Chief
Tamag sailed as a young man with a navigator relative in Ulithi, an atoll
about 100 miles to the north of Yap. He is demonstrating the use
of the navigator spirit effigy he calls layow.
Holding the figure by the head, he points it towards an imaginary storm
to ward off bad weather. The method used in the Central Caroline
Islands is somewhat different in that navigators there characteristically
hold the figure by the body rather than the head. In the old days,
the four sting ray spines attached to the base would be uncovered before
the layow was used. The sharp points of the spines in
this photograph are sheathed by small betel nut husks.
Micronesian
Tour 1999 |
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