Untitled Flashcards Set

MICRONESIA 

The Honshu Tsunami of 3/11/11 following the 8.9 (9.1?) quake 

Micronesia includes 3 large archipelagos of scattered islands in NW Pacific 

Mariana Islands: Volcanic islands along Philippine Sea; 

Caroline Islands: scattered clusters of partially submerged volcanic islands + 100s of tiny coral islets; 

Marshall Islands + Kiribati (Nauru farther south): 

coral islands + atolls, in N-S line along E edge of Micronesia 

Great Diversity: 

Combines: Micronesia + Melanesia + SE Asia + Polynesia (17 different languages 

Navigation + canoe-building = greatest arts 

Relationships between Islands: 

Island diversity + periodic natural disasters => sometimes must help one another 

 ie: low atoll peoples – need help of food from high mountainous peoples 

ie: mountain peoples - need help of navigation from low atoll peoples 

Result: 

1.regional specialization 

2.intricate trade networks 

3.complex tribute systems 

4.ceremonial exchanges between people on same island 

Trade/Tribute Currency: 

personal objects (coconut rope, woven skirts + loin cloths, shell) 

Gift-Giving: 

extremely important social interaction can be within family  

(ie: heirloom objects) or between communities. 

Status: 

Identity = established at birth 

Based on: kinship relationships + village where born 

Yet Identity = not rigidly fixed: 

Mastery of traditional arts = way to improve status  

(weaving, warfare, navigation, magic, tattooing, dancing.....) 

D'Alleva talks about: 

rolel a blai (paths of house) + rolel a bedengel (paths of person) in relationships between people, communities. 

Visual Arts: 

Great emphasis on aesthetics 

(D'Alleva: oogis = object that is supremely functional or attractive design) 

Geometric + Rectilinear surface designs 

Great emphasis on symmetry. 

Arts = Primarily non-Figural 

Great variety of size: 

small utilitarian → large wooden ceremonial bowls (ie: 4+ men to lift). 

Canoes: some of finest sea-worthy ocean-going vessels 

deep-hulled single-outrigger sailing canoe, either end can go 1st, so can always sail to wind 

Canoes considered important works of art: 

judged for utilitarian and aesthetic criteria 

Painted – usually red (sacred color) 

Canoe houses: 

 Store canoes 

Meeting place for men of village 

Place of discussion + for carving 

Storage of sacred objects used by navigators (ie: weather sculptures) 

IMPORTANT MEETING PLACE 

Sea + Canoes = Source of much of art + culture  

many containers = have double-end form, like canoe many food bowls = shape of canoe 

Micronesian Architecture: Social life focuses around large communal meeting houses, sometimes low on ground, typically a frame 

Status = determines which door to enter, which to exit, where to sit 

Stone: 

rarely used in Micronesia 

Yet, 

stone = used for some 

House Platforms (ie: House of Taga) 

+ 

Megaliths (ie: funerary monuments) 

Micronesia = also known for: 

Tattoos + Textiles: 

intricately tied to status 

Weaving = finely done mats, clothing, belts 

Warrior Regalia 

Caroline Islands: 1000 islands 

(Belau/Palau, Yap, Chuuk, Pohnpei, Kosrae) 

Part of Federated States of Micronesia (in free assoc. with USA) since 1986 (though not Belau) 

Dance + Music = culturally very important 

Dances could take place: 

on platform built over flotilla of canoes in Pohnpei... 

or sitting on mats in a village..... 

Dances = often accentuated by dance paddles 

that spun, flipped, struck in rhythm to stamping feet. 

Art = many different kinds: 

from: 

Mortlocks Is. courting sticks (ends carved to identify owner) Man pushed through thatch roof+woman inside accepted/rejected him 

to: 

currencies + sculpture + large scale architecture. 

Traditional Currency = glass beads + bars opaque glass not from Pacific (Philippines or China?)  

men = owned + exchanged them, yet 

women = wore as necklaces to display family's wealth, during pregnancy, + after birth of 1st child 

Yap men = loom-woven cloth as currency too  

Belau Men = also used pottery 

Belau Women = used tortoise-shell platters (image in textbook) 

Currencies: used in exchanges to mark  

• Life transitions: marriage birth life death 

Only specialists (elders, leaders) know the  

actual exchange value of various currencies.  

LARGE flat stone disks – as currency 

(ex Yap island, quarried on Belau) 

Size: once metal tools introduced = +3 meters diam  

 metal tools allowed for more efficient carving and shaping of the stone disks. As metal tools became available, artisans could create larger and more intricate designs, leading to an increase in the size of these currencies.  

(prep-metal tools = smaller) 

Displays of wealth,  prosperity, success, etc.  

Value- based on: 

• Size 

• History of disk 

• Ownership 

• How old it is 

• Connections and relationships 

• Not necessarily linked to one single family 

• Associated with a particular moment in time 

Have individual names. 

Important stones = called Rai 

Hole in center of STONE DISK = for carrying pole.  

To put the carrying stick through. The disks were transported by the men of the village in exchanges by putting a stick through the center and carrying it. 

Displayed:  

In front of houses and along paths 

• As repositories of wealth 

Sometimes: carried to meetings and  

Used as ceremonial payment 

Could make payment without moving it, like when someone buys a house, rai doesn't move 

Markers for directions, stay where they are.  

ARCHITECTURE: 

Most dramatic archaeological/architectural site in Oceania = POHNPEI: 

Nan Madol (places in-between): 200 acre political + religious center seat of Sau Deleur dynasty. 

- divided into sections for religious dwellings, which included the homes of priests, and for major tombs, which were significant for ceremonial purposes. This division reflects the importance of both religious and royal activities in the society that built Nan Madol. 

Zenith = 1000-1500 Ad houses c.1000 people 

• Built on 92 natural + artificial islets in shallow lagoon.  

Massive basalt boulder and columns 

Quarried inland + ferried by sea to site 

Created rectangular enclosures with stone paving platforms and house foundations 

Divided into 2 areas 

• Religious dwellings (priest homes) and major tombs 

• Royal dwellings + ceremonial tombs 

Advanced technology: massive stone sea wall right at water's edge protected area 

Bai= Belau/Palu meeting house 

Built in one village and purchased by another village 

= demonstrated ability to amass wealth 

Ideal village = had 6 bai; 

2 sets each of: 

Junior, middle, senior houses 

Only 3 still standing, but more being built with  

Resurgence of traditional values 

Traditionally,  

Bai= have 6 entrances 

• No one can touch these doorways 

• Each person has own door 

Only person with rank can enter  

• Made by someone else 

• Have to buy  

• Represents connection 

• Shows prosperity 

Number 6 is important  

Used as: 

Mens meeting house 

Womens meeting house 

Ceremonial site of village titleholder 

4 corners: 

• Seats of 4 principal titleholders of village 

All titleholders= men 

•  yet men Elected by Women (Matrilineal) 

Women can remove titleholder from position if he acts inappropriately 

Door jambs of west facade 

Depict 2 of  4 leading women (ourrot) of village 

Dramatic gable fronts 

Illustrate: 

• Events 

• Legends 

• Tales 

• Historical events 

• Wealth 

• These elements are significant because they reflect the culture, history, and values of the people who built these structures, serving as both a form of storytelling and a display of status. 

