What is the Kula ring of the Trobriand Islands?

The Kula ring, also called the Kula exchange, is a ceremonial exchange system in the Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. Participants on a ring of islands, including the Trobriands, pass on two kinds of shell valuables: red shell-disc necklaces and white shell armbands. The objects are not used for practical purposes. They circulate for prestige and to maintain relationships between partners. [1] [2]

Necklaces, called soulava or veigun, travel clockwise around the ring. Armbands, called mwali, travel counterclockwise. A person who receives one type of item gives the other type in return, so an opening gift of an armband is answered by a necklace, and the reverse. According to [wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kula_ring), the ring spans 18 island communities and involves thousands of people, some of whom travel hundreds of miles by canoe. [1] [2]

Valuables do not stay with one person. Each holder keeps a piece for a customary period and then passes it to another partner, though even temporary possession brings status. A full trading cycle, known as a keda, may last two to five years, according to [ebsco.com](https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/social-sciences-and-humanities/kula-ring/). The BBC describes nine grades of valuables, from the humble kitom that opens a partnership to the highly sought bagi, and says a trader must prove himself worthy of the best pieces. [1] [2] [3]

Each participant has partners, called karayta'u, on nearby and distant islands. These ideally lifelong relationships involve hospitality, protection and assistance. Partnerships may be passed to heirs, although a partner can reject an heir who behaves badly. Encyclopedia.com records the local saying "Once in kula, always in kula". Transfers are formal and haggling is not allowed. The delay between a gift and its counter-gift expresses the giver's confidence that the partner will repay. [1] [2] [4]

Alongside the valuables, participants barter other goods, known as gimwali, including food. The Bowers Museum notes that this makes Kula an important lifeline for smaller islands. Rules of participation vary by place: on the Trobriands the exchange is monopolised by chiefs, while on Dobu Island roughly 100 to 150 people take part. [1] [5]

The anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski documented the Kula in Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922). He compared the valuables to the English crown jewels or a sports trophy held only until the next encounter, and he objected to calling them money. He used the Kula to argue that the economy is embedded in social relations, and he stressed its political side: it gives men status and reinforces peace, since Trobrianders are reluctant to attack islanders who are Kula partners. [4] [1]

The practice continues in some communities, while others have abandoned it. [2]