Pitt Rivers Museum photos - General Tiki

T tikibars Tiki Socialite Aku Hall, Chicago Joined: Apr 11, 2002 Posts: 2034	T tikibars Posted posted on Fri, Mar 19, 2004 11:31 AM That last photo shows a recent shield from New Guinea. It turns out that they have a lot of respect for the cartoon character (Daredevil?) because of his positive qualities, so incorporated him into the design! Amazing pix, Woody. That guy on the shield is the Phantom, a WWII-era character. This reminds me of a carving at the Field Museum here in Chicago (also made in New Guinea) of a guy in a bowler hat. The natives there must have had a visitor from Europe wearing such a hat, and they incorporated the strange (to them) image into a carving. What use would a bowler hat possibly have to 19th century Papuans? They must have been completely confused by the strange headgear! The bowler hat and the Phantom (perhaps glimpsed in a WWII soldier's comic book?) probably tie into the cargo cult mentality. Objects like these are so foreign to these people (more so in the past than now, of course), arriving on great ships of steel or from the sky. They take on fetishistic (thats: cult image, totem, or idol, nothing to do with whips) importance, since their meaining and use is often totally incomprehnsible to the islanders.

That last photo shows a recent shield from New Guinea. It turns out that they have a lot of respect for the cartoon character (Daredevil?) because of his positive qualities, so incorporated him into the design!

Amazing pix, Woody.

That guy on the shield is the Phantom, a WWII-era character.

This reminds me of a carving at the Field Museum here in Chicago (also made in New Guinea) of a guy in a bowler hat. The natives there must have had a visitor from Europe wearing such a hat, and they incorporated the strange (to them) image into a carving. What use would a bowler hat possibly have to 19th century Papuans? They must have been completely confused by the strange headgear!

The bowler hat and the Phantom (perhaps glimpsed in a WWII soldier's comic book?) probably tie into the cargo cult mentality. Objects like these are so foreign to these people (more so in the past than now, of course), arriving on great ships of steel or from the sky. They take on fetishistic (thats: cult image, totem, or idol, nothing to do with whips) importance, since their meaining and use is often totally incomprehnsible to the islanders.

Post #81694 by tikibars on Fri, Mar 19, 2004 11:31 AM