Cultural and cognitive aspects of string figure-making in the Trobriand Islands

Abstract

The practice of string figure-making has long been carried out in many societies, and particularly in those of oral tradition. It consists in producing geometrical forms with a loop of string, using mostly the fingers, and sometimes the wrists, the mouth or the feet. This article deals with some of this practice’s cultural and cognitive aspects in the Trobriand Islands, Papua New Guinea. Various ethnographical sources suggest that string figures are (or were) subject to ritual prescriptions, and performed for their ritual efficacy in relation to the fertility of gardens. Besides being a popular recreational activity, often accompanied by a recitative, string figure-making in the Trobriands can also be seen as a specific way to talk about sexuality, and as a memory support to remind people of social obligations or of particular stories or events.