In 2001 I again wore the Waina wiasi, during a ceremony in which I gave money to help   construct a new village school.  This is described in “Queen of the Night,” but since that piece is “creative” non fiction it does not reveal the entire situation, which is that my contribution was matched by two other anthropologists (Jill Nash and Jonathan Friedlaender).  I was the one who carried the first share of money to Pomalate village, so I got the ceremony. 

Interestingly, the custom of wearing flower garlands, roughly equivalent to the lei of Hawai’i, arrived on Bougainville some time during my absence.  It was never seen in the late sixties and early seventies.  Culture is nowhere static!

This image is taken from video; the videographer was Joe Musa, of Pomalate.