ON HUMAN NATURE Cronk Kinuko Craft, Reagan's Gift, 1988 things attached ring a trek through the Rockies in is unclear, but the poet Lewis Hyde, in through most of the world, the strings 1830s, Captain Benjamin Louis his book The Gif, has imagined a scenario themselves are the main consideration. In E.de Bonneville received a gift of a fine that probably approaches the truth some societies, gift giving is a tie berween young horse from a Nez Perce chief. Ac Say that an Englishman newly arrived friends, a way of maintaining good rela- cording to Washington Irvings account of in America is welcomed to an Indian tionships, whereas in others it has devel- the incident, the American explorer was lodge with the present of a pipe. Think- oped into an elaborate, expensive, and aware that"a parting pledge was neces- ing the pipe a wonderful artifact, he takes antagonistic ritual designed to humiliate sary on his own part, to prove that this it home and sets it on his mantelpiece. rivals by showering them with wealth and friendship was reciprocated "According- When he later learns that the Indians ex- obligating them to give more in return ly, he"placed a handsome rifle in the pect to have the pipe back, as a gesture of In truth, the dichotomy between the ands of the venerable chief; whose be- goodwill, he is shocked by what he views two traditions of gift giving is less behav nevolent heart was evidently touched and as their short-lived generosity. The new. ioral than rhetorical: our generosity is not atified by this outward of amit the point of the gift was not to provide an lieve. L ike European colonists. most Even the earliest white settlers in New interesting trinket but to inaugurate a modern Westerners are blind to the pur- natives required reciprocity, and by 1764. tained through a series of mutual ex.non-Western societies but also,to some "Indian gift"was so common a phrase changes. Thus, his failure to reciprocate extent, in our own. Public declarations to that the Massachusetts colonial historian appeared not only rude and thoughtless the contrary, we, too, use gifts to nurture homas Hutchinson identified it as"a but downright hostile. "White man keep- long-term relationships of mutual obliga ent for which an equivalent return is ex- as" Indian giving"was to settlers to foster feelings of indebtedness. And pected. "Then,over time, the customs In fact, the Indians' tradition of gift this ethic touches all aspects meaning was lost. Indeed, the phrase giving is much more common than our porary life, from the behavior ofs now is used derisively, to refer to one who own. Like our European ancestors, we esearch networks to superpol nts ought to be offered macy. Failing to acknowledge demands the return of a gift. How this think that preser strings attached. But I especially as we give money, machines, cross-cultural misunderstanding occurred I freely, without
and technical advice to peoples around I goods are received in many societies is I outsiders usually refer to by the Chinook he world, we run the risk of being misin- only the first stage of havior sur- Indian term potlatch), at which rivals com- terpreted and, worse, of causing harn m. munt is g. git e ing s cftciat tha r p be aete er the hest a and tret igepofrgv ing M uch of what we know about the eth- deferred. To reciprocate at once indicates though nearly everything of value was fai ies of gift giving comes from the a desire to end the relationship, to cut the game-blankets, canoes, food, pots, and, to the people they are studying. Richard rings longer and stronger. This is espe- slaves--the most highly prized items Lee, of the University of Toronto, cially clear on the Truk Islands, of Micro- were decorated sheets of beaten copper. learned a difficult lesson from the Kung nesia, where a special word--niffag-is shaped like shields and etched with hunter-gatherers,of the Kalahari desert, used to designate objects moving through designs in the distinctive style of the when, as a token of goodwill, he gave the islands exchange network. From the Northwest Coast Indians them an ox to slaughter at Christmas. Ex- Trukese viewpoint, to return niffag on the As with the kula necklaces and arm- pecting gratitude, he was shocked when same day it is received alters its nature bands, the value of a copper sheet was the ! Kung complained about having to from that of a gift to that of a sale, in which determined by its history--by where it lief, that the Kung belittle all gifts. In sponse, a recipient must consider how theireyes, no act is compleiculing gifts is largely by the motive behind the gift. erty from the House, " and another, tely generous, make repayment, and that is dictated name. One was called"Drawing All Prop- ation their way of diminishing the expected re- Some exchange customs are designed"About Whose Possession All Are Quar and of enforcing humility on those solely to preserve a relationship. The reling. "After the Kwakiutl began to tu would use gifts to raise their own sta-! Kung have a system, called hxaro, in acquire trade goods from the Hudson tus within the grou hich little attention is paid to whether Bay Company's Fort Rupert post, in 1849. Rada Dyson-Hudson, of Cornell Uni- the items exchanged are equivalent. the potlatches underwent a period of versity, had a similar experience among Richard Lee's informant !Xoma ex- extreme inflation, and by the 1920s, when the Turkana, a pastoral people of north- plained to him that"Hxaro is when I take items of exchange included sewing ma- western Kenya. To compensate her