Gifts for the dead : a stylistic analysis of Tiwi graveposts illuminated by a case study of their manufacture
Abstract
Introduction - an outline of deficiencies in previous
research, scholarly and popular interest in the Tiwi people
and their funeral ceremonies; my reasons for attempting
the project. The theoretical context for this research and
methodologies for the stylistic analysis and fieldwork
project are outlined. Difficulties in completing the
project are reviewed together with a summary of the major
fieldwork commission which narrowed the focus of research.
The setting - an historical survey of Bathurst and Melville
Islands comprising the formation of landforms, the arrival
of the first people and their relations with indigenous
species. The death of the ancestral leader Purukupali is
recounted and his instructions which have formed the basis
for Tiwi funeral ceremonies. The influence of contact with
outsiders - Portugese, Dutch, Indonesians, etc. - is
recorded as well as British contact beginning with the
settlement of Ford Dundas. Changes brought about by
occupation of the islands by buffalo shooters and the
establishment of the Bathurst Island Mission are outlined.
Hostility between the Tiwi and adjacent mainland Aborigines
is described also. Graveposts as ceremonial markers - descriptions by the
first field researchers - Klaatsch, Basedow, Spencer - are
compared with findings by Mountford and Goodale of the
National Geographic Expedition in 1954. This chapter
concludes with descriptions of earlier ceremonies given to
me by contemporary carvers and of events at a pukumani
(funeral) ceremony for Nelson Mungatopi's uncle in 1986.
Classification of sculptural elements - major and minor
features from a core sample of fifty eight graveposts plus
additional examples are identified and classified with a
summary of significant findings.
Classification of painted motifs - a systemic grouping of
painted elements comprising the use of materials,
distribution of design elements, technical processes and
the skills of Tiwi artists, together with a summary of
their incidence and temporal distribution.
Conception and design - differing levels of ability among
artists, how they acquire their skills and forms of
training. Sources for ideas are surveyed along with
motivating factors, value judgments and the rights of
commissioning families, conceptual preparation and the
stages of manufacture for tutinis (graveposts). VGenerative
processes - Purukupali's instructions to tutini
carvers are reviewed along with seasonal influences, the
selection of materials, acceptable work methods and
conventional stages for a ritual commission (scorching
techniques, obtaining pigments, the use of fixatives,
etc.)* This chapter concludes with a detailed comparison of
preparations for a pukumani ceremony by the carvers Paddy
Freddy and Holder Adams.
Aesthetic criteria and assessment - artists' responses to
the requirements of a commission are described as well as
the resulting evaluation of graveposts by bereaved
relatives or patrons. The significance of the contract for
all parties including the 'bosses' and 'workers' is
reviewed. Criteria for acceptability and criteria for
excellence are factors regarded by artists as indicators of
the level of positive response and payment for commissioned
graveposts. Included in this classification is a
discussion of the limits of acceptable innovation in tutini
carving.
Meanings and symbolism - graveposts as symbolic human
images and examples of innovation including small carved
human figures. Meanings for carved motifs and the symbolism
of painted patterns are outlined, and comparisons made
between scarification designs and painted elements.
Categories of painted patterns, including pukumani designs,
are assessed in terms of their context and symbolism. Conclusion - a review of stylistic evolution in graveposts,
major determining factors of style, and the role of artists
as innovators and exponents of traditional ideas. Evidence
of stylistic variation during successive historic periods
is summarised and important traits compared with painting
styles of the Yolngu (Aborigines) in Arnhem Land. The study
ends with comments by Tiwi artists on the future of tutini
carving.