Editor: Brian Lemin
Introduction.
As a top maker and collector, I was interested to note some "Australian"
tops noted
in D.W. Gould's bibliography of tops in his book "The Top" 1973. Clarkson
Potter
Inc. NY. I have been meaning to search down these references
for some time and my
interest in tops has again been stimulated via the internet and I decided
that I
would track down these references. The following is a synopsis of what
I have
discovered from these volumes. The Myths that are represented on these
tops are
presented here in a pre'cis format. The reader is urged to read the
original reports to gain a
fuller and more accurate version of the story. My purpose is only to
link the tops
to the characters in a meaningful way, rather than retell the myths
completely.
Each top is described and measurements given where known. Also the colours
where
known are recorded.
I have some future plan to make replicas of these tops, but I will have
to research
the making or finding of round stones of suitable diameter. Which raises
the first
comment that I would like to make.
In general terms the tops are about 4 inches in diameter and made of
stone. For
the most part the shafts seem to be quite thin in diameter. As these
whorls would
be heavy to start I would presume that the method of starting them
to spin would be
through palm twirling. i.e. the shaft is grasped between the palms
of the hands and
the hands are pushed in opposite directions to get the top spinning.
Quite good spin
speeds can be achieved by this technique with wooded tops. Perhaps
one day I will
be able to report what happens with stone tops.
KULTUT OF THE LONG ARM.
Kultut lived on the beach. One day a group of girls came down to the
beach and
built a mud oven in order to bake a tuberous root. While it was cooking
they went
out in a canoe to get some fish to eat with the vegetable.
While they were gone, Kultut reached out with his long arm and stole
the vegetable
and ate it. When the girls came back, they were most upset, but the
next day they
came back and did the same. This time they set a hidden watcher to
see who had
taken their food. After they went out in the canoe the watcher saw
Kultut go to
the oven and reach out his long arm to steal the food.
When the girls came back and heard what the watcher had told them, they
decided
that the next day they would catch Kultut. The next day came, the girls
made
the oven and started to cook the root. They then surreptitiously
came back to the
shore in the canoe and hid to see what would happen. Sure enough Kaltut
went to
the oven and stole their food.
"Why are you stealing our food?" they called to him. Then they got some
sharp shells
from the beach and cut off his arm at the elbow.
The top is 147 approx. in diameter. The circumferential ring
is red.
Kultut wears a feather head-dress. By his outstretched hand is the
tuber.
Could it be that the ring at his elbow is a sharp shell?
MEIDU.
Meidu was a lady who lived on the beach. One day she saw four boys
go to the bush
and then, a little later, four girls doing likewise. She called to
the girls to come out of the bush
as she was worried that they might get blood in their tummy,
but the girls
did not come out.
Meidu then decided to sleep on the beach. She slept so soundly that
the incoming
tide caught her and floated her over the reef to an island a long way
from her own
island.
She was eventually deposited on the Island of Midu where a man found
her lying
on the beach. He picked her up, and she changed into a nut, which immediately
sprouted, grew and bore many nuts.
Because the girls did not obey Meidu, they were changed into four adjoining
garden
plots that had red soil due to the girls blood.
The top is 110mm diameter approx. The circumferential
rings are blue, white, blue.
Meidu wears a feather head-dress.
NAGEG.
Nageg gave birth to her son Geigi in the bush. As he grew he became
a good bow and
arrow fisherman and, later, spear fisherman. One day he played a naughty
trick on a
fat old man. He disguised himself as a big "king fish" and swam with
the shoal of
fish. The old man became excited at seeing this large fish and tried
to catch it.
Geigi did this for a couple of days but the man then found out he was
a person not
a fish. Never-the-less, he caught the boy, cooked him, and ate him
as if he were
a fish.
Nageg missed her son and went looking for him. She suspected the old
man, but
only found the bones of here son. She laid out his skeleton on the
beach, and when
she jumped three times, on the third jump Geigi came alive. Nageg scolded
her son
and told him that he should go away and live in deep water and in the
holes in the
reef. So Geigi dived into the sea and turned into a King fish. The
kingfish
carries his name Geigi to this day.
The top is 147 mm diameter approx. The women is "modern" (i.e.
post missionary)
In her hands she has a leaf for the mat that she is weaving. The three
black dots
are the stones on which the cooking pot stands and the seven pointed
star represents
the fire. There are two coconut water containers joined by a handle.
Is there a fin
there to represent her "fish" son?
WAKAI AND KUSKUS.
Wakai and Kuskus were two headmen on Babud. They collected together
a number of people
from their island and other islands to go hunting for turtle. On their
way over the
reef they saw two Nan zogo (wooden turtle effigies), and they thought
that these would
lead them to a successful turtle hunting trip. But in fact these two
turtles led them to
death by drowning one of the fishermen who tried to catch them.
After a while there was a strong storm that drove them to an unknown
island.
They looked for water but could not find any, however, they did find
the body of their dead
friend. The dead friend became a bird and led one of the fishermen,
who was a
special friend of his in life, to a water hole. Later the man led his
fellow
fishermen to the water hole, and they drank their fill. They also found
the two
Nam zogo that were going to pollute the water hole and wrapped them
up in a mat
and skewered them into it.
When Wakai and Kuskus got to their island and mourned the loss of their
friend, they presented the two Nan zogo to those who lived on the other
islands. They told
them that the Nan zogo would bring them success in hunting turtle,
but they did not tell
them that one of their number would drown.
The top is 147 mm in diameter approx. There is a red circumferential
border and
the two effigies are red and blue. I am not sure if they are to represent
the
headmen Wakai and Kuskus (probably ) or the two Nan zogo.
SHARK MASK TOP.
This man is wearing a shark mask. Possibly a cult totem or a homeopathic
magic
symbol. He is wearing it for a dance.
No information on the size of the top.
NAGEG TOP (2)
A photo of another top representing the Nageg myth. No details of the top available.
Conclusion.
There will be more information ( I hope) when I get hold of Vol. 4 of
the reports.
Meantime, it is clear that top spinning was a pastime, and that they
liked to
decorate their tops with images from their myths and legends.
Contact Brian Lemin: brian_l@avondale.edu.au
Last Revised 26-February-1999