Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea Crocodile Wood Canoe Prow Latmul Tribe Sepik River

Papua New Guinea Crocodile Wood Canoe Prow Latmul Tribe Sepik River
Papua New Guinea Crocodile Wood Canoe Prow Latmul Tribe Sepik River
Papua New Guinea Crocodile Wood Canoe Prow Latmul Tribe Sepik River
Papua New Guinea Crocodile Wood Canoe Prow Latmul Tribe Sepik River
Papua New Guinea Crocodile Wood Canoe Prow Latmul Tribe Sepik River
Papua New Guinea Crocodile Wood Canoe Prow Latmul Tribe Sepik River

Papua New Guinea Crocodile Wood Canoe Prow Latmul Tribe Sepik River

This is a wonderful hand carved Wood Crocodile Canoe Prow from Latmul Tribe, Sepik River, Papua New Guinea. Crocodile play a central role in the art and culture of the Latmul people. According to Iatmul belief, an ancestral crocodile was responsible for forming the land. In the beginning, the earth was covered by a primordial ocean, into whose depths the crocodile dived. Reaching the bottom, it brought up on its back a load of mud, which became an island when it surfaced.

From that island, the land grew and hardened, but it continues to rest on the back of the ancestral crocodile, which occasionally moves, causing earthquakes. Both now and in the past, the prows of most sizeable canoes are carved in the form of a crocodile. These canoes, hollowed from a single massive log, were also used for trading and fishing expeditions.

This is a unique and wonderful canoe prow that would look wonderful in your home or in your collection. Collected in the field, shows much age and use, has chips and discoloration and a tribal repair on the back, Condition still good. 16.5 Inches Tall on Stand. 6.5 Inches Wide Back of Prow.

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Papua New Guinea Crocodile Wood Canoe Prow Latmul Tribe Sepik River