John Tyman's
Cultures in Context Series
Torembi and the Sepik
A Study of Village Life in New Guinea
PART TWO:  FOOD PRODUCTION
Introduction
Topic No. 5: Collecting Sago
www.johntyman/sawos
.
Click for full-screen images.
051. The way of life of people in some parts of PNG… notably in towns…has changed significantly in recent decades; but over 80% of the population still live in villages like this, and most still obtain their food using techniques that have remained essentially unchanged for hundreds, possible thousands of years.
..
052. There are commercial plantations in the highlands, but on the Sepik plains the emphasis still is on small subsistence enterprises in which the producer merely aims to feed his, or her, own family.
.
053. Many different kinds of food can be found in the Torembi region, but sago is the best known and it is also the most important.  It is obtained from the trunks of sago palms like this.
.
054. Harvesting sago here is women’s work, as is most work in New Guinea, even today.  Women typically scrape sago twice, or may be three times, a week … getting enough on each occasion to feed their families for 2 or 3 days.
.
055. They must first walk to that part of the swamp where their husband’s clan has the right to collect sago, and some hike an hour each way, carrying the necessary tools. The axe is used to cut down the tree, the bush knife (or machete) is used to tidy up along the trunk, and the metal-tipped scrapers are used to pulverise the interior. The coconut matting is used to separate sago powder from the surrounding fibres, and the string bag is used to carry home the fruits of a day’s work.
.
056. The first thing the woman has to do is chop down the tree, which will typically be between one half and three-quarters of a metre in diameter.
.
057. She then removes some of the bark, wedging it beneath the trunk to provide a place on which to sit. 
.
058. To break up the log, she will pound it with her scraper for hours on end, singing as she works … to maintain a steady rhythm.
.
059. Women work in pairs, when they can trust their neighbour to keep up the pace:  but the strongest women often work alone.
.
060. Eventually the whole trunk, or at least that day's portion, is reduced to a hollow shell. 
.
061. The remainder will then be covered up to keep pigs away till she returns later in the week to finish it off.
.
062. Some sections may be left to rot, however, to encourage the growth of sago grubs, which will themselves be harvested eventually… and packaged for sale at a local market.
.
063. The fibres loosened by scraping are full of sago starch in powder form, and to separate this off, the women will have built a washing platform close by.
.
064. A load of fibre is first dumped into the trough, which is made from the base of a palm frond; and water is added using a ladle. 
.
065. This mixture is then squeezed against a strainer made from coconut matting.  The water is forced through, carrying the finely-powdered sago with it.  It runs into a collecting basin formed from the sheaths that protect new growth, where, as the water slows down, the powder sinks to the bottom.
.
066. There are several levels to this silt trap.  Most of the sago collects in the lowest one as the water runs from one level to the next, getting slower all the time.
.
067. The fibres, once washed, are thrown to one side; and, as they decompose, will often support a rich growth of mushrooms …  as well as attracting wild pigs which are killed by men hiding in the bush close-by.
.
068. When they’ve collected enough sago for that day, the women will empty out the silt trap.  The wet powder is dumped into a string bag lined with leaves.
.
069. As the women carry this home, much of the water will drain away, yielding a large block of compressed sago powder; Some will go to the market but most will end up as pancakes … some for human consumption, others eaten by pigs.
.
070. Occasionally a team of women, usually related clan members, will band together to raise funds for a community project. 
.
071. In this case they felled a large tree and scraped it in unison, singing as they worked … to ensure a common rhythm.
.
072. Other women carried the sago to the riverbank some 20 metres distant, where a series of washing platforms had been built the day before. Water was readily available from the river.
.
073. The women worked in teams. Some scraped, other carried the sago away, and others washed it.
.
074. As there was plenty of space available on the riverbank and no shortage of water, most of the washing platforms had collecting basins in a line instead of on top of each other (as they would have been in the swamp) and a great deal of sago was processed that day. (Also see video extracts 03 to 05)


Back to Cultures in Context Intro: Photos & Recordings


Text, photos and recordings by John Tyman
Intended for Educational Use Only.
Copyright Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford University, 2010.
Contact Dr. John Tyman for more information regarding licensing.

www.hillmanweb.com
Photo processing, Web page layout, formatting, and complementary research by
William Hillman ~ Brandon, Manitoba ~ Canada