondylus shell necklaces, Soulava. Each of these items were traded individually. Mwali and Soulava traveled in opposite directions around the Kula Circle (group of islands).
What is the Kula ring quizlet?
Kula Ring. A form of balanced reciprocity that reinforces trade and social relations among the seafaring Melanesians who inhabit a large ring of islands in the southwestern Pacific Ocean.
What are the characteristics of Kula ring?
The Kula gifts are of two types and are not in themselves remarkably valuable. One consists of shell-disc necklaces (veigun or Soulava) that are traded to the north (circling the ring in clockwise direction) and the other are shell armbands (Mwali) that are traded in the southern direction (circling counter-clockwise).
Where did Kula exchange typically occur quizlet?
This is a ceremonial exchange system conducted in Papua New Guinea. The Kula ring spans 18 island communities, but on the Trobriand Islands, the exchange is monopolized by the chiefs. All Kula valuables are traded purely for the purposes of enhancing one's social status and prestige.
Where did Kula trade take place?
eastern New GuineaKula is, right alongside the trade etiquette associated with contemporary business culture, one of the most highly ritualized forms of exchange in existence. It takes place on the islands off the coast of eastern New Guinea: the Trobriand, D'Entrecasteaux and Engineer Islands as well as Muyua (Woodlark) Island.
What is the primary gift exchanged at the Moka?
Moka are reciprocal gifts of pigs through which social status is achieved. Moka refers specifically to the increment in the size of the gift; giving more brings greater prestige to the giver....Gifts and commodities.Commodity exchangeGift exchangebetween objectsbetween people4 more rows
Part 1: Trobriand Islanders
The Trobriand Islanders of Melanesia make a distinction between the practices of ceremonial gift exchange and bartering for commodities. Anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski famously detailed these two types of exchange in Trobriand society. In this activity, you will compare and contrast two Trobriand practices of reciprocity.
Part 2: Kula vs. Gimwali
Read the following selected passages from Malinowski’s ethnography, Argonauts of the Western Pacific , in eHRAF World Cultures. Then, answer the questions about the different types of exchange.
Part 3: Gender, culture, and exchange
Societies are continually changing. Sometimes, ethnographers studying in the same location at different times can shed light on aspects of a culture that have changed or might have been overlooked by previous researchers.
Questions
What does Weiner’s analysis add to Malinowski’s previous description of economic exchange in Trobriand society?
Part 4: Find additional examples
Conduct your own advanced search in eHRAF World Cultures to find at least one example of each type of reciprocity from different cultures around the world. Then:
What were Kula objects?
Kula objects, which sometimes had names and histories attached, were not owned in order to be used but rather to acquire prestige and rank.
What were the two types of articles that were exchanged in the ring?
These were red shell necklaces and white shell bracelets, which were not producers’ capital, ...
What other systems of exchange did Malinowski observe in the Trobriand Islands?
In order to understand the psychology behind the different types of exchange that permeate Trobriander society, one needs to consider the fact that the tribesmen are born with a specific rank and social status which is inherited, cannot be changed and is not related to material possessions.
Achieving social prestige and status in the tribe
Trobrianders who have social ambitions must operate within the narrow confines allowed by custom. Social distinction can be obtained by being an excellent worker. This would be evidenced by having a manicured and decorated garden and winning the title of tokwaybagula (efficient gardener).
The Kula – a ceremonial exchange of considerable importance in the region
The kula is a ceremonial exchange of highly valued artifacts between the tribes living on the ring of Trobriand islands. It is based on a flow of soulava (long necklaces made out of discs of red shell) moving clockwise around the circuit and mwali (arm bracelets made of white shell) moving in the opposite direction.
Lifelong partnerships
It is fuelled by ambitious tribesmen competing for social status who keep the international exchanges going, often at great risk to themselves. In the process they create lifelong partnerships that bind people from different tribes together (Ziegler, 2008).
Conclusion – a lasting influence on field research and ethnography
It is clear that these exchange systems underpin the entire structure of Trobriander society. They form the basis of payment mechanisms, social welfare and credit, while also uniting the various tribes in the region through bonds of reciprocity and obligation that ensure the ongoing peace of the region and fosters trade.
Overview
Gift versus commodity exchange
The Kula ring is a classic example of Marcel Mauss' distinction between gift and commodity exchange. Melanesians carefully distinguish gift exchange (Kula) and market exchange in the form of barter (gimwali). Both reflect different underlying value systems and cultural customs. The Kula, Mauss wrote, is not supposed to be conducted like gimwali. The former involves a solemn exchange ceremony, …
Basic description
The Kula ring spans 18 island communities of the Massim archipelago, including the Trobriand Islands, and involves thousands of individuals. Participants travel at times hundreds of miles by canoe in order to exchange Kula valuables which consist of red shell-disc necklaces (veigun or soulava) that are traded to the north (circling the ring in clockwise direction) and white shell armbands (mwali) that are traded in the southern direction (circling counterclockwise). If the op…
Items for trade
All Kula valuables are non-use items traded purely for purposes of enhancing one's social status and prestige. Carefully prescribed customs and traditions surround the ceremonies that accompany the exchanges which establish strong, ideally lifelong relationships between the exchange parties (karayta'u, "partners"). The act of giving, as Mauss wrote, is a display of the greatness of th…
Trading and the social hierarchy
The right of participation in Kula exchange is not automatic; one has to "buy" one's way into it through participating in various lower spheres of exchange. The giver-receiver relationship is always asymmetrical: givers are higher in status. Also, Kula valuables are ranked according to value and age, as are the relationships that are created through their exchange. Participants will often st…
See also
• Potlatch, a similar practice among some Native American and First Nations peoples of west coast North America
• Koha, a similar practice among the Māori
• Moka, a similar practice in the Mt. Hagen area of Papua New Guinea
Footnotes
1. ^ Malinowski, Bronislaw (1922). Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagos of Melanesian New Guinea. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.
2. ^ Mauss, Marcel (1970). The Gift: Forms and Functions of Exchange in Archaic Societies. London: Cohen & West.