Photos of Peoples in Melanesia - Beyond Tiki

IDOT I dream of tiki Tiki Socialite Pittsburgh, PA Joined: Jan 12, 2004 Posts: 501	IDOT I dream of tiki Posted posted on Thu, Jun 9, 2005 12:57 AM Kula "Nearly a century ago, it was predicted that Kula, the exchange of shell valuables in the Massim region of Papua New Guinea, would disappear. Not only has this prophecy failed to come true, but today Kula is expanding beyond these island communities to the mainland and Australia. The Trobriand Islanders, off the east coast of New Guinea, constitute the subjects of one of the earliest works of ethnography and economic anthropology authored by Bronislaw Malinowski, a major figure in the discipline (Malikowsi 1922). He identified several unique and fascinating economic institutions within Trobriand society but the "kula ring" has attracted the most attention. This system of exchange involves annual inter-island visits between trading partners who exchange highly valued shell ornaments and other gifts of exchange as the half moon necklace seen on our thread under "BEYOND TIKI: Photos of Peoples in Melanesia" In his Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922), Malinowski analyzed the kula ring, the exchange of shell valuables in a circle around the chain of Trobriand Islands. These ornament were traded from island to island in a counter-clockwise direction. A long time ago when the days were longer and the nights shorter lived a hero called Tava who at times took the form of a snake. Tava was known to pass between the villages that are identified as the active Kula Circle. When he was present in a village the people were said to have good fortune and prosper. His location was known only to one woman in each village and she would feed and tend to him. If he felt mistreated or betrayed at any time he would move on to the next island. On his departing the good fortune would also depart with him. He would nevertheless leave each village with a trade. This trade ranged from a surplus of pigs and yams in the Trobriands to the fine art of pottery found in the Amphletts, Other places became known for obsidian and Betel nut. It is believed that this myth could be one of the origins of the Kula Circle and the way it functions. Kula is a ritualized trading culture existing in eastern Papua New Guinea. It is essentially network of villages joined by a common trade route, known as the Kula Circle. By analogy Kula allows you to experience the magic and legends of Papua New Guinea. Kula was and still is a life sustaining cultural exchange. It is unfortunate that much of the time and energy that was used in the past to hold together the social foundation is now being clouded with the desire for money, a by-product of a tourism-based economy. With influences such as these and the advancement of technology, the intricate pattern in which traditional values are based is slowly eroding. In times gone by they were the foundations that enabled a healthy and peaceful survival. Kula - derived from bita kuli v. 1. to form in the likeness or image of; 2. to be formed as a likeness or image of. Kula is the basis of mental and physical well-being. The Kula Circle has always been associated with making contact with far off neighbors. 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). Mwali passed anticlockwise in the ring and were given with the right hand, the Soulava passed clockwise and with the left hand, first between villages then from island to island." ""When attention is directed onto an object, it remains in the object. Throughout the mystery of Kula, trading the mwali and soulava became ‘living personalities’ with definite cultural identities." John Kasaipwalova The Kula tradition is carried by word of mouth and is symbolized by the objects Soulava and Mwali, or bagi as they are known in different parts of Papua New Guinea. “It is a motion, an action of giving and taking between people - two people (partners) to begin with. This action results in the growth of participants”1. Kula is not just giving and receiving but an experience encountered by two personalities, be they individuals or entire communities. It is the simple human experience of growth and growing as an individual or a community engaged in giving and receiving. Trade is only a subsidiary to the actual “game” of Kula. It gives men the ability to remain fit and healthy both mentally and physically. As many of the men would be gone from the village for long periods of time the women become reliant on firm village harmony. The Kula Circle was one way village people would resolve interbreeding within their community. Romances often occurred between women in villages that the men in Kula would visit. Kula allows communities to obtain Mwasila. Mwasila is the building or creation of a good feeling amongst people. To be happy, free, to have no worries. For the people of New Guinea & nearby islands, it is a cleansing: they clear their minds of all wrong doings and smooth the path between family and friends, thus rectifying any bad behaviour. The basic concept of Mwasila is creating a clear path between yourself and your environment, in being able to link with the environment you remove all other thoughts from your head that clutter clear and mindful thinking. This is a technique used by men on Kula. Today’s Kula begins in the garden. As it approaches time to make a journey for trade the gardens are harvested. Most Kula trade involves a surplus stock of vegetables; yams are a common item. The garden vegetables are used in feasts and are one of the ways the village being visited can show hospitality to their guests. This is the link that binds the villages and the Kula partners. On a second visit a Kitom, or new Mwali or Soulava, is given as a token of the new partnership. Custom money is one of the distinctive possessions of Melanesia and is virtually unknown in Polynesia, where system of wealth distribution apparently made it needless. Shell forms the basis of most Melanesian currencies. Cowrie shells, spondylus shells, pearlshells, calm shells and trochus shells account for most forms. Occasionally the whole shell, for example, cowrie shell, was used, but it was more usual to prepare and shape a shell in some way. Shaping was usually intended to prepare the shell for stringing on fiber, nevertheless, it was often made into an item of ornament for prestige instead, for example, an arm-ring, or an article of visual beauty. Dogs' teeth and pigs' teeth often carried a currency value equivalent to shell. In certain parts of Melanesia, striking and unusual forms of currency were developed. In the islands of the Central New Hebrides, boars' tusks were encouraged to grow into fully-developed rings. In doing so, the unfortunate animal might be tethered and have its jaws bound in order to prevent it from sharpening its tusks as he normally would. Even today, in remote island,s custom money is still used for important occasions, such as initiation rites and wedding ceremonies. The Trobriands are part of the kula ring circle that exist in parts of Melanesia: There are many deep motivations and meanings that lie behind the pursuit of Kula. Focusing upon the visually stimulating carved and painted prow boards that decorate canoes used by the Kula voyagers, Campbell argues that these designs comprise layers of encoded meaning. The unique color associations and other formal elements ‘speak’ to Vakutans about key emotional issues within their everyday and spiritual lives. How is men’s participation in the Kula linked to their desire to achieve immortality? How do the messages conveyed by the canoe boards converge with those presented in Kula myths and rituals? In what ways do these systems of meaning reveal a male ideology that competes with the prevailing female ideology? Providing an alternative way of understanding the significance of Kula in the Trobriand Islands, The Art of Kula makes an influential new contribution to the ethnography of Papua New Guinea."

