Trobriand Cricket

In my life, sports have been a cornerstone where I have found friends, competition, prestige and honor. For the Trobrianders, the game of cricket provides a source of similar outcomes. Introduced by Fiji missionaries in hopes of diminishing war and witchcraft, cricket soon became heavily rooted in these two Trobriand practices. When villagers played against the missionaries, the Trobrianders thought that they won because the missionaries were not allowed to use magic. The game, originally intended to be for eleven gentlemen, turned into a villiagewide extravaganza. However many men wanted to play, played. The outcome is mostly determined by whose magic is the strongest that day, and similar to the beliefs of many Americans, the fans (and in the Trobriands, their magic) have an influence on the game.
Similar to American fans taunting a strikeout batter or a pitcher who just had a homerun hit, the Trobrianders on the opposing team break into song or dance. While some of these dances are sexual (or even about Australian P.K. gum!), most seem to be taunting the opposite team. Even the team names have an effect on the introductions that they have or the chants that they use, very similar to the Bulls who have a bull mascot and chants that the crowd yells relating to their team name. While the influence of magic, and lack of stringent rules on the game seem a bit different from American competitive games, overall, I saw many connections between the two cultures. It is fascinating to see that on the outside our two cultures seem light-years apart, we both adopt similar styles of competitive play.