Trobriand people

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The people of the Trobriand Islands are mostly subsistence horticulturalists who live in traditional settlements. Their social structure is based on matrilineal clans that control land and resources. People participate in the regional circuit of exchange of shells called kula, sailing to visit trade partners on seagoing canoes. In the late 20th century, anti-colonial and cultural autonomy movements gained followers from the Trobriand societies. When colonial rulers forbade inter-group warfare, the islanders developed a unique, aggressive form of cricket.

Although reproduction and modern medicine is widely understood in Trobriand society, their traditional beliefs have been remarkably resilient. For example, the real cause of pregnancy is believed to be a baloma, or ancestral spirit, that enters the body of a woman, and without which a woman cannot become pregnant; all babies are made or come into existence (ibubulisi) in Tuma. These tenets form the main stratum of what can be termed popular or universal belief. In the past, many held this traditional belief because the yam,^[specify] a major food of the island, included chemicals (phytoestrogens and plant sterols) whose effects are contraceptive, so the practical link between sex and pregnancy was not very evident.^{[dubious – discuss][better source needed][1]}