infor- a thing of value and give it to you. Later, chines and pool tables, tens of thousands mants for their help, Dyson-Hudson gave much later, when you find some good of Hudson's Bay blankets might be given away pots, maize meal, tobacco, and thing, you give it back to me. When I find away during a single ceremony other items. The Turkana reaction was something good I will give it to you, and In the 1880s. after the Canadian gov- less than heartwarming. A typical re- so we will pass the years together. "When ernment began to suppress warfare be- sponse to a gift of a pot, for example, Lee tried to determine the exact ex- tween tribes, potlatching also became might be, " Where is the maize meal to go change values of various items(Is a spear substitute for battle. As a Kwakiutl man in this pot? " or, ""Don' t you have a bigger worth three strings of beads, two strings, once said to the anthropologist Franz one to give me!"To the Turkana, these or one?), Xoma explained that any return Boas, " The time of fighting is past..We are legitimate and expected questions. would be all right: " You see, we dont do not fight now with weapons: we fight The Mukogodo, another group of Ke- trade with things, we trade with people! with property. "The usual Kwakiutl word to gifts Beth Leech and I presented to reciprocal gift giving, known as kula, (as when one flattens a rival undera pile of hem during our fieldwork in 1986. Cloth- exists in a ring of islands off New Guinea. blankets), and the prospect of being given ing was never nice enough, containers Kula gifts are limited largely to shell a large gift engendered real fear. Still, the never big enough, tobacco and candies necklaces, called soulava, and armbands, Kwakiutl seemed to prefer the new"war never plentiful enough. Every gift horse called maali. A necklace given at one of wealth"to the old"war of blood was examined carefully, in the mouth and time is answered months or years later Gift giving has served as a substitute for elsewhere. Like the! Kung, the Muko- with an armband, the necklaces usually war in other societies, as well. Among the godo believe that all gifts have an element circulating clockwise, and the armbands Siuai, of the Solomon Islands, guests at of calculation, and they were right to counterclockwise, through the archi think that ours were no exception. We ago. Kula shells vary in quality and value, hosts are defenders, and invitations to needed their help, and their efforts to and men gain fame and prestige by having feasts are given on short notice in the their obligations to repay were as fair as necklaces or armbands. The shells also the Kwakiutl of British Columbia,the our attempts to get on their good side. gain value from their association with fa. Mount Hagen tribes of New Guinea a The idea that gifts carry obligations is mous and successful kula partners instilled early in life. When we gave Mu system of gift giving called woka as a way of hAm时时m2 goal is to become a tribal leader them of the tie: "Remember these white power to embarrass the recipient and to consisted of several hundred pigs,thou. orce repayment has, in some societies, sands of dollars in cash, some cows and candy "They also reinforced the notion made it attractive as a weapon. Such an- wild birds, a truck, and a motorbike. The the youngsters reluctantly surrendered of British Columbi ) aong te ahne late the recipient. "I have won. /ha yself. said to that gifts are meant to circulate, by asking tagonistic generosity reached its most donor, quite pleased with himself, said to their sweets, only to have them immedi. The kwakiutl were acutely conscious ately returned. A mother might take, at of status, and every tribal division, clat A though we tend not to recognize s such, the ethic of reciprocal gift most, a symbolic nibble from her child's and individual had a specific rank. D ving manifests itself throughout our candy, just to drive home the lesson The way food, utensils, and other I means of enormous ceremonies(which I peet something, even if only gratitude
and a sense of indebtedness, in exchange giving exists in modern societies, too- publicly welcomed in the United States ons in society. As in non-Western socie- present that cannot be repaid, coupled American prestige might cause a further kes gift giving in America sometimes with a claim of beneficence and omni- slip in our international status. Third a benevolent and helpful form; at science. The Johns Hopkins University World leaders also have complained that other times, the power of gifts to create anthropologist Grace Goodell docu- too much Japanese aid is targeted at cour obligations is used in a hostile wa mented one example in Iran's Khuzestan tries in which Japan has an economic The duke University anthropologist Province, which, because it contains most stake and that too much is restricted to Carol Stack found a robust tradition of be- of the country's oil fields and is next door the purchase of Japanese goods-that Ja nevolent exchange in an Illinois ghetto to Iraq, is a strategically sensitive area. pan's generosity has less to do with ad known as the Flats, where poor blacks Goodell focused on the World Bank- dressing the problems of underdeveloped Among residents of the Flats, wealth piece of the shah's ambitious "white revo. lems to its own advantuge g those prob. engage in a practice called swapping, funded Dez irrigation project, a show- countries than with exploiti comes in spurts: hard times are frequent lution"development plan, 'The scheme The danger in all of this is