TITLE: Tambuan Mask
TYPE: helmet mask
GENERAL REGION: Oceania
COUNTRY: Papua New Guinea
SUBREGION: East New Britain Island
ETHNICITY: Melanesian (Tolai)
DESCRIPTION: Tambuan helmet mask
CATALOG ID: N/A
MAKER: N/A
CEREMONY: Tambuan ceremony
FUNCTION: Adult initiation; secret society; spirit invocation; war preparation
AGE: N/A
MAIN MATERIAL: tapa cloth
OTHER MATERIALS: N/A
The tambuan is an important adult initiation and war preparation ceremony among the Tolai people of East New Britain, Papua New Guinea. The tambuan appears as a conical figure with a leaf skirt and bare legs that appears at dawn in groups, usually in a canoe accompanied by drums. The tambuan eventually land on the beach and dance up and down the beach. The figure represents an ancestor spirit and is important for adult initiation of Tolai boys. As part of a secret male society, these rituals may not be attended by women.
The Museum’s collection does not have a representative of the tambuan mask, because such masks are considered sacred objects by the Tolai people.
