The Trobriand Islands are a 170 mi² archipelago of coral atolls off the eastern coast of New Guinea. They are situated in Milne Bay Province in Papua New Guinea. Most of the population of 12,000 indigenous inhabitants live on the main island of Kiriwina, which is also the location of the government station, Losuia. Other major islands in the group are Kaileuna, Vakuta and Kitava. An archipelago is a landform which consists of a chain or cluster of islands. ... Milne Bay is a province of Papua New Guinea. ...

The group is considered to be an important tropical rainforest ecoregion in need of conservation.

The people of the area are mostly subsistence horticulturalists who live in traditional settlements. The social structure is based on matrilineal clans who control land and resources. People participate in the regional circuit of exchange of shells called kula, sailing to visit trade partners on sea-going canoes. In the late twentieth century, anti-colonial and cultural autonomy movements gained followers from the Trobriand societies. Insert non-formatted text hereInsert non-formatted text hereInsert non-formatted text here Like most farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa, this Cameroonian man cultivates at the subsistence level. ... Matrilineality is a system in which one belongs to ones mothers lineage; it may also involve the inheritance of property or titles through the female line. ... Look up Kula in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This page is about the ceremonial exchange system Kula. ...

The first European visitor to the islands was the French ship Espérance in 1793. The islands were named by navigator Bruni d'Entrecasteaux after his first lieutenant, Denis de Trobriand. In the early 20th century, as the British colonial regime extended its influence and control throughout Papua, the southern portion of New Guinea, Losuia station was established and remained an important center for colonial police officers, traders and missionaries. As World War I began, Bronislaw Malinowski came to Papua and ultimately to the Trobriands to begin an in-depth immersive study of a non-western culture. His descriptions of the Kula exchange system, gardening, magic and sexual practices, all classics of modern anthropological writing, prompted many foreign researchers to visit the societies of the island group and study other aspects of their cultures. In 1943, troops landed on the islands as a part of Operation Cartwheel, the Allied advance to Rabaul. In the 1970s, some indigenous peoples formed anti-colonial associations and political movements. 1793 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... Antoine Raymond Joseph de Bruni DEntrecasteaux (1739–1793) was a French navigator who explored the Australian coast in 1792 while seeking traces of the lost expedition of La Pérouse. ... (19th century - 20th century - 21st century - more centuries) Decades: 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s As a means of recording the passage of time, the 20th century was that century which lasted from 1901–2000 in the sense of the Gregorian calendar (1900–1999 in the... Papua is: Another name for New Guinea Papua (Australian territory): A former Australian territory comprising the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea, now the southern part of Papua New Guinea Papua (Indonesian province): An Indonesian province comprising the western half of the island of New Guinea Related Words... For the Olympic champion athlete see Bronislaw Malinowski (athlete). ... Look up Kula in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This page is about the ceremonial exchange system Kula. ... The eastern part of the Territory of New Guinea, and the northern Solomon Islands; the area in which Operation Cartwheel took place, from June 1943. ... Space Radar Image of Rabaul Volcano Rabaul was the capital of East New Britain province, on New Britain Island, Papua New Guinea until 1994. ...

Books by Malinowski about the Trobriands

• Argonauts of the Western Pacific (1922)
• The Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesia (1929).
• Coral Gardens and their Magic (1935).

External link

• Trobriand Islands Online
• Sorcery and Seduction The Art of Influence in the Trobriands - A travel story about the Trobriands by Roderick Eime