Divination Figure (pomdo pom’wama)

This figure is “gowned,” as customary for a chief, wearing a strip-woven indigo striped tunic. Assorted adornments, in cloth, metals, animal matter, and semi-precious stones, visibly convey this figure’s importance and power. These items conceal additional power matter located beneath the cloth and inside the bottle-shaped form of the figure. X-ray imaging reveals substances, likely iron pieces historically used as currency, which were inserted into the figure to enhance its potency. Works such as this served in divination contexts as a physical container through which descendants could maintain connections with ancestors.