A short tale for kids.
Different from a tumbuna story (ancestors’ myth or legend) reserved for the initiated men in the tambaran (cult house), this is a so-called “story nothing”, open to everyone.
I recorded it from Yangas Vikapa, a young Kwoma artist from the Sikau (Wallaby) sub-clan, in Masanumbuk, Sepik, 2015.
Tag: Melanesian
Collecting folk tales along the Sepik River, Papua New Guinea
Between 2012 and 2018, I travelled to remote communities along the Sepik. I found my way by word of mouth, through extended families, following their stories. I joined my hosts working sago, catching fish, hunting, trading crocodile skins and gold-mining. I attended ritual ceremonies, watched trials for custom-breaking and sorcery, witnessed wife exchanges and listened to every-day issues mixing old taboos and nowadays solutions.
Several elders and young artists were receptive to share their stories with me.
Glossary for Sepik folk tales
I wrote this glossary with photos to explain some of the words and expressions which appear frequently in the stories. It’s not meant to be an extract of a PNG Pidgin – English dictionary, but to give a little bit of context related to the environment where I collected the folk tales. Bilum – means bag or sac. Traditionally it’s […]
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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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Mamas’ Life skills training in Tongujamb (Sepik River, PNG)
Responding to the requests of the women from the Blek Wara (a wetland area) close to Washkuk Hill, on the Middle Sepik course, the heads of the communities organized a workshop – Women life skills training, in Tongujamb, 2015.The Catholic Church from Wewak sent two sisters to teach them how to bake and sew using a machine. Up to 150 […]
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Pukpuk – crocodile hunters on Sepik River (West Sepik, PNG)
Manu, a young guy from the family I lived with, and his father were hunting and trading crocodile skins. The money, sometimes the only income in the community, was used for buying small things for the house and most of it was saved to buy an engine for their dug-out canoe and to pay the boarding school fees for Manu.
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Fish basket (Sepik River, PNG)
In 2015, the dry season came earlier on the Middle Sepik. The drought shrank the wide, dark water lakes to small ponds, and narrowed the channels that connect the inland villages with the Sepik River.One day, I saw women gathering with enthusiasm at the almost dry creek with their fishnet baskets. I took my camera and join the party. After […]
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In the swamp (West Sepik, PNG)
During the weeks I spent with the people from West Sepik villages, I joined them in the swamps, to catch fish.Armed with baskets made of bush-ropes, cane spears, fishing nets, machetes, and smoking logs – for chasing away mosquitoes, drying tobacco and light cigarettes, we hopped on canoes and paddled along the Sepik. When the canoes were pulled aside, we […]
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West Sepik to Vanimo (PNG)
On the Sepik bank, the Abau people, from Baio, were watching the boats passing by, trying to seize their cargo and guess where they were coming from. This bustling activity didn’t seem to have much impact on their lifestyle yet.
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