THE SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION OF CARD PLAYING AMONG THE DAULO

Abstract

While most Daulo people in Eastern Highlands Province, Papua New Guinea gamble at cards, there is disagreement about the acceptability of this activity. Organized opposition to card‐playing comes from two sources that, in other contexts, are at odds with each other: the wok meri (‘women's work‘) movement and the Village Court. Both criticize card‐playing as individualistic, economically unproductive, and unpredictable. Gambling at cards contributes to differences in individual wealth and the Daulo are ambivalent about inequality. While they strongly approve of competition, they believe that it should be harnessed for the good of the group, not just the individual. The tension between these sometimes conflicting values is expressed by the polarity of Daulo people's strong attraction to card games and the organized opposition that gambling elicits from wok meri and the Village Court.

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