Monikiniki is named in the Kula tradition as the source and first owner of the standard system of Kula magic (the mwasila), the spells that secure persuasion, beauty and success in overseas exchange. Malinowski records that no full narrative myth of Monikiniki survives, yet the whole body of ordinary Kula magic bears his name and is traced to him, making him the eponymous originator of the ritual technology on which the exchange between the Trobriands, the Amphletts and Dobu depends.