Argonauts of the Western Pacific: An Account of Native Enterprise and Adventure in the Archipelagoes of Melanesian New Guinea (1922)

The crew has a short first day of sailing. After only a few miles, they make camp to the southwest of Sinaketa. Relatives and friends of the toli’uvalaku lead a ceremonial food distribution, while the toli’uvalaku watches from a distance. Pigs are spit-roasted, and taro and coconuts are distributed to each canoe after being inspected by the toli’uvalaku. After discussing the Kula and the journey ahead, they go to sleep for the night.

Malinowski distinguishes between the large competitive Kula expeditions (uvalaku) held every two to three years and smaller Kulas (Kula wala). In uvaluku, all canoes in a district will go, and all men will want to take part. They also owe it to their chief to go, since his gift of food imposes upon them the duty to participate. Uvaluku are competitive in that all articles are compared and counted after the exchange. During the uvaluku, all ceremonies and rites are performed. The chief is honored with a stream of pandanus leaves on his canoe and plays the role of master of ceremonies in the overseas villages and upon returning home. On an uvaluku, no vaygu’a (valuables) may be given by the visiting party; they may only receive valuables.

The next morning the crew performs rites of magic for safety and speed on the sea, invoking flying witches and mythical beings. Magic pandanus strips are tied to the boats, and they set off.

The canoes set out for the main portion of the journey, sailing south on the sea-arm of Pilolu that connects the Trobriands to the d’Entrecasteaux islands. To the south, mountains rise from the Amphlett Islands, including mountains associated with taboos like Koyatabu. This area is full of “emotional associations, drawn from magic and myth” (168). This includes hostile tribes, cannibals, evil magic, and dangerous waters. The sailors must stick to the narrow strip of sea that is navigable. The wind must be right to sail; the canoes are easily blown into the open sea or pulled by tides. For safety, they stay within sight of shore and perform spells for controlling the wind.

Trobriand canoes are sailed so that the wind hits the boat on the outrigger side. The crew consists at minimum of two men in charge of steering, one at the stern with a long oar and one at the stern end of the platform with a shorter oar. Another man stands at the bow as lookout, and one is in charge of the sails. The canoe can also be paddled if necessary, but this requires 10 men (174-75).

Canoes, especially new ones, are surrounded by taboos. When aboard, eating or drinking is not allowed except after sunset. Women are not allowed to enter a new waga before it sails for the first time. Certain types of yams may not be carried on board. The waga cannot touch stones, rocks, or sand, so sailors try to avoid beaching their canoes. Kula taboos are called bomala lilava (taboos of the magic bundle, referring to a ceremonial package of trade goods carried on board). Another canoe cannot pass on the outrigger side, at risk of “offend[ing] the magic bundle” (176).

One sub-clan has the right to build and maintain their canoes first; only afterward may the others, including the chief, follow. If this rule is broken, the Kula will not be successful. The privileges afforded to sub-clans vary by location.

Malinowski returns to the Sinaketan fleet. They may be delayed if the weather isn’t favorable, but they camp again on a small sand island. The crew converses about sailing dangers, including a giant octopus, jumping stones that can “smash a canoe to pieces” (180), and witches.

Chapter 10 describes beliefs about shipwreck. According to Malinowski, what the natives say about shipwreck is a mix of “definite, matter-of-fact information” and “fantastic superstitions” (182).

Sailors fear flying witches called yoyova. They believe that a witch’s body contains a kapuwana, the word for a small unripe coconut (183). When a witch flies during the night, the kapuwana separates from her body, becoming a double that manifests as a fox, a night bird, or a firefly, which can turn invisible at will. Malinowski notes that it is unclear whether the kapuwana is thought to be a material object, but to ask this question at all would be “to smuggle our own categories into [the native’s] belief, where they do not exist” (183). These beliefs and fears are not logically examinable, are felt rather than thought, and may conflict with each other. Malinowski wishes to “abstain from working them out into a consistent theory; for this represents neither the native’s mind nor any other form of reality” (183).

Loosely, however, the witch takes two forms, each described by a separate word. The yoyova is the woman “as we meet her in the village” (183); the mulukwausi is her flying, disembodied form. Witches are born from existing witches and initiated with a complex ritual that involves eating a human corpse and learning to fly. Unlike male sorcerers (bwaga’u), a witch will never admit that she is a witch.

Kayga’u, the magic of the mist, blinds the vision of “evil agencies” (189). Kayga’u, Kula magic, and canoe magic form the “indispensable magical equipments [sic] of a sailor” (188), and are the best way to protect against witches and other dangers. Giyorokaywa, the kayga’u of the “above,” are spells recited before departure to protect from mulukwausi. Giyotanawa, the magic of the “below,” protects against “evil agencies” (189) in the sea, including poisonous fish, sharks, jumping stones, and the “gaping depth” (188).

Before recounting the story of a shipwreck, Malinowski explains that the story is a description of native beliefs but also an example of ethnography, the kind of narrative recounted over campfires. The storyteller would recite the spells aloud if it were daylight, but never at night or far from home, as it would be taboo. The storyteller recounts the tale nonchronologically, with “characteristic vividness” and “short jerky sentences,” which doesn’t bother the audience, who already know the story. However, the ethnographer must listen several times to understand the sequence of events (198).

Malinowski translates several spells that would be recited to ward off a shipwreck, e.g., the first rite of kayga’u, chanting the spell of the “above” over a piece of ginger root that he wraps in a banana leaf. This summons the mist and “befogs” the eyes” (192) of all threats, including witches. The last part of the spell reveals the belief that the witch’s body remains in her house while her true form leaves.

This rite performed by the toliwaga over his lime pot is full of obscure allusions to mythical heroes and sorcerers, and words to ward off threats at sea (194). Various other spells serve similar purposes, to ward off harm from “underneath.”

Finally, the tale is recounted. The toliwaga sets off in his canoe with his ginger bundle, lime pot, and magic stones. As a storm approaches, he speaks magic to calm the wind in vain. The sail is torn away, and the crew begin to panic.

Mulukwausi’s screams can be heard in the wind. He recites the kayga’u for the underneath and throws the stones to “weigh down the sharks” and “close the gaping depth” (197). He takes the lime pot and breaks it, which throws mist around them. The crew then breaks the sticks that attach the outrigger to the canoe, and float on the outrigger. He utters the kataria spell, summoning a big fish (iraviyaka) that carries the crew to the reef off an island. He says a spell to rid the island of mulukwausi and goes ashore to build a fire. After some time, they go into the village on the island, where the toliwaga’s relatives purify them with smoke and the Leyya plant for five days. Finally, they return home.