Understand
Ever since the anthropologist Bronislaw Malinowski wrote about the courtship and marriage ritual of Trobriand Islanders in the 1920s, in books such as âThe Sexual Life of Savages in North-Western Melanesiaâ, these islands have been visited by men hoping to be dragged into the bushes by topless, grass-skirted girls, particularly during the yam harvest when there is said to be a tradition that couples are permitted to have a fling with others.Although not easy to get to, the âIslands of Loveâ attract a steady stream of visitors for other reasons too. The Trobriands, which is part of the Kula Ring, have a matrilineal culture that revolves around cultivation of the yam; a unique version of the game of cricket, originally introduced by Methodist missionaries; together with white sand beaches, coral lagoons and rainforest. Most of the population of 12,000 lives on the main island of Kiriwina. Other major islands are Kaileuna, Vakuta and Kitava.
Tourism is less than it has been in the past, due to reduced air services, with the main national airline, Air Niugini, no longer flying there. Sources of cash income are few and the islanders rely to a great extent on remittances from family members working in Port Moresby and Alotau.
