I'll show you mine...

To many Papua New Guineans, yams aren't just a funny-shaped vegetable. In the Maprik area of East Sepik Province and Massim in Milne Bay Province on the Trobriand Islands, yams have a ceremonial function and are grown for their size rather than taste. In these locations they are the only tropical tuber that can be easily stored, and are usually kept in special yam houses. These vegies are a ritual in themselves, a sign of prestige, an indicator of expertise and a tie between villages and clans. The quality and size of your yam is a matter of considerable importance. Hours pass in discussing your ability as a grower of yams, and to be known as tokwaibagula (a good gardener) is a mark of huge prestige and ability.

The yam cult reaches fever pitch at harvest time, when the yams are dug up and displayed, studied and admired. When the precious cargo is carried back to the village by the men, the women come along too to guard the procession. Back at the village, the yams are again displayed before being stored in the yam houses. While the houses are built by the men of the village, it is the responsibility of their wives' families to keep the yam house full.

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