Ngala

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The Ngala tribe's territory. They are also known as the "Insect tribe" for their wood carvings of the praying mantis. This tribe of 300 members has their own language (1). They live on the banks of the Sepik river, and hunt for crocodiles in the swamps. They do not kill big crocs because they provide many eggs and they are left for breeding; thus this can be called sustainable farming.
Here is what the traveller David Buchanan said during his travel with a BBC filming team while with the Ngala: "Crocodiles are the very thing that keeps their community alive. The Ngala hunt crocodiles for their meat, but they also sell their skins. This helps them buy fuel (1), and other items like tobacco. Everything else (2) they get from the natural world around them. This river is a highly productive ecosystem full of nutrients and fish. Every stretch of water is bubbling and boiling; there is always something leaping to the surface.

"Their houses are up on stilts because in the wet season the river rises several meters, and floods the village". These people hunt crocodiles with their bare hands by using a mesmerising technique to not make them aggressive. This is done by a group of people who gently raise the crocodile from the swamp where it rests from the hot sun. "By carefully raising the crocodile it becomes mesmerised. There are two types of crocodiles that live in these waters: one is a a freshwater crocodile and the other is the saltwater". The Ngala hunt and farm the New Guinea fresh water crocodile by catching only the ones which are not pregnant and big: "There is real respect for crocodiles around here. There is no blood-lust; it feels very much like a necessity" (the bigger crocodiles are left to live and are cosidered investment into for the future, because they lay eggs which produce newer crocodiles. They also collect eggs from crocodile nests).

In addition to their own language the men also speak a kind of Pidgin English. They wear clothes and use machetes and metal pots from the outside world.
1) The Ngala language: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ngala_language_(Sepik)
2) The Ngala have canoes with petrol motors.
3) there are a lot of fish and coconut trees around. However, they grow pigs.

- An article on the Ngala tribe on the Wanderlast site: www.wanderlust.co.uk/content/tribal-living-in-papua-new...
- How 6 members of the Ngala tribe visited the UK and what their experiences were, Daily Mail: www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-451341/The-ultimate-cu...
- A BBC film on the Ngala tribe, "Tribes, Predators & Me, Series 1, Crocodile People of New Guinea": www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b076nvjx