The Men’s House
Orator's 'stool' ‘teket’ made by the Iatmul people, Sepik River
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In the past, many New Guinea men had to be initiated into a secret society to become adult. After this they lived separately from women in a special Men's House or spirit house.
These ceremonial houses vary from place to place. The most elaborate are in the Sepik River area, where they are built on posts above the ground. The gable mask on the front represents a female ancestor and the house is her body.
The ground floor usually has open sides. This is the living space, with houseposts carved as ancestral figures and the orator's stool next to the central pillar.
This type of 'stool' (right) is not used as a seat, and is
more like a pulpit. During debates, the speaker hits it with a bundle
of leaves to emphasise his point. The main figure represents a clan ancestor.
The first floor is a more restricted area. In the past, men performed
secret ceremonies associated with headhunting there. This is also where
they kept their most sacred treasures.
Sacred artefacts in the Men's House
Flute mask from the lower Sepik River
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Traditionally, the Men's House itself is considered sacred. Women were not allowed inside, though boys might be taken in during initiation. Men kept their most sacred artefacts there, hidden from women and uninitiated boys.
These artefacts included sacred masks, flutes, bullroarers, sculptures
of ancestral spirits and the skulls of ancestors and enemies.
Masks like this (left) were kept in the men's ceremonial houses
in the Sepik River area, and protected sacred flutes from the eyes and
hands of the uninitiated. This one was collected in the 1960s.
Today, many New Guinea men are Christian and no longer live in Men's Houses, though some public buildings and churches are still built in this style. Most families now live together.
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