ABSTRACT
The cycle of participation certainly must be taken into consideration and here we have to bear in mind the different conceptions as to what constitutes a man's personality. Here we see the importance of the cycle of participation which extends beyond the individual to the things most closely associated with him. On the Melanesian Island of Bougainville, a man's work and its produce are regarded as the supreme manifestation of his personality, inextricably
linked. with his authority. The same view certainly must have been current elsewhere. This would seem to explain the destruction of crops and fruit trees. Without doubt, the things most constantly associated with the dead in his lifetime, especially his garments and personal possessions, are 80 saturated with his personality that they are regarded as primarily identified with the deceased.
