Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea (1922)

This chapter traces a Kula expedition from Sinaketa to Dobu. We begin in a cluster of eight villages on the Trobriand lagoon. We walk past yam storehouses and reach Kanubayne, the village of Kouta’uya, the second most important chief in Sinaketa.

Within a Kula crew, there is social differentiation (151). There are the toliwaga (canoe-owners) who perform ceremonies and magic and gain most of the benefits of Kula. The usagelu (crew members) also perform magical rites and participate in the Kula. Also aboard are younger men, called silasila, who do not participate in the Kula but help with sailing. Occasionally, young boys (dodo’u) help out too.

Each toliwaga pays his crew with food in a ceremony called mwalolo when the expedition returns. A few days before setting out, the toliwaga keeps several taboos, including sleeping alone, while women prepare food for the crew and the crew prepares the canoe. The canoe is covered with braided mats, and the Yawaraup spell is said over it. This spell references the betel nut, which natives “expect to receive in the Kula” (152). They also charm some betel nuts that will be given to their partners to convince him to give them

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