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