86 Jared. M. Diamond

Therein lies the root of the ethnobiologist’s dilemma. You have to know almost as much about the local birds as the informant you’re interviewing, if you’re to succeed in learning his names for birds. It’s pointless walking with a hunter through the jungle and asking him to name bird calls, when you don’t know what bird species is making each call that you hear. You can’t describe a bird’s salient habits if you don’t yourself know its habits and know which of them appear most salient to a local hunter. Worst of all, your informants will perceive correctly that you can’t grasp all the complexities of their knowledge, so they’ll tell you only as much as they think you can understand.

Informants in New Guinea and some other parts of the world know far more about local birds than do most anthropologists interviewing them. To approach the informants’ knowledge takes years even for ornithologists specialising in New Guinea birds. The second-best solution to this dilemma is for ethnologists to collaborate with biologists who already have that competence. But the best solution is for ethnobiologists to emulate Bulmer’s example, invest the amounts of time required to attain professional competence in a local fauna, and learn how to identify birds in the way that local people do.1

NOTE

1. Diamond (1989b) is a version of this article for a general readership.

REFERENCES

BERLIN, B., J.S. BOSTER, and J.P. O’NEILL, 1981. The Perceptual Bases of Ethnobiological Classification: Evidence from Aguaruna Jivaro Ornithology. Journal of Ethnobiology, 1:95-108.

DIAMOND, J.M., 1966. Zoological Classification System of a Primitive People. Science, 151:1102-4.----------- , 1989a. This-fellow Frog, Name belong Him Dakwo. Natural History, 98(4): 16-23.----------- , 1989b. The Ethnobiologist’s Dilemma. Natural History, 98(6):26-30.----------- , and M.N. RAGA, 1978. The Mottled-breasted Pitohui, Pitohui incertus. The Emu, 78:49-53.FELD, Steven, 1982. Sound and Sentiment: Birds, Weeping, Poetics, and Song in Kaluli Expression. Philadelphia,

University of Pennsylvania Press.GLICK, L.B., 1964. Categories and Relations in Gimi Natural Science. American Anthropologist, 66:273-280. McELHANON, K.A, 1977. The Identification of Birds by the Selepet, Papua New Guinea. Oceania, 48:64-74.

HUNTING AND HARVESTING: THE PURSUIT OF ANIMALS BY KUBO OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA

Peter Dwyer and Monica Minnegal University of Queensland

An extensive tract of rainforest and swamp-forest is present immediately south from foothills of the central mountain chain in western Papua New Guinea. This region sweeps from the Fly River in the west to beyond the Strickland River in the east. It is sparsely populated - sometimes described as “virtually uninhabited” - and, at least to the east, subsistence modes have been little influenced by government, missions or mining exploration. No substantive account of the ecology of any people living within this region has been published.

In this paper we describe features of the subsistence ecology of a small community of Kubo speakers. Our focus is with the use of wild animals as food. By combining generalised selection of species, diverse techniques of appropriation, role specialisation and sharing the people obtained more protein from animal sources than has been reported from any other inland Papua New Guinean society. They achieved this in an environment where protein has been generally considered a very scarce, perhaps limiting, resource.

Kubo are a population of approximately 500 whose territory is north of the Damami River (near Nomad, Western Province) and extends north-west to a few kilometres beyond the Strickland River. Konai and Agala live to the west and north, Biami to the east and Samo to the south. Culturally and linguistically Kubo are closest to Samo and have sometimes been classed as Samo (Shaw 1973).

Kubo social structure is founded on patrilineal clans, exogamous marriage, where sister exchange is the ideal, and male initiation. Patrilines own specific tracts of land and the resources thereon but residential affiliations tend to be loose because, for example, males reside with affines or abrupt rearrangements follow sorcery accusations. High mobility and fluid community composition are accommodated within an ethos of

Hunting and Harvesting 87

near phrenetic giving and sharing. Shaw’s (1975, 1982) and Knauft’s (1985) accounts of Samo and Gebusi capture, respectively, much of the formality of social structure and exuberant ethos of Kubo.

GWAIMASI: A KUBO COMMUNITYFrom August 1986 to November 1987 we lived at the Kubo village of Gwaimasi (= Komagato), located on

the west bank of the Strickland River at lat. 50° 54 'S, long. 142° 6’E. The village was established through1986 and was the residential focus of 25 people who used an area in excess of 50km2 to satisfy subsistence needs.1 This area was bisected by the river which was 80-100m wide, permanently silt-laden and rose and fell several metres in response to rainfall in mountains to the north. West of the river were extensive back swamps with stands of sago palms; to the north and east were foothills of the Blucher and Muller Ranges. Low-lying terrain at approximately 100m dominated the utilised area. Rainfall from October 1986 through September1987 was 5870mm; monthly rainfall was never less than 300mm (Table 1). Temperatures varied between 21° and 35° C.

