Paddling on sago

Story and picture by SENIORL ANZU

Gulf province has the famous slogan “yu yet kam na lukim” (come and see it for yourself). Among many things one can see for himself or herself is the way in which sago trunks are transported home from where they are harvested.

Sago is the major staple food for Gulf people and much of the sago grows in the wild along the Kikori delta.

Locals say in some villages, sago trunks are harvested and transported through the Kikori River and its tributaries to coastal homes by tying the trunks onto the canoe and pulling along as the canoe is paddled home.

 

Pictured here is Gulf man Douglas Nuga from Ero Island, Kikori, doing the opposite.

 

Instead of paddling the canoe with sago trunk behind, Nuga paddled on two huge sago trunks with his canoe pulled behind into Orokoi tributary for Ero after leaving the Kikori River few kilometers away.