Betel chewed with lime is the popular stimulant. Next to the chief and sorcerer, the garden magician is the most important person in the village. He may even be the chief. He is a hereditary specialist in a complex system of magic handed down in the female line. He controls the work of people and the forces of nature by supervising different series of rituals, which run parallel with every stage of the garden work.
Communal labor plays an important part in the gardening.
The recipient of the labor supplies food in return for work. After the harvest, the competitive display of the food is a very important part of the whole process. Fishing is generally a specialty of certain villages in which it is the predominant mode of subsistence. Fishermen are organized into detachments, each of which is led by a headman who owns the canoe, performs the magic, and reaps the main share of the catch. Fishing techniques include the use of nets, hooks, lines, traps, spears, and poison.