Asmat info
The People
Hunting & Horticulture
The coastal Asmat are still hunter and gatherers. They have no gardens, as the alluvial deposits of Asmat are regularly flooded far inland with sea water or brackish water.
The sago palm grows in the lush, coastal areas and are almost inexhaustible wild. The residents in footland area use little rough forest plots stranded between the tree trunks for simple gardens, where they grow taro, sugarcane, bananas, tobacco, and other tuberous foods. The harvest from the gardens complement the Sago of daily nutritional requirements.
Husbandry is unknown to the coastal Asmat unknown. They live with dogs that they need to hunt. The Papua dogs resemble the Australian dingo. Young animals such as wild boar, cassowary, and hornbills are only occasionally raised for slaughter or as a means of exchange. However, the Inland Asmat keep in their pigs in fenced-in areas.
