THE CHANGING CONTEXT OF CARD PLAYING ON MALO,VANUATU

The paper examines data from Malo Island (Natamambo), Vanuatu on the playing of Last Card, a form of Crazy Eights that was widely enjoyed there prior to Independence. It argues that card games can serve as a foil for events in society-at-large and that, in the present case, Last Card acted as a vehicle for tensions about the insecure land tenure situation and local politics. Since Independence, in 1980, the nature of many interpersonal tensions has changed and the game does not resonate to these new conflicts. The role of kava drinking in this new situation is discussed.