Myth, Primogeniture and Long Distance Trade-Friends in Northwest New Britain, Papua New Guinea‪.‬

If the trade networks in New Britain, Papua New Guinea, were linked together in the manner of joining the dots to form an image, what would emerge is a picture of an extensive web of trade-friendships that directly or indirectly connect all of New Britain and its offshore island clusters. My focus here is on the non-specialist, non-institutionalized networks of trade-friendships among the 1500 Bariai speakers in the Bariai district and with whom I have conducted ethnographic field research. (1) I locate the Bariai within the extensive trade network of northwest New Britain to focus on how individual trade-friendships are integral to the achievement and demonstration of personal renown within the context of firstborn ceremonies, particularly, the mata pau or 'new eye.' This Bariai firstborn ceremony necessitates the planning and execution of long-distance voyages to introduce the firstborn child to its parents' trade-friends. The achievement of the mata pau enhances parental prestige and renown, teaches their firstborn the etiquette of trade-friendships, and familiarizes the firstborn with those trade-friend relationships he or she will inherit. While the quest to acquire prestige and renown requires numerous others, it is ultimately a personal achievement. I contend that Bariai trade-friendships are, in tact, relations between individual women and men (and their spouses) rather than kin groups or communities. (2) Although couched in an idiom of kinship, trade-friendships entail different, albeit parallel, sets of rights, obligations and motivations from those operating among consanguinal and affinal exchange partners. I discuss the tenacity of northwest coastal New Britain trading networks and their continuing importance into the contemporary postcolonial era. During the extensive drought of 1982-83 and subsequent food shortages, it was the web of trade-friendships that constituted the social safety net in societies with no institutionalized social welfare system. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]