SINUOUS OBJECTS Revaluing Women’s Wealth in the Contemporary Pacific SINUOUS OBJECTS Revaluing Women’s Wealth in the Contemporary Pacific EDITED BY ANNA-KARINA HERMKENS & KATHERINE LEPANI PACIFIC SERIES Published by ANU Press The Australian National University Acton ACT 2601, Australia Email: [email protected] This title is also available online at press.anu.edu.au National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Title: Sinuous objects : revaluing women’s wealth in the contemporary Pacific / editors: Anna-Karina Hermkens, Katherine Lepani. ISBN: 9781760461331 (paperback) 9781760461348 (ebook) Subjects: Women--Pacific Area--Social conditions Pacific Area--Social life and customs. Oceania--Social life and customs. Other Creators/Contributors: Hermkens, Anna-Karina, 1969- editor. Lepani, Katherine, editor. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher. Cover design and layout by ANU Press Cover image: Untitled 1996, Wendi Choulai. Hand-painted, acrylic, shredded plastic and raffia on canvas, inspired by Papuan coastal grass skirts. This edition © 2017 ANU Press To Wendi Choulai (1954–2001), and to all other creative women in the Pacific Contents Illustrations . ix Acknowledgements . xiii Abbreviations and Glossary . xv Contributors . xxv Introduction: Revaluing women’s wealth in the contemporary Pacific . 1 Anna-Karina Hermkens and Katherine Lepani 1 . Doba and Ephemeral Durability: The Enduring Material Value of Women’s Work in the Trobriand Regenerative Economy . 37 Katherine Lepani 2 . Doing away with Doba? Women’s Wealth and Shifting Values in Trobriand Mortuary Distributions . 61 Michelle MacCarthy Poem: Doba—Trobriand Skirts . 89 Katherine Lepani 3 . Women’s Wealth and Moral Economies among the Maisin in Collingwood Bay, Papua New Guinea . .. 91 Anna-Karina Hermkens 4 . Revaluing Pots: Wanigela Women and Regional Exchange . 125 Elizabeth Bonshek 5 . The Extraordinary Values of Ordinary Objects: String Bags and Pandanus Mats as Korafe Women’s Wealth? . .. 151 Elisabetta Gnecchi-Ruscone Poem: Making the Mark . 181 Tessa Miller 6 . Capturing the ‘Female Essence’? Textile Wealth in Tonga . 185 Fanny Wonu Veys 7 . Passing on, and Passing on Wealth: Compelling Values in Tongan Exchange . 211 Ping-Ann Addo 8 . Cook Islands Tivaivai and the Haircutting Ceremony in Auckland: Ritual Action, Money and the Parameters of Value . 235 Jane Horan Poem: urohs language . 257 Emelihter Kihleng Epilogue: Sinuous Objects, Sensuous Bodies: Revaluing ‘Women’s Wealth’ Across Time and Place . 261 Margaret Jolly Illustrations Figures Figure 1. Complementary values: doba, cloth, cash, Orabesi village, Kiriwina ..............................44 Figure 2. Women carrying baskets of doba, Losuia, Kiriwina .......47 Figure 3. Lucianne Gilbert and the late Sarah Watson prepare pieces of karekwa for sagali, Orabesi village, Kiriwina ........49 Figure 4. Carrying sepwana to sagali on the road to Kwemtula village, Kiriwina. 51 Figure 5. Sagali gathering, Losuia, Kiriwina ....................57 Figure 6. The frenzied activity of ‘throwing’ doba at sagali, Kabwaku village, Kiriwina .............................63 Figure 7. Fresh banana leaf scraped over carved wooden board to incise pattern, Yalumgwa village, Kiriwina ..............70 Figure 8. Freshly scraped doba leaves drying in the sun, Yalumgwa village, Kiriwina ............................70 Figure 9. Veronica Matadoya making new bundles of nununiga, Yalumgwa village, Kiriwina ............................71 Figure 10. Singalong preceding Sunday church service at Obweria United Church, Obweria village ...............76 Figure 11. Sagali with calico cloth and store goods, Wapipi village, Kiriwina ...............................82 Figure 12. Maisin dancers wearing their tapa loincloths at a church festival held near Tufi ........................92 ix SINUOUS OBJECTS Figure 13. Maisin dancers wearing their regalia and tapa cloths decorated with clan designs ............................93 Figure 14. Monica patching holes in a piece of barkcloth .........100 Figure 15. Mildred painting a piece of tapa with red pigment that is kept warm on a fire ............................104 Figure 16. Georgina being dressed up in her father’s regalia on her wedding day .................................111 Figure 17. Abraham undergoing his ‘end of mourning’ ritual ......112 Figure 18. Pile of gifts for Georgina’s in-laws, including pots, mats and tapa. .112 Figure 19. A woman with baitab nokwat packed ready for transport (1967). Each pack contains four pots wrapped and secured for carriage suspended from the head. On the 2002 expedition, the women did not use this carrying method, simply placing their pots packed inside