Symbolism: 

• Circles= valuables 

• Faces = heads were ransomed for valuables 

• Birds= money birds (generate valuables) or roosters (male symbol) 

• Bats= painted underside of eaves: D’alleva says “enjoys all within to act respectfully 

Bai-ra-Irrai (bai from irrai, belau) 

• Originally built 300 years ago 

• Continually rebuilt ever since.  

Cable: history of village  

Contemporary gables + interior beams  

Narrative painted reliefs depicting important historic and moral events 

Figures incised outline + painted black, white, ocher  

Some traditional Bai = have Dilukai; 

Woman who brought (wealth, currency, success, prosperity, status) to village titleholders 

Dilukai: primordial ancestress + symbol of fertility/power 

Dliukai : protects taro fields, = fields and heals sick 

= attached to gable of bai 

(title holders exit from her loins) 

Taro is staple food 

Surrounding her on gable = Themes of Fertility: 

• Incised and painted images of men with enlarged senises pointing at her 

• Cryptic images that symbolize severed heads 

• Roosters, bats sun disks associated with cosmic cycles + renewal of fertility 

Some (missionaries) say her carvings shame her for her promiscuity. And remind women to be chaste. 

Yet she is obviously a woman of significance: 

She wears symbols of wealth and prestige 

A red bachel around her neck 

And valuable representing stacked turtle shells on her waist 

Dinonga Eidu: 

Wooden standing female figures from Nukuoro atoll (s of Pohnpei) 

Gods/Ancestor figures carved without metal tools 

Body head chin, line across to show breasts, pubic triangle 

Each founding clan has own god figure kept in Clan’s spirit house. 

Spirit house (amalu) 

• = for entire community 

• =contained major deity figures (30-300cm or more) 

• Open on 3 sides (hung with mats) 

• Both men and women can enter 

Ko Kawe = protective goddess of sekawae clan 

+ 

Wife of ariki tu te nato aki, god of underworld 

May be link to Polynesia? 

Textbook= Ko Kawe from Nukuoro island with few trees but inhabited by Polynesians 

Main ceremony in Amalau = at Breadfruit Harvest 

• Many taboos, renewed god images 

• And young women = given tattoos 

Other sculpture: 

Various sizes + materials 

Some= stone 

Others= smaller household  

Ancestral deities + gaurdian spirits to 

Accompany dead set adrift  

Masks: 

Tapuanu = sacred spirits” 

Mortlock islands: only island group to use masks 

Textbook 

Tapu= sacred full of mana 

Anu = ancestral spirit 

"Weather masks" 

Owned by secret societies (soutapuanu) + kept in communal meeting house (falefol) 

Members perform masks: beginning of breadfruit season During dances + mock stick fights. 

Protective: 

Wards off typhoons Protects breadfruit harvest. 

Smaller masks: 

Inside boat houses + meeting houses to protect them too. 

Canoe-building = high status occupation 

Often = painted red + black, with prow + stern decorations 

Often have protective figures attached to canoe prows 

Chuuk canoes: 

Removable Figureheads = both ends 

Can depict: 2 birds with beaks meeting + tails outstretched. stylized human form 

Position of figureheads = showed intention of canoe: Peace if lowered; War if raised. 

Spirit Canoes/nen = kept in canoe house 

mini canoes to house + transport spirits to otherworld often = carved as double canoes (unusual in Micronesia) hung from rafters or put on shelves. 

Ocean travel = Dangerous (weather, distance, currents, seas... 

Complicated: 32 Directions = based on stars, islands, wind, season. 

Wind/Weather power figures: 

Some = janus (see all directions) 

Chanted/prayed over before voyages to calm bad weather + ward off storms 

To be effective, owner must 

chant the power of his patron spirit into it near coconut tree where he learned art of navigation. 

Can be used for divination, 

to communicate with spirits / gods 

Birds 

important in Micronesian art 

Terns + frigate birds 

= important navigational aids (finding land) 

Bones + feathers 

= used to make tools + ornaments 

Bowls = can be in form of Birds 

Marshall Islands = famous for 2-D art, especially tattoos 

worn by Men + Women, although only elite Men = wore on face 

Marshall Islands also famous for Weaving: 

plaited mats (pandanus leaves) 

Some of finest plaiting 

in Micronesia 

Reserved for Royalty 

one style = to serve 

food to Queen; another = for King 

currently, baskets 

important cash crop 

Marshall Islanders = famous for 

Canoes: 

2 platforms + thatched houses. 

Instructional Navigational Charts: of Swells 

(and movement of canoe through them) 

as affected by elements depicted in charts: islands, 

routes, 

current (predominantly Westward), NE trade winds. 

Currents + winds = fairly regular: causing fairly consistent wave patterns → made visible by charts 

Mnemonic devices used to 

teach navigation 

There are 3 types of navigational maps (generally): 

Mattang: personal maps that show swell lines + shell islands (used especially for teaching): 

Meddo: extended matting with multiple islands, + swells in relation to those islands 

(distance not as important): 

Rebbilib: the most intricate, showing islands + swells within entire region or island chain. 

Navigation depends upon both knowledge and body senses/feelings of waves, water, weather, currents, etc 

These navigational maps help "students” learn and embody their knowledge of the seas 

Kiribati house interior. Engraving by 

Council houses (maneaba) 

Huge. No walls. Massive thatched roof almost touches ground. Supported by tall coconut-wood posts (up to 15' at center). Located in sacred space (te marae - Polynesian word), of shell "gravel" + bounded by low stone border. 

Cmdr. Wilkes, 1838-42. 

Some maneaba = decorated with 

white shells (on rafters), and/or 

red or brown geometrical designs (on posts + beams). 

Seating = around edge, according to 

patrilineal 

social divisions. 

Center = open for speeches, presentations, competitive dances. 

