Book review

A book review on Tinikan na Bakungo (Cave Exploration)

 Ismael K. Isikel 28/11/2017

Beck, Howard M. 2003. Beneath the Cloud Forests: A History of Cave Exploration in Papua New Guinea, 1st Edition. Switzerland, Speleo Projects.

The purpose of this brief book review firstly, is to publicize the book as it is based on Papua New Guinea and secondly to associate Kuanua vocabulary with some terms used in the book. The book was published in 2003 however; speleology is not a widely known subject in Papua New Guinea.

Beneath the Cloud Forests is a mesmerizing account of cave exploration and speleology in Papua New Guinea. The review begins with personal anecdotes and Kuanua words related to caves then explores the book in some detail. Primarily, the book is based on cave exploration and speleology in Papua New Guinea.

The title of the book alone evokes stories and very limited experience with natural caves. One story was told to me by a distant relative from Ramalmal village. There is a cave at Ramalmal village on the North Coast of East New Britain where you can hear the waves breaking either at the beach or on the reef. This is heard as one stands at the entrance of the cave.  It is not clear exactly where the waves break. The location of the cave in the village is more than three kilometres away from the shore. Another related story i came across on Facebook is that of another cave at the North Coast of Rabaul. At the foot of Mt To Kunar are several villages, including Boawa, Vunadawai, Vunavulila, and Vunagamata. Someone reported a site that appears to be a cave containing Stone Age artefacts at Vunavulila village. These artefacts appear to be of the Lapita culture however, it has yet to be confirmed.

In Kuanua mata is used for hole and cave. It also means eye. Tung is another word for hole and mata na tung is the phrase for cave entrance. In other dialects (Boawa and Wuatam Isand) of Kuanua the word for cave is bakungo. A Kuanua translation of the title is Navavai ra Bakut na Lokalokor: A Warwai Ure ra Tinikan na Bakungo ati Papua New Guinea. That is Kuanua. Now back to the book.

A book with mesmerizing, and in many parts breath-taking, writing depends on the author's penmanship, affinity with nature, and experience in the subject. And who is the author? Howard Beck is the author and is no stranger to Papua New Guinea. He has well over 30 years of experience as an explorer and global traveller. In addition, he has been a freelance photographer and writer for well over twenty years. His work has appeared in journals, magazines, and books.  The title of an earlier book by Howard Beck is "Gaping Gill: 150 Years of Exploration" was published in 1984. It is out of print but it is listed under Google Books where excerpts from selected pages appear.

Beneath the Cloud Forests is an authoritative work on the subject of speleology and cave exploration in Papua New Guinea recording cave explorations from 1962 to 2001.

From  Kagua to Telefomin and across the Bismarck Sea to the limestone tract of Lelet Plateau in Namatanai caves were explored and are recorded with excellent photographs and sketches. These sketches are drawn to scale and neatly presented providing graphical details of the caves. Most of the details of these caves were unknown to the locals. The locals named the caves and knew the location of the entrances or parts of them as well as associating the caves with the spirit world. Cave explorations have shed more information on these caves.

Most of these caves a located in lime stone areas making the book useful in recording lime stone regions in the country. Wat pua is used in Kuanua for lime stone. Wat pua is literally translated to English as 'white stone'.

Ten (10) deepest caves located within the Nakanai Mountains of West New Britain are recorded. The deepest of these ten is known as Muruk Hul with a depth of 1,178 metres. Other caves recorded are located in other parts of the country, including the Atea Kananda cave located in the Muller Range of Southern Highlands and Arem Tem cave found in Western Province. Also located in the Muller Range is the longest cave known as Mamo Kanada.

Beneath the Cloud Forests is one of those books that is written in an organized manner suitable for study purposes. Apart from the Bibliography and a very good index, there are excellent photographs both in black and color. There is also a Glossary of Caving Terms giving quick definitions to speleology  terms, helping the reader along in comprehension. It also lists Major Caving Expeditions and Major Caves in the country.

The copy of Beneath the Cloud Forests that i am reading was kindly donated to the University Library by Mike Bourke who is a pioneer cave explorer in Papua New Guinea. Mike Bourke is mentioned in various pages of the book. Mike was the editor of Niugini Caver which was the quarterly newsletter of the Papua New Guinea Cave Exploration Group formed around 1972.

End.

