Difference between revisions of "Kula ring" - New World Encyclopedia

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==The Gift ==
 
==The Gift ==
The Kula ring spans at least 18 island communities of the Massim archipelago, including the [[Trobriand Islands]] and involves thousands of individuals. Participants travel at times hundreds of miles by a ceremonial canoe (waga) used for this occaision and are bigger and much more decorated than the normal fishing canoes. The Kula trading period ushers in a period of trade of various commodities, feasts, catching up on the news, and various social events.  There is an opening gift and a closing gift. These Kula gifts are not in themselves remarkably valuable and are of two types.  One consist 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). Mwali was given with the right hand, the Soulava given with the left hand, first between villages then from island to island.  If the opening gift was an armshell, then the closing gift must be a necklace and vice versa. These are traded purely for purposes of enhancing mutual trust relationships, securing trade and enhancing one's social status and prestige.
+
The Kula gifts are not in themselves remarkably valuable and are of two types.  One consist 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). Mwali was given with the right hand, the Soulava given with the left hand, first between villages then from island to island.  If the opening gift was an armshell, then the closing gift must be a necklace and vice versa. These are traded purely for purposes of enhancing mutual trust relationships, securing trade and enhancing one's social status and prestige.
  
The Mwali armband uses a ring of shell cut from a giant cone shell. Traditionally, they would travel in pairs but today’s Mwali are smaller and travels as a singular item. They are embroidered with coloured trade beads, Egg cowries and sometimes nuts. As they are too small to be worn they are carried on a rope. The shell itself is fished from the sea and then prepared. Soulava necklaces are made from spondylus shells of which there are two types. Depending upon which part of New Guinea you are in the colour used will be different. Around Normandy Island it is red and further north in the Trobriands you see white with only a little red. The quality of the Soulava is in the richness, colour, cut and polish of the shell.  These Kula objects have nine levels of grading or value, and it shows the importance of the person who owns it. The highest grade of Mwali is yoiya and may be considered dangerous, as the owner must have the content of character that is level to the value of the object.  It can be bad fortune to possess a Kula item that is above your level of presteige.  It could be likened to the western items of family jewels or the swords and crowns of kings that represent a certain social position. Many of these objects carry memories of death, magic or poisoning. As each object is unique, a person may decide to acquire certain ones, but they may be difficult to obtain and are often given to the Kula master (chief). Even the Individual shells may have a unique history. Because of this uniqueness, special incisions on a large toea cone shell enabled the Museum of Paupau New Guinea to identify it as a Kula object.  It was dated around 2000 years old, which suggests that Kula trading may have continues since then.
+
The Mwali armband uses a ring of shell cut from a giant cone shell. Traditionally, they would travel in pairs but today’s Mwali are smaller and travels as a singular item. They are embroidered with coloured trade beads, Egg cowries and sometimes nuts. As they are too small to be worn they are carried on a rope. The shell itself is fished from the sea and then prepared. Soulava necklaces are made from spondylus shells of which there are two types. Depending upon which part of New Guinea you are in the colour used will be different. Around Normandy Island it is red and further north in the Trobriands you see white with only a little red. The quality of the Soulava is in the richness, colour, cut and polish of the shell.   
 +
 
 +
These Kula objects have nine levels of grading or value, and it shows the importance of the person who owns it. The highest grade of Mwali is yoiya and may be considered dangerous, as the owner must have the content of character that is level to the value of the object.  It can be bad fortune to possess a Kula item that is above your level of presteige.  It could be likened to the western items of family jewels or the swords and crowns of kings that represent a certain social position. Many of these objects carry memories of death, magic or poisoning. As each object is unique, a person may decide to acquire certain ones, but they may be difficult to obtain and are often given to the Kula master (chief). Even the Individual shells may have a unique history. Because of this uniqueness, special incisions on a large toea cone shell enabled the Museum of Paupau New Guinea to identify it as a Kula object.  It was dated around 2000 years old, which suggests that Kula trading may have continues since then.
 +
 
