1995
Trip to The Trobriand and Solomon
Islands by Charles & Karen Opitz
On April 29, 1995, my wife Karen and
I (Charles Opitz) flew from our home in Ocala, Florida, to Port
Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
I am a collector of traditional money. Both the Trobriand Islands and the Solomon Islands
are rich in traditional money. From Port Moresby
we immediately flew to Madang,
Papua New Guinea,
where we visited a nearby village and viewed a sing-sing.
Left
two: Madang area village dancers. Right: Hut in Madang area village.
In Madang we boarded The Melanesian
Discoverer for a five day tour of some of the Trobriand
Islands. When we arrived at an island we boarded rubber boats to
get to the island. If the island had a dock we landed there. If there was no
dock we had a “wet landing” meaning we got in the water when it was about two
feet deep. We then walked to shore. We normally visited two islands each day. Each
island has different customs and dress. They also have different items they
produce or grow.
Left:
The Melanesian Discoverer we used to visit the Trobriand
Islands. Right: Some of our fellow travelers on the ship.
Left:
Dining room on ship. Right: Dinghy we
used to go to the islands which had no landing facilities.
Left: Boat we used going to islands with a
dock. Right: Dinghy we used going to go
to islands with no dock. Natives in outrigger canoes with food to sell to the
ship.
Karen
Opitz with our guide, James, in native outfit. James was a native of Papua New Guinea.
We traveled to the Siassi group in
the Trobriand Islands and visited Umbai
Island, Manai village. There
we saw natives with many tattoos. One of the people on our tour had his entire
back and chest covered with tattoos. The natives were impressed as most of them
had only a few small tattoos. In this village I was able to purchase mis. Mis
is dark brown in color and consists of shell beads about 4 mm. in diameter. It
was used as money by the natives. This was the only village I was able to find
mis. One native was wearing a pendant consisting of two ¾ circle boar tusks.
When I asked him how much he wanted for it he said $500.00 USD. I just smiled
and said no thank you.
Left:
Chuck Opitz examining mis and other traditional money items available. Right: Trobriand Island natives showing items they want
to sell. Left is a canoe bailer, right is a trumpet shell.
Later that day we visited Aromat
village and saw the wooden bowls collectors want. These bowls were exchanged
for food, pigs, dogs, and bride price. One large bowl was worth one pig. They
were also used in kula. We also was shell bracelets being made. They were also
used as money and in bride price.
Left:
Woman removing the center of a shell to form a shell ring. Middle: Woman smoothing a shell ring on a flat piece of stone to finish it. Right: Some villagers watching us. The center
person is trying to sell me a wood bowl.
Left:
Native with a large wooden bowl. Right:
View of Aromat village.
The next day we visited Tufi (northern province). Here
the women wore tattoos and they made tapa cloth. The tapa is similar to other
tapa made in other areas.
Left: Tufi girl with tattoos on her face. Right:
Tufi village
In the afternoon we visited Bauwome
village Corafe tribe. It was clean, beautiful and friendly.
Left:
Bauwome village hut.
Right: Another Bauwome village nut.
The following day we went to Goodenough Islands. The first village we visited
was Avagani village on Wagefah
Island. The chief’s
daughter was wearing Western cloths while her mother was wearing native cloths
and had a bagi necklace. The bagi is a major part of kula.
Left:
Goodenough Island women. The girl on the left lived
on the islands until a man from Australia
came to the islands and married her. She now lives in Australia with
her husband, but was visiting her family. Her mother (her right) was married to
the chief and was wearing a bagi. Right:
Natives who showed up to see us.
Goodenough
Islanders.
Goodenough
Islanders and a hut.
Goodenough
Islanders.
Left:
Goodenough Islanders. Right: Mother of girl living in Australia.
Closer look of bagi around her neck. Used in kula.
Next we visited Nabageta village on Amphlett Island. There I was able to purchase a
clay pot. The islanders make these pots to trade for many other items. The pots
were also used in kula.
Left:
Amphlett Island bowl. Right: Kula canoe
We then visited Kumwaga village, Katava Island
in the Trobriand Islands. We saw several yam
houses. Yams were stored inside the house. I was able to purchase the mwali
which I found on a village hut pole. A native came forward with a wonderful
mwali which was the finest I had ever seen. He and I quickly agreed on a price
and it looked like I would soon own it. Some of the elders then told the owner
they did not want him to sell it. He quickly changed his mind and said he
wouldn’t sell it. It was disappointing, but I understood. As I left the village
a young boy came to me and said he had a mwali for sale. He then took it out
from under a piece of cloth he carried. It was a nice mwali, but not as nice as
the one I had just lost. Our guide questioned him about where he got it and why
he wanted to sell it. When he was convinced the boy owned it and had a right
and purpose to sell it he let me purchase it from him. We then saw an old woman
who had a bagi for sale. It was the newer kind made with a pearl shell. Upon
closer examination I noticed many of the beads were made of plastic. I then
decided not to purchase it.
Left:
Mwali on a hut post which I was able to purchase. Right:
Yam house on Katava
Island.
Left: Hut on Katava Island. Right: Canoes on the beach.
Left:
Kativa Island women selling a bagi with plastic
beads. Right: Kativa Island
mission church.
Trobriand Island huts. The center building is a yam house.
