Seasonality and subsistence hunting practices among the Sokamin people in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea
In Papua New Guinea, populations of wild animals play a significant part in the cultural and social life of indigenous people and are an important source of protein. The Sokamin people in Sandaun Province, Papua New Guinea depend almost entirely on subsistence hunting for protein. I conducted a study on hunting by the Sokamin people. In wet and dry seasons, I collected data on the species hunted, the hunters, and the ecological and socio-political-economic matrix in which the hunters live. Over the wet and dry seasons, I interviewed 107 hunters (54 % male and 46 % female) and 94 hunters (55 % male and 45 % female), respectively. During these seasons I recorded 1199 prey vouchers of which mammals constituted 66 % of all animals consumed, bird consumption was 24 %, reptiles was 8 %, and amphibian consumption was lowest at 2 %. In both wet and dry seasons, there was a significant difference between men and women in the proportion of individuals captured among different animal taxa. Men captured a greater proportion of birds than women, whereas women captured a greater proportion of reptiles and amphibians. There was also a significant difference between men and women in the proportion of species captured among the different animal taxa in both wet and dry seasons. Men captured a greater proportion of bird species than women. Comparing wet and dry seasons I found a significant difference between the proportion of individuals captured among the different animal taxa. I also observed that men and women consumed a wide variety of insects in both seasons to maximize protein intake. I discuss these findings with respect to differences between men and women in the hunting techniques practised, how seasonality affects the abundance of different animal taxa, and access to modern materials has affected hunting success.