 +
The Kula objects are of two kind.  The kunedawesi is owned by the Kula ring and cannot be sold, and the kitom that is owned by the person who holds them and can be sold. The vast majority of items are kunedawesi, but in some groups like the Muyuw, all Kula objects are someone's ''kitoum.''Damon (1980:281) The person owning a valuable as ''kitoum'' has full rights of ownership over it: he can keep it, sell it or even destroy it.  The Kula valuable or an equivalent item must be returned to the person who owns it as ''kitoum''. The most important Muyuw men for example own between three to seven Kula valuables as kitoum while others do not own any. The fact that at least in theory all such valuables are someone's ''kitoum'' adds a sense of responsibility to the way they are handled, reminding the recipient that he is only a steward of somebody else's possession. The ownership of a particular valuable is, however, often not known. Kula valuables can also be exchanged as ''kitoum'' in a direct exchange between two partners, thus fully transferring the rights of ownership.
  
 
==The Exchange==
 
==The Exchange==
 +
The Kula ring spans at least 18 island communities of the Massim archipelago, including the [[Trobriand Islands]] and involves thousands of individuals.
  
Carefully prescribed customs and traditions surround the ceremonies that accompany the exchanges which establish strong, ideally life-long relationships between the exchange parties (''karayta'u'', "partners").The terms of participation varies from region to region. Whereas on the [[Trobriand Islands]] the exchange is monopolised by the chiefs, in Dobu all men can participate. Historically limited to male trading partners, contemporarily some women participate in some areas.The act of giving, as [[Marcel Mauss]] wrote in [["the Gift"]], is a display of the greatness of the giver, accompanied by shows of exaggerated modesty in which the value of what is given is actively played down. Such a partnership involves strong mutual obligations such as hospitality, protection and assistance.
+
There is much preparation for the Kula season. The gardens are harvested in anticipation of the trading to come. Most Kula trade involves a surplus of vegetables from the garden; yams are a favorite item that stores well on the canoe. They are also used in the feasts to come and are one of the ways the village can can show hospitality to their visitors. This is the link binding the villagers and the Kula partners. On the second visit a Kitom, or new Mwali or Soulava, is given as a token of the new partnership
  
There is much preparation for the Kula season. The gardens are harvested in anticipation of the trading to come. Most Kula trade involves a surplus of vegetables from the garden; yams are a favorite item that stores well on the canoe. They are also used in the feasts to come and are one of the ways the village can can show hospitality to their visitors. This is the link binding the villagers and the Kula partners. On the second visit a Kitom, or new Mwali or Soulava, is given as a token of the new partnership
+
Participants travel at times hundreds of miles by a ceremonial canoe (waga) used specifically for this occaision and are bigger and much more decorated than the normal fishing canoes. The Kula trading period ushers in a period of trade of various commodities, feasts, catching up on the news, and various social events. There is an opening gift and a closing gift.
  
Even though the vast majority of items that Kula participants have at any given time are not theirs and will be passed on, Damon (1980:281) notes that e.g. amongst the Muyuw all Kula objects are someone's ''kitoum'', meaning they are owned by that person (or by a group). The person owning a valuable as ''kitoum'' has full rights of ownership over it: he can keep it, sell it or even destroy it.  The Kula valuable or an equivalent item must be returned to the person who owns it as ''kitoum''. The most important Muyuw men for example own between three to seven Kula valuables as kitoum while others do not own any. The fact that at least in theory all such valuables are someone's ''kitoum'' adds a sense of responsibility to the way they are handled, reminding the recipient that he is only a steward of somebody else's possession. The ownership of a particular valuable is, however, often not known. Kula valuables can be exchanged as ''kitoum'' in a direct exchange between two partners, thus fully transferring the rights of ownership.
+
Carefully prescribed customs and traditions surround the ceremonies that accompany the exchanges which establish strong, ideally life-long relationships between the exchange parties (''karayta'u'', "partners").The terms of participation varies from region to region. Whereas on the Trobriand Islands the exchange is monopolised by the chiefs, in Dobu all men can participate. Historically limited to male trading partners, contemporarily some women participate in some areas.
  
