OBJECT HISTORY
110
FIG. 11 (above): Ceiling element, maluana, from a
community roundhouse, tukusipan. Wayana; eastern Rio Paru,
Brazil. 1960s.
Engraved and painted kapokier wood. D: 82 cm.
Collected during the Daniel Schoepf expedition in 1971–1972.
Musée d’Ethnographie, Geneva, inv. ETHAM 036987.
FIG. 12 (right and left): Ceiling element, maluana, from a
community roundhouse, tukusipan. Wayana; French Guiana.
Private collection. Author’s photo.
This wooden object painted with naturally colored clays is placed on the ceiling of a
community house. The motifs represent mythological beings, including (top) the greatly
feared crawling caterpillar known as “double headed.”