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

Sailing south, the party comes to the mountainous island of Gumasila. They stop at Giyawana beach, where the fleets stop before continuing to villages. They perform the last bit of Kula magic before they meet their trading partners in Gumasila. Upon arriving they meet their friends to chat, speaking Kiriwinian. They give pari (opening gifts of small objects) and wait for Kula gifts to be given to them. The highest-ranking headman gives the first gift.

Malinowski describes the conversations during a visit of Trobrianders to a village on Gumasila. The toliwaga gives Headman Tovasana some gifts, but he ignores them and asks instead when a chief from a neighboring island is going to give him a mwali. The men do not know, since the chief doesn’t have a decent mwali. Tovasana becomes angry and declares he will never Kula with that chief since he has owed Tovasana a yotile for a long time. Then they continue discussing Kula and travel plans, and the visitors receive some pots as talo’i (farewell gift) (210). The visit of a big Kula party from Sinaketa would be similar to this in terms of conversation and gift-giving, but on a larger scale (210).