Bina Bane

Bina Bane, a bailer shell, is the paired complement of the spiral shell Suti Solo in the celebrated Rotinese origin chant of the two shells. Dislodged together from the sea and carried to land, the pair voice a lament for their lost origin that lends the chant to mortuary use. The two names, always spoken in parallel, name one dyadic subject while picturing two matched shells.

Domains

• sea origins
• mortuary mourning

Powers

• figures the soul's parting from the living

Epithets

• Suti Solo do Bina Bane

Relations

• twin: Suti Solo

Sources

• Fox, J.J. 2014. Explorations in Semantic Parallelism. Canberra: ANU E Press.
• Fox, J.J. 2016. Master Poets, Ritual Masters. ANU Press.