A Superb New Guinea Waskuk Ritual Pottery Head Kwoma People Upper Sepik River PNG

A Superb New Guinea Waskuk Ritual Pottery Head Kwoma People Upper Sepik River Papua New Guinea 

This Waskuk Ceremonial Pottery Head is from the Kwoma People, Upper Sepik River area, East Sepik Province of Papua New Guinea.

These Pottery Heads called Wasau were used during these Yam Harvest Ceremonies on the ceremonial platforms.  These pottery heads relate to a specific myth about an ancestor called Sopermel who carried a Wasau in his belly.

See:  The Traditional Pottery of Papua New Guinea by May & Tuckson 1982 page 218 for the full story as recorded by Christian Kauffmann.

Ritual leaders organize the Yina ceremony at yam harvest time. The next two ceremonies feature their own sculpted images of Mindja and Nokwi and must also be performed before the full harvest and consumption beings.

Older ritual objects are hidden in garden huts, away from the village. They have acquired power over time and through use. For the annual ceremony both old and new objects are freshly painted. They are firstly covered in black paint and left to dry. Only on the final day before the ceremony are the other colours; red, yellow and white added.

The ceremony takes place inside the men’s Ceremonial house (korob) A platform is built, and while one major Yina figure is displayed as a focus, other Yina’s and Wasau pottery heads are used. The pottery heads are particularly beautiful when displayed on the ceremonial platform.

Slit gong drums are played and songs of myth relating to the yam harvest are sung. At the finish of the ceremony, the cult objects are wrapped tightly in sheaths from the black palm and returned to the garden hut.

References: R May & Tuckson: The Traditional Pottery of Papua New Guinea by Bay Books Sydney 1982

Provenance: The Todd Barlin Collection of New Guinea Art

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