Small spirit board "gope"
Description
wood, dark brown patina, white pigment, lancet-shaped with a slightly raised middle ridge, the face of an ancestor spirit in the centre, enclosed by concentrical grooves, diamond-shaped pattern below, the fine grooves accentuated by white pigment rubbed into the deepenings, slightly dam., rep. (breakage recognizable on the backside), minor missing parts at the same place, blackened (traces of fire/mass ?);
there has been some question as to what the boards actually represent - ancestor spirits or spirits of the bush. There are also lots of insights into the use and significance of the spirit boards. An Orokolo native himself stated that the principal function of a “gope” was to receive the magical “charge” of an ancestral spirit. It was told that spirits of such boards would go into battle with men who whorshipped it - both protecting them and causing confusion amongst the enemy. Furtheron the magical powers still had relevance to successful hunting. Douglas Newton provides us with potentially the most telling account as to the spirit boards significance: “Early European visitors to Goaribari Island were met on shore by crowds of men waving palm branches (sign of piece) and gope”. When faced with the arrival of the obviously bewildering power of the first Europeans, it was the “gope” board that they chose to hold in their hand when confronting this great unknown.