What do men of the Trobriand Islands do with the yams they grow?

What do men of the Trobriand Islands do with the yams they grow?

Trobrianders use yams as currency, and consider them a sign of wealth and power. Western visitors will often buy items from the Trobrianders using money. There is also a Kula exchange, which is a very important tradition among the Trobriand Islands.

What is the social significance of yam gardens and the yam store horses to the Trobriand Islanders?

FOR Trobriand Islanders, yams are the most esteemed and perhaps the oldest of staple foods and have a cultural significance that goes beyond their dietary importance. For these islanders, yam growing is a professional activity. A bountiful harvest of the crop by a gardener shows his wealth, skill and economic power.

Who do Trobriand men plant their yam gardens for?

The most important chiefly prerogative is the entitlement to many wives. At least four of each wife’s relatives make huge yam gardens for her and this is the way a chief achieves great power.

What are the 2 most important foods for Trobriand Islanders?

The Trobriand Islanders use dried banana leaves and yams as currency because these are their most important crops. Yams, in particular, are a sign of power and wealth. Men cultivate yams and give them to their sisters, never their wives. This ensures that children are provided for by the maternal family.

Who are the Trobriand Islanders?

The Trobriands, a Melanesian people who live primarily on four islands in Milne Bay Province, northeastern Papua New Guinea, are one of the over 300 cultures covered in the eHRAF World Cultures ethnographic database. Fifty-seven documents totaling 6,268 pages make up the Trobriand culture collection in eHRAF.

Which of the following best describes the Trobriand Islanders beliefs about death?

What best describes the Trobriand Islanders’ beliefs about death? Death is never accidental, and it is always caused by harmful witchcraft. members of the deceased’s matrilineage.

How is Trobriand Cricket different from the original form?

Trobriand cricket refers to a unique version of the bat-and-ball sport cricket played by the Trobriand Islanders. However, the game was quickly adapted to Trobriand culture by expanding the number of players, adding dances and chanting, and modifying the bats and balls.

What type of descent is found in Trobriand society?

Trobrianders are divided into totemic clans, the members of which trace their descent matrilineally (i.e., from a common ancestor through the female line).

Where are Trobriand Islands?

Papua New Guinea
Trobriand Islands, also called Kiriwina Islands, coral formations in the Solomon Sea of the southwestern Pacific, Papua New Guinea, 90 miles (145 km) north of the southeasternmost extension of the island of New Guinea.

Why did missionaries introduce the game of cricket to the Trobriand Islands?

Trobriand cricket refers to a unique version of the bat-and-ball sport cricket played by the Trobriand Islanders. They were first exposed to the game by Christian missionaries, who thought the game would discourage war among the natives.

Which of the following scenarios best represents the built environment among foragers?

Which of the following scenarios best represents the “built environment” among foragers? Foragers construct temporary shelters made of twigs, leaves, palm fronds, or whatever plant materials are available in their environment.

In what ways do the Trobriand Islanders adapt the game of cricket to their own use How do they modify the rules equipment and context of the game to their worldview?

They were first exposed to the game by Christian missionaries, who thought the game would discourage war among the natives. However, the game was quickly adapted to Trobriand culture by expanding the number of players, adding dances and chanting, and modifying the bats and balls.

How did yams become so popular on the Trobriands?

As yam yields dwindle, the very tastes, sounds, customs, and beliefs integral to life on the Trobriands are beginning to change. While no one has pinpointed how yams first gained such high regard across the islands, it’s not difficult to make a case for their contemporary adoration.

What are the traditions of the Trobriand Islands?

There is also a Kula exchange, which is a very important tradition among the Trobriand Islands. The women also use bundles of scored banana leaves. Each year, a man grows yams for his sister, and his daughter if she is married. The husband does not provide yams to his wife.

What kind of farming do the Trobrianders do?

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. Trobrianders are yam growers par excellence. Through slash-and-burn technology, large yam harvests are produced once a year. Taro, sweet potatoes, bananas, sugarcane, leafy greens, beans, tapioca, squashes, coconuts, and areca palms are also grown.

Why is it taboo to eat a yam in front of others?

Ripeness is considered a “defining ingredient” and thus once it becomes over-ripe, a yam is perceived as a new object altogether. The same perception pertains to time and geometric shapes. In Trobriand society, it is taboo to eat in front of others.

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