Spirit board "hohao" ·  Papua New Guinea - Golf, Elema · ID: 3039297

Description

wood, brown patina, white, red and black pigment, stylized ancestor spirit face in the center, framed by ornaments carved in bas-relief, nose raised in high relief, like with many older boards, piercing for attachment of ornament, slightly dam., minor missing parts, fine cracks, abrasion of paint, metal base;
in longhouses we can find an abundance of spirit boards variously called “hohao”, “kwoi”, “gope” or “titi ebiha” stored in clan and family-owned cubicles. They were used for various purposes, e. g. the male initiation.
Field collectors were told that the spirit of such boards would go into battle with the men who worshipped it - both protecting them and causing confusion amongst the enemy. The painting of the carved boards with red ochre confered “heat”, menace, or dangerous power “imunu” on these objects, and the addition of skulls, and age itself, increased “imunu”.

Comparing literature

Hamson, Michael, Red Eye of the Sun, Los Angeles 2010, p. 16 Craig, Barry (ed.), Living spirits with fixed abodes, Honolulu 2010, p. 164