Bag (Waghir Kon Men)
ClassificationsClothing and Adornments-bags, pouches, and purses
Dateearly to mid 20th Century
Made AtSandaun Province, Papua New Guinea
MediumBark fiber and hornbill feather
Dimensions47 × 29 × 4 1/2 in. (119.4 × 73.7 × 11.4 cm)
Credit LineLoan Courtesy of Jon and Linda Walters
Object numberEL.2003.2.5
DescriptionThis feathered net bag comes from the Bimin-Kuskusmin people of Papua New Guinea's Sandaun Province. String bags decorated with hornbill feathers are worn by initiated and sexually active males who have not yet reached the level of village elder. Women, on the other hand, wear undecorated bags suspended from their foreheads. The feathered bags are symbolically linked to hunting and harvesting rites and strongly tied to the initiation process itself of nurturing young men into adults, paralleling the actions of male hornbill birds that also nurture their young.On View
On view
early to mid 20th Century
mid 20th Century
20th Century