The thought of child marriage or sexual abuse on children always elicits a shocking people from people, especially in civilized nations. However, not everyone thinks the age of consent should be above 18.
The Trobriander Tribe from Papua, New Guinea are a major example as they embrace sexuality from an astonishingly young age. Boys s
tart engaging in sexual activity from the age of 10-12, while the girls start from 6 years. This shocking custom may as well be considered illegal in several parts of the world.
However, the reverse is the case for the Trobrianders of the Trobriand island who reside in the Kiriwina island, one of the largest in the archipelago.
They still maintain their ways of life and are into fishing and agriculture. Despite the attempts of various countries to introduce new religions and colonise them via their limited contact with foreign nations, they have resisted change.
Perhaps, this is a good thing as their methods for conflict resolution remains unpolluted by the violence in foreign cultures. Whenever there i
s a dispute to settle, instead of getting into a war, they engage in a game of crickets, that is, people are war employ players who use bats and balls until there is a winner.
Numbering about 12,000, their villages are divided into small groups of 2-6 families and they reside in thatched homes to avoid flooding during the rainy seasons.
Because of how small they are, everyone is familiar with each other. Marriage between maternal family is forbidden, hence people interested in each other get marrie
d to their paternal relatives. Besides this, they are prevented from getting married to people from outside their village.
However, the most interesting aspect of this culture is how early the boy and girls start becoming sexually active. From as early as six to 13, boys and girls are encouraged to sleep with each other.
Hence, they are taught erotic and intimate games. To show their interest, they offer their currency, a tuber of yam, to their intended partner. They go into a special hut called the “bukumatula”. When she stays there until sunrise, it is assumed that they are married. Her mother brings cooked yams which they eat.
For those who want to look more attractive, they can resort to love and beauty magic. Around this age, girls wear shells waist decorations to show their social class. The shells can contain “magi
c” to attract men.