 +
It is critical for a successful man to have Kula partners for life.  Some are close by, but many and the most important are far away. Those in their specific cycle (keda) are not usually personally known to each other,  but they know their names and stories as they are passed along togetehr with the exchange of the powerful and magical valuables. It takes two to ten years for a shell to make the circuit. Older named pieces which have been around many times increase in value as they are owned by powerful men.  Kula valuables must be passed on to other partners within a certain amount of time, thus constantly circling around the ring. However, even temporary possession brings prestige and status. Important chiefs can have hundreds of partners while less significant participants may only have less than a dozen ([[Malinowski]], 1920:98).
  
The word Kula is derived from bita kuli and a verb, meaning both to form in the likeness or image of another and to be formed as a likeness or image of the other. This is the root of the work Malinowski did concerning reciprocity. According to the Muyuw, a good Kula relationship should be "like a marriage". Similarly, the saying around Papua is: "once in Kula, always in Kula" (Damon, 1980: 282).  “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 an experience encountered by two personalities. This expands to include and link whole communities and islands otherwise very far away. It includes cleansing of the individual in the comtemplation of how we are changed and sustained in our giving and receiving.
+
==The Meaning==
 +
The word Kula is derived from bita kuli and is a verb, meaning both to form in the likeness or image of another and to be formed as a likeness or image of the other. This is the "reciprotcity" that Malinowski wrote about. According to the Muyuw, a good Kula relationship should be "like a marriage".  “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 an experience encountered by two personalities. This expands to include and link whole communities and islands that are otherwise very far away.  
  
 +
On these islands, often trade is necessary for prosperity. However, historically there has been an urgent need for a method of fostering harmony between them, as they often had wars and very different social practices. Some practiced canibalism for example, while others did not.  The Kula Ring provides the connection between the environment, the spiritual world and the other tribe allowing "the other" to be in relationship. The exhange includes cleansing of the individual in the comtemplation of the neccessity of giving and receiving, and how we are changed and sustained though our participation.  The social stratification that the exchange re-inforces also helps provide a stable social system that can protect the individual.
  
 +
The act of giving, as [[Marcel Mauss]] wrote in [["the Gift"]], is a display of the greatness of the giver, accompanied by shows of exaggerated modesty in which the value of what is given is actively played down. Such a partnership involves strong mutual obligations such as hospitality, protection and assistance.
  
 
Kula is a source of stability in the personal and social well-being of the islanders. The Kula Circle has always been associated with making contact with far off neighbours. It has been suggested that the trade is one way to avoid inbreeding, as many romances form with far away partners during the trading times.  The men are away and must be strong and fit, and the women must find harmony and ways to cooporate while they are gone.   
 
Kula is a source of stability in the personal and social well-being of the islanders. The Kula Circle has always been associated with making contact with far off neighbours. It has been suggested that the trade is one way to avoid inbreeding, as many romances form with far away partners during the trading times.  The men are away and must be strong and fit, and the women must find harmony and ways to cooporate while they are gone.   
  
"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."
+
"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 KasaipwalovaThe Kula tradition is carried by word of mouth and is symbolised 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.
- John Kasaipwalova
 
The Kula tradition is carried by word of mouth and is symbolised 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.
 
Kula valuables never remain for long in the hands of the recipients; rather, they must be passed on to other partners within a certain amount of time, thus constantly circling around the ring. However, even temporary possession brings prestige and status. Important chiefs can have hundreds of partners while less significant participants may only have less than a dozen ([[Malinowski]], 1920:98).
 
