Kula ring
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Kula, also known as the Kula exchange or Kula ring, is a ceremonial exchange system conducted in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The Kula ring was made famous by Bronisław Malinowski, who
An example of a Kula necklace, with its distinctive red shell-disc beads
Malinowski with the Trobriand Islanders, 1918
Ipanitika
Wa'a kaulua
Potlatch
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Potlatch is the gift-giving feast practiced by Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast of Canada and the United States, among whom it is traditionally the primary governmental institution, l
Kula ring
…1999). Albert Schrauwers has argued that the kinds of societies used as examples by Weiner and Godelier (including the Kula ring in the Trobriands, the potlatch of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest, and the Toraja of South Sulawesi, Indonesia) are all characterized by ranked aristocratic kin groups…
The Kwakwaka'wakw continue the practice of potlatch. Illustrated here is Wawadit'la in Thunderbird Park, Victoria, B.C., a big house built by Chief Mungo Martin in 1953. Wealthy, prominent hosts would have a Big House specifically for potlatching and for housing guests.
Speaker Figure, 19th century, Brooklyn Museum, the figure represents a speaker at a potlatch. An orator standing behind the figure would have spoken through its mouth, announcing the names of arriving guests.
Edward Curtis photo of a Kwakwaka'wakw potlatch with dancers and singers
Watercolor by James G. Swan depicting the Klallam people of chief Chetzemoka at Port Townsend, with one of Chetzemoka's wives distributing potlatch