Trobrians

There is a division into four genera (clans). They, in turn, were divided into subclans. There were no villages where the inhabitants belonged to the same subclan. Subclans were scattered in different villages and occupied special neighborhoods in them. In the center of such neighborhoods were barns that were filled with yams. They were surrounded by family huts. For the most part, power is vested in clans that control land and resources. Regardless of the fact that over time, metal tools also appeared in the people, familiarization with the commodity-money ratio and formal conversion to the Christian faith did not significantly affect the people's lifestyle and their traditional social organization. Highly popular among these people is the highly artistic wood carving.

Their language kilivila ( kirivina ) belongs to the East-Austronesian group of the West Oceanian languages ​​of the linguistic complex of the Papuan peaks of the Austronesian family . Almost every tribe has its own dialect , which can vary greatly. Foreign languages ​​are almost not found on these islands. It is most likely to meet a person who knows French , since it is French scientists ^{[ what? ]} actively studied this people.

At the end of the 19th century, the people were at the stage of a developed primitive communal system (before European colonization). The economy was conducted manually. This applies to the type of agriculture itself - tropical slash and fire . The main crops grown are yams , bananas and taro . Planted fruit trees such as mangoes , breadfruit , coconut . Fisheries and livestock farming were of secondary importance. They kept dogs and pigs. At the same time, the separation of crafts from agriculture began: woodcarving and boat making.

At seven or eight years old, Trobrian children begin to play erotic games with each other and try to reproduce the relationship of adults to each other. After about four or five years, they begin to actively seek sexual partners. They often change them. Sexually, women are in no way inferior to men in influence and dominance. They can decide for themselves whether to accept or reject a new partner.

There is no traditional marriage ceremony in the Trobrian Islands. A young woman is in her lover's house, and does not leave him until sunrise. A man and a woman sit together in the morning and wait for the mother of the bride, who is supposed to bring their cooked yams. A man and a woman eat all year together, but then they start eating separately again. When a man ate with a woman, the marriage was "officially certified."

When a Trobrian couple wants to get married, they show their interest by sleeping with each other, spending time together and staying with each other for several weeks. The girl’s parents approve of the couple when she accepts the gift from the boy. After that, the girl moves to the house of her young man, eats his food there and accompanies each other. After this, it is generally accepted that the boy and girl are married.

If after a year a woman is dissatisfied with her husband, she may divorce him. A young couple can also disperse if the husband finds himself another woman. Of course, a man can try to return to his wife by giving her family gifts. But this does not mean that the woman wants to be with him again.

Trobrians practice traditional magic spells . Young people learn spells from older relatives in exchange for food, tobacco, and money. Spells are often partially or completely lost, because old people only give a few lines at a time to keep receiving gifts. Often, an old person dies before completing their cast of spells. Trobrians believe that no one can compose a new spell.

It happens that a man gives a woman a magic spell because he wants to give her more than yams or tobacco. People also buy and sell spells. Literate residents write their magic spells in books and hide them. A person can cast his magic spells to bewitch someone. Some spells are believed to make a person beautiful for others, even if he is not.

Books of Bronislaw Malinowski about the Trobrians

• Malinowski Bronisław. Argonauts of the Western Pacific. London: Routledge and sons. - 1992-614 pages.
• Malinowski Bronisław. The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia. New York: Harcourt, Brace and World. - 1929 - 613p.
• Malinowski Bronisław. Coral Gardens and their Magic. London: Routledge. - 1935 - 500p.

Other Trobrian books

• Senft G. Kilivila: the language of the Trobrian islanders. Berlin: De Gruyter. - 1986-616 p.
• Theroux P. The Happy Isles Of Oceania. New York: Mifflin Company. - 2006—528 p.
• Weiner AB The Trobrianders of Papua New. Texas: university of Texas press. - 1988-184 p.
• Weiner AB Women of value, men of renown. Texas: university of Texas press. - 1994-299 p.

• Trobriander article in Britannica