In 2012 at Gora Art Centre, Fate Savari presented a schoolbook she had obtained from her granddaughter. It was filled from front to back with drawings about her ancestral Ömie stories (including the creation story), histories, culture and clan designs. There were also some loose pages in the front and back of the schoolbook and more drawings on paper wrapped up in a larger drawing on paper. Fate created the book and drawings because she felt a great urgency to record her profound knowledge before she passed away. She used whatever materials she could find on hand. After presenting this first book, Fate requested “another book and drawing materials” so she could still create art during the seasons that she didn’t have any barkcloth to paint. So in 2014, Fate filled yet another drawing book with her art and this drawing is from that second collection of drawings.

Fate has painted an important design for the Dahorurajé clan, ajivé aviné — all the different bright lights shining around the Moon. Fate’s sister Guo’ahörumö from old Sidonejo village (near Huvaimo and Mount Obo) painted this design. The designs comes from her father’s side, Bumagöse. This special design can also be traced back to Udu’a, Lokirro’s wife. Lokirro was Fate Savari’s father. The Dahorurajé clan story associated with the moon design can be read below.

The brilliance of this piece is in the bristles coming off the crescent designs. These are most likely emanating moonlight, however, Fate (and the Dahorurajé clan) paint the light the same way as the Dahorurajé clan design gori han’e - leaves of the fern. The phenomonological/macrocosmic becomes a microcosmic detail of the Omie’s rainforest environment—beautifully intertwined and inseparable.

~ The short bristle-like design that can be seen is dubidubi han’e, representing the leaf of a rainforest vine that often grows on mountaintops.

~ The criss-cross design is mi’ija’ahe, animal (wallaby) bones found while digging in the garden.

~ The dots are sabu deje, representing the spots which can be seen on the sides of a wood-boring grub. This grub is sacred to Ömie people as it plays an important part within the creation story of how Huvaimo (Mt. Lamington) came to be volcanic. It is a traditional sor’e (tattoo design) which was most commonly tattooed running in one line under both eyes. Today it is applied to Ömie people’s faces with natural pigments for dance performances.

THE OLD WOMAN WHO HUNG THE SUN AND MOON FROM THE TREE [1]

A long time ago there lived an old woman who had a large bilum [2] (woven string-bag). She carried the Sun, Moon and stars inside her bilum. She would pull the Sun out from her bilum and hang it high in the branch of a tree to bring the daylight. She would clear the bush from around the tree and the tree fork, keeping the area very clean. At the end of the day she would get the Sun and put it back inside her bilum. She would then take the Moon out from her bilum and hang it on the same tree branch, bringing the night. She took all the stars out from her bilum and spread them across the sky.

One day a man saw the Sun. He started watching the Sun closely. As the Sun was rising, he followed it. He saw the old woman hanging the Sun and Moon and then hiding them inside her bilum. He said to himself, “Oh, that is what the old woman has been doing which brings the light and the darkness!”

The man went home to his village and told the story to all the people. He explained to them how the old woman was looking after the Sun, Moon and stars and how that was her work. Everyone in the village had thought she was working in her food garden each day, but really she was clearing the bush to make space for the Sun and Moon to be seen clearly and to shine brightly in the sky.

Note [1]: Lila Warrimou & Rex Warrimou (Sabïo); orally translated by Alban Sare; transcribed by Brennan King at Savodobehi village, 2010.
Note [2]: In Ömie language, a large bilum is called a bojoy.