Kiribati = also famous for Warrior Regalia: 

full body armor of Kiribati + Nauru pants, jacket, vest, helmet, neck guard - tightly knotted coconut fiber 

MELANISIA  

Most tropical climate (winds rain earthquakes) 
FIshing important 

Crocodile= biggest animal (don't exist in Polynesia) 

Social Organization 

Not as hierarchical as Polynesia 

More EGALITARIAN <- must work way up social ladder 

Age/Social grades = attained through gifts feastings art commissions, etc.  

Available to Men only 

Highest Grade members = govern 

At death – highest grade members = join ancestral spirit world 

Only available to men specifically today.  

Religion: 

Ancestors and Spirits of natural forces = worshipped  

Ancestors = thought closer to the living than any toehr dieties 

Initiation Ceremonies = coming of age  

= important masking + dancing traditions 

Ceremonies = Elaborate = Dramatic  

Can last for Years -> One mask cycles = 20 years 

Teaching done by people wearing mask. 

No skin showing masquerade (whole body)  = belief that that is the spirt and there is no human involved  

Batel Nut: Mild Narcotic 

Chewed or “plugged” = stains teeth red 

Many objects associated with betel nut = almost ritualized 

Lime containers, spatulas, sticks, nut containers  

ART = Prolific 

Art = Ancestral 

Used to honor ancestors 

Figures= place where ancestors spirits  

Could temporarily inhabit 

Masquerades = infused with  

Ancestral spirits during ceremonies 

Hair, bones, skulls of important deceased males  

= sometimes added to sculptures + masks 

Ancestors' voices = represented by Instruments: 

Drums, flutes, pan pipes, conch shells 

2 Creation Myths- variations found throughout Melanesia: 

1. Man- eating demon, looked human (boar or eagle) terroized gods and proto hujans FILL THE REST OF THIS IN! (nov 5) 

1. Gives basis for ancestor worship/ head hunting cults/ ritual cannibalism 

2. Culutre Hero (or his animal) = dives to bottom of sea and brings land to surface 

Hero = shapes land by  

• Shooting  off peices with arrows to create islands  

• Mountain ranges created by where threw tools 

• Hero had sex with mother earth 

• His seed in her body began agriculture 

NEW CALEDONIA:  

named by cap cook 

Long skinny island 

One of larger Melanesian islands 

Farthest south  

Culture: not really intact anymore 

Much of ART = LOST  

• Competition between Protestant + Catholic Missionaries 

• French Penal Colony 

Artists: special relationship with supernatural spirits represented intheir art 

Art: 2 main art forms: 

Great House – mens house 

Ceremonial Exchange 

3 if you count masking 

ARCHITECTURE:  

Chief sacred = resides in most important structure 

Chiefs house called “great house” 

Large often on rise 

 At end of broad walkway where all important social events take place 

Ie: presenting gifts to community 

Great house= covered in carving, finials, door jambs, cross beams 

SPIRES/FINIALS: 

• Hardwood 

• Decorated with shells 

Represented trition shell 

Blown to to summons villagers 

= symbolizes elder's word 

 
Stylized/ abstracted human from at based of spire 

Often opposing Hooks + lines 

Probably ancestral 

= refer to Chief + Lineage 

Representing cheifs word, message, role in great house. community, communication, his leadership, his direction,  

Probably: spirit of ancestors 

Bring them to great house,  

Where they preside over affairs of living.  

Door jambs  

Hardwood (houp) + pigment  

Keep rounded surface of log 

Face : wide, often rectangle 

Nose; classic broad/splayed nose, almost like 3 rounded triangles 

Nose = sign of beauty 

Usually – geometric forms below face 

Similar to matting wrapped around decreased at burial  

Kanak: 

Major Masking Tradition in North  

(no longer made after french colonizers tried to erficate since they thought they were devils) 

May refer to ancestor Jamawe 

Represents 3 things simultaneously: 

• Deceased chief 

• Founder of clan 

• Spirit who leads dead to underworld 

Used: dance at funerals of important dead 

Grin is not grin of happiness 

Grin is to express the face that what is being carved is alive and not just static piece of wood with marks on it 

Doesn't have to do with emotion but with animating the piece 

FUNERALS: 

Prolonged Mouring rituals- mourners segregated from rest of society 

Family watches over dead and performs ceremonies until decomposition= complete. 

During mourning = many rituals (ie: stealing house is finial, breaking artworks) 

After a year = wash bones = put them in sacred spot, pointing towards deceased’s territory. 

Mask Form: monochromatic 

polished dark brown or black 

Costume: 

Top: Tapa + Spiderweb + Hair 

Hair: from men watching over deceased during mourning 

(don't cut hair while mourning). 

Bottom: Feathers 

Some have Shells 

"core" of mask: Elongated Head + Face 

Great emphasis on Enormous Nose Eyes: “bean-shaped” 

Mouth: large grimace ("toothy grin") 

Top = headdress, fiber, 

Feathers... 

Associated with: 

Water Spirits + Fertility + Ancestors 

Ancestors: 

Original Ancestor + Kingdom of Dead 

Theories: 

Apouema = god who lives near water and/or 

Forest spirit associated with birds 

Used by now-extinct secret initiation societies 

Worn in ceremonies emphasizing Social control 

Danced prior to Warfare 

Within Funerals + Warfare, Kanak masks = 2 functions: • Stands in for dead chief 

• Symbolized chief's authority "loaned" to chief from his clan 

Apouema = may also be Azyu Culture hero of Northern New Caledonia 

Legend of Azyu: 

Azyu was killed by his enemies, 

who tore off his nose + tongue as killed him. His mother (Dea) tried to bring him back to life. He declined because was ashamed of appearance 

He traveled to Other World, 

sent back mask with large nose, to replace one he lost. 

Kanak masks carry rounded Ceremonial Axe, Adze, and/or spear 

to Maintain Order during large-scale ceremonies. 

Wrapping still plays an important role 

for ceremonial objects... 

Materials = give prestige 

Nephrite 

European cloth 

(as in IU's collection) 

Snow 

wcal 

uatu 

Ceremonial axes: Symbolize the 

strength + power 

of chief and people 

SCULPTURE: 

Figures = kept in Chief's houses 

Form: 

Bulbous, rounded, rhythmic 

Face: large nose Heavy brow Grimacing mouth 

Who: 

Can be Male or Female 

May be Ancestral 

May help Control Rain 

Vanuatu: 

"The Country that Stands Up" 

or 

"Our Land" 

Capt. Cook (1774) called these islands New Hebrides. 

The locals changed it to Vanuatu (1980) [Vanua = “land” in many local languages] People call themselves Ni-Vanuatu 

Culture = almost wiped out by Europeans 

Missionaries, disease, alcohol, firearms, colonialism 

Went from 600k → 40k people (in 1920s) 

But culture existed "underground" + now bouncing back, as is Population. 

