The other day, one of my friends posted this message in a motorcycle-related WhatsApp group:
“We’re a community that’s very generous with knowledge and we often help out with a “come and take it” [spare parts] attitude, and it’s amazing to see and experience that. A lot of this stems from a crappy importer and absurd pricing – whether from them or from online part sites. And when you do find a decent site, either they don’t ship here or the shipping prices are crazy. That being said, I’ve noticed that sometimes sellers here price 20+ year-old items almost like new, just because they’re hard to get locally for all the reasons mentioned above…There’s really no logical reason for it. Sold your bike and have some leftover parts? Pass them on happily – and if not for free, at a price that’ll make the buyer happy to show up, maybe even bring a cold six-pack 🍻 because you acted like a mensch. Wishing you good news – and even better rides”
That message immediately reminded me of the Trobriand people, a society located off the eastern coast of Papua New Guinea. The group is best known to the world through the work of anthropologist Bronisław Malinowski (1884-1942) in the early 20th century. This society is famous for its complex social systems, including matrilineal inheritance (property, clan membership, and family name are passed down through the mother’s line), ceremonial gift exchange, and non-Western economic structures.
Gift economy vs market economy or capitalism
Rather than a market-based system, Trobrianders traditionally organized life around gift economies, ritual exchange, and symbolic wealth, such as yams, banana leaf bundles, and the Kula Ring – a ceremonial exchange of shell valuables that circulates among the islands. Their society balances male and female power in unique ways and challenges many Western assumptions about gender, money, and value.
Only men participate in the Kula ring which is a boat sailing between the Islands in a ring/circular route. In the Kula Ring, two types of ceremonial objects move in opposite directions: Necklaces move clockwise around the islands. Armbands move counterclockwise and the logic behind this was that every participant is both a giver and a receiver. The more an object was given and received, the more it circulated, the higher was its value in a symbolic and biographic sense (the story behind the object and what it symbolises). Gifts must be passed on. You don’t keep them forever. Holding on to a Kula item too long can be seen as greedy or disrespectful.
And this is probably the right time to quote John Lennon’s “Imagine”, which he wrote while living in Tittenhurst Park – a large Georgian-style country mansion he bought, set on 72 acres of land:
“Imagine no possessions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man”
What have become of the Trobrianders? Do they still exist today?
Yes, the society still exists today, with around 40,000–50,000 people. Although British colonialism, missionaries, national integration, and other outside influences have significantly changed it – especially through the gradual use of money after World War II – many traditional customs remain. Today, the Trobriand people live in a hybrid dual economy, using both money and traditional exchanges depending on the context.
