DKH01-026_mamgway - Mamgway ‘Eel’

There are various types of eel in Awiakay creeks, and they are highly appreciated for their fatty meat and lack of bones. As an important part of the Awiakay diet, eels often occur in myths and songs – not anthropomorphised as game or birds, but always fished for, eaten, or shared with those to whom the hunter has traditional obligations of giving and sharing. They are not classified as fish, but have a special place in Awiakay taxonomy. When the design of the string figure is finished, the ‘eel’ wriggles out and swims away. For the Awiakay, this string figure feels right only as a combination of the string design, verbal language, gesture and a sucking sound made with pursed lips, which denotes the disappearance of the eel. Without this sound the string figure would simply not ‘feel’ right. This is an example that shows that the actual design made of strings is only part of the string figure (cf. Hoenigman, forthcoming). Images: 02: Darja Munbaŋgoapik showing ‘an eel’, the final figure 03: The ‘eel’ is wriggling 04: The ‘eel’ has slipped away Hoenigman, Darja. Forthcoming. Talking about strings: The language of string figure-making in a Sepik society, Papua New Guinea. Language Documentation & Conservation Journal. . Language as given: Awiakay