Kula

"Nearly a century ago, it was predicted that Kula, the exchange of shell valuables in the Massim region of Papua New Guinea, would disappear. Not only has this prophecy failed to come true, but today Kula is expanding beyond these island communities to the mainland and Australia.

The Trobriand Islanders, off the east coast of New Guinea, constitute the subjects of one of the earliest works of ethnography and economic anthropology authored by Bronislaw Malinowski, a major figure in the discipline (Malikowsi 1922). He identified several unique and fascinating economic institutions within Trobriand society but the "kula ring" has attracted the most attention. This system of exchange involves annual inter-island visits between trading partners who exchange highly valued shell ornaments and other gifts of exchange as the half moon necklace seen on our thread under "BEYOND TIKI: Photos of Peoples in Melanesia"

In his Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922), Malinowski analyzed the kula ring, the exchange of shell valuables in a circle around the chain of Trobriand Islands. These ornament were traded from island to island in a counter-clockwise direction. A long time ago when the days were longer and the nights shorter lived a hero called Tava who at times took the form of a snake. Tava was known to pass between the villages that are identified as the active Kula Circle. When he was present in a village the people were said to have good fortune and prosper. His location was known only to one woman in each village and she would feed and tend to him. If he felt mistreated or betrayed at any time he would move on to the next island. On his departing the good fortune would also depart with him. He would nevertheless leave each village with a trade. This trade ranged from a surplus of pigs and yams in the Trobriands to the fine art of pottery found in the Amphletts, Other places became known for obsidian and Betel nut. It is believed that this myth could be one of the origins of the Kula Circle and the way it functions. Kula is a ritualized trading culture existing in eastern Papua New Guinea. It is essentially network of villages joined by a common trade route, known as the Kula Circle. By analogy Kula allows you to experience the magic and legends of Papua New Guinea. Kula was and still is a life sustaining cultural exchange. It is unfortunate that much of the time and energy that was used in the past to hold together the social foundation is now being clouded with the desire for money, a by-product of a tourism-based economy. With influences such as these and the advancement of technology, the intricate pattern in which traditional values are based is slowly eroding. In times gone by they were the foundations that enabled a healthy and peaceful survival. Kula - derived from bita kuli v. 1. to form in the likeness or image of; 2. to be formed as a likeness or image of.

