A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.
Overview
Dakodako is introduced as a man whose hunger is not satisfied by pig or wallaby. He kills and eats a passing stranger, then a friend, but neither meal brings the pleasing drum sound and effortless dance he seeks. Only after fighting the hill people of Qamana and eating a slain enemy does the music please him and the dance feel light.
He stands with a foot on each side of another slain enemy and proclaims his preference for enemy flesh. Both he and the body become stone and remain on Qamana’s hillside within the tale. His transformation supplies the supernatural feature; Ker does not describe a giant species, unusual teeth or a separate nonhuman race. The account’s praise of his act belongs to the recorded narrator’s ending, rather than the compendium’s judgment.
Origins & earliest records
Annie Ker, Papuan Fairy Tales (London: Macmillan, 1910), pp. 84–85. Individual narrator unnamed.
Records & interpretation
Complete selected narrative read in digitized transcription; collector’s general northeastern village attribution retained.
Selected bibliography
Documented works and useful reading. This is not a list of every appearance.
- 01
Papuan Fairy Tales: Dakodako, the Man Eater, pp. 84–85
Complete selected text inspected.
Family & connections
A source-supported family tree or inspiration record has not yet been compiled for this profile. Related reading below indicates a connection in subject matter, not a proven lineage or creative influence.
References
Sources supporting this profile. Linked pages have their own scope and editorial standards.
- Primary collected textKer 1910: Dakodako, the Man Eater, pp. 84–85Research access: 2026-10-05
Image credits
A sourced illustration has not yet been added. This gap is included in the coverage record.