Sopermel
Kwoma · mortal · Kwoma traditional religion; continuing · Recorded classification
Sopermel is an ancestral figure of the Washkuk pottery-making clans, remembered in the myth attached to the modelled ceramic heads known as wasau. He is said to have carried a wasau within his belly. Such pottery heads, produced in the Kwoma pottery villages of the Washkuk Hills, were displayed on the ceremonial platforms during the yam-harvest rites, where they served the same purpose as the carved yena and wasau heads.
Domains
- pottery and ceramics
Powers
- carries the wasau spirit within his belly
Relations
- companion: WasauSopermel is said to have carried the wasau spirit in his belly.Oceanic Arts Australia, catalogue record for a Washkuk ritual pottery head (wasau) (secondary)
Sources
- The modelled pottery heads called wasau relate to a myth of an ancestor named Sopermel, who carried a wasau in his belly; such heads were displayed on the ceremonial platforms at the yam harvest.: Oceanic Arts Australia, catalogue record 'A Superb Waskuk Ritual Pottery Head, Kwoma People, Upper Sepik River, PNG' (secondary); Art Gallery of New South Wales, collection record for 'Wasau (head for yam ceremony)', Kwoma people (secondary)