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#0088
82
THOMAS M. MARECEK
Fig. 5. Cut vegetation drying in the garden. The
tree at the left is a red pandanus, the fruit of which is
highly desired by the Duna (July, 1975).
Abgeschnittene Vegetation liegt zum Trocknen im
Garten. Der Baum links ist eine rote Schrauben-
palme, deren Friichte bei den Dunas sehr begehrt
sind (Juli 1975).
garden, but after burning has been completed,
the ashes are left in piles rather than systemati-
cally spread or mixed into the soil.
Nevertheless, the garden is now ready for
planting. The first two to three weeks of plant-
ing are the most intensive, probably to put as
many crops as possible into the ground before
the rains increase in October. The remainder
of the garden (probably around 20 per cent of
the area) is planted more slowly in the months
ahead. There is a good reason for not planting
all the crops at once. The crops that are
planted later provide a kind of insurance for
the owner and his family. If the garden were
completely harvested before a second one
were regularly producing crops, the owner
and his family would have to rely on relatives
and friends for food. Since Duna families
plant basically only what they think they will
eat (i.e., they do not plant a surplus) it would
be a difficult situation for all concerned if two
families had to be fed from a garden originally
built for one. But if the owner has his wife
plant some crops in the first garden for several
months after the initial planting, he would
almost be assured of having a steady supply of
food until the second garden was ready to be
harvested on a regular basis.
Like their Enga neighbors to the east, the
Duna generally plant sweet potatoes,
Ipomoea batatas, their staple crop, in small
earthen mounds. Using a shovel, a woman
digs up small areas of ground up to nine square
meters each and builds mounds rising as high
as 0.5 m. She then plants up to ten clumps of
four or five sweet potato vines at various
places in each mound. After several months
Fig. 6. Placing a leaf as camouflage on the tip of a
sharply pointed stake. The man hopes to impale a
wild pig which he believes will jump over the gar-
den fence at night.
Ein Blatt wird als Camouflage auf der Spitze eines
scharfgespitzten Zaunpfahls angebracht. Der
Mann hofft, auf diese Weise ein Wildschwein
aufzuspiehen, das, wie er glaubt, bei Nacht uber
den Gartenzaun springen wird.
THOMAS M. MARECEK
Fig. 5. Cut vegetation drying in the garden. The
tree at the left is a red pandanus, the fruit of which is
highly desired by the Duna (July, 1975).
Abgeschnittene Vegetation liegt zum Trocknen im
Garten. Der Baum links ist eine rote Schrauben-
palme, deren Friichte bei den Dunas sehr begehrt
sind (Juli 1975).
garden, but after burning has been completed,
the ashes are left in piles rather than systemati-
cally spread or mixed into the soil.
Nevertheless, the garden is now ready for
planting. The first two to three weeks of plant-
ing are the most intensive, probably to put as
many crops as possible into the ground before
the rains increase in October. The remainder
of the garden (probably around 20 per cent of
the area) is planted more slowly in the months
ahead. There is a good reason for not planting
all the crops at once. The crops that are
planted later provide a kind of insurance for
the owner and his family. If the garden were
completely harvested before a second one
were regularly producing crops, the owner
and his family would have to rely on relatives
and friends for food. Since Duna families
plant basically only what they think they will
eat (i.e., they do not plant a surplus) it would
be a difficult situation for all concerned if two
families had to be fed from a garden originally
built for one. But if the owner has his wife
plant some crops in the first garden for several
months after the initial planting, he would
almost be assured of having a steady supply of
food until the second garden was ready to be
harvested on a regular basis.
Like their Enga neighbors to the east, the
Duna generally plant sweet potatoes,
Ipomoea batatas, their staple crop, in small
earthen mounds. Using a shovel, a woman
digs up small areas of ground up to nine square
meters each and builds mounds rising as high
as 0.5 m. She then plants up to ten clumps of
four or five sweet potato vines at various
places in each mound. After several months
Fig. 6. Placing a leaf as camouflage on the tip of a
sharply pointed stake. The man hopes to impale a
wild pig which he believes will jump over the gar-
den fence at night.
Ein Blatt wird als Camouflage auf der Spitze eines
scharfgespitzten Zaunpfahls angebracht. Der
Mann hofft, auf diese Weise ein Wildschwein
aufzuspiehen, das, wie er glaubt, bei Nacht uber
den Gartenzaun springen wird.