Ongka's Big Moka

Ongka's Big Moka: The Kawelka of Papua New Guinea is a 1970s documentary film, part of Granada Television's Disappearing World Series which ran from 1969–1993.

[2] The film follows Ongka's struggles to accumulate huge numbers of pigs and other items of value to present at a Moka ceremony to another tribe.

This scene is one of the highlights of the film along with extraordinary footage of a neighboring "Big Man's" funeral and his tribe's reaction to his death and its probable causes.

This film has become a staple in college anthropology programs, in part because of its study of Ongka himself, but also due to its excellent illustration of gift-based economies as well as an example of the role of Big Men.

When the Moka finally did occur, it comprised a huge gift of 600 pigs, $10,000 Australian dollars, 12 cassowaries, eight cows, a motorbike and a pick-up truck.