Yangoru Boiken - Economy

Subsistence and Commercial Activities. The staples of Yangoru Boiken subsistence are yams and taro, cultivated separately under slash-and-burn horticulture, and a feast-or-famine dependence on the sago palm. Supplements include bananas, coconuts, breadfruit, greens, sugarcane, bamboo sprouts, and a wide variety of game, including pigs, cassowaries, a range of smaller ground and arboreal mammals, birds, grubs, and fish. During the Japanese occupation in World War II, game and fish supplies were seriously depleted and, following the introduction of shotguns and nylon netting, they remain depressed. In consequence, dependence on game and fish has decreased, while reliance on store-bought meat, fish, and rice has increased.

Industrial Arts. In the past, villagers manufactured stone adzes, bamboo knives, carved plates, ceramic pots and bowls, wooden eating utensils, spears, war clubs, shields, slit gongs, and certain items of shell wealth. Nowadays, almost all industrial products are bought in shops.

Trade. Traditionally, the high foothill villages of Yangoru were linked in trade to coastal Boiken villages on the far side of the mountains. They exported smoked pork, tobacco, net bags, and clay pots and imported piglets, salt, and Turbo clamshells. Fashions, songs, and dances seem to have passed both ways. From the high foothills, salt, pottery, and Turbo -based shell wealth were traded to the low foothills in exchange for net bags and shell wealth. By the late 1960s, however, these networks were largely defunct.

Division of Labor. There is a distinct division of labor by sex. Men hunt and fish, clear and fence gardens, plant and harvest yams and sago, process sago, cook ceremonial foods, and build houses. In earlier days, they also conducted the fighting, made pots and plates, and created most of the artwork. Women rear pigs; plant, weed, and harvest the taro, bananas, and greens; help with weeding and harvesting the yams; do the daily cooking and most of the portering; fetch water; forage for firewood and bush foods; and do most of the child care. Both sexes manufacture ornaments, clothing, bags, and baskets. In modern times, this division has begun to crumble, partly under the influence of Western values and partly because the frequent absence of young men in urban centers forces wives to do their husbands' work.

Land Tenure. Land and domesticated trees are vested in the hring. The most influential man in the hring, its "father" ( yaba ), nominally controls the disposal of its resources, but it would be unusual for him to dispute the wishes of his agnates concerning the resources they farm.