Subject: siulu / salawa chief
Culture: Ono Niha
Setting: slave raiding, tribal warfare, Nias 19thc
Object: jewelry
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Oceania
"Necklace (Nifato-fato, Ni'ohalagae, or Kalambagi) Ono Niha people, Nias Island, Indonesia, late 19th-early 20th century
Copper alloy, gold ...
Among the Ono Niha people of Nias Island, golden ornaments were among the foremost symbols of wealth and status. Crowns, necklaces, ear ornaments, and even false moustaches of gold were worn by nobles on all important occasions. Gold ornaments were commissioned in connection with owasa (feasts of merit). The scale and quantity of ornaments an individual was able to commission and wear served as tangible marks of his or her status. Necklaces of the type exhibited here were made throughout the island. In Central Nias, they were worn by men and called ni'ohalagae, a name that compares their delicate pleats to the subtly ribbed leaves of banana trees. In North Nias, they were also a male ornament and were known as nifato-fato. In South Nias, where they were called kalambagi, they were worn by both sexes."
* Metropolitan Museum of Art > Oceania
"Ear Ornaments Ono Niha people, Nias Island, Indonesia, 19th century Gold alloy" ...
Tropenmuseum > Zuidoost Azië *
Oorsieraad,
door adellijke mannen in rehteroor gedragen. Goud. Onohondro, Zuid-Nias, Indonesië. Eerste helft 20e eeuw."
