Trobriand Islands

The Trobriand Islands are a flat coral group northeast of Milne Bay whose society became famous through the fieldwork of Bronisław Malinowski, who spent the First World War here and founded modern anthropology on what he found. The kula ring, an exchange of shell valuables that circulates between islands in fixed directions, still operates. Yams are the measure of wealth and are stored in painted houses more elaborate than the ones people live in. The harvest festival in July brings competitive dancing and cricket played by island rules. Flights are irregular and accommodation is very simple.