DOBE KAMA, SAGO STORED IN MUDDY AREAS
The Orya indigenous people in Garusa Village, Unurum Guay District, Jayapura Regency have local knowledge of how to preserve sago. They utilize muddy soil to store sago. This habit is called in the local language "Dobe Kama".
Sago is one of the traditional foods of indigenous Papuans. As a staple food, sago grows in many forests or settlements. Yunus Ters, a resident of Garusa Village, recounts how his parents stored sago in muddy areas as a food reserve. "Our parents used to store sago in the ground," he said. The sago is partly taken home and partly stored or preserved in the ground. Sago is wrapped in "hontan ala" leaves (papeda wrapper leaves), and then buried in muddy soil, in the sago forest area.
Before burying the sago, the surrounding soil must be dug up to form a hole. The hole is covered with "job sob" bark (special bark), then the sago is placed on top. "Sago that is wrapped in hontan ala is put into the hole, then covered the surface with hontan ala again, then buried well," he said. The story of traditional knowledge was conveyed by Yunus Ters to Obeth Farwas, staff of the limited Association for the Assessment and Empowerment of Indigenous Peoples (Pt.PPMA) Papua who was assisting. He assisted in the yard garden activities for food security against climate change in Garusa Village in mid-August 2022. This activity is a collaborative activity of WWF-ID partners, the Voices for Just Climate Action (VCA) program.
Obet explained that Dobe Kama is an interesting indigenous local knowledge from Garusa Village. This knowledge is also shared by several other villages in the Orya customary area, Jayapura Regency, such as Boasom, Beneik, Guryad, Santosa, Nandalzi, and Bebo. The same thing was also conveyed by Daud Dasra, a resident of Sawesuma Village in Jayapura Regency. He explained that since he was a child, his parents often did this because of tribal wars. During the war, residents could not smoke sago. They can only take sago from muddy areas.
According to him, with the Dobe Kama process, sago can last for several years. "Because at that time the situation of tribal wars often occurred, so Dobe Kama was kitong pu food that tong ate when there was a tribal war," said Daud Dasra in Sawesuma Village on May 13, 2023. Since there is no war, the Dobe Kama habit is no longer practiced. But the community still preserves sago in a way similar to the Dobe Kama process, although slightly different. "Sago is wrapped in hontan ala, tied and wrapped in job sob bark, then stored at home," Dasra said. However, sago stored in this way only lasts two to four months at most.
Storing sago in aerobic conditions can cause sago consumers to develop hemolytic sago disease. Quoted from devpolicy.org, sago stored in aerobic conditions allows mold to grow in the sago flour which is then unwittingly consumed by the family. During the digestion of moldy sago, the fungus is broken down in the body and destroys red blood cells, known as hemolysis. Patients with hemolysis present with complaints of excruciating abdominal pain, blood in the urine, severe headaches, high fever, and increased anxiety and confusion. Although the disease is curable on its own, many patients die without a blood transfusion. "Dobe Kama is traditional knowledge that people have had for generations. Although people now know the reason for Dobe Kama is because of the war, the Orya people know that storing sago in aerobic conditions (exposed to direct air) will endanger health," said Obeth Farwas, an assistant from Pt PPMA Papua in Garusa Village. (*)