#abelam

A bone knife with wonderful carved designs, Abelam people of the Prince Alexander Mountains, Papua New Guinea, ca. late 19th-early 20th century, housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Abelam people The Tambaran is a structure which serves as a men-only meeting house for ritual and initiations. The Tambaran is also used for worship of the yam cult, the yam being the staple food and sacred item for people along the Sepik river. The giant spirit Ngwalndu, shared between the Abelam and Southern Arapesh peoples, is said to be embodied by noises which resound from the Tamabran. Yam cultivation forms a large part of Abelam society. The growing of large yams (often over 2 metres in length), determines the status of an individual and of the whole villiage. At yam festivals, an individual would give his largest yam to his worst enemy who would in turn be obligated to grow an even larger yam or have his status fall each year in which he was unable to do so. During the yam growing season, strong emotions were kept to a minimum as they were thought to impede the growth of the yams. Fighting was taboo as was sexual activity. It was thought that the yams had a spirit and could sense any of these powerful emotions.

No Abelam Miku :(

This set of three Abelam cassowary bone daggers with individually etched motif are beautiful examples of the intricacy the Abelam people create. Bone is recognized as a metaphor for strength, with a narrow range of material to be used, bone was a very valuable material with its strength derived from the powers of the supernatural world and often used in ritual and magic. - Abelam, Papua New Guinea, Sepik River Region                

Yam Mask, Abelam people, Wosera, East Sepik province, Papua New Guinea, N.d.

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Papua New Guinea (Abelam) headdress via The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston