pdrake's magical tour of the south pacific

well, stuff is finally starting to get done.wooo!

first up is this lakatoi sail pendant.

this type of sail was used on many sea faring vessels of the day during the 18th and 19th century in the south pacific. (they still are on some of the less modern islands.) they could be seen on hawaiian double hull conoes to lakatoi of papua new guinea.

i carved this from bone as an homage to the brave voyagers of times past. to those that set out and sailed by the stars to greater futures and fortunes.

crafted from beef bone with hand rigged and lashed cord. it has a paddle as the toggle. cord made to length specified. price is $75US i take paypal. thanks for looking!

come sail away with me!

[ Edited by: pdrake 2008-05-17 10:32 ]

[ Edited by: pdrake 2008-05-24 23:48 ]

next is a beautiful bone pendant honoring our cetaceas neighbors, the whale.

whales have an important place in maori tradition. several tribes tell of the arrival of their ancestor, paikea, on the back of a whale. "whalerider" remains one of my favorite movies to this day. the maori still collect whale bones from the shore of aotearoa. it's funny some times (not in the "ha, ha" way) that it's legal to possess whale ivory, but not to sell it as long as you're a citizen. you must gift it. some day i'd like to carve some in a great homage.

this pendant has paua inlays and a hand plaited cord to the length specified by the honored recipient. it will also have a hand carved, bone toggle. price is $65US.

thanks for looking.

[ Edited by: pdrake 2008-05-24 23:58 ]

These pendants are bitchin'!!!!!

Jen

thanks, jen. i plan on spending time on quite a few islands and seeing what treasures they have to share with me. (figuratively speaking for right now.)

next, we travel north to the beautiful fiji islands. pottery shards have been found here dating back to 1000 b.c.

this is a small gata pendant. gata means snake in fiji. i guess the clubs looked like snakes?

this is a picture of a warrior holding his gata used for dances. (dufty collection, circa 1880.)

my little club is carved from black ebony with hand braided wrap and cord. with ebony toggle. $60US

vinaka vaka-levu

[ Edited by: pdrake 2008-05-27 13:28 ]

traveling north we find ourselves back on US soil. the beautiful big island of hawaii.

this is a bone honu with new zealand paua inlays and a hand plaited, sinew cord.

Long, long ago, a magnificent turtle appeared on the moonlit shores of Punalu'u. Honu-po'o-kea was no ordinary sea turtle. Her head was as white as the snows of Mauna Kea. Honu-po'o-kea paused at the ocean's edge, searching for the perfect place to build a nest. Gentle waves tugged at the black sand beneath her. With a deep sigh, she pulled herself ashore.
Honu-po'o-kea dug a shallow hole and laid an egg, as dark and smooth as polished kauila wood. Her mate, Honu-'ea, had been waiting offshore, his reddish-brown shell bobbing in the surf. As Honu-po'o-kea covered her nest, Honu-'ea joined her. Together the turtles dug into the black sand and created a spring. Then, as silently as they had come, they disappeared into the ocean.

In time, the egg hatched into a magical turtle named Kauila. Kauila made her home at the bottom of the freshwater spring that her parents had made. People called it Ka wai hu o Kauila, the rising water of Kauila. Children would come to play in the spring, and if they saw bubbles rising from its depths they knew that Kauila was sleeping. Sometimes Kauila would transform herself into a girl so that she could play among the keiki. Always, she kept a watchful eye on the children, insuring their safety.

Honu, or green sea turtles, still come to the black sands of Punalu'u on the Big Island. They can be seen grazing on seaweed in the surf or basking in the warm sun, oblivious to the people that gather to watch them. At night the rare honu 'ea, or hawksbill turtle, has been known to nest in the area, just as Honu-po'o-kea did so long ago.

Here and there the black sand bubbles as cool mountain water from Mauna Loa percolates through the porous lava. This was Kauila's gift: fresh water for the people of Punalu'u. Long ago Hawaiians would dive to the floor of the bay to collect the fresh water in gourds. Hence the name Punalu'u, which means diving spring.

she's sitting a little crooked because of the cord. she usually sits just like a real turtle. price is $60US. PM me anytime.

next is another club from the land of maori.

it's a beef bone patu. it has a hand braided, black cord and bone toggle. the eyes are inlaid paua.

the maori short clubs, or mere, were used for close quarter fighting and often had cords of dog skin. a skilled warrior could use one to defeat an enemy with a long spear.

price is $70