Post #314034 by Paipo on Thu, Jun 21, 2007 3:11 AM

I'm forgetting my manners....thanks to Freddie, G, benella, kbgator, Benz, Bullet, hewey, Kinny, timid, Tama, Sneaky and Amy (last but far from least!)...

I found another little tidbit of info about the staff god on an auction site:

...Little is known about the function and meaning of these works as their use disappeared with the introduction of Christianity more than 150 years ago. Williams (1837: 117) refers to the staff gods as `national idols' and Duff (1969:61) suggests that they represent Tangaroa in his creative aspect with successive generations of ancestors linked by an elongated symbolic phallus. Phelps (1976: 129) surmises that 'the similarity of the carving and of the arrangement of the component figures implies that they do not represent different genealogies but embody knowledge commonly held by several carvers of a specific historical tradition, event or genealogy. Dodd (1967: 258) further suggests that they were carried on the shoulders of 'acolytes' and placed horizontally on the ahu, or altar; allowing for the most descriptive view from the marae for the congregation.

I wish I'd had more interest in these objects before I went to Rarotonga...ah well, there's always next time!

Speaking of next time, I've started another Marquesan pebble necklace. This time it's little bigger and bolder with twice the tiki. I started out by removing most of the middle of the pebble (a BIG pebble) to make a double tusk form. Hours of contemplation later, with the help of little Arthur Lyman on the CD player, and it's at this stage:

Should be finished this time tomorrow!