An Abelam myth story.
During a trip along the Sepik, I heard a folk tale about a powerful spirit-man who became a yam (a sweet potato) and drifted down the river spreading around Maprik, where the Abelam tribes were living.
Two years later, I arrived at the Abelams and recorded their side of that tumbuna story of the deity which brought the yam to their lands.
Tag: Apangai
Abelam’s spirits houses, gods and yams (Maprik, PNG)
Gods, heroes, ritual artwork, ceremonies, spirits’ houses, taboos, local pride and, recently, demands for governmental funding are revolving around the yam, the staple food of the Abelams, and their trade-good over fish with the river people.
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