Processing of sago palms, both wild and planted, and gardening provided most starch foods. Gardens were established by clearing and felling advanced secondary forest on relatively narrow levee banks near the river and the larger streams. Bananas of more than 30 named varieties were the dominant crop. Taro, yams, sweet potato and cassava supplemented bananas and gardens included sugar cane and a limited variety of vegetables (e.g. highland and lowland pitpit, aibika and Rungia). Introduced vegetables such as com, beans and cucumbers performed poorly.

Several tree crops were planted within gardens with the intention of harvesting in later years (i.e. marita pandanus, okari nut trees and breadfruit). Saplings of certain trees were retained within felled areas to supply leafy greens (e.g. tulip). Fungi were collected from logs through the life of a garden and fern fronds and wild yams were harvested from secondary growth.In 12 months, commencing October 1986, the people felled and planted 3.85ha of gardens. With the exception of yams, lowland pitpit, marita pandanus and okari nut trees yields were not seasonal. Nor was availability of sago starch seasonally constrained. The contributions of sago starch and bananas to diet were roughly the same over the 12 month period but the relative importance of these foods varied both within communities across time and between communities. When new communities were established they were likely to be very dependent upon sago through their first year.

TABLE 1. MONTHLY CAPTURES OF WILD PIGS, CASSOWARIES AND FISH (1986-87)

Month Rainfall(mm)

Number of large game cassowary wild pig

Number of fish* by hook by spear total

Protein (gm/p/day) large game fish

October 329 1 2 115 93 254 12.3 25.8November 343 4 3 150 69 231 21.3 18.3December 371 1 3 90 59 153 13.1 16.9January 763 2 4 39 12 54 25.8 5.8February 523 - 1 34 5 39 6.4 2.9March 708 1 3 52 20 73 10.4 5.1April 635 1 10 26 38 68 33.5 3.0May 346 2 9 25 34 63 24.8 3.0June 512 1 6 30 34 72 26.7 5.3July 306 1 8 54 83 139 27.6 11.7August 449 3 8 18 24 49 35.6 3.5September 586 — 1 9 19 37 1.9 5.0

* includes fish taken by techniques other than hook or spear and unattributed captures

The number of domestic pigs under the care of Gwaimasi women varied between seven and 13. Husbandry practices included foraging and foddering (Kelly 1988) together with “herding” which entailed a woman taking her pig (or pigs) into the forest and remaining with it as it foraged through the day. Male pigs were castrated. Sows were released into swamp-forest for impregnation by wild boars and remained there until they gave birth. Surviving piglets were captured and retained in captivity when they were about three to four weeks old.

Sago starch and bananas are low in protein and the vegetable component of Kubo diet was meagre and irregular. Further, domestic pigs were killed and eaten on special occasions only. Food, though often abundant, was commonly eaten as single-item snacks and we seldom saw people eat, at one sitting, a mix of foods that we would regard as “balanced”. These observations contrast with patterns described from middle and high altitudes of Papua New Guinea where the combination of tubers moderately rich in protein, an

88 Peter Dwyer and Monica Minnegal

abundance of vegetables and regular meals that combined a variety of foodstuffs might minimise nutritional imbalance despite a scarcity of animal protein. Kubo, by contrast, may be exposed to nutritional hazard and, for them, access to protein from non-domesticated animals may be critical.

THE PURSUIT OF ANIMALSMany species of wild animals were eaten by Kubo, including a variety of insects, crayfish, shrimps and

vertebrates from all major groups (i.e. fish, frogs, reptiles, birds and mammals). Three categories of fauna contributed most to diet either directly in quantitative terms or because they were eaten regularly. These were (a) wild pig and double-wattled cassowary, (b) fish and (c) beetle larvae from felled sago palms. The strategies used to capture these animals reflect the range of strategies used by Kubo to capture all wild animals. Here we describe those strategies and summarise data concerning returns. Later we comment briefly on patterns of sharing, food restrictions and ethnozoological connections. Unless otherwise specified quantitative data refer to the months October 1986 to September 1987 inclusive; values are based on preliminary analyses and represent conservative estimates.

