Sakau en Pohnpei

And here is a step-by-step tutorial on sakau en Pohnpei, as demonstrated by our friends and family in Diahdi:

This is the sakau from the funeral. The roots are the part that are pounded to make the sakau.

Large, flat stones are used as the base for pounding. The smaller, rounded stones are used to pound the roots into a finer, mulch-like consistency. The pounding can be highly ritualized, as is the pounding during a kamwadipw in the presence of the Nahnmwarki.

While the men are pounding the sakau, others prepare the hibiscus through which it will be squeezed. The bark is stripped from the trees and torn into long shreds.


The hibiscus is soaked in water and worked, creating a slimy liquid that lightly flavors the sakau.



The hibiscus is laid out and the sakau is placed inside.


Once the sakau is rolled inside the hibiscus, it is squeezed and the muddy liquid is caught in a half-coconut shell to be consumed. The first few squeezes are extremely potent and are usually reserved for the Nahnmwarki or those with the highest titles or guests.
After that, more and more water is added to the pounded sakau roots before they're squeezed, so the drink is more diluted for the rest of the crowd.


And here is a picture of the final product. Looks like chocolate milk... unfortunately it doesn't taste the same!

Diahdi

Tay here again, posting a couple more pictures whilst we're in town.

This is at Nahlap, a small island off the coast of mainland Pohnpei. Pete's holding a local speargun, getting ready to swim out past the breakers and shoot some fish.

Part of our family lives next to our house most of the time, but also goes back to their rural house in Diahdi every so often. One of the children was having her 1st birthday party back in February and Lilly invited us to come along. We drove down the ring road a ways, and then started a 2 mile trek straight into the jungle to get to the house. This view greeted us at the top of a hill, looking back where we'd come from.

Nano, Malakai, Pete, Lilly, and Sinana lead the way.

Once there, the family went out fishing and caught our lunch.

While we stay there, we only eat freshly caught fish, fresh breadfruit, the occaisonal freshly caught crab, and rice. And everything is cooked with coconut milk, which is made from the coconuts the boys climb to get.

And here are some of the kids playing games with us in the kitchen.

Kaselehlie! We're in town for the weekend, so I thought I'd take the chance to put up a couple of pictures.

The crystal clear water at Black Coral.

The jungle reclaiming a broken down car.

The sakau offering for our host father's younger brother's funeral.

Grating coconuts for a curry dish and some freshly caught fish.

The stones at Nan Madol.