Wasim umbuŋa ‘Spirit slit-drum’
In: Darja Hoenigman (collector), Sipola Wambrumaŋ (performer), 2018. Wasim umbuŋa ‘Spirit slit-drum’. MXF/MP4. DKH01-060_wasim_umbunga at catalog.paradisec.org.au.; (2018)
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Zugriff:
Umbuŋ or TP garamut ‘slit-gong’ is an ideophone, made from the hollowed trunk of a tree with the same name. Umbuŋ, TP garamut (Vitex cofassus) is a tree with hard rot-resistant wood. It is also one of the few woods that are not eaten by termites. That is why we can see very old slit drums around in the villages, and in Awiakay land also in bush camps and in ancestral places. For the Awiakay, a slit-gong can be just an object, or it can embody a spirit, usually the main spirit of a clan’s men’s house. In such a case a slit-gong has a name, such as Wasim umbuŋa ‘Wasim spirit slit-gong’. In warfare times the Awiakay used to make cuts on their spirit slit-gongs, each cut representing a killed enemy. In this way the killed enemies were ‘offered’ to the spirit who’d given the Awiakay warriors the strength to kill them. In 2009 such marks could still be seen on the oldest slit-gong in the village. The spirits of slit-gongs remain present even if the physical object no longer exist. However, people can, at any point, decide to carve another slit-gong in place of an old or destroyed one, and perform a simple ritual in which to ‘redirect’ the spirit into the new slit-gong. People’s recent alienation from spirits (following the uptake of a Catholic charismatic movement in the mid 1990s) has also meant a decline in the importance of objects connected with the spirits. Apart from slit-gongs these were also bamboo flutes which were played in the men’s house during the initiation rite to represent the sound of spirits, and posts in the men’s house. Such objects have been left to decay, with new ones usually made just for everyday use. While communities of the Middle Sepik are renowned for elaborate wood carvings, Awiakay artifacts are less ornate. Only some older slit-gongs are elaborately carved, usually ones that are the embodiment of spirits and carry their names, while others have simpler (if any) carved designs. Slit-gongs are used both for signaling and in singsing (singing and dancing). The most common signal is that of ...
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Wasim umbuŋa ‘Spirit slit-drum’
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Autor/in / Beteiligte Person: | Hoenigman, Darja ; Wambrumaŋ, Sipola |
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Quelle: | Darja Hoenigman (collector), Sipola Wambrumaŋ (performer), 2018. Wasim umbuŋa ‘Spirit slit-drum’. MXF/MP4. DKH01-060_wasim_umbunga at catalog.paradisec.org.au.; (2018) |
Veröffentlichung: | 2018 |
Medientyp: | unknown |
DOI: | 10.26278/K5S5-4569 |
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