General equipment, game, and hunting activities

158 13 Food Gathering and Cash Crops

13.1 Hunting and Fishing

It is not surprising that hunting and fishing are more pleasure than burden on this island, whose terrain and vegetation lend themselves to these pursuits. Young boys with small bows and arrows or spears are off in the jungle or garden areas hunting birds or spearing crayfish for fun. To relax is to get out in the jungle for a time, and to carry a bow and arrow along is only using common sense. When a feast is to be held, almost an entire village will make preparations to live and hunt in remote areas of the mountains for a week at a time. It is an important social activity.

13.1.1 General equipment, game, and hunting activities

Equipment for hunting is all handmade, with the exception of the 12-gauge shotgun, and sometimes the blade of the spear. At least four different types of arrow tips are designed for specific game. Knives A basic tool for hunting, gardening, building, etc. is the bush knife sigova. The longer knife with curved blade is called toriva and sometimes referred to as a “sword.” Knives are storebought and are as ubiquitous as a cup of coffee in Western societies. They are important to hunters for killing and skinning prey, cutting vines for climbing, cutting sticks for traps, cutting bush for shelters, gathering firewood for heat and cooking, sectioning bamboo for meat containers, etc. Pronged arrows arere tou The keari tou or arita kaso is a type of bamboo with strong, but thin stalks. It is ideal for the construction of arrow shafts and is used for this type of arrow, as well as for all others. The stalk is first marked [see section 14.5] at each joint and allowed to cure dry. A joint is selected, which has a natural flare, and the stalk is cut just beyond this particular joint. This is the end to which the tips will be attached. The opposite end is wrapped and notched to fit the bow string. Working on a pronged arrow – Arere Tou 159 Four bamboo blades or tips are cut and shaped, as in the diagram below: The blades are then placed around the tip end and fastened with a split strip of vine, ovoto. The vine is wrapped tightly around the four blades and downward toward the notched end of the shaft, about eight to ten cm distance. It is then tied off. A fruit slightly larger than a large betel nut fruit is then cut open and the pithy center exposed asitaisi or “native putty”. A small section of this is chipped away from the fruit pod and rubbed over the vine wrappings. A soft pink-colored substance, which has the consistency of a paste, is deposited in and over the wrappings. This is then smeared and rubbed into the wrappings and care is taken that the substance penetrates into all open spaces. It will later dry and form a hard, black, adhesive seal. A second layer of wrapping is then put on, starting from the top and working down towards the notched end of the shaft. The prongs of the blades are now bound together slightly so as to keep them from being completely spread out. A portion of the asitaisi fruit is once again smeared over the wrappings. This is repeated four or five times until the tip end is “heavy” with blades, vine, and paste. It is then allowed to dry, harden, and darken cure. The vine binding the tips of the prongs is eventually cut and the four tips are allowed to spread into their natural positions. The arrow is now ready for hunting flying fox bats, fish, etc. Plainbarbed-tipped arrows Arrows with sharp spear-like tips made of the strong black palm bark are used for medium-sized game. It could very well have been this type of arrow which pierced the smoke stack of the Ripple, as described in Rev. Brown’s diary [see section 1.2]. The plain tip may be fitted with barbs of bat wing bones. These, however, are time consuming to make, so plain-tipped arrows are preferred. They are used for opossum, vagrant dogs, flying fox and fish, and in the past were used in warfare. Black palm bark-tipped arrows for medium-size game Stunning arrow This arrow is made with the intention of stunning the animal or of knocking it out of a tree still alive. The socket of a pig’s femur is usually chosen for this purpose. The length of the arrow is about 1-12 meters. It is not notched, nor does it have feathers. Arrow tip for stunning or knocking-down game Piercing arrow For larger game, especially pigs, a razor-sharp edge is cut on a dagger-shaped strip of bamboo. When launched from a relatively close distance, the arrow is able to penetrate the skin and flesh of most pigs, dogs, etc. Spears are preferred for pigs. Piercing tip arrow with sharp cutting edge 160 Sago palm—disposable arrows Quick to make are the arrows made from sago palm leaves. The leaf is cut in such as way as to leave two stabilizing fins and a shaft with pointed tip. It is a favorite of young hunters and is commonly used by boys and adults alike for small birds. Sago leaf arrow—disposable type Spears Rotokas spears are long up to 2-12 meters and usually are fashioned with barbs. The shaft is made of black palm. There may be designs of woven grass on the shaft and normally a thickened area of wound reed or putty about twenty to thirty centimeters from the tip. Some Rotokas men use metal blades fastened to the spear shaft for pig hunting. One man had kept a double-edged dagger found during the war and used it on his pig spear. It was most effective until it snapped off inside a downed pig. Our friend was most disappointed at the loss. It had killed many pigs for him over the years. Another pig spear was fitted with a sharpened