4
POLYGAMY OF CHIEFS
Monogamy is so much the rule among the Trobrianders, that our treatment of their marriage customs has, so far, assumed the existence of one wife only. In a way this is not misleading, since if a man has several wives, all that has been said refers to each union separately. But a few supplementary notes must be added on plurality of wives. Polygamy (vilayawa) is allowed by custom to people of higher rank or to those of great importance, such as, for instance, the sorcerers of renown. In certain cases, indeed, a man is obliged to have a great number of wives by virtue of his position. This is so with every chief, that is to say, every headman of high rank who exercises an over-rule in a more or less extended district. In order to wield his power and to fulfil the obligations of his position, he must possess wealth, and this in Trobriand social conditions is possible only through plurality of wives.
It is a very remarkable fact in the constitution of the tribe of which we are speaking, that the source of power is principally economic, and that the chief is able to carry out many of his executive functions and to claim certain of his privileges only because he is the wealthiest man in the community. A chief is entitled to receive tokens of high respect, to command observance and require services; he can ensure the participation of his subjects in war, in any expedition and in any festival; but he needs to pay
