Dance Club (Napa)

ClassificationsArms and Armor-clubs

Dateearly 20th Century

Made AtTemotu Province, Solomon Islands

MediumWood, pigment, fiber, twine and nut or seed shells

Dimensions32 1/2 × 5 × 3 1/8 in. (82.6 × 12.7 × 7.9 cm)

Credit LineBowers Museum Purchase

Object number2014.25.1

DescriptionNapa clubs were used in the napa dance, one of several entertainments that took place in conjunction with a feast to celebrate the different stages of children’s maturation. The dance involves two lines of men preforming intricate steps while striking each other’s clubs. The origin of this type of canoe-shaped club is said to come from a supernatural figure named Bamuda who taught a man how to make it. He also taught the man the songs and dances associated with it. The right to carve and dance with a napa is the exclusive right of the descendants of that man.

On View

Not on view

Collections