Lakatoi

Modern day lakatoi at the Hiri Moale Festival, a modern celebration of the previous Hiri trade cycle

Lakatoi (also Lagatoi) are multiple-hulled^[1] sailing watercraft of Papua New Guinea.^[2] They are named in the Motu language and traditionally used in the Hiri trade cycle.^[3]

Lakatoi (whose literal meaning is three dugouts) are fashioned from two or more dugout logs fastened together to give stability and cargo-carrying capacity.^[1] The two or more dugouts are joined by booms, with a platform built on top.^[4] The sail is a crab-claw sail.^[5] Horridge (2008)^[6] discusses the rig and how the craft is manouvred.

Gallery

• 
  Loading a lakatoi at Port Moresby, prior to 1885
• 
  Lakatoi near Elevala Island, prior to 1885
• 
  Papuan lake dwellings with a lakatoi under sail, 1898 or before
• 
  1901 stamp by the British Government depicting a lakatoi

See also

• Crab claw sail

References

1. Mahdi, W. (1999). "The dispersal of Austronesian boat forms in the Indian Ocean" (PDF). Archaeology & language III, Artefacts, languages and texts: 144–208. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-03-17. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
2. "Journal of the Polynesian Society: Front Matter P 1-6". Jps.auckland.ac.nz. Retrieved 2016-01-19.
3. "Motuan traders go west in their Lakatoi". II(8) Pacific Islands Monthly. 11 March 1932. Archived from the original on 26 September 2021. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
4. Pawley, A., & Pawley, M. (1998). "Canoes and seafaring" (PDF). The Lexicon of Proto Oceanic: The Culture and environment of ancestral Oceanic society 1: Material Culture. Pacific Linguistics. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-03-17. Retrieved 2024-03-17.
5. "Motuan Traders Abandon Ancient Lakatoi Custom". Pacific Islands Monthly. 1935-02-21. Archived from the original on 2024-03-17. Retrieved 2024-03-18.
6. Horridge, A (2008). "Origins and Relationships of Pacific Canoes and Rigs" (PDF). Canoes of Oceania. V: 85–105. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2024-03-17. Retrieved 2024-03-17.