Caution and Construction

Wawatur

Ismael K. Isikel 17/11/2017

Two words in English that relate to the Kuanua word wawatur are caution and construction. Caution means taking care to avoid something unpleasant or danger. The first meaning of the word construction is the action of building something, and in general the building of a large structure. The second meaning of construction is the creation of an abstract entity. This definition is further explained by the statement "language plays a large part in our construction of reality."

Wawatur

Wawatur has three meanings in Kuanua. Firstly, it means to hold on to something as a measure of safety against danger or unpleasantness. For example, when riding a canoe we hold on the side of the canoe or something steady for safety and stability against the movement of waves. Two other Kuanua words synonymous with wawatur are  adek and auwia. They are issued as caution to someone about to or carrying out  an activity that may involve risk such as climbing a coconut or using a sharp tool.

Wawatur na pal

Secondly, wawatur means establishment of building a house; the beginning of construction of a house. Watur ra pal is used to mean build the house. Wawatur na pal is used to mean establishment of building a house

Wawatur na bata

Thirdly, wawatur means the beginning of rain; clouds forming as a sign rain is about to fall. It is described as wawatur na bata. Watur , as in construction of a house, is not used when describing rain is about to fall because no human constructs rain.

iki pic

End.

Source: Except for the definition of caution and construction, which were taken from Google, this post is written from oral source.

Disclaimer: Any errors in definitions are mine alone and not Google. 

Birds in East New Britain

Birds: A umana Beo

iki pic

Ismael K. Isikel Edited 08/01/2018

The general name for bird in Kuanua is beo. There are many of them in East New Britain and not all of them are listed here. More names will be added as they are identified and described. Some are just listed without any description.This is not a scientific classification of birds. It is basically the names of birds in Kuanua with some descriptions. Depending on dialect, some names may vary in spelling.  Some of these birds are migratory and pass through East New Britain in their travels. This post consists of two parts. The first is a list of terms associated with birds and the second is the list of birds.

Terms associated with birds

 Some terms associated with birds include:
 iwuna -  feather
pukai -  fly
pukapukai - flying
rakan - roost
rakarakan -  roosting place
mata - hollow.
po - nest
kiau - egg
telek- hatch
loko - male bird
nana - female bird
beo na ta - sea or shoreline bird
tolok - peck

List of birds

 

Balu - Pigeon

Bulukua - A long-tailed feathered black bird that feeds on the ground, much the same as a chicken scratching for grubs on the ground.

Buna - Fruit dove

Dima  This bird appears like a kingfisher but slightly smaller. It frequents areas where there is water such as rivers, creeks, and along the sea shores. Brown to orange chest and the rest is dirty dark blue. Very fast in flying keeping to just above ground level.

Gi or Lokokiakia - White chested and blueish all over. Some of the feathers have one side blue and the other side white which is prominently featured on the two long tail feathers. These two long tail feathers are commonly sought after for various dance decorations. It nests in termite hives found on tree trunks. It burrows the termite hive to make a nest. Normally it lays two eggs.

Giliau - A bird with black back feathers and white chest. The beak is orange as well as the legs.

Iai -  A ground black bird. It runs very fast and even outruns hunting dogs. They can be mistaken for human babies crying.

Inga - A type of parakeet that is smaller than a mumur.

Iu - Swift. Can be seen gliding for hours without perching. When not gliding it perches on dry tree branches.

Kabakabal -  Swallow. It lives and nests in caves.

Kakaruk - Chicken. 

Kakmal - Nightjar. Brownish bird that nests on the ground. It builds its nest in camouflage manner blending in with the immediate surroundings. If disturbed wherever it nests, it will relocate. 

Kalangar - Parrot.
             Kalangar mangmangilu - red color parrot
             Kalangar mapina pa - green color parrot.
Kalangar is the type of parrot found in East New Britain. It nests in hollows of tree trunks. It eats corn, banana, pawpaw and other garden foods such as peanuts. It feeds on food in unattended gardens as well as from the forest.

Kalawup or Balu kotkot - A species of pigeon that feeds on the ground. It has a crest that appears like grey mud.

Kau   A light brown middle size bird. It nests mostly on coconut palms.  Its name is given to the time of the early morning dawn as Kau or Kaukau. It marks this hour by 'crying' and of course waking people up. Another name for dawn is kawunwun.

