Sago Areas (sanawang)
Sago palms are planted around multiple creeks and swamp areas near Limol village. Sago is not planted in other gardens unless the area is beside a creek. Swamps are never created for the purpose of cultivating sago (W. Warama, G. Pewe, and K. Kidarga, p.c.). Sago areas are called sanawang /sanawaŋ/. The sago in these areas belong to those in the village with historic ties to Limol. Most sago palms that are used for food are planted specifically for this purpose. Wild sago are called du sana /du sana/. These sago were “not planted by human beings and there since the world beginning.”
|
Sago varieties are named and there are about 20 different names for sago grown and consumed around Limol village. These names may correspond with as many as 20 distinct varieties, or they may reflect different names by people from nearby villages. Sago varieties are differentiated by characteristics including spinescence, pith color and texture, leaf shape, and plant size.
Sago suckers (däm /dəm/ or käng /kəŋ/) are planted by digging a hole with a large stick (ibek /ibek/), partially filling the hole with organic matter like tree leaves and short sticks, and then covering the sucker with soil (W. Warama, G. Pewe, and K. Kidarga, p.c.). The area around the planting is cleared of trees and grass to minimize fire damage risk and is maintained before the start of the dry season every year. Sticks are placed around a new planting to prevent it from being dug up by wild pigs. Planting occurs every year and only during the wet season (J. Ben Danipa and K. Dobola, p.c.).
Families often find different creeks for planting sago to avoid ownership disputes. People will mark their creek area to indicate that it belongs to someone, often by planting a yure /jure/ variety of sago at one end and a bisel /bisel/ variety of sago at the other end of their plantings (M. Giwo, p.c.). The owner of the tree is the person who planted it or the child for whom it was planted, and the owner gets to decide with whom the sago is shared. Parents will often plant sago for their children as palms can take up to 15 years to mature (M. Giwo, p.c.; W. Warama, G. Pewe, and K. Kidarga, p.c.).
Sago suckers (däm /dəm/ or käng /kəŋ/) are planted by digging a hole with a large stick (ibek /ibek/), partially filling the hole with organic matter like tree leaves and short sticks, and then covering the sucker with soil (W. Warama, G. Pewe, and K. Kidarga, p.c.). The area around the planting is cleared of trees and grass to minimize fire damage risk and is maintained before the start of the dry season every year. Sticks are placed around a new planting to prevent it from being dug up by wild pigs. Planting occurs every year and only during the wet season (J. Ben Danipa and K. Dobola, p.c.).
Families often find different creeks for planting sago to avoid ownership disputes. People will mark their creek area to indicate that it belongs to someone, often by planting a yure /jure/ variety of sago at one end and a bisel /bisel/ variety of sago at the other end of their plantings (M. Giwo, p.c.). The owner of the tree is the person who planted it or the child for whom it was planted, and the owner gets to decide with whom the sago is shared. Parents will often plant sago for their children as palms can take up to 15 years to mature (M. Giwo, p.c.; W. Warama, G. Pewe, and K. Kidarga, p.c.).
Examples of small and large spines on the leaf sheaths of two different varieties of sago.
Sago growth stages are described by the size of the palm, the emergence of the apical shoot, and the growth and maturity of the inflorescence. Seven developmental stages were described with some stages having multiple names (M. Giwo, p.c.).
- Developmental stages of sago (M. Giwo, p.c.)
1. Källamitang /kəɽamitaŋ/ - sago growth stage when the root has developed following planting and the plant is about one meter tall
2. Sana wuttang /sanawuʈʂaŋ/ - sago growth stage when the plant is about three meters tall and is growing
3. Dwelsära /dwelsəra/ or Pättang /pəʈʂaŋ/ - sago growth stage when the palm is almost ready to harvest and the leaves are shorter
4. Täpgazenatt /təpɡazenaʈʂ/ - sago growth stage when the shoot (täp /təp/) emerges indicating that it is time to harvest
5. Ddageddage /ɖʐaɡeɖʐaɡe/ - sago reproductive structure and can also describe the growth stage when the inflorescence has emerged. The ddageddage stage can be subdivided into the early stages of inflorescence development when they are small, called bädmaol bədmawl/, and the latter stage when they are large called käzabun /kəzabun/.
6. Gwaga /ɡwaɡa/ - sago growth stage when there are mature fruits on the ddageddage. This stage is undesirable for harvesting as the pith is drier and the yield will be less. Gwaga käp /ɡwaɡa kəp/ also refers to the sago fruit.
7. Pllulleaga /pɽuɽeaɡa/ or Yɨdmeny /jɪdmeɲ/ - final sago growth stage describing a plant that will not yield any starch if chopped down
Harvesting & Processing
People know that a sago palm is ready to harvest when the shoot emerges and is visible (J. Ben Danipa and K. Dobola, p.c.). Harvest labor is traditionally divided by gender with men chopping down the palm and peeling off the leaf sheaths with an ax, both genders beating the pith to break it down into smaller pieces, and women washing the sago which involves rinsing, kneading, and straining the pith fibers to extract the starch (J. Ben Danipa and K. Dobola, p.c.). The beating or pounding process is done sitting down. The washing process requires women to use their feet to squeeze the starch through a plant fiber bag (W. Geser and R. Warama, p.c.).
Tools used to process sago include a beating stick (abor /abor/), a squeezing bag (nyukukum /ɲukukum/), a container to collect the sago starch (käg /kəɡ/), and a coconut shell for scooping water (kakoll /kakoɽ/). The abor is made from wadar cane and held from the longer end. The käg is made from the stalk of the sago plant and is hung over a fire to be dried out. Sago starch that has been beat with the abor and is ready to be washed is called sana taya /sana taja/ and then sana konkonmatt taya /sana konkonmaʈʂ taja/ after the squeezing process is complete.
Sago processing tools. From top left, clockwise: abor ‘beater’, wadar cane, nyukukum ‘squeezing bag’, käg ‘container’, and kakoll ‘coconut shell’
Sago starch is stored in bags made of reeds or wrapped in sago leaves. This “flour” should be eaten within 1-2 months of being harvested as it will spoil after that (W. Geser and R. Warama, p.c.). The flour is often divided into small bundles and kept in sheltered areas of the bush where people will pick them up when needed. If the sago palm is harvested near the village, the sago flour will be stored under the house (J. Ben Danipa and K. Dobola, p.c.).
In addition to use as a staple food crop, sago palms are used for roofing material (leaves), walling in houses (leaf stalks), a wrapping for cooking food (leaves), grass skirts and decorations (young shoots), and torches for night time use (dried stalks) (J. Ben Danipa and K. Dobola, p.c.).
In addition to use as a staple food crop, sago palms are used for roofing material (leaves), walling in houses (leaf stalks), a wrapping for cooking food (leaves), grass skirts and decorations (young shoots), and torches for night time use (dried stalks) (J. Ben Danipa and K. Dobola, p.c.).