Ethnoecology, Resource Use, Conservation And Development In A ...

edge, or in patch of savannah within the forest, within or near the farming area, in
which they reside on extended stays at the farm (Riviere 1984: 24; Foster 1990:
130; Tang 1995: 29). Those which I visited were generally furnished with all the
equipment necessary to perform the basic tasks of subsistence, in particular the
manufacture of farina and parakari (see chapter 4.2.3 for definitions of these
terms). Some are shared by several families, and the group of secondary dwellings
down any particular farm road provides a physical basis for its status as an effective
agricultural subsettlement. Often these groupings form the basis of collective labour
at the farm, an essential feature of agricultural activities without which many of the
most arduous tasks involved in the annual agricultural would be far more difficult.
Two main institutions of collective work exist. Manorin, is a non-reciprocal form
of collective labour, in which one household invites neighbours, relatives, and friends
to come and assist with a job. The host provides as an incentive a large quantity of
alcoholic drink and usually a cooked meal as well. An invitation to a manora is one of
the strongest social obligations possible in Wapishana society, to which people will
respond positively in all but the most adverse circumstances. Manorin is commonly
employed as a strategy for completing the most arduous tasks involved in agriculture,
such as felling large trees in field clearance, and in other areas such as house-building.
In contrast, I only observed the reciprocal form of collective labour,
kamiinkaiwakau, translated as 'self-help', to be employed in agricultural contexts,
though I do not believe it is necessarily limited to these. Groups of around four or
more people will work collectively on the farm of each group member in turn.
Many farm houses, particularly those deeper into the forest, also act as bases for
extended hunting trips of several days or weeks, which may or may not coincide with
an extended period of family residence at the farm. Most of the regular hunting roads
are extensions of or branches from the farm roads, and the latter are themselves
subject to heavy hunting pressure as most men habitually carry bows and arrows, and
are accompanied by dogs, as they travel to and from the farm.
4.2.2 Agricultural techniques.
The annual cycle of agriculture is determined largely by the pattern of rainfall. Farms
are usually cut in January, just after the short rainy season. This provides several
months of sunny weather to dry out the cut materials before the farm is burned in
April, just before the long rainy season. Planting of most crops normally takes place
shortly after burning. Occasionally people cut a farm at the end of the rains in early
September, burning it in late November before the short rains. In Maruranau, many