(a) Pigs and cassowariesWild pigs and double-wattled cassowaries were the largest game animals available to Kubo. (Fresh-water

crocodiles were present locally and, though taken for their skins, were not eaten by Gwaimasi residents (Dwyer and Minnegal 1988-89)). The pigs were more abundant, or more readily obtained, in foothill forest east of the Strickland River while cassowaries were taken more often in swamp-forest to the west and south­west. Both species were hunted by men and youths armed with bows and arrows. Three or more dogs accompanied hunters when the quarry was pig but dogs were not taken by men who intended to hunt cassowary. Pigs were obtained also by shooting from blinds built at current or recent sago workings and by trapping within felled sago palms. On these occasions, of course, the environmental zone within which the pigs were sought was not the zone within which they were usually hunted. Ambushing from a blind was attempted often but with little success. By contrast trapping, though usually successful, was seldom attempted. The technique had two immediate disadvantages; a large sago palm, with starch suited to human consumption, had to be sacrificed and there was a delay of from three to four weeks between setting the trap and making a capture. In September 1987 Gwaimasi residents switched from hunting pigs to trapping them (with three captures in October) after a distemper epidemic reduced the local population of dogs from nineteen

TABLE 2. DISTRIBUTION OF CAPTURES BY INDIVIDUAL MALES

Person Statuscassowary

Proportion of Captures wild pig fish fish

by hook by spear

Fish by Spear: proportion

Bisaeo married .06 .01 .08 .90Gugwi married — .01 .10 .26 .78Mamo married .42 .05 .02 .05 .77Simo married .08 .08 .11 .07 .49Sinio married .29 .24 .05 .13 .79Gwase married -

Jan 1987.04 .13 .11 .06 .42

Tufa1 married - Aug 1987

— — .04 .02 .48

Gwuho2 initiatedbachelor

— .03 .03 — .09

Filifi initiatedbachelor

.13 .26 — .14 .97

Maubo initiatedyouth

.04 .09 .18 .08 .41

Dogo initiatedyouth

-- .05 .14 .08 .47

Hegogwa3 youth -- — .18 .01 .09Gawua child -- -- .04 — —

Number in sample 12 40 276 415

1 - arrived Feb 1987; 2 - departed May 1987; 3 - departed Feb 1987

Hunting and Harvesting 89

to four and made hunting impractical.Monthly captures of wild pigs and cassowaries are listed in Table 1. Of seventeen cassowaries, four

were taken when the person concerned was not intentionally hunting and two when the person concerned was hunting pigs. Dogs were implicated in these six captures and, with one exception where the captor was female, the animals were relatively small. In only one of the remaining 11 cases was it stated that a dog was present. A minimum of 43 of the 53 listed pigs was killed during ventures where pigs were the targeted game; another seven were obtained by men who were travelling with dogs to Gwaimasi.

Monthly tallies varied from zero to four for cassowary and from one to ten for wild pig. Many of the pigs killed in April and May 1987 were to contribute to a large, and reciprocated, prestation with a neighbouring community and the low tally of September 1987 is attributable to the coincidence of sickness among Gwaimasi residents and death of their dogs.

Table 1 includes estimates of protein from cassowaries and wild pigs. Mean values, across the year, were 2.8gm from cassowary and 17.3gm from wild pig per person per day. Variation between months was extreme with a low of 1.9gm per person per day and a high of 33.5gm per person per day. There were 12 one-week periods when meat from pigs (including domestic) and cassowaries was not available at Gwaimasi. Because Kubo were able to preserve meat for two months or more the potential existed to compensate for uneven returns by delaying consumption. Preservation by smoke-drying was time-consuming however and, in addition, the prevailing ethos dictated enthusiastic consumption and sharing of available food. Except where prestations were pending, people seldom retained meat for more than five days after capture.

The numbers of large game animals killed by resident males, 10 years and older, are listed in Table 2. (Some attributions are shared. Animals not included in the table were killed by resident women or visiting males or were unattributed.) Two men, Mamo and Sinio, killed more than two-thirds of the cassowaries while Sinio and Filifi killed half the pigs. Mamo’s reputation as a cassowary hunter was not in doubt and, in fact, he killed five of the seven large animals taken by males. Similarly, Filifi was acclaimed as a pig hunter and his performance relative to Sinio’s would appear greater if adjustments were made for the sizes of animals killed and for times when men resided at other communities. Hunters whose proportionate contribution to the catch was least also usually killed smaller animals.

(b) FishMore than 25 species of fish were captured by Kubo with 11 species of catfish contributing most by

number and weight. Eels, mullet, perch, gudgeons and rainbow fish comprised most of the remainder. Eels weighed as much as 10kg and the largest catfish were about 5kg. Species not represented in the catch tended to be either very small and ignored or, as with barramundi, large but inaccessible to the people.

Fishing effort was concentrated within two zones, the Strickland River itself and small and large streams that drained back swamps. Streams draining the foothills were less productive, particularly of larger fish, except near their junction with the river. Thus, most fishing occurred near the river or in low-lying terrain to the west and south-west. Within this area four species of catfish were present only in the Strickland River, another five were rarely if ever found in the river and seven species of perch, gudgeons and rainbow fish were never taken from the river.

