The Kawelka are very forthright about the fact that the Moka is a political event with specific aims of raising status, intimidating enemies, and securing allies. Preparing a Moka is an arduous and time-consuming task that is not undertaken lightly and then only by the “big-men”

Vastly different as shown above, yet the two celebrations are remarkably similar in design. The Kawelka use pigs, trucks, money, feathers and other adornments and gifts to secure allies for future wars and sooth tensions with enemies and intimidate them at the same time. All the while improving the name and status of their own tribe. The Nacirema use money, gifts, food and decoration to impress the right people and intimidate others. Always hoping to improve their position in the flux and flow of society. Both groups are will go to great personal expensive and experience turmoil to achieve these objectives.

The more unusual the more memorable, and as long as the memories are pleasant the more likely people are going to respect you more. Which, although in speech it may be clouded as entertaining guests or pleasing family, respect and status are seen as the underlying goals. The Nacirema use their parties to show favoritism, anger, and to influence those that can help them succeed.

Christmas with the Nacirema – festivities for this occasion center around the last month of the year and include great fanfare, pomp and circumstance. Among the upper class of the Nacirema (a version of a big-man) Christmas has become as political as most other social gatherings, even though it began as a religious holiday for the culture. The parties have become more grandiose and the attendees more formal. Where once you would find family and close friends you may now observe business colleagues, employers, and members of society that may help your own social/political status. More and more members of the Nacirema are spending extravagantly and to extremes that they cannot support, causing greater and greater debts. “You can’t just throw a little party! You have to show everyone that you are willing to make sure they have a good time; otherwise they go somewhere else. That costs money” (Interview with Sarah*, 10/18/01). Even within families the need to supply larger and larger celebration activities can overtake the spirit of the holiday.

On the surface the differences between the Moka and Christmas seem immense and overwhelming. On the surface they are. It is only when one looks deeper into the cultural forces driving both events that the similarities become evident. Those similarities take the form of social and political ties, which are the very basic building blocks of any society. The need to relate to others and impress those around you is a driving force that affects everyone, everywhere, at one point or another. The hig

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