Sago is the oldest food source consumed by Indonesian people, apart from bananas and tubers. In various places in Indonesia, there are still people who use sago as a processed food, for example in Riau, South Sumatra, Sulawesi and Maluku.

Meanwhile, for most Papuan people, sago is known as a staple food that is maintained to this day. Sago cannot be separated from the culture of the Papuan people.

Moreover, sago has become a marker of identity, territorial boundaries, and plays a crucial role in rituals and customs among tribes in the lowlands who traditionally use it.

Do you know, since when do Papuans consume sago?

Hari Suroto, Researcher at the BRIN Environmental Archeology Research Center, estimates that Papuan people have been consuming sago since 50 thousand years ago, with the arrival of the first settlers in Papua.

They obtain food by hunting and gathering and use local plants for food, including sago which grows wild on the banks of rivers, lakes and swamps.

“Artifacts related to sago culture in Papua include pottery and sago-sticking stone tools. The results of archaeological research show that pottery is often found in archaeological sites on the coast of Papua and on offshore islands. “However, pottery is not found in the mountains or the southern coast of Papua,” Hari explained.

The pottery found at prehistoric residential sites in Papua is of the type jars, pots, and fornas [places for making sago plates]. Jars are used to store water and store sago starch.

The thick wall of the crock has strong resistance as a storage medium. The pot is used to boil water in the process of making papeda. The walls of the pot are thin, speeding up the process of heating food.

Meanwhile, forna pottery artifacts at the Mosandurei site indicate that there were more varied food processing activities, namely roasting sago starch or roasting sago. Forna consists of two shapes: rectangle and half circle.

Forna artifacts show that sago is a staple food, because it is easily obtained from the forest near the site.

“For the Papuan people, sago is not only a source of staple food but also provides a set of emics, namely a source of knowledge and a religious system,” said Hari.

This can be seen when taking sago in indigenous peoples which is usually not done haphazardly. There are rituals that accompany it, starting from asking permission when you want to cut it down, clearing the bushes around the sago tree, penokokan, sago palming, until it is ready to eat, either in the form of grilled sago plates or served in processed papeda.

Sago and belief systems

Several ethnic Papuan indigenous peoples have rules for managing and logging sago trees. Like the Sentani ethnic, who believe in the ancestral message that sago is only cut down as needed. You can’t just cut it down and it can’t fall on sago saplings. Therefore taking care of sago is like taking care of yourself. If sago is treated well, it is believed to be far from disaster.

“For the Korowai ethnicity, they quickly compare sago multiplication and the succession of human generations. “They also often talk about sago plantations as a future food source: not today’s children and who will exploit them later,” explained Hari.

For the Marori ethnic group in Merauke, sago is an obligation and social responsibility for those who carry out birth and death rituals. Rituals related to sago products are proposals, births, ear piercing, death, picking up guests, and so on.

Meanwhile for the Mahuze clan, the Marori ethnicity, sago is a totem, a symbol of brotherhood so that it cannot be traded indiscriminately. In this clan, harvesting and processing of sago is only done occasionally, to meet the needs of holding parties or traditional rituals as well as consumption in the household.

The area of sago in Indonesia is around 85% of the world’s sago area and the majority is in Papua. In Papua, sago is most widely spread on the south coast, such as Merauke, Asmat, Mappi, Timika and Kaimana. In the north there are also things like Jayapura, Membrambo and Nabire.