The Asmat: Daily life
Before the intrusion of the outside world began, the families of the entire tribe lived together in long-houses called yeus These could be as much as 28 meters in length. In the late 20th century, only upriver Asmats still resided in such longhouses.
Members of the Asmat tribe live on sago as their staple food and they supplement this with mussels, crustaceans, snails, fish and insects. Fish and shrimps are caught in large hoop nets by the women. While the women were fishing, it was the duty of the men to keep watch and protect the fishing women from outside aggressors. Forest products such as rattan were also collected.
Insect larvae (maggots) were collected from decaying stumps of sago palms and eaten to the accompaniment of drums and ritual dances. Such feasts had religious and ritual significance and could sometimes go on for as much as two weeks at a time.