Two techniques dominated fishing. These were hook-and-line fishing and diving with a spear. The former was used most often to take catfish from the Strickland River, where baited lines were set from the bank and usually abandoned for several hours. The technique was used also, but with tended lines, to obtain small catfish, perch and gudgeons from streams. Fishing with hook and line was unknown to Kubo before European contact.

Diving for fish was not possible in the silt-laden river but took place, when the water was clear, in relatively shallow pools of both small and large streams. Only men and youths dived. They used a length of wire (ca 120cm long) with a 25cm portion of rubber bound to one end; some owned goggles. Usually they sought fish that were resting and shot from close range. The technique was employed, using equipment made from local materials, before contact.

Other techniques used to catch fish were poisoning, jagging, shooting with bow and arrow, jabbing eels with an unstrung bow and netting, rather unsuccessfully, with a ragged portion of an old nylon fish net.

Capture data are summarised in Table 1. Returns were highest in the drier months October to December 1986 and July 1987 (though not in May 1987) and lowest in February and September 1987. More fish were taken by hook and line than by spear from October through March but, thereafter, this relationship reversed. The composition of the catch also altered through time, with more larger catfish taken in months when the tally was greatest.

A mix of environmental and human factors influenced catch size. Diving was most rewarding after a run of relatively dry days that promoted clear water and reduced levels in major streams. At these times men and youths might spend entire days fishing. In months when rainfall was high and dry days few most diving was

90 Peter Dwyer and Monica Minnegal

in smaller streams and incidental to other activities. Line fishing in the river was more frequent when river level was low. People sometimes fished in the river through much of a day but the technique was used most often by individuals who were near the river for another purpose (e.g. gardening work). Line fishing for small species in smaller streams was typically by females and was moderately important in months when the total catch was reduced.

Social factors also influenced fishing activity. When a new house was completed it was customary to mark the occasion with a feast at which meat was eaten. Fish were often targeted for this purpose and part of the haul in late 1986 was obtained by people who had built family dwellings within the village. In mid-September 1986 more than 50 fish were eaten at a feast that celebrated completion of our house and, in October 1987,20 fish obtained by poisoning were eaten when a family group slept for the first time at a house located away from the village.

Fish listed in Table 1 contributed, on average, 8.9gm protein per person per day. Monthly variation was high because most larger fish were taken in months when the total haul was itself highest.

Fishing returns achieved by resident males are summarised in Table 2; joint attributions are excluded. Three men, Gugwi, Sinio and Filifi, obtained 53 percent of fish taken by diving. Returns from line fishing were more evenly spread though six of the 13 listed males accounted for 82 percent of captures and Hegogwa’s contribution was made in only five months. Gugwi, Sinio and Filifi preferred diving to line- fishing though in Gugwi’s case diving tended to be directed at perch (59% of captures) where Sinio and Filifi focussed on larger catfish (only 16% of captures were perch). With the exception of Hegogwa, males who contributed most to line-fishing showed no strong preference for the technique. Resident females (n = 11) obtained more fish (n = 303) by hook and line than did males though many of these were small catfish and gudgeons (n = 141). When fishing returns fell after December 1986 the proportionate contribution by women increased.

(c) Sago grubsLarvae and pupae of beetles harvested from sago palms were a major supplementary source of both protein

and fat. When people felled palms to process starch it was usual that sections were untreated because quality was poor. Small “windows” were cut into the sides of these sections which were then covered with fronds. The “windows” provided access for beetles that laid eggs in the interior and the fronds gave protection from rain. Six to eight weeks later hauls of larvae and pupae were obtained by a relatively lengthy process of chopping, searching and sorting. On occasion these hauls were large but at other times poor timing or the activity of pigs reduced success.

Palms were often felled with the specific intention of incubating grubs and not to process the starch. This was commonly done when a nearby palm was being processed but, occasionally, as many as five palms might be sacrificed to provide large quantities of grubs for feasts or prestations. In this latter case the grubs were packed into split bamboo cylinders and smoke-dried.

Wild sago palms were abundant in the back swamps. Many flowered and seeded for want of being processed and young palms were often cut for the sole purpose of eating their growing shoot. Others were felled and opened as a source of food for domestic pigs that foraged in swamplands. Palms that people had planted were located away from the swamps near streams or in seepages close to former gardening or residential sites. These palms were not usually sacrificed for palm hearts, rearing grubs or as food for pigs.

Quantitative data concerning the contribution of sago grubs to diet are few. Knowledge of when palms were felled for processing combined with records of purchases by us or gifts to us indicate a minimum of 30 weeks, well spread across 12 months, when grubs were eaten at Gwaimasi.

Men, women and older children shared work associated with rearing and harvesting grubs. Palms were usually felled by men or youths and grubs harvested by people who had done the processing; i.e. two or more women or a married couple. When large hauls were expected from palms felled to supply grubs for feasts or prestations the work was shared widely.