Many Graded Societies (Nimangi) Up to 20 ranks 

• Must work one's way to top = you buy your way into each society Payment for grades = pigs, feasts 

Vanuatu nimangi = Suque 

Important in establishing one's importance on earth + 

in afterlife/world of ancestors 

Each society = has own Emblems: 

Flowers, jewelry, foods, hairstyles, where sit, property..... 

• All Men of same grade 

= eat + sleep together 

• Government = run by men in highest grade 

Expensive! 

Rare to reach top since must satisfy many people: • members of the level leaving 

⚫ members of the level joining 

Required for climbing Grade system: 

Sponsor from within rank one is aspiring to Huge Feasts + Celebrations 

Change of name 

Large Slit Gongs 

Large Fern Figures 

Socio-economic Redistribution of Wealth: 

Spend great amounts of $ to pay for sculpture, feasts, gongs, etc 

Pig tusks: 

castrated male pigs = long + curved important in rituals, ceremonies, art 

Pig + Pig Tusks = symbol of Wealth Symbol of Obligation + Debt; Symbol of Responsibility 

→ the more pig tusks = the more elevated the grade 

Exact use of Pig Magic Stone = unknown 

Some said to be used to facilitate pig exchange 

MASKS: 

Large wooden masks (similar to New Caledonia) = Not as common today. Were important in rituals relating to sacred relationship between Men + Yams Some = used during extensive Grade Rituals’ 

Both single faced + Janus 

The more faces + tusks higher the grade 

Some are painted 

Some have Human Figure as superstructure ie: sitting on or behind 

Rom Masks = danced during Ole 

This type = very rare since: 

• Very fragile - Banana fiber on light wood frame 

• Usually are Ritually Destroyed after finished. 

= 

• Prohibition against selling Rom Masks 

became very strict since independence (1980). 

Constant striving for 

Cultural, Ritual, +Artistic Innovation 

In North = Highly sophisticated "Copyright" system: 

More complex than anything in West: 

Can copyright anything: 

songs, dances, myths, artifacts, ritual colors, dream visions 

Can sell almost anything: social rank, title, rituals, parts of rituals, art forms, parts of art forms 

can break copyright 

Breaking copyright = considered very serious. 

= makes it difficult to learn. 

SCULPTURE: 

Made of Nut Paste over fiber core Sometimes modeled over coconut shell 

Figures + Heads: 

puppet-like figures manipulated behind screens by members of age grade. 

Sculptural Features: Pig's Tusks 

highly+ arbitrarily colored Tubular Eyes Long Noses 

Variations by Grades: 

Low Grades = formed over coconut 

Highest Grade = formed over human skull 

FERN FIGURES: 

Used in Sukwe Grade Societies 

Higher Grades = have figures carved of Tree Fern 

Tree fern = turned upside down Wider at top than Bottom (to emphasize head) 

Rough + Enormous Heads 

Initiate commissioned from specialist 

= 

- Very Expensive 

Usually = covered with clay so could be Painted, Chalked 

Sacred leaf = usually place through nose 

Eyes can be Large Discs 

Originally would have had Concentric Circles or other Designs (Quattrofoil) 

Fern Figures = displayed in front of dwelling of highest ranking elder of secret society Or in front of the men's house. 

Or standing on platforms in wooden + bamboo shelters (Gamal): 

Shelters = where dances 

performed during Age Grade Ceremony. 

Grade-taking man: = wears + displays ritual paraphernalia 

= dances on shelter's roof at 

height of ceremony 

Gamal Ceremonial house for person of high rank. 1910-12. 

Fern figures represent ancestors. During ceremony, figures = inhabited by women 

Most Fern figures used for 

Male Age Grade societies. 

Though some = may have been used for Female Grade societies 

SLIT GONGS: Voices of the Ancestors 

Hard tree trunks, Large (+12') 

 Stuck in ground so stand up 

Faces = similar to Fern Figures Clustered in same area as Fern Figures 

No Mouths 

(Mouth = slit down center creating sound) 

Voice emanating from slit gong 

ancestral – speaking in coded rhythms 

In some areas = this is the only form of carving 

Sometimes = highly stylized figure at top too 

Huge figures = made for ceremonies of highest grade 

Thought of as if alive 

RAMBARAMP: Funeral Effigy 

Portrait of Specific dead/ancestor 

Reserved for member of highest Suque rank (warrior, leader) 

Direct Portrait: Using Skull 

"Dry" remains are exhumed so can use skull. 

Covered with Pig Tusks 

to show high rank 

More realistic than other sculptures: 

Skull added to body of bamboo, cane, wood, clay....... 

Decorated with fiber, feathers, spider web (for hair) 

Colorful! 

Supernatural Elements: 

Smaller Heads at joints = multiply spirit + power 

As man rises in grade societies = leaves world of living Becomes Supernatural Being. 

Eventually: He eats alone + lives in sacred solitude: He has joined the ancestors while still on earth. 

When he dies = must make Rambaramp 

(Women denied this important step after missionaries destroyed their societies) 

Rambaramp = used at  

1st Mourning Ceremonies 

Ritually carried from his house (where body lay in state) 

to 

Ceremonial Suque society house 

Displayed inside Suque house - to ensure ancestor's presence 

surrounded by smaller sculptures that are more dynamic 

(like head with son on top) 

Rambaramp may have been: 

⚫ carried by dancers 

• displayed in Suque house during feasts 

Rambaramp = Not Permanent, relatively Fragile 

Later = Discarded, but Head = saved 

PowerPoint Slide Show - [Oc09_NewCal_Vanu 

Rambaramp may have been:  

⚫ carried by dancers 

• displayed in Suque house during feasts 

Rambaramp = Not Permanent, relatively Fragile 

Later = Discarded, but Head = saved 

Some Facial Elements = Meaningful 

Mouth on smaller figures: 

if open: can mean owner was high suque rank  

• If closed: can mean owner has not entered grade system yet. 

Solomon, 

Santa Cruz 

(culturally part of Solomon) + Admiralty Islands 

Have a 2nd Style of Melanesian Art: 

simpler - tends toward black + white 

(some red) 

more contained, less flamboyant, less extended 

SOLOMON ISLANDS 

"Discovered" by Spaniard Alvaro de Mendana (1567) Looking for gold - islands covered with "fool's gold" 

Thought he'd found Biblical "wealth of Solomon" 

(mythical islands that supplied gold to adorn King Solomon's temple) 

Islands = mostly mountainous + rainforest (Smaller islands = volcanic + coral) 

Important WWII battle sites for US, New Zealand, Japan 

→ Huge repercussions felt by people 

Independent from Britain (1978) 

Art: Ancestral, protective spirits, public initiation rituals 

Wealth: (not the same thing as money) 

2 kinds: feathers in huge rolls Shells. 

