Dzamalag was a form of ritualised ceremonial exchange or

barter In trade, barter (derived from ''baretor'') is a system of exchange in which participants in a transaction directly exchange goods or services for other goods or services without using a medium of exchange, such as money. Economists disti ...

ing practised by the

Kunwinjku people The Kunwinjku (formerly written Gunwinggu) people are an Australian Aboriginal people, one of several groups within the Bininj people, who live around West Arnhem Land to the east of Darwin, Northern Territory. Kunwinjku people generally refer t ...

of Western Arnhem Land in northern Australia. As described by the anthropologist

Ronald Berndt Ronald Murray Berndt (14 July 1916 – 2 May 1990) was an Australian social anthropologist who, in 1963, became the inaugural professor of anthropology at the University of Western Australia. He and his wife Catherine Berndt maintained a close ...

in 1951, a dzamalag ritual would include dancing, singing, and the exchange of sexual favours and goods (especially tobacco) between the trading groups. In David Graeber's '' Debt: The First 5,000 Years'', he connects this phenomenon with "the myth of barter", or the argument that bartering was not the predominant method of exchange in ancient or prehistoric societies. Barter was really only used when dealing with strangers, or with those you could not trust to establish long-term (often credit) relations with. The Kunwinjku people practised Dzamalag when they wished to exchange items with another

moiety Moiety may refer to: Chemistry * Moiety (chemistry), a part or functional group of a molecule ** Moiety conservation, conservation of a subgroup in a chemical species Anthropology * Moiety (kinship), either of two groups into which a society is ...

or party. An example of dzamalag held in the 1940s shows the main exchange being serrated spears and European cloth.

Sources

*{{cite book, first=David , last=Graeber, title=Debt: The First 5,000 Years, year=2011, isbn=978-1-933633-86-2, publisher=Melville House *Gudeman, Stephen (2001). "The anthropology of economy: community, market, and culture," Blackwell Publishing, p. 124-5. *Oliver, Douglas L. (1989). "Oceania: the native cultures of Australia and the Pacific Islands, Volume 1",

University of Hawaii A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...

Press, p. 514. Australian Aboriginal cultural history Arnhem Land