Hear the chatter of a community of rich brown skinned people tending ever to respectfully to their gardens. Now hear the calls of a pig as it is about to be sacrificed for a momentous ceremony. An auditory scene like this can be heard in the tribe of the Dani. Their food resources primarily take place in their symmetrical gardens, where the sweet potato is undoubtedly one of their main crops, with over 70 varieties, along with bananas and cassava (a starchy root used as source of carbohydrates). Other foods may include vegetables - when obtainable. The women are in charge of maintaining these gardens and they are also responsible for raising their husbands' pigs. Much wealth is associated with the number of pigs a male owner has, for the pig is the only source of protein for this tribe because of the small source of game in the area, so there is very little demand for hunters in this community. The men use their pigs as an exchange for bargains or political achievements, and only for ceremonial occasions are the pigs prepared for a sacrifice and eaten at a feast.
Such a ceremony is the notorious Pig Feast that is held in honor for weddings, births, funerals, and other occasions. A host will typically provide one or more pigs to be traditionally sacrificed by a bow and arrow and cooked, by the women, in an earth oven. This process begins by heating up stones in the oven while wrapping the staple crops (sweet potato, banana, and cassava) and the pig meat in banana leaves. Once the stones are hot enough they make up the first lay in the earth oven followed by the food packages. To keep it moist, grass is put over the packages and the oven is covered and left for a couple of hours. Many times, the whole community and neighboring tribes are invited to partake in the celebration. Let the festivities begin!
Sources: Butt, Leslie.
2001 Crossroads: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 15, no. 1, 58.""AN EPIDEMIC OF RUNAWAY WIVES": Discourses by Dani Men on Sex and Marriage in Highlands Irian Jaya, Indonesia."
"The Dani Tribe, Papua."
June 6, 2009 Trek Papua.
"Dani War Ceremony and Pig Feast - in West Papua, New Guinea- Colorado Magazine Online."
Dani War Ceremony and Pig Feast - in West Papua, New Guinea- Colorado Magazine Online.
I would have to agree with the statement "Food feeds the soul..." because it seems that every nation and culture has their own ritual for preparing food depending in the event being held. Specifically among the Dani and American cultures, a full course meal is preplanned in preparation for a large celebration and I believe it is safe to claim that hosts in both cultures want to give their guests a great experience by satisfying all senses, so the taste and smell is very important.
ReplyDeleteAs for the way the Dani people collect their food, I persoanlly support a community garden. It is a budern that these people share in order to give the whole tribe a source of nutrients and ultimately a source of life. I believe the closest equalilent to a community garden in America can be found at local farmer markets. While the all the Dani women share manual labor, Americans fincially support our farmers and their labor to provide us a source of nutirents.
Thank you for the very interesting reflexive post Melissa!!! Just try to rewrite your references using the AAA Style Guide I posted on Canvas. Some of you need to do this to make it all look consistent when it comes to references. Thanks for the very responsible work you do in our course this semester Melissa!!!
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