kula

Ceremonial trading cycle found in the Trobriand Islands of Papua New Guinea and adjacent islands of Melanesia. It involves two classes of gifts – red shell necklaces and white shell armbands – which circulate in opposite directions around the islands. A man has a set of permanent trading partners on different islands from whom he receives, and another to whom he gives. A chief usually has more partners than other men.

This jewellery is rarely worn, but the possession of fine specimens, which may be named, give the temporary owner high prestige in his community. Within a year or two they are passed on. Other items, such as pigs, bananas, yams, taro, and tools, are also traded, or given in order to encourage a partner to give a particularly desired piece in return. The kula has become a classic anthropological example of gift exchange.