Large war canoe, decorated with carved figures

Confiscated
This canoe was confiscated by Dutch officials in 1961. At the time, New Guinea was still a Dutch colony: Netherlands New Guinea. Two years later this part of New Guinea became an Indonesian province.
It happened when two villages in the Asmat region came into conflict. The boat was made by villagers from Per. Per had a longstanding dispute with the people of Syuru. Years ago, so the story went, villagers from Syuru had killed a woman from Per and eaten her. The woman’s name was Jewewkakawer. And that was the name the men of Per gave to their canoe. When a woman from Syuru was injured in a fight in Per, the conflict resurfaced. Per’s men resolved to take the canoe and attack Syuru. It was then that the Dutch authorities stepped in and impounded the boat with the provocative name. A year later, the canoe was shipped to the Netherlands and given to the Tropenmuseum.

Man and pig
The symbolism of the figurehead, depicting a man and a pig, is unclear. Certainly, both the figures are connected with Per’s ancestors. Perhaps the male figure represents an admonition to avenge the headhunted victims.

Serpent
The red vertical stripes on the boat may refer to a mythical serpent named Amer Nak. This is a huge snake that appears in Asmat myths. In these stories, it is Amer Nak who made the rivers. In one story about the serpent, he changes into a boat. That is the boat in which the first people arrived in the Asmat region.

circa 1300 x 685cm (511 13/16 x 269 11/16in.)

Source: collectie.tropenmuseum.nl