90 Left to right FIG. 6: Feather god. Central Cook Islands. Sennit and feathers, mostly tropical bird. H: 52 cm. BM LMS 103. FIG. 7: Feather god. Central Cook Islands. Sennit bundle, opposed clusters of frigate and tropical bird feathers, white tapa wrapping. H: 48 cm. BM LMS 115. FIG. 8: Feather god. Central Cook Islands. Wood, sennit, feathers, pyroengraved bamboo. H: 62 cm. BM LMS 109. Gods were numerous in early Polynesia. There were personal, family, local, and district gods as well as national gods. Idols were not worshipped per se; rather, they were temporary dwelling places for the gods and took many forms, which varied from island to island. Certain elements of idols were sacred: sennit, tapa, and feathers, especially red feathers. Feather gods are generally composed of feathers adorning a sennit or wood core, such as an heirloom fan handle. Rarely exhibited, almost all known examples, about twentyfi ve, are in the LMS collection in the British Museum and remain in an excellent state of preservation considering their fragility. They are some of the family or personal gods mentioned so frequently in Papeiha’s list, and most were collected by him during the time he spent Christianizing the central Cook Islands from 1821–1823. ART on view
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