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.

This design shows marai baje, one type of shell jewelry created and highly valued by the Ancestors. It is a traditional form of Ömie wealth or currency. Ömie people obtained the shells from coastal tribes of Oro Province by means of trade and they also collected them from the beach. Most shell necklaces that can still be found in the Ömie mountains were originally traded by the owners parents or grandparents a long time ago. Shell jewelry was made from sea shells and turtle shells in the times of the ancestors. The shells were a foreign, rare and beautiful material from the faraway coast so were highly valued in the Ömie mountains and would be displayed as a form of wealth on necklaces. The hartu’e and worro worrë (matabuté) were so highly valued they became important barkcloth designs and were painted onto nioge. Fate’s father Lokirro told her about his travels to find shells on the coast.

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

~ 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 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 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 trailing short lines 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.