Bone Dagger Item Number: 3277/23 from the MOA: University of British Columbia

Description

Cassowary bone dagger with a clay(?) head. The head is painted black and red, and has inset shells for eyes as well as smaller shells for designs. Pig tusk extends out from both sides of the figure's large nose. Each ear has two pieces of twisted plant fibre though it, and the head is adorned with a small amount of human hair and a fan of cassowary feathers.

Narrative

Collected by Jack Lieber in Papua New Guinea, Eastern Highlands Division, from August 1970 - June 1972. He was researching village communities in and around Goroka, where he was lecturing under the auspices of UNESCO at the Goroka Teachers College.