Basket Yam Mask - Abelam Village, New Guinea

Basket yam masks are an essential part of the elaborate yam harvest ceremonies and festivals put on by the Abelam people of the East Sepik Province. Rituals associated with yams form the basis of the spiritual life of the Abelam.

The Abelam cultivate gardens of yams (mami in tok pisin) as their main staple crop. The yams can be stored for up to six months. They also grow beans, taro, bananas, tobacco, maize and sweet potatoes, as well as small cash crops of coffee, rubber and cocoa.

A population of over 40,000 people in this language group lives in the lower inland foothills of the Prince Alexander Mountains and down into the plains on the north side of the Middle Sepik River. The main road through this area goes to the towns of Maprik and Hayfield which are about 140 km from the coastal, provincial capital of Wewak. A side road from Hayfield branches down through the south Wosera to the Sepik River landing of Pagwi.

Unlike the stilt houses built above the flood plains of the Sepik, the Abelam village houses hug closer to the warmth of the earth. Their A-frame Haus Tambarans start low in the back and soar up to heights of 80 feet (27 meters) under the pitched, overhanging front with thick thatch roofs sweeping down to the ground.

The north Abelam foothill villages cultivate the low fertile slopes of the mountains. Their culture has been extensively documented, partly because of their spectacular Haus Tambarans and picturesque hamlets strung along the ridge lines of the hills.