This is the best-conserved region of Papua.
It is a bird paradise.
As there are no roads or paths, humans have had less impact.
Sago, from which they make bread, is the daily food for these people.
This is a palm tree,
from the trunk of which they extract a starch
which increases enormously in volume when cooked.
To obtain this starch, they wash the crushed pith,
which they then pass through a sieve.
Each tree gives between three hundred and three hundred and fifty kilos of sago.
When it is dry, they grate it, and obtain a flour,
which they use to make bread.
In the Sepik river, a spectacular phenomenon occurs:
islands are formed, which float and move with the current.
They are sometimes so big that they form natural dams.
The water has to flow around them, crating a vast,
rapidly-changing network of canals and lagoons.
There are thousands of water hyacinths in the river,
and they accumulate in the pools and lagoons,
forming vast extensions where it is virtually impossible to see the water.
The natives are always aware of the state of the canals,
and where it is possible to navigate, though with great difficulty.
The hyacinths have large, hairy roots which,
crossing and intertwining, reach down into the mud of the river.
They can form large, solid platforms, on which grasses and bushes then grow.
Parts break off and become floating islands.
As these plants rot, tannic acid is formed,
giving the river the colour of strong tea.
These waters are called the ‘black waters’.
Magic is always present here in Sepik.
Everything that happens is a direct result of the actions of the spirits.
When someone believes he has been the victim of a spell,
he goes to see the specialists,
who will get together in the tambaran, and invoke the protective spirits.
They eat large quantities of betel, a stimulant which helps go into a trance.
When the moment is right, the tonoko will cut the spell with an axe.