Sepik River dugout canoe of the Iatmul people with crocodile head prow
Date1960s
Object number00032515
NameCanoe
MediumWood
DimensionsOverall: 550 × 12100 × 670 mm, 240 kg
Display dimensions (Mid-height): 340 mm
Display dimensions (Mid-height): 340 mm
ClassificationsVessels and fittings
Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Wieland Consumables and Colman Chan
DescriptionCanoe for standing up paddlers of the Iatmul people of the middle Sepik River, Papua New Guinea.
Dug out from a single log of wood, most likely a mangrove tree, with the interior surface heat treated / scorched. The canoe has a carved crocodile head prow and a carved seat at the bow of the canoe.HistoryThe Sepik River dugout canoe was likely carved from a single PNG Garamut tree. In Tok Pisin (PNG Pidgin language) Garamut translates to hardwood tree, and it is also the name of a drum from the region. The canoe may have also been carved from a kwila (merbau) tree which is a hardwood, like teak, that comes from mangrove forests. The Sepik people are renowned for their wood-carved art as featured in this dugout, where builders carved out the tree using a stone adze. The hull would also be burned out with fire to seal it and also to burn off any pests. The vessel was elaborately decorated with a crocodile head prow shaped according to the tradition of the area. It could be paddled by 25 people, with men standing up and women sitting down.SignificanceThe Torres Strait canoes were double outrigger configuration, often with two sails, and with narrow, deeper and much higher freeboard main central hulls. They also had high bows and sterns that were heavily decorated. The museum has a model of this type in the collection. It is a very different style to this Sepik River canoe which is appropriate to river use and has no outriggers. It is an excellent and significant example of that river type, but is not directly connected to the open water and double outrigger Torres Strait type other than also being a dugout construction. An example of the double outrigger type would be much more appropriate to the NMC.
