Akeke (Basket)
date: label: Accession Date
content: 17 May 2017
label: Collection Date
content: 22 Mar 2010
name: label: Collector
content: Dr. Joshua A. Bell
label: Donor Name
content: National Museum of Natural History
notes: label: Notes
content: Basketry bag, twill weave with alternating light brown and greenish beige elements. Short fringe extending down from the rim. Two braided handles.
label: Notes
content: Donor notes: [Purchased for] 5 Kina... Oblong plated basket made of shredded mud dyed sago leaves with a design known as “Rukoa Roko Roko” (no translation given) and short tassels around the basket's mouth. The brown coloring is obtained from taking the shredded sago tassels and placing them overnight in riverbank mud. This akeke was made for use while fishing, to store catch, bait and tools. It has not used. It was made by Rovia Kairi (b. 1935, Aiaronairu clan, Onopolavi, Mapaio village) but sold by Uani Ke'a (born c. 1960; Peruava Orumako clan, Lavi Kaupara). The palm frond is first cut and the leaves stripped into fibers. Only young green leaves are used. The strips are then placed in the sun to dry for one day. The fibers are then pulled off the palm frond's stem and dyed. Once the fibers are dyed they are gathered and a knot made, which the weaver holds between her toes as she weaves the bag. Weaving time takes any where between 2 days to 1 week, depending on the time the weaver devotes to the bag. Regardless of the type of akeke, only women make them.
label: Record Last Modified
content: 29 May 2018
label: Specimen Count
content: 1
place: label: Place
content: Mapaio village, Purari Delta, Gulf Province, Papua New Guinea, Melanesia
topic: label: Topic
content: Ethnology
culture: label: Culture
content: I'ai (Purari)
setName: label: See more items in
content: Anthropology
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: NMNH - Anthropology Dept.
identifier: label: Accession Number
content: 2058626
label: USNM Number
content: E435166-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Basket
physicalDescription: label: Total Length
content: 88 cm
label: Width
content: 25 cm
label: Length - Basket Only
content: 43 cm
label: Length - Handle
content: 45 cm