  
 
==Social Networks==
 
==Social Networks==
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 (Damon, 1980:278). The relationship giver-receiver is always asymmetrical: the former are higher in status. Also, Kula valuables are ranked according to value and age and so are the relationships that are created through their exchange. Participants will often strive to obtain particularly valuable and renowned Kula objects whose owner's fame will spread quickly through the archipelago. Such a competition unfolds through different persons offering ''pokala'' (offerings) and ''kaributu'' (solicitory gifts) to the owner, thus seeking to induce him to engage in a gift exchange relationship involving the desired object. Kula exchange therefore involves a complex system of gifts and countergifts whose rules are laid down by custom. The system is based on trust as obligations are not legally enforceable. However, strong social obligations and the cultural value system, in which liberality is exalted as highest virtue while meanness is condemned as shameful, create powerful pressures to "play by the rules". Those who are perceived as holding on to valuables and as being slow to give them away soon get a bad reputation (cf. Malinowski, 1920:100).
+
Kula creates a two-way return of favours. This is not a form of trade where once you trade items the commitment is absolved, rather in Kula once you are a part of the Circle it is a permanent connection. The saying around Papua is "once in Kula, always in Kula." (Damon, 1980: 282)
  
 +
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 (Damon, 1980:278). The relationship giver-receiver is always asymmetrical: the former are higher in status. Also, Kula valuables are ranked according to value and age and so are the relationships that are created through their exchange. Participants will often strive to obtain particularly valuable and renowned Kula objects whose owner's fame will spread quickly through the archipelago. Such a competition unfolds through different persons offering ''pokala'' (offerings) and ''kaributu'' (solicitory gifts) to the owner, thus seeking to induce him to engage in a gift exchange relationship involving the desired object. Kula exchange therefore involves a complex system of gifts and countergifts whose rules are laid down by custom. The system is based on trust as obligations are not legally enforceable. However, strong social obligations and the cultural value system, in which liberality is exalted as highest virtue while meanness is condemned as shameful, create powerful pressures to "play by the rules". Those who are perceived as holding on to valuables and as being slow to give them away soon get a bad reputation (cf. Malinowski, 1920:100).
 
The Kula exchange system can be viewed as reinforcing status and authority distinctions since the hereditary chiefs own the most important shell valuables and assume the responsibility for organizing and directing the ocean voyages. Damon (1980) notes that large amounts of Kula valuables are handled by a relatively small number of people, e.g. amongst the Muyuw three men account for over 50 percent of Kula valuables. The ten most influential men control about 90 percent of all and almost 100 percent of the most precious Kula objects. The movement of these valuables and the related relationships determine most of Muyuw's political alliances. Fortune notes that Kula relationships are fragile, beset with various kinds of manipulation and deceit. The Muyuw for example state that only way to get ahead in Kula is to lie, commenting that deceit frequently causes Kula relationships to fall apart (Damon, 1980:278). Similarly, ::Malinowski:: wrote of "many squabbles, deep resentments and even feuds over real or imaginary grievances in the Kula exchange" (1920:100).
 
The Kula exchange system can be viewed as reinforcing status and authority distinctions since the hereditary chiefs own the most important shell valuables and assume the responsibility for organizing and directing the ocean voyages. Damon (1980) notes that large amounts of Kula valuables are handled by a relatively small number of people, e.g. amongst the Muyuw three men account for over 50 percent of Kula valuables. The ten most influential men control about 90 percent of all and almost 100 percent of the most precious Kula objects. The movement of these valuables and the related relationships determine most of Muyuw's political alliances. Fortune notes that Kula relationships are fragile, beset with various kinds of manipulation and deceit. The Muyuw for example state that only way to get ahead in Kula is to lie, commenting that deceit frequently causes Kula relationships to fall apart (Damon, 1980:278). Similarly, ::Malinowski:: wrote of "many squabbles, deep resentments and even feuds over real or imaginary grievances in the Kula exchange" (1920:100).
  