(d) OverviewThe variety of animal types, and the range of environments, exploited by Kubo was great. The above

account referred to large terrestrial game, fish and insect larvae and to the contrasting domains of foothill and swamp-forest and of clear streams and murky river. Yet this was not the limit of Kubo interest in animals as food. Other invertebrates - wasp larvae, tent caterpillars, termites, crayfish and shrimps - and many vertebrate animals were acceptable. The latter included 17 species of terrestrial and arboreal mammals, bats, all birds except two restricted taxa, turtles, goannas, agamid lizards, pythons, death adders and some frogs (Table 3; the listed animals contributed at least 2gm protein per person per day).

No general strategy was suited to the exploitation of this variety of species and environments. Multiple strategies were needed and the extremes were represented by hunting and harvesting. By hunting we mean the

Hunting and Harvesting 91

TABLE 3. CAPTURES OF VERTEBRATE ANIMALS

Category Number Attributions to residentsm ale female

Arboreal/terrrestrial mammals, >200gm 49 24 11Arboreal/terrestrial mammals, <200gm 19 13 2Fruit bats 12 12 —Small bats >1000 >1000 fewMegapodes*, crown pigeons*, hombills 46 40 —Other birds* 17 12 —Megapode eggs* 10 4 —Large turtles 3 — 1Small turtles 20 10 —Turtle egg clutch 1 — —Large pythons* 8 6 —Other snakes* 7 4 1Goannas* 14 11 —Agamid lizards 33 21 8Frogs* 5 5 --

* Values for asterisked categories will understate the annual catch

tracking and pursuit of mobile quarry. In the Kubo case most hunting was directed at animals of large size and scattered distribution (i.e. wild pig and cassowary). Because accessibility of the species varied between environments and techniques suited to each differed (i.e. with or without dogs) specific hunting ventures usually had a narrow focus. Hunters sought either wild pig or cassowary but not both. Other species were not included in the “search image”. Some, such as goannas, pythons and terrestrial and arboreal mammals, were obtained when hunters chanced upon them but such species were killed just as often in the course of other activities. Again, some birds might be included in the hunter’s bag because he failed to locate intended quarry and diverted to an alternate strategy.

Harvesting refers to the exploitation of animals of small size and clumped distribution. The animals were collected at places where they aggregated and, in the case of sago grubs, these places and the aggregations were human artefacts. Harvesting animals was not restricted to sago grubs. When trees were felled to make gardens it was known that some logs would yield grubs within six to 12 months. Wasp larvae, tent caterpillars and termites were sometimes also collected in large numbers and, at least with the first two, collection was timed on the basis of earlier observations. Planning was entailed also when hundreds of small cave-dwelling bats were killed by smoke-stunning or by using switches. Thus, as with hunting, the specific locations and techniques used to harvest a variety of species required that the focal prey of any harvesting episode was usually decided in advance. Harvesting was further constrained in that, with insects, procedures used destroyed the future potential of the collection site or, with cave bats, regulated exploitation was necessary to ensure future returns.

Between the extremes of hunting and harvesting were a range of strategies suited to species that were intermediate in size and dispersion. These were all used to capture aquatic fauna but each had an analogue in the terrestrial domain. The strategies were (1) “besetting” where stationary quarry were located at den sites or resting places (cf. much fishing with spear), (2) “ambushing”, perhaps from a blind or hide, where the actor waited for mobile quarry (cf. fishing with tended line) and (3) “trapping” where mobile quarry were restrained by a device (cf. fishing with set line). The first two strategies were important in the capture of stream-dwelling fish and the third when fishing in the river.

Crayfish and shrimps, in hauls up to 2.5kg, were taken often when men dived for fish or during ventures directed at crustaceans. In terrestrial environments “besetting” was employed when men or youths shot birds at nocturnal roosting sites, when mammals were smoked or chopped from den sites and when large turtles were found resting in pools before or after egg laying. Megapodes, crown pigeons and hombills (birds that may weigh 2kg) were ambushed from hides; megapodes near their egg-laying mounds, crown pigeons at terrestrial feeding stations (sometimes at heaps of discarded sago pith) and hombills high in trees where they flocked to feed on fruit. Traps, suited to the capture of terrestrial mammals such as bandicoots and of birds were known to Kubo but, during our stay, none were built - only wild pigs were trapped and these infrequently. We wonder whether the relatively recent acquisition of fish hooks was accompanied by a switch from terrestrial trapping to its more productive aquatic analogue.

92 Peter Dwyer and Monica Minnegal

These few examples reinforce the view that when Kubo sought animals their “search image” during a single episode was narrow. But this characterisation refers only to occasions when the intent to obtain meat was primary. Many animals, and perhaps most agamid lizards, listed in Table 3 were taken in more casual circumstances when people were engaged in some other activity or were simply moving between places of work and residence. Dogs were frequently implicated in the location and capture of these animals.

