Who are the Trobriand Islanders and what are their sexual practices?

The Trobriand Islands are an archipelago of coral atolls off the east coast of New Guinea with about 12,000 indigenous residents. They are part of the nation of Papua New Guinea. The Trobrianders have an egalitarian, matrilineal culture with complex customs of food exchange and unusual mating and marriage customs for which they have become famous. In the Trobriand Islands, premarital sex is encouraged and young people pursue multiple sexual partners soon after puberty. There is no formal marriage ceremony. A couple begins courtship by spending significant time together and the girl’s mother formalizes her family’s approval by bringing the couple yams to eat. Once the girl moves to the boy’s house and they eat together regularly they are considered to be married. Divorce is also easy and informal. The Trobriand Islands and their residents became well known when Bronislaw Malinowksi published a series of books about them that are considered pioneering classics in the field of cultural anthropology. One of those books, The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia, focused specifically on the culture’s marriage, family and sexual practices. The title was not considered derogatory when it was published in 1929.

Trobriand Islanders and their Sexual Practices
According to Weiner (1988), Trobriand Islanders, are residents of the east coast of New Guinea, in the province known as Milne Bay in the nation of Papua New Guinea. Weiner (1988) adds that these people are subsistence horticulturalists and speak an Austronesian language known as Kilivila, which has many dialects. Sexual practices of the Trobriand Islanders include having children as young as seven and/or eight years old to engage one another in playing erotic games that imitate adults’ sexual seduction. These Trobriand Islanders change their sexual partners freely and have in fact been dubbed by the Daily Mail as the world’s free love community (Styles, 2014). Styles (2014), also explains that virginity has no value for Trobriand Islanders. Their free and idyllic sex practices however, do not extend to outsiders. To get sexual favors, a man is supposed to give presents to his wife. They also do not hold marriage ceremonies, instead, a marriage is recognized when the woman stays in her lover’s house and does not leave before sunrise. After a year, a woman may get separated if she is not happy, or if the man chooses another bride.


References
Styles, R. (2014). Inside the Trobriand Islands, the world's original free love community. (2014). Mail Online. Retrieved 26 August 2018, from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2627148/Inside-worlds-original-free-love-community-Trobriand-Islanders-change-spouses-want-dedicated-love-huts-settle-differences-game-cricket.html
Weiner, A. B. (1988). The Trobrianders of Papua New Guinea. Wadsworth Publishing Company.

The people of the Trobriand Islands live mostly on four islands east of Papua, New Guinea: Kiriwina, Kaileuna, Vakuta and Kitava. Their name derives from Denis de Trobriant, a European visitor who came there on a 1793 expedition. Around 12,000 islanders live there today in matrilineal clans.
Trobriands have very liberal sexual practices and no social prohibitions on premarital sex. Young people become sexually active in their early teens and are encouraged to change partners frequently; this applies to girls and boys alike. Villages offer a hut called a bukumatula where teenagers are encouraged to engage in sex.
Marriages are considered consummated when the couple eats a meal (of yams) together after the girl's parents have received a gift from the boy's parents.