Yam cult head (yina)

In the Washkuk Hills bordering the upper Sepik, the Kwoma peoples and their closely related neighbors the Nukuma and Manambu share a unique tradition revolving around the cultivation of yams. An annual series of rituals associated with the yam harvest ensures the tuber's continuing abundance and renders it suitable for human consumption. Clans sponsor the events, which are staged in a sequence of three rituals each involving different types of figures. Men carve elongated wooden heads such as this one for the first two ceremonies of the series and arrange them on a large mound of recently harvested yams. Each ritual lasts two days, during which the men perform songs and dances to purify the yams. At the conclusion of the ceremonies they store the yina heads, later repainting them to reinvigorate their power prior to the next series of events. Douglas Newton, then at the Museum of Primitive Art in New York, collected this repainted head in 1970. Its long, hooklike nose descends over a facial plane dominated by bulging, ringed eyes. A serpentine tongue loops downward to touch the planklike extension of the chin or neck.