DOI article:
Marecek, Thomas M.: Shifting cultivation among the Duna of Papua New Guinea
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.49000#0084
SHIFTING CULTIVATION AMONG
THE DUNA OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA
By
Thomas M. Marecek
Introduction. A system of horticulture known
as shifting cultivation, one of the oldest forms
of agriculture, was at one time practised by
most of the world’s population.1 Today it is
the main mode of subsistence for more than
200 million people who live in Africa, Central
and South America, Oceania, and Southeast
Asia.
Shifting cultivation involves a series of ac-
tivities performed in a prescribed order which
transforms a section of forest into a garden.
The garden is usually productive for several
years; but eventually the land loses its fertility
or is taken over by weeds, and the garden is
abandoned. The land is allowed to revert to its
natural vegetation. Traditionally this system
requires either that a settlement move, or that
the garden site be changed at certain intervals.
Because of relatively low population densi-
ties, the system did not appreciably change the
balance of nature for thousands of years.
However, the population explosion increased
pressure on land and the interval between
moving the settlement or rotating the garden
site had to be shortened. Consequently, more
intensive land use systems were developed and
most of the varieties of shifting cultivation
used today reflect this population pressure on
land (Manshard 1974, 52-63).
There are still a few isolated areas where the
people have not had a population explosion
and where they are still able to practise a tradi-
tional system of shifting cultivation (i.e., tra-
ditional with respect to land use). This paper
describes shifting cultivation as practised by
one of these people, the Duna, who live in the
highlands of Papua New Guinea. The paper is
divided into two parts. The first part describes
the procedures the Duna follow in making one
garden out of secondary forest, the main crops
they plant, and the tools they use. The second
part describes the sexual division of labor in
the Duna gardening system, which, like many
highlands societies, disfavors women to the
extent that they work about twice as hard as
men in the gardens.
The Duna gardening cycle. The Duna are a
rather typical highlands people living in dis-
persed settlements in the area around Lake
Kopiago (fig. 2). They are known mainly for
the large, human hair wigs traditionally worn
by men. Duna speakers number about 10,000.
During the year 1975 I observed the Duna
at a small settlement known as Yokona build a
1.6 hectare garden out of secondary forest.
The Duna in this area do not use a garden site a
second time before it has reverted to forest
again, which means the ground is allowed to
fallow for at least 8-10 years between cropping
periods. The present garden site had lain fal-
low for over fifteen years. Thus, the Duna
land use system does not permanently change
the forest into bush or grasslands. Although I
cannot show it here, my preliminary data in-
dicate that if the population remains static, or
THE DUNA OF PAPUA NEW GUINEA
By
Thomas M. Marecek
Introduction. A system of horticulture known
as shifting cultivation, one of the oldest forms
of agriculture, was at one time practised by
most of the world’s population.1 Today it is
the main mode of subsistence for more than
200 million people who live in Africa, Central
and South America, Oceania, and Southeast
Asia.
Shifting cultivation involves a series of ac-
tivities performed in a prescribed order which
transforms a section of forest into a garden.
The garden is usually productive for several
years; but eventually the land loses its fertility
or is taken over by weeds, and the garden is
abandoned. The land is allowed to revert to its
natural vegetation. Traditionally this system
requires either that a settlement move, or that
the garden site be changed at certain intervals.
Because of relatively low population densi-
ties, the system did not appreciably change the
balance of nature for thousands of years.
However, the population explosion increased
pressure on land and the interval between
moving the settlement or rotating the garden
site had to be shortened. Consequently, more
intensive land use systems were developed and
most of the varieties of shifting cultivation
used today reflect this population pressure on
land (Manshard 1974, 52-63).
There are still a few isolated areas where the
people have not had a population explosion
and where they are still able to practise a tradi-
tional system of shifting cultivation (i.e., tra-
ditional with respect to land use). This paper
describes shifting cultivation as practised by
one of these people, the Duna, who live in the
highlands of Papua New Guinea. The paper is
divided into two parts. The first part describes
the procedures the Duna follow in making one
garden out of secondary forest, the main crops
they plant, and the tools they use. The second
part describes the sexual division of labor in
the Duna gardening system, which, like many
highlands societies, disfavors women to the
extent that they work about twice as hard as
men in the gardens.
The Duna gardening cycle. The Duna are a
rather typical highlands people living in dis-
persed settlements in the area around Lake
Kopiago (fig. 2). They are known mainly for
the large, human hair wigs traditionally worn
by men. Duna speakers number about 10,000.
During the year 1975 I observed the Duna
at a small settlement known as Yokona build a
1.6 hectare garden out of secondary forest.
The Duna in this area do not use a garden site a
second time before it has reverted to forest
again, which means the ground is allowed to
fallow for at least 8-10 years between cropping
periods. The present garden site had lain fal-
low for over fifteen years. Thus, the Duna
land use system does not permanently change
the forest into bush or grasslands. Although I
cannot show it here, my preliminary data in-
dicate that if the population remains static, or