Female antelope headdress with fawn "tjiwara" or "sogonikun"

Description

wood / bipartite, cord (hide / plant fibre), brass tags, base

The “tjiwara” society members use a headdress representing, in the form of an antelope, the mythical being who taught men how to farm. The word “tji” means work and “wara” means animal, thus “working animal.”

They perform at farming contests that recognize a champion farmer. Always performing together in a male and female pair, the coupling of the antelope masqueraders speaks of fertility and agricultural abundance.

Publications

AHDRC: 0170869