Kula is the basis of mental and physical well-being. The Kula Circle has always been associated with making contact with far off neighbors. 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). Mwali passed anticlockwise in the ring and were given with the right hand, the Soulava passed clockwise and with the left hand, first between villages then from island to island."

""When attention is directed onto an object, it remains in the object. Throughout the mystery of Kula, trading the mwali and soulava became ‘living personalities’ with definite cultural identities."

John Kasaipwalova

The Kula tradition is carried by word of mouth and is symbolized by the objects Soulava and Mwali, or bagi as they are known in different parts of Papua New Guinea. “It is a motion, an action of giving and taking between people - two people (partners) to begin with. This action results in the growth of participants”1. Kula is not just giving and receiving but an experience encountered by two personalities, be they individuals or entire communities. It is the simple human experience of growth and growing as an individual or a community engaged in giving and receiving.

Trade is only a subsidiary to the actual “game” of Kula. It gives men the ability to remain fit and healthy both mentally and physically. As many of the men would be gone from the village for long periods of time the women become reliant on firm village harmony. The Kula Circle was one way village people would resolve interbreeding within their community. Romances often occurred between women in villages that the men in Kula would visit. Kula allows communities to obtain Mwasila. Mwasila is the building or creation of a good feeling amongst people. To be happy, free, to have no worries. For the people of New Guinea & nearby islands, it is a cleansing: they clear their minds of all wrong doings and smooth the path between family and friends, thus rectifying any bad behaviour. The basic concept of Mwasila is creating a clear path between yourself and your environment, in being able to link with the environment you remove all other thoughts from your head that clutter clear and mindful thinking. This is a technique used by men on Kula. Today’s Kula begins in the garden. As it approaches time to make a journey for trade the gardens are harvested. Most Kula trade involves a surplus stock of vegetables; yams are a common item. The garden vegetables are used in feasts and are one of the ways the village being visited can show hospitality to their guests. This is the link that binds the villages and the Kula partners. On a second visit a Kitom, or new Mwali or Soulava, is given as a token of the new partnership.

Custom money is one of the distinctive possessions of Melanesia and is virtually unknown in Polynesia, where system of wealth distribution apparently made it needless.
Shell forms the basis of most Melanesian currencies. Cowrie shells, spondylus shells, pearlshells, calm shells and trochus shells account for most forms. Occasionally the whole shell, for example, cowrie shell, was used, but it was more usual to prepare and shape a shell in some way. Shaping was usually intended to prepare the shell for stringing on fiber, nevertheless, it was often made into an item of ornament for prestige instead, for example, an arm-ring, or an article of visual beauty.
Dogs' teeth and pigs' teeth often carried a currency value equivalent to shell.
In certain parts of Melanesia, striking and unusual forms of currency were developed. In the islands of the Central New Hebrides, boars' tusks were encouraged to grow into fully-developed rings. In doing so, the unfortunate animal might be tethered and have its jaws bound in order to prevent it from sharpening its tusks as he normally would.
Even today, in remote island,s custom money is still used for important occasions, such as initiation rites and wedding ceremonies.

The Trobriands are part of the kula ring circle that exist in parts of Melanesia: There are many deep motivations and meanings that lie behind the pursuit of Kula. Focusing upon the visually stimulating carved and painted prow boards that decorate canoes used by the Kula voyagers, Campbell argues that these designs comprise layers of encoded meaning. The unique color associations and other formal elements ‘speak’ to Vakutans about key emotional issues within their everyday and spiritual lives. How is men’s participation in the Kula linked to their desire to achieve immortality? How do the messages conveyed by the canoe boards converge with those presented in Kula myths and rituals? In what ways do these systems of meaning reveal a male ideology that competes with the prevailing female ideology? Providing an alternative way of understanding the significance of Kula in the Trobriand Islands, The Art of Kula makes an influential new contribution to the ethnography of Papua New Guinea."

Post #164667 by I dream of tiki on Thu, Jun 9, 2005 12:57 AM