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History of pupua new guinea masks
Masks from the Middle Sepik River, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea History and Information
Four savi masks
A savi mask is about power, including the power to
counter black magic. All savi have their tongues stuck out as a sign of
aggression towards enemies of their clan. In the men's ceremonial Haus
Tambarans, the orator's stools are savis and also many of the gable
masks, as savis are at the top of the power structure. Savis do not
need to be danced to bring power, just gathering them is enough. Only
certain powerful men may lower the savi tumbuans from their storage
position in the Haus Tambanum.
Tumbuan dance costume with savi mask face.
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The Sepik River snakes in broad, meandering coils for
over 650 miles (1,100 km) before emptying into the Bismark Sea. It is
New Guinea's equivalent of the Amazon and the Congo rivers.
There are mask-making villages all along the Sepik,
but the middle river is the most densely populated with over 25 large
villages of the Iatmul language group people between Moim and Pagwi.
Tambanum is the largest, others include Timbunke, Angriman, Mindinbit,
Kamanimbit, Kanganaman, Palimbei, Yentchan, Korogo and Kandingai.
Recent research by the National Museum and drilling by oil companies
indicates that during the Ice Ages it was an inland saltwater sea. With
the ongoing tectonic uplift of the island and the erosion of the
highlands, the basin filled in and the people living there made the
shift from a saltwater to a freshwater culture. During the yearly wet season, the Sepik River and the Ramu River floodplains join together in the old sea basin.
The villagers keep small gardens and the women fish. They trade fish
to the inland Sawos people for sago flour, the starchy pith of the sago
palm, which is the main staple of the Sepik diet. There is a small cash
economy along the Sepik and the people sell fish, as well as carvings
for cash. The middle Sepiks have a common ancestry, but each village is
independent and this is reflected in their art, including their masks.
Every village carves in a distinctive style.
The men carve masks from soft wood, although some
are made of clay over-modeled onto turtle or coconut shell. They mix
paints from earth pigments and charcoal. The masks are decorated with
shells, pig tusks, and cassowary feather. |
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Few masks are worn directly over the face, which
explains the lack of holes for eyes. Some are fastened onto a large
cone-shaped wicker framework for a dance costume called a tumbuan.
Raffia is knotted into the bottom hoop for skirting and flowers, fruit
and leaves added on for color and power at the time of the ceremony.
Other masks are made only for display, most often in the men's Haus, to
attract powerful and useful spirits.
The individual elements of the masks are complex,
beyond the scope of this article. They often refer directly or
indirectly to ancestoror clan spirits and totems such as pig,
cassowary (muruk), crocodile (pukpuk), eagle (taragau), or a water and
bush bird (saun). There are many different types of masks for different
purposes. |
Three mai (or mwai) masks
Mai (or mwai) masks, represented as pairs of mythical
brothers and sisters, are the teachers in the young men's initiation
ceremonies. Mai masks represent the spirits of totemic names.
Names are very sacred in PNG. No one actually says anyone's real name,
including their own, for fear of drawing the attention of bad spirits
or sorcerers. During initiations, the elder who wears the mai mask
becomes a spirit teacher who may say the important totemic names
without evoking personal risk. He tells and calls out names for use in
magic, for healing and for other spiritual uses. These names number in
the thousands and only powerful men have this knowledge.
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(left) Tumbuna mask with savi eyes, (center) a sevi mask with crocodile tongue and (right) a composite mask in Wombom style painted by a Tambanum.
If a village or clan has a lot of bad luck, such as
many deaths, the whole group may change their names and buy the rights
to use masks from another clan in different village in an attempt to
fool the bad spirits or sorcerers. The resulting masks usually display
characteristics of both groups.
Masks may be disposed of when they no longer seem to have power.
Although many Sepiks are nominally Christian, masks may also be sold or
destroyed when Christianity becomes stronger in a village or clan.
A sevi mask represents beings who are at a lower level than the savis, more on the level of the Christian saints. Often the "tongue" is the owner or carver's clan totem.
A tumbuna mask represents an actual, often recent, ancestor. This Mindinbit tumbuna has savi style eyes, so the ancestor must have been considered a powerful person. |
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Hunting charm mask
Turtle masks represents hunting spirits. A man
wants a lot of them around before he goes hunting. The hunter spits red
betel nut (buai) juice on them to increase his luck. He keeps them in
the men's Haus Boi or at his home depending on the village. |
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"Dream" mask
This is a contemporary "dream" mask from Tambanum's saun clan.
The story is that a man recently dreamed this mask and until he carved
it, its spirit constantly pursued him and made him do "all kinds of bad
things" like sleep with his neighbor's wife, kick another man in an
argument and so on. All of which were conveniently blamed on the
pursuing spirit.
Carving a new, dreamed image is not done lightly.
Besides the worry over the potentially dangerous power of its spirit,
the carver must give a party for the finished piece. This can cost a
lot of money and if he sells the carving, the price must reflect the
cost of the party.
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