Cost-benefit relationships associated with different strategies were, in broad terms, comparable. Hunting was unpredictable and investment was high but animals that were killed were often large. Harvesting cost less but routinely yielded large hauls of small animals. In cost-benefit terms there was, however, one striking anomaly. Relative to returns achieved by other strategies, ambushing hombills was a costly exercise. It required that a hide be built high in a tree and that two people spend a night in the neighbourhood. Before dawn one man would enter the hide while his companion (sometimes his wife) was concealed at the base of the tree; they would remain in these places for several hours. Though a hide might be used several times more than 10 person-hours were probably needed to obtain one hombill.

While the hombill case is extreme ambushing megapodes, crown pigeons and hombills was, in general, time-consuming. As a strategy, however, it was reliable. A bird of about 2kg would eventually be killed. An animal of this size would contribute little if shared at village level, but to a small group it would represent a valuable quantity of protein. Ambushing, therefore, was a useful procurement system when family groups lived away from the village to process sago. Because most sago work was the responsibility of women, men were often free to engage in time-consuming activities. In addition, capture of large game at small sago camps could be counter-productive; work tended to be disrupted because the surfeit of meat encouraged people to return to the village and share more widely.

SHARING, FOOD RESTRICTIONS AND ETHNOZOOLOGYEcological dimensions of the pursuit of animals have been the central focus of this paper. Here, we briefly

enlarge the perspective by commenting on some related social concerns. Thus, rules of sharing and operative food taboos will influence ways in which meat is distributed and faunal taxonomy may code information about modes of sharing, food taboos or procurement strategies.

Giving and sharing of food was a dominant and daily feature of Kubo social life. When bananas had been harvested or sago flour prepared those who obtained the food gave to others irrespective of apparent needs; it was common to see two families make reciprocal exchanges of either bananas or sago on the same afternoon and to observe sequential exchanges in which a quantity of food was rapidly dispersed through the community. With animal foods the mood was more restrained. Large pigs or cassowaries prompted feasting at village level, large hauls of fish were distributed either before or after cooking and when small bats or sago grubs were obtained in quantity the ensuing feast was, in fact, usually pre-planned. Again, when a pig or cassowary was killed by people who resided away from the village it was either brought to the village or people at the village were invited to attend a feast at the temporary residence of the successful hunter.

Sharing was less general when the quantity of meat obtained was relatively small. People who worked together, gardening or processing sago, might eat the catch before returning to the village or would limit their distribution to close kin or those who visited their hearths in the evening. While all large hauls of animal food were widely distributed people who routinely sought animals of different kinds and sizes fared best in terms of a regular intake of protein. Discrepancies between individuals or family groups at Gwaimasi were probably not great in terms of absolute quantities consumed but were probably nutritionally significant in terms of regularity. Averages presented in the concluding section of this paper conceal these differences.

At Gwaimasi numerous food taboos were operative. These concerned both plant and animal foods and two categories had potential to limit access to animal protein. Newly initiated men should not eat a variety of foods perceived as ‘fatty’ for a period up to three years; these included aibika, fruit pandanus, sago grubs, shrimps, certain species of catfish, eels and megapode eggs. A pregnant women and her husband should not eat terrestrial game that had been killed by a dog or another person (unless with an arrow supplied by the husband) while a lactating woman and her husband should not eat fish that had been captured at the junction of two streams. These constraints during pregnancy and lactation were intended to offset dangers to dogs or hunters on the one hand and to the growing infant on the other. Their impact was to limit access to community-based feasts at which large quantities of meat were eaten. The penalties were probably not nutritional because day to day access to smaller items was not greatly constrained and the community as a whole was attentive to the strictures and compensated with frequent gifts of legitimate meat foods. The outcome may have been a decrease in quantity but an increase in regularity of supply.

Food taboos of the sort discussed were based on qualitative attributes of animal species, their usual locations and specific details of mode of capture. There was no connection between species restricted in these ways and the form or categories of Kubo zoological taxonomy. There were, however, other taxonomic connections. Species that were (a) usually widely shared or (b) obtained during highly focussed excursions

Hunting and Harvesting 93

were classed as unaffiliated taxa. Both attributes applied to pigs, cassowaries and grubs (o, djiwo and fo i respectively), the former to the large turtles Pelochelys (habua) and Carretochelys (gwohegu) and the latter to the cave-dwelling fruit-bat Dobsonia (dobolu), the cave-dwelling insectivorous bat Hipposideros (siyo), edible termites (ame), crayfish (die) and shrimps of the genus Macrobrachium (guwo). By contrast, where capture procedures were less focussed on particular species and sharing was not routinely universal the species were usually included within primary taxa (i.e. baeo, siu , boi, komai, gwamo and dio for marsupials and rodents, birds, snakes, skinks, frogs and fish respectively).

