The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea

1. The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea The Regeneration of Matrilineality

2. Defining Terms • Doba = skirts and bundles • Lisaladabu = The women’s mortuary distribution • Owners = Dead person’s matrilineal kin • Workers = Related to deceased through: • affinal (in-laws), • patrilineal, • keyawa kin (through daughter’s marriage, like matrilineal kin), and • cross-clan friends • Kuwa = Black fiber necklace • Made from deceased’s hair • Mark end of marriage for spouse and end of father’s role in life of his child

3. Men’s Roles • Work at funeral and mourn • Carry dead person to the grave • Dig grave and care for it • Shave heads and blacken bodies • Wear black clothes or armbands • Receive bundles and skirts for work, retrieved by wives or sisters • Sit on verandas, away from the day’s events

4. Strengthening the Matrilineality • Line of women form made up of the deceased’s “sisters” • Carry 20-40 bundles to give to “sister-in-law” • Helps with the distribution and shows “brother’s” importance and strong position in community • Other lines form that help other women owners in the same way

5. Fathers and Daughters • Women owners helped by brother’s married daughters • Give away wealth with owners • Make matrilineage look stronger • Obvious they are not “true owners” because they shave their heads and blacken their bodies, following traditional mourning taboos • They also receive bundles and skirts because they are workers • Their presence shows the deep bonds between father and daughter • Yam garden the father made for daughters obligates them to help matrilineage during distribution

6. Other Distributions • All people associated with the deceased is given bundles • Friends • Affines • Keyawa • Patrilineal kin • With children, distribution much smaller • No vast network of connections • Only father and his kin are primary receivers of skirts and bundles

7. Wealthiest Woman • Leader of distribution • Knows how to distribute wealth generously (part of their own wealth) • Received the most bundles for distribution • Possibly 2 “wealthiest women” if both have same amount of bundles • Gets leadership through husband’s wealth • Highly competitive and coveted spot • She wears the longest skirt • Skirt woven a few weeks in advance when they know who is the wealthiest woman

8. Rules in Distribution • The more important women who have a vaster network of connections receive more bundles • Some payments made with old or dirty bundles, such as to those who shaved their heads • Never more than 60 bundles • Some payments require clean bundles, because they are “for yams” • In total, there are 17 types of mourning for which villagers can receive compensation

9. End of Exchange • The exchange itself takes 5-8 hours total • Individual transactions take only a few minutes each • Women owners now attend to the special workers (closest matrilineal kin of deceased’s father and spouse) • Owners cut black cord from these workers’ necks and remove two strands of long black mourning necklaces of dried seeds • Drape red skirts over mourning skirt • Mark return to beauty and sexuality • Women owners shout, “Give some bundles for my husband!” • Related women owners or workers show appreciation for the men who helped make the distribution possible by tossing in a few bundles into women owners’ baskets • All women form final line • Each have a valuable red skirt or cloth from the store • Deposit these at the separate homes where the grieving spouse and father are staying

10. Return of the Men • Men owners enter begin final events • These are the dead person’s: • Matrilineal kinsmen and their sons • Keyawa kin • Give their valuables to spouse and father • Men call out and distribute yams to various hamlets • Represented by their women in distribution • Men leave plaza after distributing yams, marking the end of Lisaladabu

11. Lasting Rituals • Even after lisaladabu has ended, rituals still followed • 6-12 months before spouse and father of deceased may be completely free of mourning and seclusion • Women take them down to the beach where they wash the black paint off and cut off the kuwa • Annual distributions continue for 5-10 years

12. Matrilineal Regeneration • Death emphasizes the complex relationships a person had in life and the strength of the matrilineality • The better the women owners do at Lisaladabu, the stronger the matrilineality looks • Matrilineal identity is considered inalienable, but the authority behind it is subject to change, necessitating displays of strength at events like Lisaladabu

13. Effects of Lisaladabu • Bundle presentations • Show where villagers belong in their kinship and affinal connections with each other • Expose political positions of those they reward • Women of deceased’s matrilineage can show who they are as an individual • All women of matrilineage help define its prominence and strength • Distributing wealth is key to a matrilineage’s authority

14. Important Valuables • Women’s valuables • Skirts are the most important, as they symbolize sexuality and fertility • These “soft valuables” represent inalienability of matrilineal identity • Men’s valuables • Stone axe-blades and kula shells • Last generations, recognized by its history • “Hard valuables” signify connections between one person and others