TITLE: Baining Gumanaga Mask
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: Papua New Guinea
SUBREGION: East New Britain Island
ETHNICITY: Melanesian (Baining)
DESCRIPTION: Gumanaga tapa cloth mask
CATALOG ID: OCPG015
MAKER: Isaace Ligur (Gaulim, 1945- )
CEREMONY: Gumanaga Dance
FUNCTION: Adult Initiation; Agriculture; Celebration; Funeral; Spirit Invocation
AGE: 2025
MAIN MATERIAL: tapa cloth
OTHER MATERIALS: cane; wood stick; charcoal; annatto juice; chicken feathers; dried leaves; rubber band
The Baining people live in eastern New Britain Island area known as the Gazelle Peninsula, in a mountainous tropical forest. They are a Melanesian people closely akin to other groups in Papua New Guinea. They traditionally live in small villages with dispersed political authority. The Baining use their masks to unify the otherwise dispersed villagers, usually in celebrations of major events such as yam harvest, births, deaths, or adult initiation for both boys and girls. Some dances are for the day time, mostly those centered around female tasks such as sowing, harvesting, and births.
The masks are mostly made of mulberry or breadfruit tree bark mashed and pounded into a cloth (“tapa cloth”) over bamboo or cane frames. This mask, the gumanaga, is used in day dances and was danced in 2025 at the Warwagira Festival by Martin Mesulam (Gaulim, 2007- ).
