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Making sago Komoro-style cuisine
For the Komoro communities near Timika in Papua, making and eating sago has been a tradition for generations
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For the Komoro communities near Timika in Papua, making and eating sago has been a tradition for generations.
Sago is a starch extracted from tropical palm stems and substitutes rice or potatoes in the local diet. Four villages ' Tipuka, Ayuka, Mioko and Sagu ' are the principal suppliers of sago to Timika, the provincial capital, and its surroundings. Manufacturing is done traditionally.
The villages are remote, according to one local resident.
'To visit a village such as Tipuka, some 49 kilometers from Timika, one must drive a motorbike for around one hour,' said Titus Manokepeyaro, 76.
About 18,000 Kamoro live in the 59 villages around Timika, according to official reports.
John Nakiaya, a former secretary of the Amungme-Kamoro People's Development Agency, explains how life is different here. 'There are many Kamoro people who generally prefer being nomads. They have been spoilt by natural wealth such as sago, cassava, taro, local vegetables and plentiful fish.'
'The Kamoro tribe has always been identified with canoes, sago, carvings, traditional music instruments, dance and traditional rituals,' John said.
Marius Etapoka, a resident of Ayuka, 40 kilometers from Timika, said that Kamoro also liked hunting and fishing ' using the kalawe traditional spear to catch fish.
In Mioko, village head Benediktus Orakuana discussed how local residents managed sago. 'The sago trunk grows in the wild in the swamp without cultivation. They let the sago palm grow freely and multiply by itself until the age of five.'
He continues. 'Because sago grows wild, it is no wonder that many Kamoro people like moving to look for sago swamps away from the village. After getting sago for one to two days, they return to their respective villages.'
Theresia Kureyauta from Tipuka village says making sago requires skill. Only women are allowed to chop down and split the sago, crush it to bits with pickaxes, and filter it.
The men, according to the 38-year-old, accompany the women, preparing traditional axes, machetes and pickaxes. They also clear away weeds so women can chop down the plant.
'To find the best sago, Kamoro women must choose sago palms aged three to five years with 15 meters' height, because they always contain much sago,' added Theresia, 40, a mother of five.
She said that traditional axes were used to fell the plants. 'Having cut it down, one should check the trunk to see whether the sago flower has fissured or not. The best ones are those where the sago flower has not fissured yet.'
Fissures can be seen from color alone, Theresia says. 'If it's white, it means that it contains much sago. Then the sago palm that has been chopped down certainly contains much sago. The next step is to split it. The sago that has been split should be crushed to bits with a pickaxe until it produces extracts ' a kind of fiber.
'While some are shattering sago with memangkur (pickaxes), others are also preparing plaited filter made from sago palm frond. There are some who make plaited mats,' added Yosepha Yamiro, 36, a chairwoman of Mioko.
The extract is then mixed with water, kneaded three times and filtered with sago palm fronds. The concoction is then is allowed to settle and separate.
The sediment is later extracted and dried on sago leaves and stored in tumang, large baskets made from sago midribs.
'A sago palm that has been filtered and dried can weigh 150 to 300 kilograms. It is put into a tumang,' Yosepha says. 'One harvest could be 11 to 14 tumang.'
Maria Etapoka, 37, a resident of Ayuka, says it can take days to make sago, depending on the number of women working. 'If two women crush the sago with pickaxe and the other three can prepare a tumang and its filter, it will take a half day. The sago produced can last for up to two months. Of course, we have to crush to bits with the pickaxe again when it is out of stock.'
Mathea Mamoya, a prominent activist for Komoro women's rights in Timika, says that the process has a spiritual basis. 'For the Kamoro, there must be rituals to cut down trees. It aims at exorcising evil spirits that exist around the sago tree. Moreover, cutting, splitting, and crushing sago is very dangerous. The ritual is conducted as an expression of gratitude for the abundant harvest.'
The local residents also make sago that is resold at traditional markets in Timika, among other places, according to Maria. One tumang can be sold for up to Rp 750,000 (US$63.36) to a middleman, who can then divide the sago into slices resold for up to Rp 30,000 each.
One traditional market reseller, Okto Operawiri, says he can clear Rp 200,0000 in profits a day. 'The customers here are not only the people of Papua, but also many migrants buy sago in my stall. Some are regular buyers, some often buy sago as souvenirs for their families in the village.'
Cooking sago is not hard, according to Flora Resubun, who owns warung Papeda in Timika. 'Simply soak it with hot water, then stir. To enjoy sago, spicy sour fish sauce and kangkung (papaya flowers mixed with kale) should be available.'
Times, however, are changing, according to longtime Papua resident Rev. Hogendoorn Lambertus.
'In the past ten years since the founding of the town of Timika, Kamoro culture has begun to shift. In the past, almost everyone was a food gatherer. Now quite a lot of them have become civil servants, private employees, farmers and unskilled laborers,' Lambertus said.
' Photos by Markus Mardius
