Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response to Colonialism by Gary Kildea

Review by: Annette B. Weiner

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AUDIOVISUALREVIEWS
EDITOR'S NOTE. All films listed are 16mm, in color, with optical sound in
English, unless otherwise specified. Distributors' addresses are listed at the end of
the Audiovisual Notes section.

Trobriand Cricket: An Ingenious Response rules and styles of play. Fortunately, this
to Colonialism. 1973. Director and anthro- limitation does not interfere with the film's
pological consultant, Jerry W. Leach. Film- significant anthropological contribution.
maker, Gary Kildea. 54 minutes. Rental $33, The film dramatically communicates the
purchase $515, from University of California message that the Trobriand version is not in
Extension Media Center. any sense a "primitive" game, nor is it a
sport benignly accepted in its foreign form.
Annette B. Weiner Rather, Trobriand cricket is seen as a sophis-
University of Texas, Austin ticated activity, thoughtfully and creatively
adapted by the local people, an adaptation
The exceptional vitality and power of this that reflects the importance of fundamental
film come from its ability to capture that cultural premises. From this perspective, the
which immediately strikes an observer of film has value for beginning anthropology
Trobriand society, the forceful and con- students as well as those noncricket initiates
fident selfimage that every Trobriand man, for whom the fact that recently British
woman, and child projects. For the Tro- women were permitted to swing their cricket
brianders, there is nothing unique about bats at Lord's in London would not be an
playing to the camera. In cultural terms, impressive news item. (Unfortunately,
Trobrianders play to each other throughout Trobriand women did not escape the tradi-
their lives. Therefore, what the camera re- tional male-dominated British game and they
veals is actually a play within a play with the have not yet invaded the playing field.)
camera itself as much a part of the From the first moment of Trobriand
Trobriand cultural game as the Trobriand Cricket the camera repeatedly catches the
cricket match the camera lens so sensitively exuberance and pride displayed by everyone
frames. associated with the game. The players are
The film is a reconstruction of a cricket concerned not just with scoring well, but
match (a point curiously deemphasized by with conveying the full meaning of who they
the filmmakers) specifically enacted for the are. From the individual application of face
camera team by the members of a local paint in preparation for the game, to the
political movement, who, at the time of team chanting of "rude" songs, and to
filming (1973) were seeking an ascendant chorus line dancing between the innings,
role in Trobriand politics. At the present there is little doubt that each player is
time, 1976, the movement is in serious playing for his own importance, for the fame
financial and political difficulties. But cur- of his team, for the attractive young women
rent politics aside, the cricket match was put watching the game (in a village-sponsored
on by villagers who saw the film as an match, hundreds of women would be in
opportunity to enhance their own renown in attendance as spectators), and in this case,
other parts of Papua New Guinea. Thus the for the camera crew. When a group of elders
film itself stands as an example of "an describe the way villagers were determined
ingenious response" to the potential of to "rubbish" (i.e., throw out) the British
Western media. game and make cricket into a Trobriand
Trobriand Cricket documents the trans- contest, their words speak of cricket, but the
formations of the staid, traditional British camera beautifully communicates to us the
game of cricket, introduced by missionaries unique strength and resilency of these
at the turn of the century, into the political- people in the face of European dominating
ly powerful, sensuously aesthetic present influences.
Trobriand version. Despite the first few The weakest part of the film (the result
frames describing British cricket playing, of circumstances rather than the fault of the
unless the viewer has some knowledge of the filmmakers) is the footage showing the
original game, it will probably be difficult to competitive feast (kayasa) held on the day
assess all the specific Trobriand innovative following the match. Because the cricket

