{"id":4,"date":"2021-04-11T15:26:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-11T15:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/duba.ro\/en\/?p=4"},"modified":"2021-04-23T05:48:12","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T05:48:12","slug":"glossary-pidgin-sepik-papua-new-guinea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/duba.ro\/en\/glossary-pidgin-sepik-papua-new-guinea\/","title":{"rendered":"Glossary for Sepik folk tales"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bilum<\/strong> \u2013 means bag or sac. Traditionally it’s a string bag made of plants\u2019 fibres. It\u2019s almost an extension of a Papuan\u2019s body, everybody, everywhere, uses one. There are big ones, used to carry children or bring food from the forest, tiny ones used for the mobile phone or betel nuts, bilums for daily usage or for performing sacred rituals, warrior’s bilums decorated with black feathers, to protect them from arrows and trick the enemy, offerings bilum adorned with kina shells, and so. Some tribes can be identified by the design of their bilum. Along with the kundu drum, it’s a symbol of PNG.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kwoma bilums (string bags), made of tulip fibres, displayed at Bilum Festival, Tongujamb, 2018<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Garamut <\/strong>\u2013 is a hardwood tree or a drum carved in a 1 to 5 meters long garamut trunk. The garamut (drum) is used to communicate to neighbouring houses and communities, and to keep the singsing rhythm. The garamut can have magic powers, as a masalai\u2013garamut or an ancestor\u2019s garamut, and makes part of the local mythology.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Crocodile shaped garamut, inside the tambaran of Tek Asaur Clan, Tongujamb, 2012.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Haus tambaran<\/strong> or haus boy<\/strong> \u2013 is the ceremony\/cult house, also called spirits\u2019 house, or warriors\u2019 house. It\u2019s a powerful place, the gathering of male ancestors\u2019 spirits. Its pillars, crossbars, ceiling and walls can be carved and painted with appearances of myth characters and sacred motifs. Traditionally only the initiated men are allowed inside, where they find strength and guidance, perform rituals, debate, chill and share stories. A tambaran belongs to one or more clans, which claim paternity over the ritual artefacts. Kaipuk, a Kwoma \u201cbig man\u201d, told me \u201cthe tambaran is a mask of the clan\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
An Abelam cult-house, called koromb, korumbo or tambaran. This one, from Apangai 1, over 10 meters tall, is the biggest and oldest remaining one. It belongs to the Kulikum and Kandi Clans. It’s built on a wood and bamboo structure, covered with morota and sago barks. On the fa\u00e7ade are painted, with mud, the masks of Dendwin (the lower row) and Puti (the rest). Puti, or Wabiken \u201cis the god\u201d, \u201che gives you the power to work\/succeed\u201d. On the right corner is a tunnel-like dwarf entrance, used during ceremonies, which forces people to bend when coming out of the koromb. Apangai, 2017.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Kina<\/strong> \u2013 it can refer to a particular species of a seashell, or to different shells stitched on a cloth or belt, used as money. Kina are still used for custom payments (bride price, compensation) for sorcerers\u2019 fees and offerings. Kina was adopted as the name of the PNG currency.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kina shells stitched on tulip-fibre-cloth. Here was the payday for the bride price, and the family of the groom displayed their payment. Tongujamb, 2017.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Kundu<\/strong> \u2013 is a drum, similar to a djembe, carved in a log and closed to one side with lizard skin. It is the most common drum used in New Guinea. It’s always part of a singing and, like the garamut, it can have magic powers, and it can be used to perform sorcery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kowma men beating kundu drum, at a sinsing in Tongujamb, 2018.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Limbun<\/strong> \u2013 is a palm tree. It can refer to almost everything made from it. The bark is used as\/for containers, covers, washing gutter or sleeping mats. The limbun\u2019s hardwood is used to make tools, handlers and weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Limbun. The bark, from which the lady pours the sago scrub, is called limbun. The gutter, in which she washes it, is also a limbun. The bucket-like-containers, where the water with the starch is collected, are also limbun. Panwai, 2018.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mark the day\/number of<\/strong> \u2013 The indigenous didn\u2019t know the numeric system. They used to show, or represent the numbers\/quantity by tying knots on a bush-rope, braking a stick into pieces or breaking the leaves off a branch. In the Kwoma language, there are words only for \u201cone\u201d and \u201ctwo\u201d. You can say \u201ctwo one\u201d meaning three, or \u201ctwo-two\u201d for four, or \u201cone hand\u201d for five, but bigger numbers have to be shown or described. Others were using body parts: hand, elbow, knee, neck\u2026
