Item details
Item ID
DKH01-057_tomba_kunda
Title Tomba kunda ‘Roots of the oil tree’
Description This string figure represents the roots of tomba, a large swamp forest canopy tree Campnosperma brevipetiolata (Anacardiaceae), in Tok Pisin oil diwai ‘the oil tree’, sometimes also known as ‘tigasso’.
The Awiakay tap the tree for its oily substance known as ‘tigasso oil’, which is used for impregnating bows and arrows (Hoenigman 2007: 86), as well as a remedy for healing wounds. As such it was also used in female initiation rites, following a girl’s first menstruation. After the time spent in a protective enclosure, her mother’s brother would take
the girl back into the house, where her mother’s classificatory brother would scarify her chest or back, as well as his own chest. The cuts were deep, and some flesh was cut out. The purpose of this custom was that substantial bleeding would mean the girl would lose the blood she got from her mother while in her womb and make place for the new blood to develop. It was considered that the skin was cut by spirits. The wounds were then rubbed with tomba oil and with betel pepper (Piper betle), which prevented infection (ibid.: 56).
The oil tree has a prominent place in Awiakay mythology where it often symbolizes the men’s house. According to one Awiakay myth, there were only women at the beginning of time and they married dogs. When one woman found a man by seeing his reflection in the water, she kept him for herself, but later this man created other men. He closed them into a tomba tree, which is a symbol for a men’s house, where they were to mature, and become ready for marrying women (ibid.: 41). When they all came out, this tree (the first men’s house) turned into a stone, and gave name to a place Tombakopa, nowadays the main camp of the Meakambut people.

Images:
02: tomba kunda ‘roots of the oil tree’, final design

Hoenigman, D. 2007. Language and Myth in Kanjimei, East Sepik Province, Papua New Guinea. MA thesis, Ljubljana: Institutum Studiorum Humanitatis, Ljubljana Graduate School of the Humanities.
Origination date 2018-08-18
Origination date free form
Archive link https://catalog.paradisec.org.au/repository/DKH01/057_tomba_kunda
URL
Collector
Darja Hoenigman
Countries To view related information on a country, click its name
Language as given Awiakay
Subject language(s)
Content language(s) To view related information on a language, click its name
Dialect Awiakay
Region / village Oceania
Originating university
Operator Tina Gregor
Data Categories
Data Types MovingImage
Discourse type
Roles Bapra Mari : performer
DOI 10.26278/D15T-CQ39
Cite as Darja Hoenigman (collector), Bapra Mari (performer), 2018. Tomba kunda ‘Roots of the oil tree’ . JPEG/MP4/MXF/TIFF. DKH01-057_tomba_kunda at catalog.paradisec.org.au. https://dx.doi.org/10.26278/D15T-CQ39
Content Files (4)
Filename Type File size Duration File access
DKH01-057_tomba_kunda-01.jpg image/jpeg 740 KB
DKH01-057_tomba_kunda-01.mp4 video/mp4 67.3 MB 00:00:54.570
DKH01-057_tomba_kunda-01.mxf application/mxf 753 MB
DKH01-057_tomba_kunda-01.tif image/tiff 68.7 MB
4 files -- 889 MB -- --

Show 10 Show 50 Show all 4

Collection Information
Collection ID DKH01
Collection title Awiakay string figures
Description Recordings of Awiakay string figures
Countries To view related information on a country, click its name
Languages To view related information on a language, click its name
Access Information
Edit access Tina Gregor
View/Download access
Data access conditions Open (subject to agreeing to PDSC access conditions)
Data access narrative
Comments

Must be logged in to comment


No comments found