Buka Paddle

Date19th Century

Mediumwood

Dimensions7 × 75 1/2 in. (17.8 × 191.8 cm)

Object number00.200.465

Institutional Credit LineCourtesy of the New Bedford Whaling Museum

DescriptionUnpainted carved buka paddle with unfinished low relief lines carved in one side of paddlehead and shallow, scooped out panels on opposite side. Teardrop shaped paddlehead is fitted perpendicular to rounded handle that ends with a triangular point.
Used as both weapons and in ceremonies, decorated paddles made on Buka Island in the Solomon Island group were a popular souvenir collected by whalemen. The paddles are decorated with low relief carvings of anthropomorphic figures called kokorra that may represent spirits or ancestral figures. It has been reported that whalemen may have used these types of paddles to maneuver whaleboats close to whales although the fine condition of the paint and caving on most of the Buka paddles in the collection suggest that they were collected primarily as souvenirs.

On View

Not on view