This essay departs from traditional anthropological views of exchange by focusing on the importance of wealth objects kept out of circulation by their owners. I examine the implications of such wealth through an analysis of New Zealand Maori valued objects, notably, woven cloaks and nephrite weapons and ornaments. Drawing on Marcel Mauss's notions of inalienable wealth, I enter the debates surrounding the meaning of the Maori hau, the spirit embedded in persons and things. I illustrate the significance of the hau in relation to the historical content of objects. [exchange, history, Mauss, Maori, wealth]
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Annette B. Weiner (1985) studied this question.