Feather Rolls (Tevau): 

Exact Worth = based on Length, Condition, Richness of Red Feathers 

Thus = carefully stored + cared for - often under hearth (warmth kept rot + animals away) 

alp 

Tevau feather rolls used for: marriage payments, 

+ to buy ceremonial items: pigs, canoes, taro roots, labor 

Tevau. 

Cardinal Honey-eater 

Fiber Core. 9m. 

Feathers, Bark 

500-600 Hours to make Tevau feather roll. 

3 Specialists: 

Bird-Catcher (needed down of c.30 birds) 

• Artist: makes 2" platelets (need 1500) of grey Pacific pigeon feathers on wood. 

Sews red cardinal honey-eater feathers onto platelets. 

• Binder: attaches platelets onto bark fiber roll, Adds shells, seeds, turtle shell. 

Sews "signature" design on end of roll. 

Incantations + Amulets used. 

Could be to show two different sides of the exchange 

Bird catcher to get feathers  

Shells: 

used as: Currency + Art/Fashion 

Art includes: 

Ear, chest, forehead ornaments, 

usually = with inlay 

Kap Kap: 

Forehead ornaments 

large sea shell disk + tortoise shell 

Designs often include: human heads + frigate birds 

references to head-hunting + to spirits 

High Contrast aesthetic = common 

Kapkap. Clam Shell, Turtle Shell. 

Overlay: 

delicate + hair-thin + refined. 

Made into small z or x forms + embedded into shallow relief cavities with putty nut. 

Nose ornaments= called “Nelo” 

SCULPTURE: 

Simplified Aesthetics: 

Large Head / hairstyle 

White in eyes/mouth/ear plugs = shell inlay 

Zigzag design for décor/scarification 

Fishing Floats 

Associated with: 

Fishing 

Canoes 

Adaro 

(Bonito-related spirits) 

Looking out towards the ocean  

Santa cruz scluptrure: 

Head: tilted up, 

Face: flat, no/little inlay 

Santa Cruz sculptures: 

Hair: 

Sometimes exaggerated 

Figures: 

often associated/embellished with sharks 

=related to ancestor sharks 

House posts: 

In Communal / Ceremonial houses 

Commemorate Important People (great hierarchy in society) 

usually = Male, a few = Female 

usually = single, some = multiple 

Represent: Ancestral 

and 

Historical figures (are their ancestors) 

Associated with Initiation  

Sea creature swallows boy + spits out as man 

= Rite of passage symbolic death + rebirth 

often depict: Animal/crocodile/shark = swallowing boy 

NOV 14 SOME NOTES MISSING COME BACK AND ADD 

NOV 19 

Canoes = used for Bonito fishing + Warfare + Funeral ceremonies 

Bonito = type of Tuna, come in huge schools 

Come unexpectedly, leave unexpectedy. 

They follow small fish + are followed by sharks + flocks of birds All this activity = makes water “boil” 

Bonito = manifestation of powerful deities – a supernatural gift when they come Never know when they'll come, or how long they'll stay 

Dangerous (due to sharks)! 

Bonito Hunt = dangerous + dramatic 

= Important part of initiation ceremonies 

Adaro = Bonito-related spirits 

They stand on fish until people are "good" Once people are "good," Adaro release the fish 

Canoes Decorated: 

= 

Fish + birds on points of prows 

= 

Often = embellished with Elegant mosaic of sh 

Figures at bow + stern at Water Line: 

Seek out Shells + Fish 

Protect from Sharks + Enemies 

Musumusu: (also called nguzunguzu): 

Prow Figures head at base of 

high prow 

Usually = busts 

Occasionally = full figures 

Hocker position: 

elbows-Knees-chin posture Balanced, cylindrical shape 

PowerPoint Slide Show 

Associated with Adaro spirits: 

human/fish head, human legs, scaled backbone hold sharks 

looks human but turns into fish Bird+fish imagery 

Associated with Adaro spirits: 

human/fish head, human legs, scaled backbone hold sharks 

looks human but turns into fish Bird+fish imagery 

LOOKING OUT over the water protecting 

Emphasize the Head: Decoration = same as people 

face painting, scarification. 

Designs: zigzag + variation scarifications, 

Ears: 

Stretched to hold 

shell guages 

O 

Head ofs upernatural being who helps find head of enemies 

Often: hold something to chin 

Heads: refer to head-hunting 

Birds: to ability to 

fly straight from 

point to point. 

Once 

missionaries 

arrived, 

they promoted 

"doves" of peace. 

ADMIRALTY ISLANDS 
Politically: papa NewGuienea 

Enligsh caption Phiip Central named it 

Admiralty Islands 

(Manus Island = largest) 

Mountainous 

Population= 5,000 years old 

30 languages 

Great sailors + traders 

(Obsidian = volcanic glass with razor-sharp edge = traded to New Guinea) 

1st Europeans: Spanish - Alvaro de Saavedra (1529) 

After WWII: 

Dutch Schouten + Le Maire (1616) 

Abrupt rejection of tradition → result = widespread destruction of material culture 

Currently traditional culture revival 

= 

Patrilineal clans: 

Religion: \honoring Ancestors, who punish those who breach strict moral code 

Ancestors = NOT eternal 

If forgotten, they recede into obscurity + be replaced by more recent ancestors 

SCULPTURE: 

Many = figural 

wood carvings = specialty of Matankol (small islands) Carved with obsidian blades 

Who: 

specific people? 

Based on scarification patterns, jewelry...... 

Figures = Honor /Commemorate Dead Relatively secular honoring 

Often = large 

Arms: usually down with hands free or on hips 

Distinctive Mouth 

Surface Design: 

Incised Patterns rubbed with Chalk 

Repeated triangles, diamonds, rectangles, opposed curves 

Often bordered bands 

Often black + white on red 

Scarification: on arms + legs 

Jewelry: on neck, ears, waist, arms, knees, ankles 

Warrior Power Figures: 

Notched Frigate bird Feathers 

human or osprey bone (femur, humerus, forearms (rare) (bones = hidden by feathers except at top) 

Some carved in wood with human head = newer? Who: Respected Relative? Worthy Adversary? 

Power Figure = increases power of wearer by drawing upon power of dead 

Worn: hanging down ones Back 

Faces behind wearer. 