The Kula ring is a classical example for [[Marcel Mauss]]' distinction between gift and commodity exchange. Melanesians carefully distinguish gift exchange (Kula) from market exchange in the form of barter (''gimwali''). Both reflect different underlying value systems and cultural customs. The Kula, as Mauss wrote, is not supposed to be conducted like ''gimwali'' (barter). The former involves a solemn exchange ceremony, a "display of greatness" where the concepts of honour and nobility are central; the latter, often done as part of Kula exchange journeys, involves hard bargaining and purely serves economic purposes (1990:22-23). Kula valuables are inalienable in the sense that they (or an equivalent object) have to be returned to the original owner. Those who receive them can pass them on as gifts, but they cannot be sold as commodities (except by the one who owns them as kitoum).
+
The Kula ring is a classical example for Marcel Mauss' distinction between gift and commodity exchange. [[Melanesians]] carefully distinguish gift exchange (Kula) from market exchange in the form of barter (''gimwali''). Both reflect different underlying value systems and cultural customs. The Kula, as Mauss wrote, is not supposed to be conducted like ''gimwali'' (barter). The former involves a solemn exchange ceremony, a "display of greatness" where the concepts of honour and nobility are central; the latter, often done as part of Kula exchange journeys, involves hard bargaining and purely serves economic purposes (1990:22-23). Kula valuables are inalienable in the sense that they (or an equivalent object) have to be returned to the original owner. Those who receive them can pass them on as gifts, but they cannot be sold as commodities (except by the one who owns them as kitoum).
  
 
== Similar Practices ==
 
== Similar Practices ==

Revision as of 08:32, 14 March 2007


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. It involves a complex system of visits and exchanges and was first described in the west by Anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski in 1922. The objects exchanged are not particularly valuable in themselves, but serve to help forge various social connections which are depended upon at various times throughout an individual's life.

The Myth

A long time ago when the nights were shorter and the days were longer there was a hero, Tava. Sometimes he appeared as a snake. He passed between certain villages, and when he was present those in the villages had good fortune and prospered. Only to one woman in each village knew wehre he was, and she would feed and take care of him. It was important that he be treated well because if he felt mistreated or betrayed in any way, he would move on to the next island. When he left, the good fortune left with him. Still, thankful for the goodness he received while he was there, he left something behind as a trade. I could be a surplus of pigs and yams in the Trobriand Islans or perhaps fine pottery found in the Amphletts. Other places became the gifts were obsidian and Betel nut. This story could be the origin of the Kula Ring. and the way it operates within the islands.

The Gift

The Kula gifts are not in themselves remarkably valuable and are of two types. One consist 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). Mwali was given with the right hand, the Soulava given with the left hand, first between villages then from island to island. If the opening gift was an armshell, then the closing gift must be a necklace and vice versa. These are traded purely for purposes of enhancing mutual trust relationships, securing trade and enhancing one's social status and prestige.

The Mwali armband uses a ring of shell cut from a giant cone shell. Traditionally, they would travel in pairs but today’s Mwali are smaller and travels as a singular item. They are embroidered with coloured trade beads, Egg cowries and sometimes nuts. As they are too small to be worn they are carried on a rope. The shell itself is fished from the sea and then prepared. Soulava necklaces are made from spondylus shells of which there are two types. Depending upon which part of New Guinea you are in the colour used will be different. Around Normandy Island it is red and further north in the Trobriands you see white with only a little red. The quality of the Soulava is in the richness, colour, cut and polish of the shell.

These Kula objects have nine levels of grading or value, and it shows the importance of the person who owns it. The highest grade of Mwali is yoiya and may be considered dangerous, as the owner must have the content of character that is level to the value of the object. It can be bad fortune to possess a Kula item that is above your level of presteige. It could be likened to the western items of family jewels or the swords and crowns of kings that represent a certain social position. Many of these objects carry memories of death, magic or poisoning. As each object is unique, a person may decide to acquire certain ones, but they may be difficult to obtain and are often given to the Kula master (chief). Even the Individual shells may have a unique history. Because of this uniqueness, special incisions on a large toea cone shell enabled the Museum of Paupau New Guinea to identify it as a Kula object. It was dated around 2000 years old, which suggests that Kula trading may have continues since then.

The Kula objects are of two kind. The kunedawesi is owned by the Kula ring and cannot be sold, and the kitom that is owned by the person who holds them and can be sold. The vast majority of items are kunedawesi, but in some groups like the Muyuw, all Kula objects are someone's kitoum.Damon (1980:281) The person owning a valuable as kitoum has full rights of ownership over it: he can keep it, sell it or even destroy it. The Kula valuable or an equivalent item must be returned to the person who owns it as kitoum. The most important Muyuw men for example own between three to seven Kula valuables as kitoum while others do not own any. The fact that at least in theory all such valuables are someone's kitoum adds a sense of responsibility to the way they are handled, reminding the recipient that he is only a steward of somebody else's possession. The ownership of a particular valuable is, however, often not known. Kula valuables can also be exchanged as kitoum in a direct exchange between two partners, thus fully transferring the rights of ownership.

