Mato Kasuang - Session 01, 13 March 2024

OH-008-39-1a In this interview, Mato Kasuang shares her knowledge of the Palm – its varieties, their cultivation, the origin of the Palm and comments on the shared future of the Puroik people and the Palm. She also answers questions about life in the past, size and distribution of villages and rearing livestock like pigs, goats, fowl and Mithun. She begins by sharing she had planted a cluster of Palm herself when she was younger. It is generally men’s duty to replant suckers and raise clusters in groves. She names the varieties grown in her groves – Beyryong, Misa, Nijvay, Majya, Damang, Making, Matchinyo, and Matchikhyaik. She explains how these varieties have differences in the appearance of their leaves, stem and sago colour quality. Mero Kasuang, while translating, also shares that the oldest clusters now have thin stems and newly planted ones are thicker. Mato Kasuang says that the Palm has been there since the oldest times. It was the food given by the creator. She mentions Kua Krung, the place where fruits of the Palm were thrown by the creator. Speaking of the suitable growing environment of the Palm, she says that it needs good soil. A young sucker planted in an area of good soil, without rocks, grows well. She also shares about the phenology of the Palm, saying that the first indications of maturity appear on the top of the stem, when the leaf bud is small. Small leaves are signs that there is starch in the stem and it is ready for harvest till a little after the stem has borne fruits. She shares that a stem takes a long time to reach this stage, illustrated by the cluster she had planted in her youth and only harvested some time ago in her old age. Speaking of songs related to the Palm, she shares that there used to be songs in the ancient past, but she doesn’t know. When asked about jhum farming, she says that people used to have very small plots of jhum fields earlier. These days, they make larger plots of jhum. Villages in the earlier times were different. People generally lived far away near Palm groves and in independent households rather than in a settled village, she shares. Villages like Surung Kasuang were settled after the government arrived. Reflecting on the difficulty of life in the past, she also shares how there weren’t any clothes or utensils and hardly any yield of rice either. She shares that livestock like pigs, goats, fowl, cows and Mithun have always been there. She also connects with a portion of the Oral history, according to which the Puroik people were given all these animals to raise, but they slaughtered and ate the Mithun, being unable to raise it. That deed carries forward to the present, she says, as the Puroik are able to raise only limited Mithun. She shares how the knowledge of raising the Palm and making sago were passed on from generation-to-generation. When children went with their parents to the groves or the sago processing station, they observed and learnt how to raise the Palm. When asked if the Palm could disappear in the future, she commented that if protected from Mithun who eat the leaves of the Palm, it will not disappear as it keeps growing vegetatively. OH-008-39-1b Continuing the interview, Mato Kasuang shares how she does not feel sure if the future generations of the Puroik will continue to depend on the Palm. As life changes, she thinks children will be more attracted to the town and not learn sago preparation if they had jobs. Before closing the interview, she helps understand the variety Damang in terms of its appearance, and how different varieties compare to each other. Both Mero and Mato Kasuang prefer sago of the Nijvay variety. Finally, Mero Kasuang shares about a rodent that lives in the Palm clusters called Aslua. Time-stamped section headings OH-008-39-1a (00:00:00) Background of the speaker. (00:01:18) On raising the Palm and its varieties. (00:12:37) The origin of the Palm, practices surrounding the cultivation of the Palm and its varieties, suitable growing environment of the Palm, clustering habit of the Palm, ancient songs about the Palm and extent of jhum farming in the past. [00:30:30 to 00:41:12 Restricted access. Contact archives@ncbs.res.in] (00:41:15) Size of villages and raising pigs and goats in the past. [00:43:22 to 00:45:00, 00:45:12 to 00:49:08, and 00:51:15 to 00:54:35 Restricted access. Contact archives@ncbs.res.in] (00:57:08) Learning to raise the Palm and discussion on the future of the reliance of Puroik people on the Palm. OH-008-39-1b (00:02:44) Discussion on varieties of the Palm - Damang, Makung, Nijvay, Matchinyo, Beyryong and Machyong, and discussion on their identifying characteristics. Animals taking shelter in the Palm stems.