Piece of barkcloth (Bedamuni: abura, tugè). Used as a head decoration by dancers and boys who are to be initiated. The piece of bark is fixed to the hair of the dancers or initiands with a bone needle (eg, the needle used for making upper-arm bracelets, 1982.118.vi). Various types of decoration can be found on the barkpieces.
The beating of the bark (abura, Fig, Ficus sp) is done by women. The zig-zag decoration is applied with red earth (apusi).
These objects are only a part of our collections, of which there are more than 350,000 objects. This information comes from our collections database. Some of this is incomplete and there may be errors. This part of the website is also still under construction, so there may be some fields repeated or incorrectly formatted information.
The database retains language taken from historical documents to help research. Please note that some records may feature language and reflect systems of thinking that are outdated and offensive. The database also includes information on objects that are considered secret or sacred by some communities.
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