Pu Oro 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: Small basketry bag. Basket is plain weave, all undyed brown fibers. Short fringe at rim, which is damaged in areas. Single braided handle.
label: Notes
content: Donor notes: [Purchased for] 5 Kina... Oblong plaited basket made of shredded non-dyed sago leaves with no pattern. Known as a pu oro akeke, this basket is used while washing sago as a sieve to filter the sago starch out from the palm's pith. Secured to the side of the sago-washing trough with wooden pegs (kovaia), the bag once filled with pith is squeezed and twisted to release more starch. The bag's position is such that its one handle can be grabbed to hold open the bag when it is full of pith, and so that after the material has been squeezed, the pith can be removed. This akeke's opening is decorated with the frayed ends of the bag's fiber. This basket was made in one day. Esther Aua Mako (b. c. 1982; Amanairu clan, Lavi Kaupara, Mapaio Village) made, used and sold this akeke.
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: E435168-0
objectType: label: Object Type
content: Basket
physicalDescription: label: Total Length
content: 50 cm
label: Width
content: 27.5 cm
label: Length - Basket Only
content: 31.5 cm
label: Length - Handle
content: 19 cm