papua new guinea, middle sepik river region, yamok village, sawos people Male ancestor figure named Malabi c. 1890–1910 Wood and paint 89M × 13N × 9 in. (227.3 × 33.7 × 22.9 cm) The Eugene and Margaret McDermott Art Fund, Inc., 1974.5.McD
At the village of Yamok, north of the Sepik River, Sawos men carved larger‑than‑life figures. Each figure represented a male ancestor, probably more mythological than real, and each had a name. These monumental sculptures once dominated the interior space of the men’s cere‑ monial house, where they were probably tied to the supporting architectural posts. As the posts supported the house, so the founding ancestors and their descendant clan members supported the village. Researchers traced this imposing figure to a specific village and longhouse and restored his name. Malabi’s large, oval face shows remnants of curvilinear painting, perhaps a reference to head‑hunting, and the spikes on his shoulders may once have supported skulls taken in head‑hunting raids. Several motifs on the body of the sculpture probably represent scar‑ ification. Ritual scarification was part of a young man’s initiation into the secret and exclusively male world of the ceremonial house.
pacific
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