To keep in mind a date, like a market day, they would make knots on a thread, and every day they would untie a knot until the meeting day. If one would have to bring fruits for a group of 8 let\u2019s say, he\/she would break a stick into pieces, associating each one to a person name, and make sure there\u2019s a fruit for each stick. Or, to check if the number of boys from a village matches the number of girls from another one, they would break a stick for each boy, with his name, and a stick with each girl name, align the sticks in two rows, face to face. Nowadays, this counting can still be used in remote communities, even for money sharing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Counting. In the remote Ama village, the heads of the families are sharing the money received from a logging company. In their language, Sawyianu, there are no numbers. And with close to 70% illiteracy, and barely understanding the numeric system, they still count using objects. Each sheaf of notes is associated with a tree, as the payment was a fixed amount per tree. Ama, 2018.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Masalai or spirit<\/strong> \u2013 is a mighty creature\/person who can take different appearances, as man, woman, animal, plant, fruit or stone, and it can become invisible too. They have all sorts of powers and are good at sorcery and spells. Good or bad, both are feared and thus respected. They can belong to a clan or can be part of the environment. Even if they can be defeated, they rarely get killed. Often, a clans\u2019 ancestor is a masalai\/spirit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ritual mask belonging to a Kwoma chief. This one is a Yena mask – the firstborn, of Wokina, from the Gusem Clan. The mask is a spirit that awakes at singsing or in times of war. Tongujamb 2015<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mauswind<\/strong> \u2013 means sorcery, spell, witchcraft. Wokin mauswind<\/em> \u2013 to make a spell\/sorcery\/witchcraft. Usually is performed by blowing, exhaling, breathing out. A spell can be sent or pulled out (removed) by blowing it or by breathing it in or out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Morota<\/strong> \u2013 sago leaves stitched together along a bamboo slat, forming panels used to make roofs and fences. It can also mean “roof”, or “shelter” made from morota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The most common roof all along the Sepik, made of sago leaves. It\u2019s preferred even nowadays to tin or bitumen because it’s breathable and lightweight. It lasts at least three years, but if the house is constantly used, and if people make fire inside, the morota roof lasts much longer. Here, my hosts from Tonga 2, were preparing this house for me. The following years, when I visited them, they would always escort me to \u201cmy house\u201d. Tongujamb, 2012.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Mumu<\/strong> \u2013 cooking\/steaming using hot stones. The stones are well heated on the fire, then, a layer of hot stones is spread on the fire pit, the stuff to be cooked is placed on top and covered with another layer of hot stones. Everything is covered with big leaves and limbun. When a big animal like a pig is cooked, hot stones are put inside the body too. When they cook veggies like sweet potatoes, breadfruits, or pandanus fruits, a thick layer of leaves is lied between the stones and the veggies, so they don\u2019t dry. In swampy areas, like the flooded plains along the Sepik, you can\u2019t find stones, and people carry them from camp to camp. Until about 40-50 years ago, this cooking method was used, rarely though, for humans too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Cooking with hot stones. The veggies are steamed in a \u201cbush-oven\u201d. Here, the pandanus fruits and sweet potatoes are placed on hot stones and cover with levels. On top will be laid palm barks to \u201cclose\u201d the oven. Waniap, 2018.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sago<\/strong> \u2013 is a palm from which is obtained a starch, the staple food for lowlands Melanesians. The palm’s core is scrubbed\/grinded, washed, squeezed and the water is decanted to get the starch. The sago flour can be backed wrapped in leaves, or mixed with hot water, or pan-fried, to get something tasteless and difficult to swallow. I found it tasting terrible, and that’s what people there eat, even three times a day.
