~~DECKJS~~

# "Pigs are our strong thing" #

## Ongka and the gift ##

Ryan Schram

Mills 169 (A26)

ryan.schram@sydney.edu.au

Monday, August 7, 2017

Available at: http://anthro.rschram.org/1002/2.1

## The Kula Ring ##

{{url>https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d12201228.961331584!2d153.35986953923668!3d-12.52293378404623!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x691f758ed688b3c1%3A0xac9dd65609d2e8c9!2sNormanby+Island!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sau!4v1403749009918}}

## Bagi ##

{{:bagi.jpg|A bagi necklace}}

(Necklace [*bagi*], late 20th century, Pacific Ethnographic Collection #80.1/3369, American Museum of Natural History)

## Mwali ##

{{:mwali.jpg|A mwali armband}}

(Armband [*mwali*], late 20th century, Pacific Ethnographic Collection #80.1/3409, American Museum of Natural History)



## Look closely ##

{{:rubin.vase.jpg|A Rubin vase}}

Vase or faces? (Rubin 1915)

{{:necker.cube.png|A Necker cube}}

Which way is the cube oriented? (Necker 1832)

## Who is he? ##

{{:ongka.jpg|Ongka, big man of Kawelka}}

What do you notice about this person? (Nairn 1976)

## Let's watch ##

We will watch the first part of //Ongka's Big Moka//, approximately 25 minutes. 

## What did you think? ##

Take out a piece of paper. Talk for a few minutes with the person or
people next to you. What questions do you have? What do you want to
know more about? What would be good to discuss in tutorial?

Write down your questions and reactions. 

Now you can take that piece of paper to tutorial, and discuss your
ideas in class.

## Why exchange? 

Do people have, as Adam Smith says, a natural "propensity to truck, barter, and exchange" things they have for things they need (Smith 1843 [1776], 6)? 

If so, why do people exchange bagi for mwali, and then exchange mwali for bagi? Why do people often exchange identical things, like a pot of water for another pot of water? What is the motivation for these kinds of transactions where nothing is gained? 

## What's next ##

On Wednesday, we learn why Ongka must give moka, and must reciprocate
moka. The answer comes from the theories of **[[:Marcel Mauss]]**. 

We discuss why gifts create obligations: to give, to receive, and to
reciprocate.

We then talk about why this matters to understanding contemporary
society.

## References ##

Anonymous. late 20th century, A.D. Armband. Shell, string, bead, seed, fiber, leaf (palm). 80.1/ 3409. Pacific Ethnographic Collection, American Museum of Natural History. http://anthro.amnh.org/anthropology/databases/common/public_access.cfm?object_list=80.1%2F%203409.

-----. late 20th century, A.D. Necklace. Shell, cord. 80.1/ 3369. Pacific Ethnographic Collection, American Museum of Natural History. http://anthro.amnh.org/anthropology/databases/common/public_access.cfm?object_list=80.1%2F%203369.

Nairn, Charlie. 1976. Ongka's Big Moka. Granada
Television. http://www.der.org/films/ongkas-big-moka.html.

Necker, L. A. 1832. "Observations on some remarkable optical
phaenomena seen in Switzerland; and on an optical phaenomenon which
occurs on viewing a figure of a crystal or geometrical solid". London
and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science 1(5):
329-337.

Rubin, Edgar. 1915. Synsoplevede figurer, studier i psykologisk
Analyse, Ite Del. Copenhagen: Gyldendal.

Smith, Adam. 1843 [1776]. An Inquiry Into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations With a Life of the Author: Also a View of the Doctrine of Smith, Compared with That of the French Economists, with a Method of Facilitating the Study of His Works, from the French of M. Jariner. Edinburgh: Thomas Nelson.


## A guide to the unit ##

{{page>1002guide}}