ハルマヘラ島，Galela族の食生活

Six members of NME, led by N. Ishige, conducted ethnologicalresearch jointly with Patti Mura University, on the Galelan peopleof Northern Halmahera. This paper is based on data derivedfrom that research.The Galelan people speak Galela, of the North Halmaheranlanguage group (Non-Austronesian). Principal subsistence activitiesare shifting cultivation, extraction of wild sago and fishing.This paper examines the following aspects of Galelan culture:1) the environment of the people and their food resources;2) material culture concerned with food and food processing;3) value system relating to diet;4) analysis of cooking techniques;5) variety of daily food and cooking methods; and6) a historical reconstruction of food habits (hypothesis building).The Galelan classify their meals into two categories: staplefood and side dishes. The important staple foods are wild sagoand bananas, together with rice, cassava and sweet potato whichare produced by shifting cultivation. Data from 311 mealswere recorded and analyzed. Results show that the order of importanceof staple foods is: banana (28.8%), rice (17.7%), cassava(11.7%), sweet potato (8.6%) and others (5.7%). Analysis showedthat taro, yam, Setaria italica Beauv. and a cultivated sub-species ofJob's-teras (Coix l achryma-jobsis p. Mauen T. Kayama) are no longerimportant, but that small quantities are cultivated as remnantcrops.Seventy-two percent of side-dishes consist of fish, whereasothers are plants (cultivated or wild), chicken, deer and wild pig;the last two obtained through hunting. Domestic animals raised include goats, cattle, chickens, ducks and dogs. Goats, ducks andcattle are recent introductions. Few pigs are raised owing to thelargely Muslim population.The following hypothesis of the stages of agricultural developmentin Halmahera is advanced : the Togutil tribe belonging to theNorth Halmaheran language group, and which inhabits Northernand Central Halmahera, are now farmers, but were formerly nomads.Assuming that there was a pre-agricultural stage inHalmahera, it might have been like the Togutil who depend onwild sago and hunting, also possibly utilizing wild banana.The earliest stage of agriculture was probably root crop andbanana cultivation, but taro and yam seem never to have playedan important role as cultigens. More than 60 distinct clones ofdomesticated banana are used at present by Galelan society, whereasonly 4 forma of taro and 6 of yam are known. The basic form ofsubsistence, which continues to the present, might have been formulatedin this earliest agricultural stage. In the next stage, Job'stearsand Setaria italica were introduced. Neither remains important,except on ceremonial occasions. In the third stage uplandrice was introduced, and quickly replaced millet.The Halmahera islands are located on the southeastern borderof rice and millet cultivation. Millet and rice agriculture hadprobably been introduced by the 16th century. Following thatstage, New World cultigens such as cassava and sweet potato were introduced, and replaced taros and yams.