The following day we visited the
largest island in the group, Kiriwina. At Kaibola village we saw inlaid bowls,
lime gourds and grass skirts. We also saw bundles being made by young girls. I
told our group the girls were making money. Nobody believed it until our guide
confirmed that the banana leaves were incised on boards, cut into strips and
tied in bundles of 10 strips. The bundles were women’s money. I was able to
purchase a number of bundles to bring home.
Girls
making bundles. Bundles are women’s money.
Left:
Charles Opitz buying artifacts from the natives. Right: Children on Kiriwina Island.
Left:
Charles & Karen Opitz on Kiriwina
Island. Right: Family on Kiriwina Island.
Left: Kilauna Island
dancers. Their skirts are money. I was able to purchase several skirts for my
collection. Notice the woman in the center of the picture with the cord across
her chest. I explained to the group that she was practicing birth control by
wearing the cord. After everyone laughed I explained that the natives believe
children are conceived by a large bird flying over them and dropping a seed
which goes through their head and passes through their body and lodges below
their stomach where it grows into a baby. They believe the cord stops the seed
from passing through the body. The reason it works is they normally wear the
cord while they are nursing a baby and the men leave them alone during that
time. Therefore they do not get pregnant. They have not connected the fact that
sexual intercourse creates the baby. Right:
Islanders selling items to Charles Opitz. I was the most popular tourist
as I was buying with both hands.
That afternoon we visited Lumabila
village to attend a bird dance performed by men.
Luwabila villagers dancing.
Luwabila Villagers dancing.
Luwabila Villagers
Luwabila Villagers
Kaileuna Island
was our next stop. The women dancers wore skirts which are a form of money. In
this village I was able to purchase many items for my collection.
Kaileuna Island villagers
Kaileuna Island villagers.
On our visit to our next island we
saw hot springs.
It was Ferguson Island. Much of the island was volcanic.
Volcanic
hot springs.
Mission
church on Ferguson
Island. Note Karen Opitz
in blue slacks.
We landed in Alotau and transferred
to the airport where we flew to Port
Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
There we flew to Honiara, the capital of the Solomon Islands on Guadalcanal Island.
We transferred to Mendana Hotel where we stayed for several days. On our way to
the hotel I asked our taxi driver if they still used shell money. He said yes. He
then explained that they pay shell money and porpoise teeth as bride price. As
he explained in the United States
we have a marriage license which makes the union legal. Since the Solomon
Islanders do not have a marriage license, the paying of bride price makes the
union legal.
Left:
Mendana Hotel.
Right: Boat building area on Auki
Island.
Left:
Auki Island market Right: Native selling
betel nuts and lime.
Left:
Honiara natives
in the market selling shell money. Right: Charles Opitz buying a tafuliae shell string. It was used as bride price.
The next day we hired a motorized
canoe to visit Laulasi
Island in the Langalanga
Lagoon. We found another couple from Australia who also wanted to visit
the island. This is the island where most of the shell money in the area is
made. Lausasi Island is an artificial island made of
coral and shell. A thin covering of earth was then added to the coral base. In
the lagoon we saw natives in canoes finding shells to make shell money. On the
island we saw women making several kinds of shell money. The shells were first
broken into small pieces using a black stone hammer called a falbura. Solid
metal cylinders are also used to make the process faster. Some shell disks are
now heated to improve the color. The circular shell disks are then placed on a
piece of wood with shallow circular depressions. They are then rubbed to make
them smooth and flat. Then they drill a hole in the center of each shell. I was
able to purchase shell beads made with pump drills called futa. The drill has a
tip of flint or chalcedony. We only saw the holes being drilled by modern crank
drills with metal drills. If the hole tapers it was made with a pump drill with
a stone tip. If the hole is straight with no taper it was made with a steel
drill. Next the shell beads were strung on strong bush fiber called lili. The
shell string is placed on a board and rubbed with a grooved stone called a
faoliara with sand and water to smooth the edges and make them the proper size.
The beads were then strung to make the tafuliae and several other kinds of
shell money. Most of this shell money is used in the area and is still used in
bride price.
Laulasi
– a manmade island in Langa Langa Lagoon a short distance from Malaita Island.
A
closer look at Laulasi Island
Left:
Man gathering shell in Langa Langa Logoon to make shell money. Right: Woman
breaking shells into round disks to make shell money.
Left:
Woman breaking shells to make shell disks.
Right: Woman drilling holes in the shell pieces to form a rough disk.
Left:
Man smoothing the edges of the disks on a block with a sanding block. Right: Display of shell jewelry made by the
natives on the island.
Left:
My wife, Karen, (second from right) with a tafuliae’ I purchased on the
island. Right: Another string of shell
money being purchased by me.
Left:
A native with another tafuliae’ I purchased.
Right: The skulls outside a skull house in the men’s area of the island.
Left:
The above picture from another angle.
Right: More skulls of chiefs in the men’s area. The skulls were
dislodged from their resting place by a typhoon a few years ago.
Left:
Scared objects stored in the men’s area. Women were not allowed in the men’s
section. Right: Women’s area. This area is not used much anymore and men are
allowed in this area.
Left:
Some of the remaining World War II weapons still located on Guadalcanal.
Right: An artifacts store in Port
Moresby, Papua New Guinea.
This was a fitting end to a
wonderful trip to two areas where traditional money is still used every day.
The changes in the area have been great, but the people still cling to their
old ways while using some of our modern technology at the same time. I was able
to purchase over 100 different kinds of traditional money directly from the
people still using it. I was able to ask questions as to why and how they used
it. Much of this information is not readily available in books today.