advice please - Collecting Tiki

S Sneakytiki Tiki Socialite Boise, Idaho Joined: Mar 31, 2003 Posts: 1795	S Sneakytiki Posted posted on Thu, Jan 12, 2006 1:02 AM Gator Rob, those Indonesian Surfer type tikis with hair are fun, I've seen alot of them around. Interesting note: Don't blieve any of the B.S. on the website you listed. They are claiming that The Asmat made these hairy tikis, They dont !!! They list Irian Jaya as an island of Indonesia, this is almost correct. Irian Jaya is the Western half of the Island of New Guinea, which the Indonesian Government inherited from the Dutch, whilst the Eastern half received it's independence from Australia and became the nation of Papua New Guinea. So Irian Jaya is not an island but a state. Geographically it's not part of the Indonesian islands and neither is it ethnically. The Asmat are a Melanesian tribe related to Aboriginal Australians and Solomon Islanders etc... The Indonesians are Austronesian descendants like the Polynesians. This style of Commercial "tiki" is obviously derivative of the long haired tiki removed by the Bishop Museum from a Royal gravesite in a cave. It has no resemblance to Asmat art whatsoever and isclearly made in Bali or another populated austronesian island. The Asmat still carve very traditional masks and shields in their distinctive style. The surf blond haired tikis are fun, just wanted to make sure people aren't deceived. Part of the fun of tiki is combining all the Oceanic cultures with a dash of Asian and Carribean and a south american shrunken head and some Zebra rugs thrown in for good measure. I'm all for this, but retailers shouldn't lie to their customers about their products!! Aloha Sneaky

Gator Rob, those Indonesian Surfer type tikis with hair are fun, I've seen alot of them around. Interesting note: Don't blieve any of the B.S. on the website you listed.

They are claiming that The Asmat made these hairy tikis, They dont !!! They list Irian Jaya as an island of Indonesia, this is almost correct. Irian Jaya is the Western half of the Island of New Guinea, which the Indonesian Government inherited from the Dutch, whilst the Eastern half received it's independence from Australia and became the nation of Papua New Guinea.
So Irian Jaya is not an island but a state. Geographically it's not part of the Indonesian islands and neither is it ethnically. The Asmat are a Melanesian tribe related to Aboriginal Australians and Solomon Islanders etc... The Indonesians are Austronesian descendants like the Polynesians.

This style of Commercial "tiki" is obviously derivative of the long haired tiki removed by the Bishop Museum from a Royal gravesite in a cave. It has no resemblance to Asmat art whatsoever and isclearly made in Bali or another populated austronesian island. The Asmat still carve very traditional masks and shields in their distinctive style.

The surf blond haired tikis are fun, just wanted to make sure people aren't deceived. Part of the fun of tiki is combining all the Oceanic cultures with a dash of Asian and Carribean and a south american shrunken head and some Zebra rugs thrown in for good measure. I'm all for this, but retailers shouldn't lie to their customers about their products!!

Aloha
Sneaky

Post #207073 by Sneakytiki on Thu, Jan 12, 2006 1:02 AM