Ritual Bowl

Ritual communion bowl (apira ni mwane). Shark with man in its mouth, scroll supports. This is a special ritual communion bowl (apira ni mwane) belonging to the cult of Waumwaumwa. It is the communion bowl to Waumwaumwa who in this village is the superior tutelary spirit. The ritual leader of the cult uses this bowl as his communion bowl and this bowl takes ritual precedence over the others. This specimen is a reproduction of the actual bowl, which was carved by Reresimae, the leader of the Waumwaumwa cult. The original is still in the canoe house of Natagera. Compare with Photo 100 (pp. 48-49) in Bernatzik, Owa Raha (1936). The Bernatzik illustration is of the same bowl which was in use when he was on Santa Ana. That bowl was replaced because of wear, but was kept and is in the canoe house. The Museum bowl is a copy of the replacement. Reresimae changed the two scrolls on the bottom and a few more details for purely aesthetic purposes, "to make the design more solid and compact." On the original bowl is a mother of pearl minature sculpture of a bonito in full round (resembling the sculptured bonito hook lures). The design of a shark taking a man is important to the myth of Waumwaumwa.