REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: Micronesia, Fed. States of
YEAR PRINTED: 2015
VALUE: 1 dollar
This stamp, issued in 2015 by the Federated States of Micronesia, depicts a tapuanu mask danced by the Soutapuana Secret Society of the Nomoi Islands during ceremonies to protect the village and its breadfruit trees from natural disasters. The tapuanu represents a protective ancestor spirit that can also frighten away ghosts that steal food.
REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: Micronesia, Fed. States of
YEAR PRINTED: 1984
VALUE: 50 cents
This stamp, issued in 1984 by the Federated States of Micronesia, depicts a tapuanu mask danced by the Soutapuana Secret Society of the Nomoi Islands during ceremonies to protect the village and its breadfruit trees from natural disasters. The tapuanu represents a protective ancestor spirit that can also frighten away ghosts that steal food.
TITLE: Tapuanu Mask
TYPE: face mask
GENERAL REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: Micronesia, Federated States of
SUBREGION: Nomoi (Mortlock) Islands
ETHNICITY: Micronesian
DESCRIPTION: Tapuanu Mask
CATALOG ID: OCFM002
MAKER: Unknown
CEREMONY: Soutapuana Society
FUNCTION: Agriculture; Protection; Secret Society
AGE: late 20th century
MAIN MATERIAL: breadfruit tree wood
OTHER MATERIALS: natural pigments (lime and coal)
The Micronesian islands are inhabited by an ethnic mix of Melanesian, Polynesian and Filipino peoples. The Nomoi Islands (formerly known as the Mortlock Islands) are a group of three large atolls in the Chuuk region of Micronesia: Satawan, Etal, and Lukunor. The Micronesian people have only a single kind of face mask, known as tapuanu, and created by the Soutapuana Society. The mask represents a protective ancestor spirit, and is danced in beachside and sacred house ceremonies to ward off typhoons that might harm the breadfruit tree, an important source of food for the inhabitants of the islands. The tapuanu can also frighten away ghosts that steal food.