DISCUSSIONThe strategies we have described and the variants within those strategies granted Kubo the capacity to take

a wide variety of animals from diverse environmental contexts. Yet to achieve this it is clear that particular episodes of faunal appropriation had to be highly focussed upon specific categories or even species of prey. This need relates to another feature of Kubo practice: role specialisation. Hunting and harvesting contrasted in that the former was the prerogative of males while the latter was typically shared across sex and age classes. Similarly, spear fishing was restricted to males while anyone could fish with hook and line. Even within strategies, specialisation was evident among males with individuals highly differentiated in their ability to take wild pig, cassowary and fish. Again, different males contributed unequally to the capture of fish by line and by spear and those who favoured the latter technique did not all seek the same set of species.

The differences between individuals had the result that some men, lacking competence at, or enthusiasm for hunting large game and diving for fish, contributed little animal protein. Such men, however, were accommodated with ease within the customary practice that meat was shared freely without an expectation that those who gave would receive meat at a later time. In the Kubo case, where protein from animals was crucial to well-being, constraints on procurement were such that self-sufficiency could not be either the norm or an expected goal.

To obtain sufficient protein Kubo combined generalised selection of prey species with the implementation of diverse techniques that were suited to particular prey types. This combination appears somewhat paradoxical but was achieved by role differentation and sharing. Because local Kubo communities tended to be small there was, of necessity, considerable flexibility in the system. Peculiarities of environment and of the pool of skills available within particular communities required that people could select from a broad array of potential techniques. While most communities probably achieved a satisfactory protein intake they were likely to differ greatly in terms of the composition of faunal types that yielded the protein

Gwaimasi residents received, on average, a minimum of 31gm protein per person per day from wild animals. This conservative estimate ignores significant contributions from sago grubs, crustacea and domestic pigs. Estimates, based on all animal foods, from Highland fringe societies vary from 10gm/day for Gadio Enga to 22.2gm/day for Wopkaimin and reach 29.5gm/day for the lowland Oriomo who utilise savannah woodland and monsoon forest in a region of strongly seasonal rainfall (Domstreich 1973, Dwyer 1985, Hyndman 1979, Ohtsuka 1983, Townsend 1969). Kubo people ate more animal protein than has hitherto been reported from inland Papua New Guinean societies. They achieved this in an environment where available species were likely to be both relatively uncommon and patchily distributed. Their achievement appears more remarkable because large predatory vertebrates, particularly mammals, are not a feature of lowland closed forests at tropical latitudes. Mammalian predators other than humans have little access to the composite strategy of individual specialisation and food sharing and this may be why they are scarce in lowland tropical rainforests.

Recent discussion of subsistence in wet tropical rainforests asserts that even people would have been hard put to survive in such environments (Bailey and Peacock 1988, Headland 1988). The argument is twofold: (1) access to calories is limited because starch foods such as yams are scarce and difficult to extract while available animals are poor in fat and (2) protein is limited because animals are scarce except where a mosaic of ecotonal and secondary forest has been created by non-intensive agriculture. Present day subsistence patterns of Pygmies in Africa and Agta Negritos in the Philippines are dependent upon gaining access to cultivated food resources.

Hunter-gatherer survival requires a compatible mix of plant and animal procurement systems (Dwyer 1986). It may be an open question, for example, whether reported strategies of meat procurement by pygmies are themselves a consequence of trading relations established with agriculturalists. The discussion of hunter- gatherer viability in tropical forests has not, however, considered populations that had access to sago palms (Metroxylon) and some of the Kubo data seem relevant. An abundance of sago starch was available to Kubo who used it as their primary carbohydrate food when garden yields fell or new villages were being established. Two to three decades ago, before the advent of steel axes, sago was certainly of greater quantitative importance than garden produce. Because sago starch is nutrient poor its use heightens the need that animal foods are obtained in quantity. By using many techniques, and enhancing efficiency through specialisation of roles and

94 Peter Dwyer and Monica Minnegal

skills, Kubo extracted much protein from the relatively scarce and widely dispersed animal resources available. Notably, several of these techniques - diving for fish and crustacea, ambushing birds, harvesting grubs - were exceptionally well suited to the manner in which they used sago palms. On the other hand, very few animals came from environments that had been modified by gardening. In lowland tropical rainforests of New Guinea the requirements of hunter-gatherer survival might be met.

The perception of anthropologists with respect to societies of the east Strickland Plain and the mountains to the north-west has been that animal foods are scarce and protein potentially limiting (Knauft 1985, Shaw 1975, Swadling 1983). Indeed, it has been argued that through parts of this region cannibalism had significance nutritionally as well as ritually (Domstreich and Morren 1974). With reference to Kubo our data dispel the opinion that animal protein was in short supply. Certainly, given that sago was the primary carbohydrate food the need for protein from animals was great but Kubo, it seems - who, at times, certainly ate people - could satisfy this need without recourse to their neighbours.