Kawiwi - Kite. A terror to hens and chicks.One of its favourite meal is newly hatched chicks.

Kamuk -  Black and grey with white chest. The tail feathers are long and it makes a moo sound. There is one that is rarely seen that is white all over. It comes down to the ground to feed.

Kererek -  A black feathered bird with two curved tail feathers. They are usually seen in pairs.


Kik - Kingfisher. It is also called kikiu in another dialect of Kuanua spoken by Boawa and Wuatam people.

Koki or Muar - Cockatoo

Kokok - A night bird.

Kotkot  Crow or Raven, and also goes by the name Blackbird

Kuakua - There are two types of Kuakua. One is slightly bigger than the other and it is called Kuakua na pete. The smaller is called kuakua. Both are light brown with long tail feathers. It appears similar to rock pigeon.

Kuloko - Cuckoo

Kulinga - Lorriekeet

Ku'uk or Maima - A species of bird related to the Bird of Paradise. It is black with two middle long tail feathers. Similar to the owl, it is a night bird.

Kurkur - Owl. There is only one species of owl that is grey with little white spots. The tail feathers are short. It lives mostly in hollows in tree trunks. Its hooting resembles the distant lone barking of a dog.


Logalogo or Pap - A species of eagle with white chest and neck and the rest is brown. It is smaller than the minigulai.

Loko - Rooster

Malip -  Red and black in color and a favorite for aerial bird trappers of Toma. It is a common pet bird for many.  At times the phrase 'kipkip malip' is affectionately used to refer to anyone from Toma. The aerial bird trappers from Toma are the best in trapping birds such as muar, malip, and kulinga. Kipkip malip means bird bearer or carrier. From time to time men, the bird trappers, from Toma would sell birds at the market. It was an exotic site in the the old Rabaul market as the bird trappers would carry the birds around town selling them to interested buyers. The birds would be secured on a long wood or thin bamboo pole and carried on the shoulder.

Minigulai - Eagle. The bigger of the eagle species is known as minigulai.

Mumur - Parakeet.

Murup or Muruk - Cassowary

Neneoro - There are two types of neneoro. One type is highly migratory and move in flocks while the other type are usually seen in pairs and remain in one area. Neneoro could be a species of robin but this needs confirmation.

Ngiok or Ngeok - Wild fowl. Two known nesting areas in the vicinity of Simpson Harbour is Tavurvur and Tavana. A wild fowl lays its eggs by digging a hole in warm soil, lay the eggs,  and bury them to incubate and hatch. A hen lays four eggs in the same hole but in places them apart from each in different spots.

Pakupak - In Tolai folklore the Pakupak is a harbinger of death in the village. They fly around in pairs. One is black and the other is light brown to orange. Obviously one of them is a female and the other is male

Parupir - Humming bird.

Ruk - A green with orange neck ground bird. It completes its nest using the spiny roots of yams ( mamia) as a protection ring round the nest to deter other predator birds. I recently noticed that it inhabits areas close to old mamia (yam) gardens.
 
Tenge  Wren. There is one type of wren that frequent coconut palms. It is called ulmere. It is a tiny beautiful bird with a red chest hence the name ulmere. The lower body is glossy black.

Tamatamalakau It is slightly bigger than a wren and grey in color, and almost the size of a robin.

Uk - a species of fruit dove. It makes a sound that almost calling Jesus (Iesu) in Kuanua that goes something like, Uk, uk, uk, To Ietu. The name given to it comes from the sound that it makes - uk.

Ulia - Sandpiper. Ulia is a shoreline bird like the tuwik (plover).

Wuira - Starling. It is black with red eyes.  Another type is called wianao that is not as black as the red eye. The chest feathers are light.


Wuawuat - Appears similar to the Kuakua but shorter with dark brown feathers. Unlike the Kuakua, the Wuawuat feeds on the ground. There are two species of wuawuat. One is called wuawuat and it is brown and the other is called wuawuat golagolo. It also feeds on the ground.  Both appears similar to the rock pigeon.

Wurugada - A tiny dark brown bird with a beak similar to a finch and parrot. They fly around in flocks like starlings and frequent grass areas. The name wurugada is taken from a tall reed-like grass known as gada. Wuru here  means search and hence its name wurugada, literally translated to English as 'grass searcher.   Wurugada is the same as the Red-Throated-Ant-Tanager.