From the sago leaves is made the morota. From their petiole are made the house walls. And the bark it\u2019s used as a gutter for washing the sago. Some sago palms are cut down and left for flies to lay eggs, to form the sago grubs. The fat grubs are the only \u201canimals\u201d grown by Melanesians, the rest they hunt for. Every part of the sago palm is used, people’s lives depend on it, and around all the lowlands settlements can be found sago swamps.
Now, the palm oil plantations are clearing the forests and drying the ground, and the chemical fertilizers used are ending up in the water streams. Slowly and irreversible, the Melanesians are losing their staple food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Saksak \u2013 means sago in PNG Pidgin. It comes from the sound of grinding\/scrubbing the sago. It\u2019s labour-intensive work, and in most communities is the women\u2019s job. Panwai, 2018.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sanguma<\/strong> or saveman<\/strong> \u2013 sorcerer, witch doctor, shaman, savvy man. In PNG they are found everywhere, most people have strong beliefs in them, regardless of their religious beliefs, education and social status. Appealing to their services, as well as trials for sorcery is common, both in rural and urban areas. Along the Sepik, the sanguma use small-small arrows to send the spell to\/into a person. A sanguma arrow, or its\u2019 effect, can be seen and removed only by another sanguma. These services cost, and now, more and more people, particularly in the communities which are more into the Christian religion, suspect the sanguma of scamming.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shell-kembang<\/strong> or koteka<\/strong> \u2013 is a penis gsheats, used in many Melanesians communities. It can be made of: gourd, shell, bird beak, wood, leaf. It\u2019s a symbol of masculinity, a decoration and can be also used to perform magic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A Korowai man playing at a bamboo jaw-harp. We met in Yaniruah and he invited us to his house, in a treetop. There he waited is his chief outfit. He weares a koteka (penis sheath) made of hornbill beak. Around the waist, the men have a rotan-vein used for lighting the fire. Close to Yanirumah, 2012.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Singsing<\/strong> \u2013 is a ceremony or celebration. The community invokes the ancestors\u2019 spirits by telling their stories, singing and dancing. The stories can be myths and legends, or accounts of recent events, like a tribal fight.
Singsing also refers to the chorus (refrain) of a story and its\u2019 rhythm of kundu drums and garamut. The long stories can be structured in a few acts having e a few choruses. When one act ends, the rhythm changes for the following one.
Singsing can also mean witchcraft or spell.
Singsing amamas \u2013 means happy singsing, a party.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Kwoma men dressed for singsing, at Bilum Festival, Tongujamb, 2018. <\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tumbuna story<\/strong> \u2013 ancestral myths and legends. They used to be reserved only for the initiated men. As times are changing, this secrecy is relative now.
When I recorded tumbuna stories transcending a clan\u2019s boundaries, a group of men, one from each clan included in the story, was formed. As the epic passed from one clan to another, the same did the storytelling.
Besides the tumbuna stories, there are the so-called \u201cjust stories\u201d open to everybody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Umben <\/strong>\u2013 is a fishnet basket. The net of knotted yarns, usually made of tulip-tree fibres, is attached to a ring made of rattan or a similar vine. Catching fish with the umben is women\u2019s work. Men spear the fish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Catching fish on a creek, using the umben -fishnet basket. People gather to catch fish, not necessarily for sharing what each one catches but to share the fish in that water-body. Tongujamb, 2017.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Waspor <\/strong>\u2013 is a generic character name used in some Kwoma stories, meaning \u201cone man\u201d, without name and origin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bellow there are more captioned photos for the glossary.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n