Rossel Islanders and Wanggulam Lani

Contrasting forms of social inequality

Abstract

This paper compares social inequality in the Melanesian societies of the Rossel Islanders and the Wanggulam Lani. As regards the Rossel Islanders, I rely on the ethnography of John Liep. For the Wanggulam Lani I use my own research among them. The comparison shows how, in these two societies, men ac-quired prestige and power in different ways: on Rossel Island by prominence in transactions in wealth items, and among the Wanggulam Lani by warriorhood and leadership in war.