Use: 

to see/protect back? To protect during battle 

To increase courage To protect from wounds 

To protect from evil spirits 

Were = Personal Property 

NOT passed on to next generation 

Triangular incising edging face = NOT scarification 

but aesthetic of putting border on art objects 

Beads = important in Oceania Originally = local materials (stone, bone, shells, teeth) 

after European contact = Glass (imported) 

Island New Guinea 

Northern Solomons Bougainville 

Enortland bland 

TREASURY ISLANDS 

Solomon Islands 

G 

Словни Island 

New Ireland 

+New Britain 

= part of 

Bismark Archipelago 

Still politically part of Papua New Guinea 

Paci 

New Ireland: Coastal! 

Fishing, some agriculture No Head-hunting 

Kap Kap 

New Ireland= Matrilineal clans 

New Ireland = most famous Funerary rituals in Melanesia: 

MALANGAN: (Malanggan) Name for Carvings + for Display 

Importance = Analogous with: Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (pageantry) 

Tournament of Roses parade (The Bee Movie) (ephemeral) 

Malangan Funerary Event: Clan brings family together to honor dead 

Through: 

feasts, performances, oration, exchange of pigs + shell ornaments and to 

Introduce deceased person to land of dead 

Malangan House Display 

made in Honor of Deceased, for improvement of the Living, 3-sided stage for Display 

Carvings = displayed on green leaves that “show off" carvings 

Bones of deceased = wrapped in leaves + placed in front of house below carvings 

Malangan House: 

• Commemorates Specific Ancestor 

honor his life + ease his transition into death/ancestorhood 

• Celebrates Living Men 

"big" men: must exhibit spectacular sculpture as move up in age grade young men: carvings can be made to mark end of Initiation 

AKAJ IN LIMINA IMA NEKI / BROJUPESSAN ONZINTA FANI ROCOPIA E ME, VYKAURAU NAK BALTERNATE AN ANNELENESINION STADIUM 

Malangan displays: Occur every 1-5 years Lasting up to 9 months 

Malangan system = Complex! Lavish Funerary Ceremony alone = 6-8 months: Involving: 24 dances, 4 new buildings, 7 major feasts, 6 gift exchanges, 3 days of speeches, ceremonial dress... 

32 

Death of chief: 

must accord him proper send off 

Malangan display/ceremonies refer to mythological + artistic wealth of family 

O RIP Display of Carvings, Masks, + Performances All-ommissioned specifically for ceremony 

= expensive 

Each Malangan design = Owned by Family 

All designs, forms, carvings 

= named, + owned + copyrighted by family 

Climax of Ritual = Display of Carvings, Masks, + Performances All = commissioned specifically for ceremony 

= 

Expensive 

When display "opened" to public = great Festival of Gift Exchange to prove high Status, Wealth, Prestige 

Guests = pay small token to dead 

• to show respect to dead + his family • to show that they aren't impoverished. 

When display "opened” to public = great Festival of Gift Exchange to prove high Status, Wealth, Prestige 

Guests = pay small token to dead 

• to show respect to dead + his family • to show that they aren't impoverished. 

Images = Carved out of Single Block of soft Wood 

Tendency: long, Horizontal figures/friezes, or Vertical planks 

Most meanings of carvings have disappeared 

Evidently carvings = in realm of ideas: 

Many of creatures 

= composite 

May be mythological 

Painting of forms: Complex + meticulous + Bright 

Complex forms: 

Can be Cosmological +/or Observable forms Full of esoteric meaning + knowledge 

Often Composite: 

masts, fish, canoes, planks Mystical fish 

birds+figures + geometric 

Eyes = snail shell opercula-seem to watch you 

"Fantastication" 

Surrealists liked Malangan imagery 

Some figures = may have represented specific spirit 

Theres a story here, most likely to a particular story, like a family crest, these combinations 

Artist: 

Carving probably not done by sponsor of ceremony/event. 

Probably not done by professional artist either. 

Probably carved by relative. 

People = interdependent on relatives (for carving, painting, pigs, foods, etc) 

= redistribution of wealth, a man is judged by his generosity. 

Soul Boat: for Ancestors, Funeral of Chief Important During Ceremony = Ephemeral soft wood intentionally impermanent 

openwork, many parts = Fragile  

Transportation of spirit 

Temporary boat made of soft wood 

Intentionally temporary, not meant to last 

Screen Carvings: 

Malangan houses = often covered with screen-like flat forms, brought by participants 

Masks: fall into various types with names + characteristics we just don’t know what are 

Images = hard to interpret 

Represent 

Monsters encountered by Hunters in Forest. 

Materials: Vegetal fiber 

Sea sponge/fiber (for hair) 

Planks Tusks 

Feathers 

Form: 

Intense Busy-ness  

horror vacui- “fear of open space” 

Face = animal or humanoid often buried beneath complex structure 

Intensely Colored 

Kepong / Ges – rabbit like ears 

Huge display of masks + mask dances = accompany funeral + initiation 

Tatanua Masks 

a "line of tatanua❞ 

= masked dancers who perform on last day of Malangan 

Masks a part of iniation system 

Tatanua = image of ideal manhood 

Wooden face with opercula eye 

Enormous crest-like structure on top Usually = asymmetrical crest Vegetal matter 

Hair: 

in style of young men in mourning/bereavement: 

Sides shaved Top = crest-like 

Head - covered in lime plaster 

Murua/Matua 

Most elaborately carved mask in New Ireland 

Used to 

Remove Taboos 

Central mask + 2 Flange sections. 

Combination of: humanoid figures Animals 

Composites. 

Dancers wear 

leaf costumes 

Used during: 

Initiation 

Moving up grade system Funerary Ceremonies 

Emerge from sacred area where person cremated 

Mourners gather around masks + move forward together 

At end of dance: 

masks return to cremation ground 

Uli Figures: 

(also called Nalik) 

Used in 

mortuary rituals in center of island Mandak people (vs coastal Malangan) 

Embody the spiritual energy of Leader 

who has died. 

Uli = Protective figures Used by 13 Festival Associations 

More developed sculpturally. Don't depend on paint for sculptural forms (as do Malangan). 

Not perishable / thrown away (as are Malangan) 

Instead Uli are used repeatedly. 

Uli ceremony: 

Feasts = every month for a year 

Last feast = when bury the skull of dead leader must have Uli carved for this 

Neighboring villages = bring own Uli + set up in shrines 

Uli of past leaders = repaired, repainted, + displayed with new sculptures 

Spirit of dead leader = enters uli during feast 

Set up in Men's association House Can act as advisor, guide to living 

Form: 

Hermaphroditic figures (genitals + breasts) Can create + nourish 

Are they Male figures wearing false breasts? (echoing ceremonial dress during certain rituals) 

Refers to: Fertility 

Balance in community: 

Both Men + Women are necessary for culture: Women = grow taro root 

Men + male power = symbolized by taro root 

Wearing ceremonial dress: Wristlets, anklets, crested headpiece 

Body = Enclosed in body “Cage”: 

may be remnant of where skull was held originally? 

