Ongka’s Big Moka Film

Ongka’s Big Moka Film RQ 1) Why does Ongka want to perform a Moka? What will he give as part of his Moka? Why does it take so long to pull off a Moka? -By giving his moka, Ongka will earn status and fame for his tribe and himself, he must overwhelm his fellow men with the size of his moka. His village was given a moka in the past and so now he is responsible for returning the moka but with interest -He will give 500-600 pigs, money, rare birds (cassowary), truck, decorating oil, and maybe a motorbike -The moka takes so long to pull off because it is very large and requires the cooperation of many people, but big men such as Ongka do not have any authority to order people around so he must result to persuasion. 2) How do leaders among the Kawelka—called “big men”—influence others to act? Do they have the authority to issue commands? What role do gifts play in influencing the actions of others? -Big men influence others to act by persuading them with speeches, telling them what they are supposed to be doing -The big men do not have authority to issue commands -Since one gains status by receiving gifts and then returning them with interest, the giving of gifts creates social obligations that influence the actions of others -Also, by Ongka giving his pigs to other people, he effectively stores pigs for his big moka because by accepting the pigs from him, the people become obligated to return the gift to him but with interest in the form of more pigs. He gives gifts to others which creates an obligation that they have towards him to raise pigs to reciprocate his gift 3) What are pigs good for?...pork? What are cassowaries good for? How do you achieve status and power in a society where there are no well-defined positions of authority? - - Pigs are everything to Ongka and his people, they are used for bridewealth (traded to the father of the girl you are marrying), and they are used for paying off troubles (if you kill someone, you pay their relatives in pigs to make the conflict go away) Cassowaries are a rare bird that are given as part of the moka only You gain status and power in society by having a large number of pigs which you can then give away in a showing of power/wealth 4) How do people make a living among the Kawelka? Why, then, do they need pigs? -people can survive without pigs but if they want to get married and move on with life, then you need pigs. They make a living through farming sweet potatoes that are eaten both by the people and used to feed the pigs. -All the materials for your house/clothing come from the forest or gardens, you only ever eat pigs on special occasions -People also grow coffee and sell it to the coffee companies nearby -You also need pigs because you gain status for you and your tribe by giving them away in large mokas 5) How does one save up pigs for Moka? Is it possible for Ongka to look after 100 or so pigs? Why not? What does he do instead? What does he need in order to look after even the dozens of pigs that are under his care? -One saves up pigs for a moka by giving them away in smaller mokas which are then returned to him with interest for the bigger moka, known as “Invest the pigs in other people” -it is not possible to look after/hoard a large number of pigs because its too much work and requires too much food -In order to look after the dozen pigs in his care he needs a wife/wives that will go out and feed them, the wives not Ongka are the ones who take care of and look after the pigs 6) Why must Ongka give his Moka? Why does he want his Moka to be larger? What would happen if he fails to reciprocate? -He has to give a moka because 10 years ago his village was given 400 pigs. He wants his moka to be larger because he is paying interest for the first moka. If he fails to reciprocate then everyone will think of Ongka as a person who doesnt keep his promises and he would feel ashamed. -He would not be able to gain status for himself and his village -Additionally, failing to reciprocate the moka his people were given could lead to violent conflict between Ongkas village and Perowa’s because Ongka’s village would have failed their obligation and thus Perowa’s village would be put in a higher position of status and power than Ongka’s 7) How are smaller Mokas and larger Mokas connected to one another over time? What is created through each of these Mokas? What sort of things stand in the way of Ongka achieving his big Moka? What skills must Ongka have to pull it off? -Small mokas and big mokas are connected together over time because the small mokas will make up the components of the big one. Obligations and social relations are created through each of these mokas. People not fulfilling their moka or being lazy/disobedient stand in the way. Ongka must be a very good motivator and speaker in order to pull it off. -Rival tribes also got in the way after they believed Ongka or a member of his tribe used magic to kill one of their big men -”Speech making is Ongkas great skill” 8) Mauss says of the Pacific Northwest potlatch that “what is noteworthy about these tribes is the principle of rivalry and hostility that prevails in these practices” (6). In what respect does Ongka’s big Moka have “an extremely marked agonistic (combative) character” (6)? In what respect is it self-interested? In what respect does it “create” society? How do self-interest and war-like aggression combine to produce society through the gift? -Moka isnt just about pigs, its about keeping the peace, making a name for yourself, and holding the tribe together. Moka is a system/framework that the society operates under. -Ongka's big moka is self interested because he wants to complete his moka bc he will get a very high social status if he can finish it. It creates society because it creates many social relationships and obligations between Ongka and his tribe members and creates a hierarchy based on one’s ability to give and receive gifts. Self interest and warlike aggression combine to produce society through a gift because of the obligations and rivalries. -The big moka is agonistic bc failure to give his moka would lead to conflict and even in attempting to gather it, he faced conflicts from people in his own village challenging his status as a big man and from rival villages Also it is agonistic because theres an inherent sense of competition that arises due to the fact that people are constantly competing to out do each other with the magnitude of the gifts they give -Self interest and war-like aggression combine to produce society through this gift because one feels motivated and also obligated by the gifts he receives because 1. He must return it with interest in order to gain social status and 2. Failure to reciprocate a moka leads to conflict bc the tribe who originally gave you a moka will react violently. Thus society is constructed upon a framework in which relationships between villages and between the people in the villages themselves are organized by ones ability to give larger and larger gifts. -Consequences of not giving back gifts: servitude, exile, or death