Images(3)

Wuvulu Island canoe model

Date2000s

Object number00055451

NameModel

Mediumwood

DimensionsOverall: 280 × 1275 × 150 mm, 897 g

ClassificationsModels

Credit LineAustralian National Maritime Museum Collection

Terms

DescriptionThe wooden Wuvulu canoe model from Papua New Guinea was made on the island around 2000 and is an accurate representation of these uniquely shaped canoes. It has a main hull and an outrigger and two paddles, all made from locally sourced wood. The Wuvulu canoe model demonstrates the diverse technology of the many different outrigger canoes found in the Pacific and Papua New Guinea. HistoryThe model is from an anonymous private collection. It was purchased in Wewak from a Wuvulu Islander in 2011 and had apparently been made on the island, probably no earlier than 2000. Kristian Lagercrantz (Sweden) who has visited and spent time on Wuvulu Island as a researcher on a small number of occasions throughout the 1970s noted that the model canoe is probably an example of a larger sized canoe and appears slimmer than contemporary models. The earlier traditional canoes were made for deep-water fishing and voyages between the islands of Wuvulu and Aua. They are understood to have been large enough for forty men. A very small, one-man version was also made, and these were presented to young boys as they matured into men. In more recent times the canoes they made were simpler dugouts, but in the late 1970s they began to build the traditional types again. They are made from driftwood, which is usually a sizable tree trunk. The trunk is claimed by the finder by making his axe mark, and some elderly men patrol the shores early. The shape is unique, and it is understood that the upright is there for appearance and looks. The UDU (ULU, ULUHNE) is the piece the upright rests on, and this is the part that decides the shape of the canoe. When a craftsman is given a large log for a canoe, he will sculpture the udu out of kerosene wood or other hardwood. His vision of the canoe is then communicated by his udu. Often he will make a second canoe on the same udu, when the first canoe is getting old.SignificanceThe Wuvulu model canoe represents a unique craft for its region, made and used only on the two small islands Wuvulu (Matty) and Aua, located north east of Wewak in the Sepik region of Papua New Guinea. This model is understood to have been made by a Wuvulu islander and is an accurate reproduction of the longer versions of these craft, now used for racing and other cultural activities.
The Wuvulu canoes are now used for racing and ceremonial purposes, but there was an original tribal warring role as well.