PAPA NEW GUIENA  
 

Lorr Masks 

Used by Iniet society 

Made from front lobe, jaw+teeth of 

human skull 

Human hair 

is added 

Worn by secret society. 

All about: Social control, manipulate dead, society police force 

Do not depict specific person. 

Danced at Night 

Dancer holds piece of wood in mouth attached to mask. 

Last time used? 1850s? 

Duk Duk 

Men's society: policing society 

Enforce social and cultural laws of the community 

Sulka People's Masks 

Provide temporary abode for spirits 

Worn during life passage celebrations: Birth, Initiation, Marriage, Funerals of important man or woman 

Complex = takes at least 6 months to make (can have = wooden hands + feet) 

Use = once 

Sulka people's masks  

Provide temporary abode for spitis 

Worn during life passage celebrations: 

Birth, initiation, marriage, funerals  

Of important man or woman 

Complex = takes at least 6 months to make 

(can have wooden hands + feet) 

Use = once  

Dance = slow + dignified  

Hemlanut Masks 

(Sulka people) 

Dancers jump up and down: 

To reveal patterns under umbrella crest and to display supernatural qualities 

Double headed = represent spirits 

Wowe Masks- can be very big but tend to be mostly be reeds, wicker, fiber, mouth is made of wood,  

Other basketry masks 

Kavat Masks: 

Baining people 

 Interior mountainous rain forests of e New Britan 

Baining have series of masking ceremonies 

Enacted day + night 

To honor 

Births, harvests, initiations, mourning 

Balsa wood, cane, bark cloth. 

Kavat masks= bark cloth stretched over wood/bamboo frame. 

Embody spirits related to hunting + finding food.  

Multiple masks come out and perform, dance, parade, differences in shapes, strong focus on the EYEs, the mouths (all quite different) 

Painted designs, resemble very much barkcloth, and paintings on shields that warriors would use in Papa new guiena.  

Day= Honor WOMEN + things associated with them (gardens) 

Night = Honor MEN + confrontation between civilized village and uncivilized bush.  

Colors are symbolic 

RED = male, ritual bonfire, blood of hunt + war, ceremonial self sacrifice... 

BLACK = female, cooking, fire ash, fertility of earth + mud, dark + wet places where spirits live 

WHITE = spirits, misty, water holes, foam on water, afterbirth, primordial slime (potential for life) 

Kavat have Specific Personas;  

Animals; IE grasshopper praying mantis cassowary bird 

Spirits: IE  – male cannibal spirit, his wife, leaf + tree spirits, spirits of a pig vertebra 

Spirit of a tree Fork 

Tree Forks = important 

• Used for  

Support posts for  

Houses + shelters 

• Where remains of important dead 

are placed (in trees near streams) 

To honor them and lift them up, enfolding them back into trees which have personalities and importance.  

Kavat masks = worn at initiations by 

Young men as enter important age grade 

Masks dance out of bush + perform all night.  

KAVAT AT NIGHT 

Initiates alst learn about  

VUNGVUNG trumpet masks.  

Only senior men know all secrets of this final mask.  

Printed designs = full of symbolism 

Fire dance, with spider mask (background) which opens and closes fire 

________________- 

A dome mask SIVIRKI= used in female initiations ceremonies.  

Used for onset of menstruation 

Can only be performed by groups of women together 

May represent the moon? 

PAPA NEW GUINEA PNG 

Western understanding of PNG = exotic  

(where Michael Rockefeller disappeared) 

PAPUAN GULF  

Mens house (eravo) 

Huge ceremonial houses  

Communal labor to build 

Huge tree trunks for frame (from inland)  

Long with sloping / pitched roof 

Store sacred objects inside : 

Ie: Gope Boards + HEVEHE Masks 

Has very TALL DOOR – so masks can exit  

Initiation Masks include  

KOVAVE spirit masks 

EHARO comical masks (meant for comic relief) 

Teach and provide lessons through different ways, teaching though comedy, teach how not to act, dont be like that dopehead 

Eharo & Kovave: 

Have same basic design: 

Concentric eyes, 

Emphasis on mouth 

Yet Eharo 

=more elborate than we know 

HEVEHE: 

Ceremonial cycle + name of mask. its BOTH 

Initiation x2: 

1. Into adulthood 

2. Into hevehe cycle 

Person being initiated 

= ceremonially dies 

Wears mask + reduced to nothingness, 

Then reborn as a new person 

HEVEHE MASKS = colossal bark cloth, over bamboo frame, paint, raffia (8-30') 

Pointed oval masks with face near bottom  

(can have 2^nd face up higher)  

 Built inside eravo  

Shape = echoes oval shape of other sacred objects in eravo 

Women and children = can see but don’t understand symbolism 

Masks = paraded/danced for 30 days  

Somewhat sexual in their imagery, vaginal,  fertility and honoring women, WORN BY MEN 

Masks= perform at culmination fo Initiation Cycle 

That takes 10-20 years to complete (ceremonies, feats performances, initiations) 

Women call masks from ERAVO  

Masks represent daughters of Female Sea Spirits... 

After burst forth from eravo often in groups of 100 or more,  

Rush to sea to address Spirits.  

Dance with women for a month. 

 Similar vibe to our schooling system process, 12 yrs to complete.  

Hevehe masks travel: Eravo –> beach/sea ->  bush -> ERAVO 

Esoteric language, senior men know, knowing of meaning depends on your level in the system 

Then Hevehe = “killed” 

Shot with arrows + burned  

To release hevehe spirits 

(similar to initiate ceremonially killed +reborn) 

Masks= owned by families 

Designs= owned by families + are carefully guarded. 

Gope boards  

portraits of guardian spirits 

Power objects; 

Associated with Remote Ancestors/ Spirits/ Human skulls 

Use: in men’s houses, on farms, during boy’s initiations, as canoes as shields... 

Honor Ancestors, but NOT portraits 

PORTRAIT OF AN IDEA/CONCEPT  not a specific person 

Can be Shrines. 

