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.

The borders are orriseegé or ‘pathways’ through the gardens and provide a compositional framework for the designs.

The central design is gori’e, the Dahoruraje clan emblem of the fern. This originates from old Sidonejo village, where Fate was born and grew up. This area is near present day Savodobehi village, and the sacred Mount Obo and volcano Huvaimo.

~ The lines that run diagonally are ije bi’weje, boys cutting the leaves of a tree. Fate explains: “The mother was cleaning the bush to make a garden with her two young sons. The boys climbed a tree to cut all of the branches and leaves down. The branches fell down and the mother took all of the leaves and threw them away. Then the mother got plenty of bananas, taro and yam to plant in their newly cleared garden. When they finished planting all of the plants, they ate all of the food from the garden and lived a long life.”

~ The curved lines are nenyai, a white seashell forehead adornment worn by women. Fate says these were made “in the times of the Ancestors” and are still worn today. Ömie people obtained the seashells from coastal tribes of Oro Province by means of trade and they also collected them from the beach. Seashells were a foreign, rare and beautiful material from the faraway coast so they were highly valued in the Ömie mountains and would be displayed as a form of wealth on both men and women’s jewelry. Fate’s father Lokirro told her about his travels to find and trade for seashells on the coast.

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

~ The short trailing marks 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.