KASTOM

Pijin word used to refer to traditional culture, including religeon, economics, art and majik in the Pacific islands.
The term is the gernerally accepted anthropology term to describe such phenomenon as well as the common and lay term used in everyday language.
The word derives from the English ''custom'' but crosses meanings that incorporate:

★ Custom (law) or customary law,

★ Norm (sociology),

★ Convention (norm) and

★ Tradition
It is consistent in spelling across most of the many variations in pidjin and pisin across the Pacific.
Kastom is mostly not written ponly passed down through teachings and stories. It is concentrated through:

★ Kastom House - sites where objects and rituals are stored.

★ Kastom stories - myths, legends and communcal histories.

★ ritual objects - objects of special power, significance and symbolism.

Contents

Sources

Vanuatu

Sources

Vanuatu

Women of the Place: Kastom, Colonialism, and Gender in Vanuatu By Margaret Jolly
See also customary land