506
 AUDIO VISUAL REVIEWS 507

game was sponsored for the film, the feast is at numerous points. The great differences
reconstructed also. What is not captured in between one system and another, and the
the reconstruction is the dimension of the enormous complexity of a system such as
transactions that actually occur following a that of the Hanun6o, are never given their
round of village matches. Live pigs, huge due. We are told that nutrients are not
amounts of yams, betel nuts, and taro stored in the soil, that dense vegetation is a
puddings are presented by the host village means of storing nutrients that would other-
with as much spectacle as the games them- wise be lost, and that, with burning, potash
selves produce. This enormous distribution is and phosphorous remain in the fine ash, but
the real political game (mwasawa) under- that nitrogen is lost. All of this is, to a large
lying all the rounds of matches and it is extent, accurate, but needs qualification.
unfortunate that the exchange activities in The statement that most swidden crops are
the film appear inconsequential in com- planted vegetatively, not from seed over-
parison with an actual kayasa feast. looks the importance of crops such as maize,
Sixty years ago, Bronislaw Malinowski beans, squash, and rice in many slash and
observed Trobriand cricket (Coral Gardens, burn systems. Finally, the commentator says
I, pp. 211-213). In 1950, Harry A. Powell that, as long as the amount of land and the
also watched the game and noted the way amount of people are in balance, the system
precolonial warfare activities were in- can be continued indefinitely. No one can
corporated almost item for item into the argue with the basic validity of such a
local version (The Listener, Sept. 4, 1952, statement. It does, however, need consider-
pp. 384-385). In the 1970s cricket still able amplification and clarification.
remains culturally significant. Through the The photography is adequate, although
efforts of Jerry W. Leach and Gary Kildea, not outstanding. Overall, the movie may be
the sport comes alive for us as a powerful useful for introductory anthropology stu-
example of a determined, positive response dents who have no knowledge of tropical
to European influences. One hopes that now systems, but because it is simplistic many
and in the future, the Trobriand response to specific statements and illustrations will raise
the problems of Independence will be as objections or questions on the part of the
strong and as ingenious. instructor. It will be his task to fill in the
missing material. But the treatment of the
subject is positive. Slash and burn is pre-
Slash and Burn Agriculture. 1975. Produced sented as a well adapted system for small
by B and C Films. Written and photographed populations living in humid tropical lands.
by Brian Weiss and James Ward. 16 minutes.
Rental $25, purchase $225, from B and C
Films. Dineh: The People (a Portrait of the
Navajo). 1974-76. Produced and written by
William E. Carter Jonathan R. Reinis; Co-Directed by J. R.
University of Florida Reinis and Stephen Hornick. 77 minutes.
Rental $100, purchase $800 (Native Ameri-
This film offers a simple introduction to can Indian groups should apply for special
one of the oldest, most widespread, and least prices), from Western World Productions.
understood methods of cultivating land. It is
a method that, in the words of the film's David F. Aberle
commentator, combines technological sim- University of British Columbia
plicity with ecological complexity.
While it is good that the focus of this film Jonathan Reinis's unusual and fascinating
is on a single group, the Miskito Indians of film provides rich information about the
Eastern Nicaragua, it is unfortunate that the contemporary Navajo situation and its com-
Miskito have only a poorly developed system plexities, thereby illuminating several general
of slash and burn. For example, their criteria problems of North American Indians. What
for selecting a plot are said to be simply the is most remarkable is that almost the entire
size of the trees, the thickness of the commentary is by protagonists, most of
underbrush, and the condition of the soil. them English-speaking Navajos. The film
The commentator states that 75 hours are centers on Peterson Zah, the head of the
needed to clear an average one acre plot, but Navajo legal aid program (DNA), young,
fails to break this down into various input thoroughly aware of Navajo problems and
activities. The estimate seems low. Moreover, possibilities, a spokesman for traditional
steel axes, machetes, and hoes are used, values, and a skilled fighter for Navajo rights.
indicating the Miskito's dependency on He does most of the explaining. Other
Western industrial technology. commentators include Henry Zah (Peter-
The filmmakers' desire for simplicity son's father); Taylor McKenzie (the only
makes the commentary of dubious accuracy Navajo physician), who discusses problems