There is some uncertainty as to how far back in Pacific prehistory the Hiri voyages go. These palms are ubiquitous in the western Gulf region of the Hiri’s destinations, where one pot would trade for one kokohara, a bundle of about 40 lb (18 kg) of sago. Sago is a starch extracted from the spongy center of sago palm stems ( Metroxylon sagu), and a single palm yields 800 lb (363 kg) of starch. The crew would then trade these items for rabia (sago) at the Hiri’s Gulf destinations, the farthest being over 300 miles (483 km) to the northwest. The arm shells were the principal money of the Motu, who would give them and clay pots to the crew on the Hiri. These articles of exchange were the same as those used in the Kula among the Trobriand and d’Entrecasteaux Islands, nearly 500 miles (805 km) to the east. They would often trade these pots for toea (arm-shell adornments). From this the women made uro (cooking pots), tohe (sago storage pots) and hodu (water pots). Preparation for the Hiri began much earlier in the season, when women in the villages began the heavy work of digging clay. They featured the famous lara,or crab-claw sails, made of plaited pandanus. The vessels used in the Hiri, called lagatoi, were multihulled proas large enough to carry up to forty crew members. Their hunger season would start, and their famous Hiri voyages in search of food would begin. By November, all their yams would have been eaten. The men were fearless sailors and fishermen but also kept gardens onshore and harvested yams around April each year. The Motu are people of Austronesian origin who, during the time of the Hiri expeditions, lived in stilt homes among seven villages in the water offshore. It suffers a long dry season from June to November due to the southeast trade winds that run parallel to the shore. The area is in a rain shadow of the Owen Stanley Mountain Range and receives only 40 in (100 cm) of rainfall per year. The Indigenous people of the Port Moresby area, who called themselves the Motu, lived in a “symbiotic relationship” with members of the nearby Koita tribe, exchanging fish for their vegetables. The Gulf of New Guinea lies on the south side of the island, northwest of its capital, Port Moresby.
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