The Exchange

The Kula ring spans at least 18 island communities of the Massim archipelago, including the Trobriand Islands and involves thousands of individuals.

There is much preparation for the Kula season. The gardens are harvested in anticipation of the trading to come. Most Kula trade involves a surplus of vegetables from the garden; yams are a favorite item that stores well on the canoe. They are also used in the feasts to come and are one of the ways the village can can show hospitality to their visitors. This is the link binding the villagers and the Kula partners. On the second visit a Kitom, or new Mwali or Soulava, is given as a token of the new partnership

Participants travel at times hundreds of miles by a ceremonial canoe (waga) used specifically for this occaision and are bigger and much more decorated than the normal fishing canoes. The Kula trading period ushers in a period of trade of various commodities, feasts, catching up on the news, and various social events. There is an opening gift and a closing gift.

Carefully prescribed customs and traditions surround the ceremonies that accompany the exchanges which establish strong, ideally life-long relationships between the exchange parties (karayta'u, "partners").The terms of participation varies from region to region. Whereas on the Trobriand Islands the exchange is monopolised by the chiefs, in Dobu all men can participate. Historically limited to male trading partners, contemporarily some women participate in some areas.

It is critical for a successful man to have Kula partners for life. Some are close by, but many and the most important are far away. Those in their specific cycle (keda) are not usually personally known to each other, but they know their names and stories as they are passed along togetehr with the exchange of the powerful and magical valuables. It takes two to ten years for a shell to make the circuit. Older named pieces which have been around many times increase in value as they are owned by powerful men. Kula valuables must be passed on to other partners within a certain amount of time, thus constantly circling around the ring. However, even temporary possession brings prestige and status. Important chiefs can have hundreds of partners while less significant participants may only have less than a dozen (Malinowski, 1920:98).

The Meaning

The word Kula is derived from bita kuli and is a verb, meaning both to form in the likeness or image of another and to be formed as a likeness or image of the other. This is the "reciprotcity" that Malinowski wrote about. According to the Muyuw, a good Kula relationship should be "like a marriage". “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 an experience encountered by two personalities. This expands to include and link whole communities and islands that are otherwise very far away.

On these islands, often trade is necessary for prosperity. However, historically there has been an urgent need for a method of fostering harmony between them, as they often had wars and very different social practices. Some practiced canibalism for example, while others did not. The Kula Ring provides the connection between the environment, the spiritual world and the other tribe allowing "the other" to be in relationship. The exhange includes cleansing of the individual in the comtemplation of the neccessity of giving and receiving, and how we are changed and sustained though our participation. The social stratification that the exchange re-inforces also helps provide a stable social system that can protect the individual.

The act of giving, as Marcel Mauss wrote in "the Gift", is a display of the greatness of the giver, accompanied by shows of exaggerated modesty in which the value of what is given is actively played down. Such a partnership involves strong mutual obligations such as hospitality, protection and assistance.

Kula is a source of stability in the personal and social well-being of the islanders. The Kula Circle has always been associated with making contact with far off neighbours. It has been suggested that the trade is one way to avoid inbreeding, as many romances form with far away partners during the trading times. The men are away and must be strong and fit, and the women must find harmony and ways to cooporate while they are gone.

"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 symbolised 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.