string bags directly into the canoe .....................................128 Figure 20. Potter applying design elements to her pot with a shell ..132 Figure 21. Application of designs while seated .................133 Figure 22. A ‘flower pot’ placed beside a grave in the cemetery at Wanigela. The potter has written ‘JESUS’ on one side. In former times, a clan design was used. The white stones in the foreground mark the perimeter of the grave. Bright plastic flowers cover the grave ....................134 Figure 23. Jessette presents a newly unfurled string bag ..........155 Figure 24. Women belonging to the groom’s support group retrieving their string bags ............................159 Figure 25. Ethel flattening and scraping the pandanus leaf with a bikororo leaf. .162 Figure 26. Elma making a savasava ..........................163 Figure 27. Jessette folds the mat ............................165 Figure 28. Side-stitching the mat ...........................166 x ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 29. Jessette and granddaughters scratching patterns into pandanus leaves ................................167 Figure 30. Pig laid on mat and covered with tapa ...............172 Figure 31. Tessa Miller, The Wrong Copyright, earth pigments on barkcloth and laminated paper, 2015 .................183 Figure 32. Folding a dark barkcloth (ngatu ‘uli) decorated with motifs inspired from historical museum barkcloths to incorporate in the wedding bed (mohenga mali). Sia ko Veiongo, Kolomotu‘a, Tongatapu .......................187 Figure 33. ‘Eiki Salote Lupepau‘u Salamasina Purea Vahine Arii ‘o e Hau Tuita and Matai‘ulua-‘i-Fonuamotu Fusitu‘a sitting on the wedding bed (mohenga mali), which forms a throne showing their elevated status. Mala‘e Pangai Lahi, Nuku‘alofa, Tongatapu. 187 Figure 34. Koloa si‘i including crocheted bedspreads (kafu niti), sweets panels (tapu lole) and baskets with sweets (kato lole) presented at the marquee on the palace grounds. Nuku‘alofa, Tongatapu ........................................193 Figure 35. Pathway of ngatu tāhina (rusty-brown barkcloth) extending from the palace to the royal tombs. Mala‘e Kula, Nuku‘alofa, Tongatapu. 197 Figure 36. Kalo delivers a sermon at her church. The altar and tables in front and behind her are draped in fine mats .......213 Figure 37. Kalo (centre), her daughter, ‘Ana, and great-nephew dressed for the New Year’s Day service at their church .......214 Figure 38. A family dressed for a special service at church. The father and three young sons are all adorned in ta‘ovala (waist mats) .......................................222 Figure 39. Kalo (seated at rear) and her textile group fellow work together on decorating a fine mat in her living room ........223 Figure 40. Koloa presented at Kalo’s relative’s 60th birthday celebration; note the barkcloth-covered tables at centre, fine mat-draped floor and chair at left, and cakes presented to honour guests at right .............................224 xi SINUOUS OBJECTS Figure 41. Evenglynn Andon with some of the urohs she sews and her sister’s drawings. This poem, ‘urohs language’, was written about Evenglynn ..........................257 Figure 42. Karly Tom with the urohs she sells at her store in Pehleng, Kitti, Pohnpei ............................259 Maps Map 1. Kiriwina, Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea ..........68 Map 2. Collingwood Bay, Oro Province, Papua New Guinea .......95 Table Table 1. Exchange equivalence of pots with other items in 2001–03 .......................................141 xii Acknowledgements The initial idea for this book was inspired by a panel convened by Margaret Jolly and Anna-Karina Hermkens titled ‘Engendering Persons, Transforming Things: Christianities and Commodities in Oceania’ at the 9th European Society for Oceanists Conference in December 2012, in Bergen, Norway. Both Katherine Lepani and Michelle MacCarthy participated in this panel, while several of the other authors contributed to other panels at the same conference. We extend our gratitude to Professor Margaret Jolly for her enduring encouragement and guidance, and to all the contributing authors for their enthusiasm, commitment and patience in seeing this project to its fruition. We thank the reviewers for their insightful comments and encouragement. Special thanks are extended to Dr Carolyn Brewer for her meticulous and thoughtful editing work. The volume was made possible with support from the Australian Research Council through the Laureate Fellowship awarded to Professor Jolly, ‘Engendering Persons, Transforming Things: Christianities, Commodities and Individualism in Oceania’ (FL100100196), 2010–2015. We are grateful to