Trobriand Islands

Introduction

The Trobriand Islands (also known as the Kiriwina Islands) are a group of raised coral atolls in the north of Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea.

Ever since the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski wrote about the courtship and marriage ritual of Trobriand Islanders in the 1920s, in books such as “The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia”, these islands have been visited by men hoping to be dragged into the bushes by topless, grass-skirted girls, particularly during the yam harvest when there is said to be a tradition that couples are permitted to have a fling with others. Although not easy to get to, the “Islands of Love” attract a steady stream of visitors for other reasons too. The Trobriands, which is part of the Kula Ring, have a matrilineal culture that revolves around cultivation of the yam; a unique version of the game of cricket, originally introduced by Methodist missionaries; together with white sand beaches, coral lagoons and rainforest. Most of the population of 12,000 lives on the main island of Kiriwina. Other major islands are Kaileuna, Vakuta and Kitava.

Tourism is less than it has been in the past, due to reduced air services, with the main national airline, Air Niugini, no longer flying there. Sources of cash income are few and the islanders rely to a great extent on remittances from family members working in Port Moresby and Alotau.

History

The first European visitor to the islands was the French ship Espérance in 1793. The ship's navigator, Bruni d'Entrecasteaux, named them after his first lieutenant, Denis de Trobriand. The first European to settle in the Trobriand islands was a Methodist minister who moved to the island of Kiriwina in 1894. He was followed a decade later by colonial officers from Australia who set up a governmental station nearby, and soon a small colony began to be set up by foreign traders on the island. Then in the 1930s, the Sacred Heart Catholic Mission set up a settlement containing a primary school nearby. It was following this European colonisation that the name "Trobriand" was legally adopted for this group of islands.

The first anthropologist to study the Trobrianders was C. G. Seligman, who focused on the Massim people of mainland New Guinea. Seligman was followed a number of years later by his student, the Polish Bronisław Malinowski, who visited the islands during the First World War. Despite being a citizen of the Austro-Hungarian empire, which was at war with Australia which then controlled the Trobriand Islands, he was allowed to stay (provided he checked in with authorities every now and then). His descriptions of the kula exchange system, gardening, magic, and sexual practices - all classics of modern anthropological writing—prompted many foreign researchers to visit the societies of the island group and study other aspects of their cultures. The psychoanalyst Wilhelm Reich drew on Malinowski's studies of the islands in writing his The Invasion of Compulsory Sex Morality and consequently in developing his theory of sex economy in his 1936 work Die Sexualität im Kulturkampf.

In 1943, Allied troops landed on the islands as a part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied advance to Rabaul. In the 1970s, some indigenous peoples formed anti-colonial associations and political movements.

Geography

The Trobriands consist of four main islands, the largest being Kiriwina Island, and the others being Kaileuna, Vakuta and Kitava. Kiriwina is 43 kilometres long, and varies in width from 1 to 16 kilometres. In the 1980s, there were around sixty villages on the island, containing around 12,000 people, while the other islands were restricted to a population of hundreds. Other than some elevation on Kiriwina, the islands are flat coral atolls and "remain hot and humid throughout the year, with frequent rainfall.

Sights and Activities

• Trobriand Islands Dancing. The people of the Trobriands have made great efforts to preserve their traditional culture. Dancing is common, particularly during the yam festival, which takes place in June or July. The girls have coloured short skirts, oiled bodies, faces painted and hair decorated with flowers and feathers. They use woven bracelets and shell necklaces. The boys also sometimes wear grass skirts and have head dresses of cockatoo feathers. Having resisted the best efforts of missionaries, Trobriand dancing retains its original sensuality.

Getting There

By Plane

Airlines PNG has two flights weekly from the capital of Papua New Guinea, Port Moresby, on a small Twin-Otter plane, via the capital of Milne Bay Province, Alotau.

By Boat

From Alotau it may also be possible to get a ride on one of the small boats that carry stores to the Trobriands.

Getting Around

For a small fee, hitch a ride on one of the boats going between the islands.

Eat

Restaurants are found in the two lodges. There is not much else.

Given that the yam is central to the culture of the Trobriand Islands, no visit is complete without trying some.

Drink

While you can buy beer and other drinks at local stores, the only bars are to be found in the lodges.

Sleep

• Butia Lodge, close to the airport +675 641 0900, +675 641 0999.
• Kiriwina Lodge, ☎ +675 6411326, fax: +675 6439022. On the waterfront in Losuia township.
• Village stays. It may be possible to organize stays in traditional villages on arrival or at one of the two lodges. A package trip to the Trobriands, including village stays, is offered by Ecotourism Melanesia.

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