One of my buddies here in Madang, Papua New Guinea, who travels around to a lot of out of reach places here, was given this model outrigger by people of Wuvulu island. The model is of a war canoe. They no longer make them like this, but their ancestors used to. Unfortunately my friend did not get any more information than that. Very interesting design though!
Anyone ever seen anything like this? Got any additional information to add?
Hmmm... a quick search on google shows a number of mentions of these canoes. Here's a clip from the following site http://www.janesoceania.com/oceania_arts1/index.htm
Canoes were honored above all other objects and frequently invested with religious symbolism, and among some Micronesian population their construction was the prerogative of high-ranking members of society. With their deep hulls, large triangular sails and sides painted sometimes in the solemnly religious colours of red and black, all united by a rare purity of line, these vessels were created not merely as a means of transport over the ocean but also as a source of communal pride. At Truk (Chuuk) the great war canoes known as wa faten were equipped with detachable carvings in the form of birds with tails spread and beaks facing each other. Far from being purely decorative, these embellishments to the prow and stern served to broadcast the intentions of the canoe's occupants: peaceful if the figures were in the low position, warlike if held high.
There are several pages in Haddon and Hornell's "Canoes of Oceania" about the canoes of Wuvulu. Not so much about fighting but more about shark fishing. They were built up to 18 meters long in the old days.
ReplyDeleteThey have one of the original Wuvulu canoes in a museum in Sweden (Stockholm I think).
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