Funerary Pole

Funerary pole (Pukamani pole, or "Tudini" meaning pole), carved from the wood of a bloodwood tree and painted with natural red and yellow ochres, white clay and black from charcoal. Top: two "ears," white with yellow stripes bordered in red in center. Two extra fragments. Some months after a burial, the Tiwi people of Melville Island, off the coast of Northern Australia, place carved and painted poles around the grave of the deceased, amid dancing and singing, at the climax of traditional funerary observances. In 1954 Bryn Mawr anthropologist Jane Goodale commissioned a set of eight Pukumani poles for the collections of the Penn Museum. Due to size constraints imposed by the shipper, they are slightly less than normal height. This pole was made by a Golburn Island born native who has lived on Melville island since he was about 14 years old.