Talk:Lakatoi

The description of lakatoi as double hull canoes is incorrect. There were several types of craft historically which today are loosely grouped as "lakatoi", used by the Motu people for different distance and duration voyages, depending on purpose. The true lakatoi was for long distance trading of clay pots for sago and trees for hulls to the Gulf region of Papua (the hiri lata or long hiri). This was typically a multi-hull vessel. On the outward (westward) voyage, during the SE tradewinds, they could be from 4-6 hulls. Rebuilt in the Gulf with additional rainforest tree hulls, they could be as many as 14 hulls on the return (eastward) voyage to the Port Moresby area, during the NW tradewinds season (monsoon). Typically these voyages would be in fleets of as many as 20 lakatoi, carrying as much as 150 tonnes of sago. See Richards, David, Aplin & McNiven, "Archaeological Research at Caution Bay, Papua New Guinea - Cultural, Linguistic and Environmental Setting", p66-67, https://www.archaeopress.com/ArchaeopressShop/Public/download.asp?id=%7BC5CFEE0C-767B-40E0-9720-AC4ECE329CAE%7D. There are many other sources available. Ptilinopus (talk) 21:34, 16 September 2020 (UTC)Reply