Kokorra (ceremonial paddle)

One of the main functions of this paddle is [to signal] the beginning of life.  

—Sana Reana Tangaere Balai (Nakaripa clan, Buka Island), curator  

Boldly decorated paddles from Buka Island were not used to maneuver canoes through the water, but instead facilitated passage across important metaphorical thresholds. Vivid designs in black and red on both faces of this paddle feature highly stylized kokorra figures wearing upe (initiation headdresses). The powerful iconography depicts the cyclical life stages of the highest-ranking chiefs: birth into the world of the living, marriage, death, and the final journey to kolu, the ancestral domain.