Social Networks

Kula creates a two-way return of favours. This is not a form of trade where once you trade items the commitment is absolved, rather in Kula once you are a part of the Circle it is a permanent connection. The saying around Papua is "once in Kula, always in Kula." (Damon, 1980: 282)

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 (Damon, 1980:278). The relationship giver-receiver is always asymmetrical: the former are higher in status. Also, Kula valuables are ranked according to value and age and so are the relationships that are created through their exchange. Participants will often strive to obtain particularly valuable and renowned Kula objects whose owner's fame will spread quickly through the archipelago. Such a competition unfolds through different persons offering pokala (offerings) and kaributu (solicitory gifts) to the owner, thus seeking to induce him to engage in a gift exchange relationship involving the desired object. Kula exchange therefore involves a complex system of gifts and countergifts whose rules are laid down by custom. The system is based on trust as obligations are not legally enforceable. However, strong social obligations and the cultural value system, in which liberality is exalted as highest virtue while meanness is condemned as shameful, create powerful pressures to "play by the rules". Those who are perceived as holding on to valuables and as being slow to give them away soon get a bad reputation (cf. Malinowski, 1920:100). The Kula exchange system can be viewed as reinforcing status and authority distinctions since the hereditary chiefs own the most important shell valuables and assume the responsibility for organizing and directing the ocean voyages. Damon (1980) notes that large amounts of Kula valuables are handled by a relatively small number of people, e.g. amongst the Muyuw three men account for over 50 percent of Kula valuables. The ten most influential men control about 90 percent of all and almost 100 percent of the most precious Kula objects. The movement of these valuables and the related relationships determine most of Muyuw's political alliances. Fortune notes that Kula relationships are fragile, beset with various kinds of manipulation and deceit. The Muyuw for example state that only way to get ahead in Kula is to lie, commenting that deceit frequently causes Kula relationships to fall apart (Damon, 1980:278). Similarly, ::Malinowski:: wrote of "many squabbles, deep resentments and even feuds over real or imaginary grievances in the Kula exchange" (1920:100).

The Kula ring is a classical example for Marcel Mauss' distinction between gift and commodity exchange. Melanesians carefully distinguish gift exchange (Kula) from market exchange in the form of barter (gimwali). Both reflect different underlying value systems and cultural customs. The Kula, as Mauss wrote, is not supposed to be conducted like gimwali (barter). The former involves a solemn exchange ceremony, a "display of greatness" where the concepts of honour and nobility are central; the latter, often done as part of Kula exchange journeys, involves hard bargaining and purely serves economic purposes (1990:22-23). Kula valuables are inalienable in the sense that they (or an equivalent object) have to be returned to the original owner. Those who receive them can pass them on as gifts, but they cannot be sold as commodities (except by the one who owns them as kitoum).

Similar Practices

Other cultures practice similar forms of gift exchange:

  • Potlatch is a similar practice among some Native American and First Nations peoples of west coast North America
  • Koha, a similar practice among the Māori of New Zealand
  • Moka, a similar practice in the Mt. Hagen area of Papua New Guinea
  • Sepik Coast exchange, a similar practice in the Sepic Coast of Papua New Guinea

References
ISBN links support NWE through referral fees

1 Malnic. J, with Kasaipwalova.J (1998), KULA: Myth and Magic of the Trobriand Islands, Cowrie Books,Halstead Press, NSW Microsoft Encartar 2000

  • Kula in Woodlark. Fieldwork report: Logging or conservation on Woodlark (Muyuw) island, by Michael Young, Department of Anthropology, Research School of Pacific Studies, Australian National University. Retrieved March 14, 2005.
  • Kula: the standard model. Notes for reading Bronislaw Malinowski, Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922). Retrieved March 14, 2005.
  • Jerry Leach and Edmund Leach (1983). The Kula: New Perspectives on Massim Exchange. Cambridge University Press, New York. 
  • Damon, F. H. (1980). The Kula and Generalised Exchange: Considering some Unconsidered Aspects of the Elementary Structures of Kinship. Man (new series) 15: 267-292.
  • Malinowski, B. (1920). Kula; the Circulating Exchange of Valuables in the Archipelagoes of Eastern New Guinea. Man 20: 97-105.
  • Malinowski, B. (1922). Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea. George Routledge & Sons, Ltd. 
  • Mauss, M. (1990). The Gift: forms and functions of exchange in archaic societies. London: Routledge. 
  • Kula. Retrieved March 14, 2007.


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