Kanganamun Iatmul initiation bullroarer

Luke Kamangari made this broad-bladed bull-roarer at Kanganamun in 2001, its cord and cross handle still attached. Only initiated Iatmul men may see or sound it: the museum's own label calls it a siren, its whir clearing women, children, and the uninitiated from around the men it moves past during initiation. The same initiation at Kanganamun scarifies a boy's back and chest into the pattern of a crocodile, the primeval ancestor whose split jaw, in Iatmul myth, made the sky and the land.

These powerful instruments can only be used and seen by initiated men. They are prominent during initiation rituals where they function like 'sirens'.

Cambridge MAA exhibition label for 2002.87

Particulars

Object

Broad wooden blade with a cord fixed at its narrow end and a separate transverse handle; the complete rig, cord and handle together, in one photograph.

Function

Used and seen only by initiated men; during initiation it functioned like a siren to control the movement of women, children, and uninitiated men relative to the initiates.