that wealth and unpredictable. Swapping, of clothe of tens of the natons n be competing for the food, furniture, and the like, is a way of sands of acres and the forced relocation of that comes from giving gifts at the ex- uaranteeing security, of making sure that people from their villages to new, model pense of Third World nations. With as- omeone will be there to help out when towns. According to Goodell, the purpose sistance sometimes being given with one is in need and that one will get a share behind dismantling local institutions was more regard to the donors'status than to of any windfalls that come alon to enhance central government control of the recipients'welfare, it is no surpris Such networks of exchange are not lim- the region. Before development, each that, in recent years, development aid of- ited to the poor, nor do they always in- Khuzestani village had been a miniature ten has been more effective in creating re volve objects, Just as the exchange of city-state, managing its own internal af- lationships of dependency, as in the case clothes creates a gift community in the fairs and determining its own relations of Irans Khuzestan irrigation scheme Flats, so the swapping of knowledge may with outsiders. In the new settlements, than in producing real development. Nor create one among scientists. Warren Hag. decisions were made by government bu- that, given the fine line between donation strom, a sociologist at the University of reaucrats, not townsmen, whose auton- and domination, offers of help are some Wisconsin, in Madison, has pointed out omy was crushed under the weight of a times met with resistance, apprehension that papers submitted to scientific jour- large and strategically placed gift and, in extreme cases, such as the iranian revolution, even violence no payment is received for them O a global scale, both the benevolent The Indians understood a gift's ambi ly are gifts. In contrast, article nd aggressive dimensions of gift alent power to unify, antagonize, or sub- ritten for profit--such as this one- giving are at work in superpower diplo. jugate, We, too, would do well to remem- ften are held in low esteem: scientific macy. Just as the kwakiutl were left only ber that a present can be a surprisingl status can be achieved only through giving with blankets with which to fight after potent thing, as dangerous in the hands of gifts of knowledge warfare was banned, the United States the ignorant as it is useful in the hands Recognition also can be traded upon, and the Soviet Union now find, with war of the wise.. tion that they are left ing networks by paying careful attention with gifts-called concessions-with LEE CRONK, an adjunct instructor of an to citations and acknowledgments. Like which to do battle. Offers of military cut. tropology at the university of cincinnati participants in kula exchange, they try to backs are easy ways to score points in the in Ohio, is writing a book about the prestigious articles, books, and institu- to shame rivals, and failure either to ac- natives of Kem Pategies of the mukogodo ssociate themselves with renowned and public arena of international opinion and ons. A desire for recognition, however, cept such offers or to respond with even cannot be openly acknowledged as a mo- more extreme proposals may be seen as vation for research, and it is a rare scien- cowardice or as bellicosity. Mikhail Gor PICTURE CREDITS tist who is able to discuss such desires bachev is a virtuoso, a master potlatcher, Gicrr: courtesy of Achim Moeller Fine Art, Ltd candidly. Hagstrom was able to find just in this new kind of competition, and, pre one mathematician (whom he described dictably, Americans often see his offers of by kevin Noble: pagr 6: courtesy of the Michael as"something of a social isolate")to con- disarmament and openness as gifts with lein Galler. New York: paes /f andl7-21: The firm that"junior mathematicians want long strings attached. One reason U.S recognition from big shots and, conse- officials were buoyed last December. quently, work in areas prized by them. when, for the first time since the Second 1989 Reunion des Muses Nationaux. Paris: paiges Hagstrom also points out that the in- World War, the Soviet Union accepted ability of scientists to acknowledge a American assistance, in the aftermath of New York: pagr 7. R/ desire for recognition does not mean that the Armenian earthquake, is that it key Robertson: page 29:Tate Gallery Publica such recognition is not expected by those seemed to signal a wish for reciprocity ns. London: Peyer 3< 35: courtesy nf the Bar- who offer gifts of knowledge, any morerather than ira Bathe than a kula trader believes it is all right if derstanding of the power of gifts to bind David tivate collection: courtesy of the Maxwell gift of a necklace with an armband. While Japan, faced with a similar desire to ex- Museo de Arte de Ponce.The Luis AFcr to reciprocate in New Guinean pand its influence, also has begun to Foledtio, (ne Puerto Rino 99 s r heibvate scientists it may cause factional- tions. In 1989, it will pend more than ten Inc, oger 44-45 and/ 4-19. allery, Buffalo: page 47, copyright 1989 ism and the creation of rivalries billion dollars on foreign aid, putting it Suthehy's, Inc. pgr 5/: collection of EdwardR. Whether in the Flats of Illinois or in the ahead of the United States for the secondDowne York: pag 5.3: cu halls of academia, swapping is, for the consecutive year as the world's greatest most part, benign But manipulative gift I donor nation. Although this move was lirk