People of Papa new Guinea were head hunters, but didn't just kill anyone 

Gope spirit boards  

= awe inspiring + powerful 

• Provide protection supernaturally 

• Show aggression 

Eyes emphasized  

• Bloodshot eyes = great warrior 

• Enemies eyes = kept 

Associated with: 

INMUNU (mana)= concept of heat force energy everyone and everything has it 

Needed for successful life: 

Male virility, hunting, health, everything 

Want to attract. Steal imunu (why they head hunt) 

Agiba Boards (Skull Racks) 

The most powerful spirit boards 

“Big” (important) men will collect 100s of heads  

= of family, friends, etc 

SEPIK RIVER : Biwat iatmal karawari 

Important area 

BIWAT 

Sacred flutes = c8’ long hollow bamboo  

Pairs or ensembles played for ceremonies 

When not in use = sacred flute stopper 

Inserted into end near mouth hole.  

Figures = offspring fo ancestral crocodile spirit (ASHIN) 

Very large flute 

When played the sound of the flute is the voice of the ancestors 

They do not want it to make sound on its own through the wind etc, unsacred unintentional moment,  

So 

They place them in flute stoppers to prevent them from making a sound 

Carved nicely bc they are interacting with the ancestors to show respect to ancestors 

Flute + stopper = individually owned.  

Owners of sacred obejcts initiate boys + girls into sacred cults 

Flutes and their stopers play important role in: 

ASHIN Crocodile Cult 

Precious heriloom 

Passed from dad to daughter 

Or  

Morther to son 

Carved by sculptor but decorated communally 

COLLABORATIVE artworks 

Finished stopper: 

“child of the crocodile spirit” 

=has important supernatural power.  

Stored in MENS HOUSE. 

Sacred Flues can also have masks.... 

Attached to masks 

KARAWARI (korewari) people 

Karawari river= below Sepik west of biwat 

Yipwon 

War+ hunting spirit figure 

Individually owned? Clan owned? 

Kept in men's house 

After owner died – put indry rocky area/ Cave with other owners bones 

Opposing hook form  

Hook above head = bird 

Lump at top = shows is hornbill  

Hooks in middle = ribs 

Knob in center = navel 

Linage, connection, genealogy 

Iatmul Poeple (middle sepik region) 

Iatmul origin myth 

All the world was water . Giant crocodile lived in water, brought  mud from bottom to create islands the land continues to rest on teh back of the primordial corocodile (why earthwuakes) c 

Crocodiles (pukpuk) 

= most importantn class totem today 

Iatmul Corcodile Society (for men) 

Scarification 

Given during Bandi initiation.  

Marks membership in Crocodile Society.  

Cicratrization  

Men’s house:  

=used for ale initiations + meetings betwen clan elders 

-structed is shaped like crocodiles mouth 

=center of activities especially of “competing” clan groups. 

Orators pulpits  

Represents and houses 

Most powerful spirit, wagen 

Gives speaker authority.  

Like a stool with a person on one side of it, BUT NOT SAT on 

Idea of “sitting there”  

Faces and bodies that connect with spirits and ancestors 

Speaker never sits on pulpit, but punctuates major points by striking it’s “seat” with branch.  

Ancestors and their skulls continue to be imporatns  

Pulpit is refrefencing the skulls and ancestors 

Mei/Mai/ Mwei Masks 

Best known iatmul masks  

Long thin bird like face with tongue 

Used in male initiation ceremonies 

 when taught secrets of sacred flute 

Emphasized nose like Vanuatu and new Caldonia.  

Mwei Masks  

Not worn over gace  

Instead atatached to large fiber cone on shoulders 

Form = bird – like 

Concepts  

Long nose attached to chin refers to 1^st ancestors, 

 who couldn’t talk until noses were deetached  

Noses often end in small bird, snake, or animal forms.  

Qualiites of thoes animals have brought to item, stength etc 

Bottom is emphasized 

If painted, designs = similar to ancestral skulls may be PROTECTIVE 

Ancestral spirits masks -> honon Ancestors 

Performed as  

Male + female pairs  

(mythical brothers and sisters) 

Young men make maks “talk” 

Using bamboo flutes 

Mei masks = “junior” to maks worn by senior men to ancestral ceremonies  

Performing what they have learned, grauation type ceremony, honoring ancestors 

During initiation, boys taken from family + 

Being tuaght knowledge to become men 

Mask pairs: perform and teach  

Sacred knowledge 

Iatmul World View = 

Balance + Duality 

Male and female  

Earth and sky 

Older and younger 

Good and bad  

Life and death 

ABELAM PEOPLE 

North of Sepik river near prince alexander mts 

ABELAM TAMBERAN = Men’s House  

Dominated village 

Gable facade elaborate paintings  

Painted bark panels of basketry  

Wooden lintel with faces 

Intensely colored 

HUGE gable front, everyone can see it, it dominates the community 

Like malagan panels  

Initiates/men physically interact with  

Tamberan during ceremonies 

Spiritually ancestral imagery 

Remind those of the teachings (like stained glass in a church) 

Most sacred figures are  

= stored inside tamberan 

Initiates must pass through interior  

of ceremonial house during final initiation 

Work way through tamberan similar to a funhouse maze situation,  

Dark inside 

Bringing references to you through the art and the process of going through tamberan men's house 

Abelam ceremonial regalia 

Masks with basketry 

Painted  

Sometimes open basketry 

Masks also worn by yams  

ASMAT  

 The TREE PEOPLE 

But call themselve 

The REAL PEOPLE 

Asmat: Irian Jaya 

Politically = part of Indonesia  

Unfriendly swampland environment 

Some of last people to be contacted by outsider (wester/asain worlds) 

Very little information = known before wwii 

Fierce head-hunters (still in 1960s) 

Carvings on canoe prows 

= calles penis * 

Which means:  

warriors are led into battled by eret phallus 

Not carved to look like penises but represent the manhoood leading into battle 

ASMAT= famous for wooden shields 

When something painted  

= supernaturally powered 

Red= blood, power 

White= brains, body, semen, courage  

Black hair humans  

Often depict figures niamals head hunting symvols  

Preying mantis  

Flying fox= person 

Shields = consecrated + dedicated to specific ancestors 

Named for them  

BISJI POLES: effigies for ancestors who’ve died, whose deaths are avenged by head-hunting 

Mangrove tree (hardwood) 

Attacked in forest  

Bark =scraped off + bleeds red sap 

Tree= ceremoniously brought back wiht one root left instance 

Turned upside-down and carved by professional sculptors  

Root becomes carved scren at top 

Called penises 

Fiured carved on above another with screen at top  

Large flag like screen  

Called a penis  

Screen liek carvinging of couples and head hunting symbols  

C shape or hook shape = strong symbol in asmat art  

BISJ Cermony  

1. Avenges death asmat to not accept natural death either killed by enemy or enemy sorceer 

2. Drive away soulds of dea  

1. So wont harm