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#0092
86
THOMAS M. MARECEK
Fig. ii. Mounds ready to be harvested. The
mound at the right is about 2 m across and 0.5 m
high.
Erdwalle bereit zur Ernte. Der Erdwall rechts hat
einen Durchmesser von etwa 2 m und ist 0.5 m
hoch.
Fig. 12. Using a digging stick to make holes in the
ground in which sweet potato vines will be planted
(Sep., 1975).
Mit einem Grabstock werden Locher in die Erde
gebohrt, in die dann SiiEkartoffelschdBlinge ge-
pflanzt werden sollen (September 1975).
build and maintain fences while women clear
and burn undergrowth, plant, weed, and har-
vest. There is some overlap in jobs: men occa-
sionally help women clear and burn under-
growth, and harvest; women occasionally
help men cut foliage from felled trees.
Men’s work is concerned mainly with gar-
den construction, which is laborious and in-
tense work which lasts for a relatively short
period of time. For example, during the con-
struction of the present garden, men worked
steadily about four days a week for about four
months. Since most men build only one gar-
den per year and most gardens are about the
same size as the present one, they work hard
in the gardens for a total of only about four
months a year. Only occasionally do they go
to the gardens after that time. When they do
go they usually check the fences for breaks, set
traps for pigs (fig. 6), or harvest. They spend
about two months, total time each year (i.e.,
about sixty days, or, about one in every four
days) in these latter activities.4
Women’s work, on the other hand, is con-
cerned mainly with garden maintenance,
which tends to be relatively steady the year
round. For example, a woman goes to the
gardens almost every day to harvest sweet
potatoes for her family. She must weed almost
daily if she is going to prevent weeds from
taking over the garden. Planting is intensive
initially, requiring her to go to the gardens
every day for several weeks, and then the in-
surance planting must be done, which then
takes up about one day per week. Women are
thus working in the gardens almost every day
in one or more of their chores.
Based on my observations and records,
then, I estimate that men spend about one-
third and women .two-thirds of all time spent
in the gardens. This time allocation is not
unique to the Duna. William Clarke discov-
ered that Bomagai-Angoiang women contri-
bute roughly sixty per cent of the total time
THOMAS M. MARECEK
Fig. ii. Mounds ready to be harvested. The
mound at the right is about 2 m across and 0.5 m
high.
Erdwalle bereit zur Ernte. Der Erdwall rechts hat
einen Durchmesser von etwa 2 m und ist 0.5 m
hoch.
Fig. 12. Using a digging stick to make holes in the
ground in which sweet potato vines will be planted
(Sep., 1975).
Mit einem Grabstock werden Locher in die Erde
gebohrt, in die dann SiiEkartoffelschdBlinge ge-
pflanzt werden sollen (September 1975).
build and maintain fences while women clear
and burn undergrowth, plant, weed, and har-
vest. There is some overlap in jobs: men occa-
sionally help women clear and burn under-
growth, and harvest; women occasionally
help men cut foliage from felled trees.
Men’s work is concerned mainly with gar-
den construction, which is laborious and in-
tense work which lasts for a relatively short
period of time. For example, during the con-
struction of the present garden, men worked
steadily about four days a week for about four
months. Since most men build only one gar-
den per year and most gardens are about the
same size as the present one, they work hard
in the gardens for a total of only about four
months a year. Only occasionally do they go
to the gardens after that time. When they do
go they usually check the fences for breaks, set
traps for pigs (fig. 6), or harvest. They spend
about two months, total time each year (i.e.,
about sixty days, or, about one in every four
days) in these latter activities.4
Women’s work, on the other hand, is con-
cerned mainly with garden maintenance,
which tends to be relatively steady the year
round. For example, a woman goes to the
gardens almost every day to harvest sweet
potatoes for her family. She must weed almost
daily if she is going to prevent weeds from
taking over the garden. Planting is intensive
initially, requiring her to go to the gardens
every day for several weeks, and then the in-
surance planting must be done, which then
takes up about one day per week. Women are
thus working in the gardens almost every day
in one or more of their chores.
Based on my observations and records,
then, I estimate that men spend about one-
third and women .two-thirds of all time spent
in the gardens. This time allocation is not
unique to the Duna. William Clarke discov-
ered that Bomagai-Angoiang women contri-
bute roughly sixty per cent of the total time