Armband Item Number: 3563/1 from the MOA: University of British Columbia
Boar tusk armband, with small bulul figure (rice deity). The main armband section is made of curved boar tusks, with the ends attached together using rattan basketry strands, to form a circle. At one side of the band, a small male wooden figure is attached, using rattan strands threaded through holes in the base and around the legs. The figure is in a sitting position with his knees up. The figure has a round bundle of black and grey feathers projecting upward from his head.
Worn on the upper arm. Men would wear a pair of these during ceremonies and rituals, such as the begnas ritual for rice production. The ornament is now popularly reproduced and worn during cultural festivals; the material is considered an heirloom.
Collected by Geoffrey Hainsworth in 1981 during a trip to northern Luzon. While there he visited Los Banos, Baguio, Bontoc, and Banaue. Hainsworth worked at UBC from 1968, where he founded the Centre for Southeast Asia Studies, retiring as its director in 2001.