Interestingly, the misperception of European observers is matched by that of Bogaia who occupy the upper reaches of the Strickland Gorge north of Kubo and their Konai neighbours. Culturally, Bogaia are linked with societies of the east Strickland Plain but linguistically their affinities are with the highland Duna. Modjeska (1982) has reported a Bogaia myth that describes the confused and decidedly unpleasant eating habits of people who live to their south (i.e. Konai and Kubo). The myth concerns cannibalism and attributes this to an inability on the part of the southerners to distinguish between pigs and people.

Where European observers apparently failed to see meat that was eaten it seems that Bogaia may have failed to hear what was being said. Kubo and Konai speakers are themselves entertained by opportunities for misunderstanding inherent in the names they use for “pig” and “man”. The Kubo terms are, respectively, “0” and ‘W ’ where the primary difference is of tone and, for beginners, not easy to grasp. Domestic and wild pigs are, in turn, named “o w ai” and “o fia" by Kubo. Konai speakers invert part of this nomenclature. Pigs are “waC' with wild ones named “w a ifia” and domestic ones “wai d a b a i “d abaf ’ is the Kubo but not the Konai name for earthworms and is used in reference to the eating habits of the pigs. But in Konai language men are named “0”: that is, the Konai name for men is the Kubo name for pigs.

Our Kubo friend and mentor Tufa vividly described his first and only encounter with the playful possibilities of the described nomenclature. As a small child he wakened at night to hear men as they cooked food. They had returned from a raid into Konai territory. He called, asking what was being cooked and, when told it was “pig”, demanded a share. His request was ignored but, as all Kubo children do when their demands are not met, he tantrumed. His father relented and, with irritation, thrust a large portion of the “pig” into Tufa’s hands. It was the arm of a Konai man; a man who had been paid the final courtesy that he was spoken of in his own tongue.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Thanks for leave, research visas and affiliation are due to the University of Queensland, the government of Papua New Guinea and the Biology Department, University of Papua New Guinea. John and Celia Fletcher of Suabi, Jeffrey Willmer of Brisbane and everyone at Gwaimasi gave us much assistance.

FOOTNOTES

1. Although the number of people classed as residents varied little between months the composition of the village community changed with marriages, births, deaths and residence shifts. The following values indicate monthly minimums and maximums of different categories of people: married males 5-7, unmarried males 3-7, male children (<12 years old) 2-5, widowed female 1, married females 5-7, unmarried females 1-2, female children (<12 years old) 3.

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University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.

GRASS, GRERB OR WEED? A BULMERIAN MEDITATION ON THE CATEGORY MONOTE IN NUAULU PLANT CLASSIFICATION

Roy Ellen The University of Kent at Canterbury

Weed . . . a herbaceous plant not valued for its use or beauty, growing wild and rank, and regarded as cumbering the ground or hindering growth or superior vegetation . . . an unprofitable, troublesome, or noxious growth .. . any herb or small plant (OED vol.l2(1933):251).

INTRODUCTIONThe contribution of Ralph Bulmer to the study of folk biology has been marked by at least four

characteristics: a scrupulous attention to ethnographic detail, a respect for the knowledge of individual informants, an insistence on the necessity to embed classificatory abstractions in overall social and cultural contexts, and a scepticism (often witty, though never disrespectful) of the universalist-evolutionist generalisations of others (e.g. Bulmer 1974; 1985).

In my own work on the ethnobiology of the Nuaulu of south central Seram, eastern Indonesia, I have tried to emulate, though not always successfully, Bulmerian standards. As a tribute to those standards, I wish here to take up a particular theme and treat it with as much thoroughness and good sense as I can muster. The theme is the merging of what Brent Berlin has called general purpose and special purpose categories, particularly with respect to the notion of ‘life-form’; and I take my cue from Bulmer’s repeated observation (e.g. Bulmer 1975:23) that categories (and especially more inclusive and ‘primary’ categories) are defined as much by cultural significata as by their objective biological characteristics. The subject is the Nuaulu plant term monote and the categories we may infer from it.1

THE CATEGORY MONOTE IN NUAULU ETHNOBOTANYOf the 700+ labelled Nuaulu terminal categories for plants, about 48 (and about the same number of

Linnaean species) were recorded in the field as being affiliated in some way to the more inclusive category monote (Table 1). This is about six percent of all labelled plants. Of those recorded only 13-14 were habitually prefixed by mono in ordinary speech in such a way as to suggest that this was an intrinsic part of the term. In some cases this is clearer than in others; thus mono nuae is an obligatory binomial, since nuae