Help identify this carving... thingy!

The lady who sold it to my mom's boyfriend says its a rice container... my mom thinks it's polynesian... I say its a Witco Toilet (wink wink). But seriously, what is this? Theres a lid on the seat (if it is a seat) you take off and there is a hole. Please help!

Although not exactly the same in design, it immediately reminded me of the Mayan
"chac-mul" figures I saw in Mexico at such sites as Chichen Itza (sp)?
http://www.facultysenate.villanova.edu/maya/Pic487.gif

What the purpose of your container is I suppose may be revealed if you can discover the ethnicity of its creators. Good luck.

![](http://images.ofoto.com/photos958/2/10/72/98/38/2/238987210205_0_SM.jpg[/img}
[img]http://images.ofoto.com/photos958/2/10/72/98/38/5/538987210205_0_SM.jpg)

Judging from what your mother said and its similarity to a Filipino rice or harvest god, I'm willing to be it is an Ifugao idol named Bul-ul.

Attached is an article from a Filipino newspaper that elaborates on the significance of the idol.

'Bakle': A time for Ifugao
merrymaking, thanksgiving
By Ben Moses Ebreo
Inquirer News Service
KIANGAN, Ifugao--The cheering echoed through the rice terraces on Sunday as young and old Ifugao natives took turns pounding the ipugo rice from one house to another in Barangay Julongan here, to thank the gods for their harvests.
The activity was also held to bring back their traditional agricultural practices to restore the condition of the terraces.
Rice wine or baya was served endlessly to guests, visitors and villagers, along with native rice cakes called binakle. The binakle, which is wrapped either with banana or rattan leaves, is similar to the Ilocanos' and Tagalog's suman.
Ifugao men in g-strings used a mortar made of rock and a wooden pestle to pound the ipugo rice. With the men pounding with synchronized rhythm, a part of the mortar was broken before lunchtime.
"Destroying the pestle and the mortar was part of the occasion, for it to be considered successful and festive. It was nonsense if we did not destroy them," said Alfredo Balaho, 72.
The feast called bakle is a traditional social activity of the Ifugao after harvest to thank the deities of the nundaul or underworld for a good rice harvest.
Wooden idols
According to the mumbaki (native priests), the nundaul is represented by wooden idols or granary deities.
The 10th traditional practice under their 12-phase agricultural calendar, the bakle seeks to gather villagers for merrymaking, social interaction and festivity after the binakle has been pounded, kneaded, wrapped and cooked.
At lunchtime, native chickens and pork meat were served to villagers, including guests.
Lito Dulinayan, project coordinator of the Ifugao Rice Terraces Cultural Heritage Office (IRTCHO), said a week-long training was conducted in Ifugao last month to enable farmers and local officials to come up with a conservation and management plan for the rice terraces.
The plan will be submitted to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) for possible assistance.
"The concentration aspects of this management plan are grouped into socioeconomic (zoning and land-use component), eco-tourism plans and indigenous knowledge," Dulinayan said.
Citing Ifugao mythology, Manuel Dulawan, IRTCHO consultant on Ifugao culture, said the underworld realm was once visited by immortal Ifugao, who noticed the people's progress as the rice crops were plentiful and animals and pigs were abundant.
"So they asked, what could be the reason for all of these?" Dulawan asked. He said the inhabitants responded by pointing to the offering of a sacrifice to their bulul or rice god.
"There was only one bulul in pugaw (earthworld) then," he said.
The Ifugao immortals then returned to their world and performed the bulul rites through the bakle as a way of thanksgiving. As the myth goes, the Ifugao people became progressive.
But at the height of their progress, they forgot to offer sacrifice to their bulul since they claimed that they could be progressive without performing the rites.
Dulawan said the bulul, after hearing this, jumped into the river and was carried by the current to another village. The bulul transferred from one village to another once the inhabitants were corrupted by their wealth and bountiful harvests.
The bulul returned to the village where it was eventually carried to the Padpad River, the confluence of the Ifugao River in Barangay Ibulao in Lamut town and the Magat River in Nueva Vizcaya province.
The bulul rested on a balete tree. With the bulul's presence, the balete turned into a glowing tree. Its green and robust branches faced Nueva Vizcaya, while the yellowish and stunted branches faced Ifugao.
More progressive
"It is a symbolic fact that the Ifugao in Nueva Vizcaya are more progressive than those who are in the province," Dulawan said.
He said those in Barangay Camandag in Asipulo town went to Lamut after learning about the incident, and cut a branch of the balete tree. They brought the branch to their village.
"Each family is supposed to have a bulul or rice god. The rites are expensive but when you neglect to offer sacrifice to the gods, illnesses among members of your family may occur," Dulawan said.
He said the bakle has been transformed into a venue where the Ifugao people of all ages can interact. "It has become a social activity where even chants and prayers are also offered," he said.

Thanks very much, The Monitors! My mother asked me to thank you for all your hard work and research!