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Korovajų (korowai) has a population of 3000 inhabitants. When anthropologists discovered this tribe in 1970, they knew nothing about the world around them. The tribe believes that there are many different gods, the main one being the red-haired god Gimigi. It is the creative spirit. When calamities or failures occur, the Korovians donate pigs to the ghosts of their ancestors.
They follow many fairy tales to their children, telling spells, spells, and various totems. The tribe believes that the universe is filled with various spirits, and the ghosts of the ancestors protect them. It is also believed in reincarnation. He still finds it very difficult to give up his religion, even though he was baptized in 1990.
The family that adopted me is not large. It consists of a father with a mother, two older daughters, ages 15 and 17, and a young child. The man smiles constantly and is very friendly. He walks naked all the time, just taking care of his “thing”. I don’t know how to tell anatomically, but generally speaking, the hard inner part of his penis is deeply intertwined with the soft part of the skin and the tip is tied with grass so no one gets stuck. If you want to urinate, discard the herb and then tie a new one.
Mom is a real energy “bomb”. Moving constantly, communicating, smiling, laughing. Walking covered only by a skirt made of grass. There are relatives in the ranks of the bearers, so it’s fun for everyone to come here. The hosts immediately attacked everyone who came to eat the rub. sago palm flour pancakes and river water.
© Algirdas Morkūnas
They invite me to go up to the upper house where they live. Before climbing the carved bamboo pole, the owner ties it tighter at the bottom so that he doesn’t have to bake 90 kilograms of Lithuanian pancakes later.
The treehouse is divided into two parts. One side is for men and the other for women with children. The men’s part is ordered, there are few things here, there is a fireplace. The women’s side is loaded with various tools and the fireplace is in the middle of the room. Build a piece on boards covered in sand and covered in stones. The sand prevents the boards from catching fire.
© Algirdas Morkūnas
The bones of the eaten animals were glued to the roof of the house. The people of the Korovai tribe never throw bones after eating meat. Giving them to animals, dogs or throwing them away is a bad sign, so hang them all over your house. True curiosities can be found: turtle shells, monkey skulls or various fish bones.
The family has three dogs, they spend all their time in a wooden house, they cannot go out alone. If the hosts go somewhere in the forest and don’t accept them, there is a veritable choir howling. Pigs are also kept under the house as standard. And food scraps or leaves travel through the holes in the floor directly to them. Pigs are unfettered and wander freely into the jungle in search of food, and it is abundant here. By the way, right here in the garden, grow pineapples and bananas.
© Algirdas Morkūnas
I will stay in a tent that will be in a lower chamber. When I walk, the ground rumbles, so I’m glad I’m low. I have a mosquito net, so even though it is hot, I choose to spend the night in a tent because the snakes that are abundant here should not crawl into it.
The next morning I went out with the Korovai family to catch the fish. They become very interesting. He cut a palm leaf, braided it and made a basket, then found a termite nest and shredded it with the mosque. They were crushed and stacked in bags. A termite filled with palm pots was introduced into the river and left for 24 hours. The fish enters, eats termites, and for a while quietly indulges in the tuna.
The next day we checked the traps, they were empty. None of that, because at night one of the daughters caught two large snake fish in the river with my focus. Lunch was delicious. By the way, they used to hunt crocodiles, but now it is very difficult to hunt them because there is little left.
© Algirdas Morkūnas
New day – new works. A muscular young man with women emerges from the jungle. This strong member has three wives. It is going to cross with the family that I visit sago tree (edible palm). A smile never disappears from her face, as in a hostess. In turn, the three of us crossed the palm tree and quickly placed it on its side. The job of men is to cut and open the inside of the palm. And inside is what they eat. After a couple of hours, the palm tree is open and the women can go to work. Now they have to shred the palm wood inside into as few pieces as possible. To do this, use a kind of long hammer (pickup) with a metal tip. I also try to contribute to the dinner production.
The men, after finishing the work, rest. A child who goes everywhere together takes a mosque and wastes where it falls. It is on a leaf, it is on what kind of tree. Once, the mother took the mosque, but when she went to work and walked away, the child was weakened again. I can’t see a child who just picks up a mosquito and gets hurt …
© Algirdas Morkūnas
When men decide that it is enough to waste them, they will eat the most delicious part of the palm, that is, the cup. At the top, where the leaves begin to germinate, there is a very tasty part: the soft stem. We cut it into pieces and we all taste it. Really very tasty. Remember hazelnuts when they are still young and completely immature. Only much better here, because you can fill your mouth and not have to bother peeling one walnut at a time. Separate piece and – in the mouth! After a while, when the women finish cutting the firewood, I take the worms, the leeches from my hands and go to see what they do there.
Ogi takes a curly leaf stalk and makes cots. It sticks to the shredded wood, drains the swamp water, and washes the pieces of wood. This is how they are extracted sago flour, which is their main food. The washed wood is discarded and the flour remains at the bottom of the tundish. After a good couple of hours of work, the women produce about five kilograms of wet flour. Then they dry and bake pancakes on the fire. The two families worked for about five hours talking and laughing in agreement. Without my help, it probably would have worked six hours. Jokes! Probably four. And each family prepared food for the week.
© Algirdas Morkūnas
The night was normal, with tropical rain and little sleep. Today, with my family, I am going further away from home to solve boar traps. We make a heavy cover from the ends, it is placed in the path of animals. The lid falls off when the pig moves the rope. We are also collecting sago worms.
The host with an ax cuts the stump of a palm tree felled a month ago, which already has a set of giant worms. The largest are stacked, the smallest are eaten immediately. The boy who traveled with us ate up to three. Until I saw the size of the worm, I thought I would try it too. But when I saw him alive and unfolding, I didn’t dare to do it. In a couple of hours, the tribe members collected perhaps a kilogram of worms from the stump. We will bring everything home, now it will be a celebration. Before dinner, the women make skirts. Upon his return from the jungle, he collected the leaves for that purpose, and now breaks them into fine threads and prepares the material to make skirts.
© Algirdas Morkūnas
At dusk I go up to the house. I probably won’t even say how “nice” it is to do when things are falling apart. Women sprinkle the leaves sago flour and in the middle – worms. The sheet is twisted and placed on the fire. After ten minutes, dinner is ready. Passing dinner to the men on the other side of the border, this everyday delicacy is offered to me. I taste pancakes and worms. The pancake is the driest I have ever eaten in my life, but it has a peculiar taste and is a bit stretchy, and the worm tastes like a pancake with spilled “cream”. With a peculiar and worm flavor, its skin is elastic. I wouldn’t want a second anymore. I literally have worms in my stomach now. I understand why the residents of this town eat them only small because they are less resistant.
© Algirdas Morkūnas
The larger ones are difficult to chew even fried. They love worms and they are a source of protein. Few birds and animals of the jungle remain because everything was eaten by humans. Also, you would have to go far to find something. Even the birds are silent in the morning. Either they are afraid or they are gone.
Good morning I slept well. No one was moving on my stomach and I didn’t have to run into the jungle at night so I can say that worms are fine for dinner.
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