and “barbed” metal rod. Spears used for fishing are fitted with sharpened bicycle spokes in a cluster [see section 13.1.3]. Rotokas spears Common spear Fishing spear Pig spear 161 Some old friends 162 Nets There are basically three sizes of nets, according to the game desired. However, one of these is in common use today. Very strong nets were used to snare wild pig. Today, nets are occasionally used to catch opossum, but for the most part, these two uses of net traps are no longer practical. A light-weight, long, narrow net was used to snare birds. This type of net was hung between trees in the well-known flight path of birds. One of the old men of Togarao village was responsible for teaching the initiates how to weave this kind of net. I photographed the process in the late 1970s, but observed no further interest after that time in the use of the net, nor the construction of them. Bird-net weaving The only net still made and in common use today is the smaller bag-shaped net for trapping paku crayfish in the streams. A loop of rattan is fashioned for the mouth of the net. It is about 45 cm. wide and 30 cm. high. From this solid loop, the net is woven into a bag about a meter in length. At the stream, stones are placed in a “v” shape across a portion of the stream or the entire stream, depending upon the size. At the downstream point of the “v,” an opening is left across which the net is placed. Crayfish or small fish find their way into the net and are trapped against the swift current. Pig snare In the past and possibly today, one method of catching wild pig was with a snare. A young sapling was bent taut over the trail known to be used commonly by wild pigs in the area. A vine rope was tied to the sapling and the noose was laid across the path. I do not know how the trap was triggered, but when the pig stepped into the noose, the trap was sprung and the noose tightened around its legs. This type of trap was known as a pooke ova, “bent-over tree.” Pig pit Although there is not much said about this method of trapping wild pigs, there is a story of two boys, which is based upon the pit method. The boys, in fact, caught a pig, but had a most difficult time trying to pull it up out of the pit with a rattan vine afterwards. Shotgun In 1978, a law was passed that allowed more shotguns to be purchased and kept in the villages. Before this time, guns were restricted to only a very few per village. Birds were plentiful and there was little concern about the populations of hornbills, doves, and other edible birds. At that time, the councilor expressed his concern about the new law. He felt that laws should be passed regulating the hunting of birds and should take into consideration whether or not a bird was harmful. He said that shotguns should be allowed for killing only those birds which eat fruit, such as the cockatoo and crow, as well as the flying fox. These birds, along with small parrots, spoil cocoa crops and papaya, in particular. He 163 stated that birds such as the dove and the hornbill do good by spreading seeds and “replanting the forest.” Flying foxes also do some good by dispersing sago palm seeds in new areas. It is sad to say that since no regulations have been passed, the many high-flying hornbills coming back to their roosts in the evenings are not seen any more. There is a noticeable decrease in doves and other game birds, too. Game A list of vavarai kare or wild birds and animals commonly hunted includes: koie wild pig—spear, bow and arrow, snare, pit; koorato opossum—bow and arrow, cut down tree and kill with bush knife or bow and arrow; karukava large rodent something like an opossum—bow and arrow; aatu flying foxfruit bat—bow and arrow, shotgun at night with flashlight; ovuveo hornbill—shotgun, bow and arrow; kurue dove— shotgun, bow and arrow, net; various smaller parrots and birds—bow and arrow, net; raorao grub of large beetle—axe, knife and hand. Opossum is a favorite meat. Men will cut down a fairly large tree, if they discover that the nest of an opossum is located in its branches or trunk. With the convenience of flashlights at night, it is not uncommon for a villager returning home from gardening or hunting to spot an opossum in the branches and bring it home for a meal. A friend and I were walking along a trail when we spotted a piece of soil on a large stone. My friend said that an opossum had been killed in the area only recently and this was a notice to that effect. Hunting shelter Depending upon the size of the hunt, the amount of game desired, etc., the hunting shelter may consist of a few leaves on a frame or a construction with sago palm thatch roof and bamboo mat walls. I have seen two sites used by large groups of hunters and their families. One included a good-size, properly-constructed shelter with firewood storage area, etc. The other was several hours from any village and consisted of only temporary shelters. There were remnants of bamboo tubes which had been used to encase the meat for transport and for storage purposes. Fires are necessary for keeping warm at higher elevations where wild game is more plentiful and for cooking. If it is inconvenient to carry a firestarter embers encased in leaves, then a fire can be started from wood found in the jungle. Fire-starting setup To start a fire by rubbing pieces of wood together is termed aatauparevoi he is starting fire with wood. The diagram shows the placement of the pieces on the prepared base. There are at least two types of trees that are good for starting fires, the riiriikoto and the takopaua tree.

13.1.2 Pig hunting