Sepik

Sepik
Sediment plumes at the mouth of the Sepik (right) and Ramu (left) rivers
Sepik River watershed (Interactive map)
Location
Country	Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
Region	Sandaun, Papua, East Sepik
Physical characteristics
Source
• location	Victor Emanuel Range, Papua New Guinea
• coordinates	5°13′S 141°49′E / 5.217°S 141.817°E / -5.217; 141.817
• elevation	2,170 m (7,120 ft)
Mouth
• location	Bismarck Sea, Papua New Guinea
• coordinates	3°50′30″S 144°32′30″E / 3.84167°S 144.54167°E / -3.84167; 144.54167
• elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Length	1,146 km (712 mi)
Basin size	80,321 km2 (31,012 sq mi)[1]
Depth
• maximum	35 m (115 ft)
Discharge
• location	Bismarck Sea (near mouth)
• average	7,000 m3/s (250,000 cu ft/s)[2]
• maximum	26,000 m3/s (920,000 cu ft/s)
Discharge
• location	Sepik-Ramu (Basin size: 100,243 km2 (38,704 sq mi)
• average	7,663 m3/s (270,600 cu ft/s)[3] 8,000 m3/s (280,000 cu ft/s) 240 km3/a (7,600 m3/s)
• minimum	4,363 m3/s (154,100 cu ft/s)[3]
• maximum	10,963 m3/s (387,200 cu ft/s)[3]
Discharge
• location	Ambunti (Basin size: 40,922 km2 (15,800 sq mi)
• average	4,208 m3/s (148,600 cu ft/s)[5] (Period of data: 1967-1994)3,615 m3/s (127,700 cu ft/s)[4]
• minimum	1,702 m3/s (60,100 cu ft/s)[4]
• maximum	5,448 m3/s (192,400 cu ft/s)[4]
Basin features
Tributaries
• left	Yellow
• right	April, Karawari, Yuat, Keram

The Sepik (

The Sepik has a large catchment area, and landforms that include swamplands,

The word Sipik was first reported by A. Full[9] as one of two names for the watercourse—the other being Abschima—used by the natives living at the mouth of the river. A few years later, Leonhard Schultze applied the term Sepik to the entire watercourse, and it took, although Schultze also noted another name for the river, Azimar.^[10] William Churchill, writing in the Bulletin of the American Geographical Society, wrote "These are not names of the river, they are but names for small stretches of the river as known to the folk of this or that hamlet. We cannot reckon how many such names there may be in the course of more than 600 miles of the system." Since "there is no indigenous name for the whole stream", Churchill concluded that "This is clearly a case where a European designation may properly be applied." He advocated for Kaiserin-Augusta. But that name faded with the German loss of colonial control over the territory after World War One. The word Sepik henceforth became the official name of the river.

Of course, each language group had one or more of its own names for the river. For example, the Iatmul people call the river Avusett, a compound of "bone" (ava) and "lake" (tset).^[11]

Description

The river originates in the

For most of the Sepik's length, the river winds in serpentine fashion, like the Amazon River, to the Bismarck Sea off northern Papua New Guinea. Unlike many other large rivers, the Sepik has no delta whatsoever, but flows straight into the sea, about 100 kilometres (60 mi) east of the town of Wewak. It is navigable for most of its length. ^{[citation needed]}

The river has a total length of 1,126 kilometres (700 mi) and has a drainage basin of over 80,000 km² (31,000 sq mi).^[1] There is a 5-10 kilometre-wide belt of active meanders along most of its course, that has created a floodplain up to 70 kilometres wide, with extensive backwater swamps.^[8] There are around 1,500 oxbow and other lakes in the floodplain, the largest of which are the Chambri Lakes.^[8]

The Sepik basin is largely an undisturbed environment, with no major urban settlements, or mining and forestry activities, in the river catchment. ^{[citation needed]} April Salome Forest Management Area is located in Sepik River basin.

Peoples and languages

From the headwaters to the mouth, the river basin flows through the territories of spoken of dozens of Sepik languages,^[13] each corresponding to one or more culture regions of related villages that exhibit similar social characteristics. The largest language and culture group along the river is the Iatmul people.

The Sepik-

History

Local villagers have lived along the river for many millennia and the river has formed the basis for food, transport and culture. There are at least 100 distinct villages and hamlets along the river, and most likely more.^[16]

Early exploration

European contact with the river started in 1885, shortly after

Europeans now increased their travels and presence along the river.[21] In the early twentieth century, several major expeditions to the river include the Südsee-Expedition sponsored by the Hamburg Academic of Science, the German-Dutch Border Expedition and the Kaiserin-Augusta-Fluss-Expedition^[22] These expeditions, mainly German, collected flora and fauna, studied local tribes, and produced the first maps. The station town of Angoram was established in 1913 as a base on the lower Sepik for explorations, but with the beginning of World War I, the explorations ceased.^[17]

After the first World War the Australian government took trusteeship of the German colony, creating the Territory of New Guinea, and the Sepik region came under their jurisdiction. During this period the Australians established a station on the middle Sepik at Ambunti to conduct further explorations.^[17]

In 1923 journalist Beatrice Grimshaw attached herself to an expedition, and claimed to be the first white woman to ascent the Sepik, commenting on the widespread use of "pidgen-English" as a lingua franca.^[23] In 1935 Sir Walter McNicoll, the new administrator of the Territory of New Guinea, travelled up length of the Sepik to "have a look at the river people and the kind of country along the banks".^[24]

Modern 'explorers'

Despite the thorough exploration of the Sepik and the river basin by Europeans starting with the 1880s, and the extraordinarily keen knowledge of the region by local people and communities, many travelers today still see their tourism in the area as heroic efforts.

Part of this fantasy is that the river tribes are often said to have "little contact with the modern world," as the Los Angeles Times put it as late as 2017.^[25] But that is just not true, and certainly not for a sizable tourist vessel operated by Coral Expeditions. Traveling the river is said to be "one of the last great adventures on earth".^[26]

For example, in 2010 Clark Carter and Andrew Johnson traveled the length of the Sepik River from source to sea. They hiked to the source from Telefomin and kayaked down the upper reaches in an inflatable kayak. After nearly drowning in a section of rapids near Telefomin, they decided to walk through the jungle, following the river until it was calm enough to take a dugout canoe the remaining 900 kilometres to the Bismarck Sea. The expedition took six weeks. "The Sepik really appealed to me," said Carter, "because it conjures up images of remote tribes and wild animals. Probably the most alluring thing for me though, is just how un-travelled the area is."^[27]

Also in 2010, the painter

The Sepik is one of the most profuse and diverse art producing regions of the world. The numerous different tribes living along the river produce magnificent wood carvings, clay pottery and other art and craft. Different areas along the Sepik produce distinct art styles so an experience curator will be visually able to distinguish individual styles. The Sepik area is well known for its sculpture^[33] masks^[34] shields^[35] and other artifacts. Many tribes use garamut drums in rituals; the drums are formed from long, hollowed-out tree trunks carved into the shape of various totem animals.^[36][37][38]

Image gallery

• 
  Korogo Village, Sepik River, PNG, 1975. Franz Luthi
• 
  A black-capped lory perching on a boy's head at Kaminabit village, Middle Sepik
• 
  A warm welcome to foreign visitors
• 
  Snapshot of the daily life of the villagers

See also

• List of rivers of Papua New Guinea

References