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.