Description
This work is a maquette of a Nath (dugong hunting platform) and Wap (Harpoon).
Dugongs were traditionally hunted from a Nath which was constructed of mangrove poles and twine made from coconut fibre. It was built above the surface of the water, over a section of the sea grass bed where the dugong had fed the previous night and would return the following evening. The hunter, who is courageous and highly skilled, took up his position on the platform in the early evening and waited for the dugong to resume feeding. As the dugong approached the Nath the hunter could determine its position by observing the phosphorescence made by the dugong breaking the surface of the water. The tip of the Wap or harpoon was attached to a rope made from coconut fibre that was coiled on the Nath and secured at its end by the villagers on the shoreline. The harpoon was aimed slightly in front of the phosphorescence, which is where it would find the exact spot in the back of the dugong to ensure it did not escape capture. The dugong could swim around for several hours unless a spell or special incantation had been put on the rope, which weakened it and allowed it to be dragged to the shoreline.
The hunting process was steeped in ceremony which included special preparations by the hunter and particular observances by his wife and children; the cutting of the tree (shark tree called baidam pulu) for the making of the harpoon and the singing of the rope attached to the harpoon in order to tire the dugong.
Hunting dugong from the Nath ceased in the late 1940’s. It was done only occasionally and mainly for ceremonial and medicinal purposes
