Abing Kasuang - Session 01, 13 January 2024

In this interview, Abing Kasuang shares his knowledge of the Palm, its use and reliability. He reminisces periods of famine when the dependence on the Palm was very high, including a time when the Palm itself was affected. An insect had eaten off the leaves of the Palm stems, depleting the starch from the mature ones. At that time, the younger stems had more starch than older ones and the people would have to harvest younger stems. He also advises that the Palm should be preserved for the sons and daughters of the Puroik people. Abing Kasuang had unfortunately not memorised the Oral history and so, was unable to share much other than a couple of excerpts, one in which he shared that the Palm was given by the Sun (Krii-amui) and another, where he recited the tale of two brothers in the past, who went to the forest and killed a tiger. They cut a piece of bamboo to make a vessel to cook the meat. When one of the brothers tried to fill water, the fish entered it. He said that sago is the most important food in the village and so is Marung, a fermented bamboo dish eaten with prepared sago. While many plants are consumed, all don’t pair well with prepared sago, as does Marung. He remained occupied even in his old age in farming and preparing sago. He named seven varieties, the most abundant of which was Matchisik and the best quality of sago was from the variety called Nichve. He shared that he had heard the Oral history as a young man but had not remembered it to recite it again. He had forgotten what his late friend used to tell everyone about the Oral history. He mourns the loss of his knowledgeable friend and reflects on how the record of their history gets lost also because it’s not written. Time-stamped section headings (00:01:08) About the reliance on the Palm through times of famine and scarcity of food. (00:13:27) Background of the speaker and permissions for the recording. (00:17:15) Important plants for food and daily life in the village. [00:26:04 - 00:26:13, 00:26:55 to 00:27:56, and 00:28:52 to 00:29:21 Restricted access. Contact archives@ncbs.res.in] (00:31:34) The origin of the Palm and names and preference for varieties cultivated by the speaker. (00:40:42) About the extraction of sago and phenology of the Palm, signs of maturity in a stem as well as creation of new varieties. (00:51:12) On the loss of the Oral history, loss of memory and cultural symbols associated with the Palm.